Lake Lanier Fishing Report – October 2020

Lanier: Level: Full pool. Temp: Mid 70s and steadily dropping. Clarity: The main lake is clear, and the creeks are only slightly stained.

Bass: Guide Ryan Coleman reports, “Fishing is excellent right now on Lanier. The fish are up on humps and points and feeding very well. There is still a great topwater bite right now with chuggers and walking baits, and the bottom bite is coming back to us. Jigs, drop shots and worms rigged on jig heads is working great during the day when the wind lays. I have been just running places all day and not spending a lot of time at any one certain spot. Once you catch a few from an area, the fish seem to wise up, and you need to move on. I have also been doing outstanding with a 3.3- and 3.8-inch soft swimbait rigged on a 3/8-oz screwlock swimbait head just swimming it over the humps and brush slowly all day long. This has produced some very big fish for the past few weeks. As October rolls in, look for windy days to produce a great spinnerbait bite. Work a 3/4- or 1-oz. Mini-Me spinnerbait with a trailer hook quickly over points and humps to draw the big fish up out of the depths. Start with painted blades, then switch to nickel blades if that does not produce. This is a staple bite for us here on Lanier, and this year will be no exception with the water being so high.”

Crappie: Capt. Josh Thornton reports, “Crappie are biting under docks that are in 15 to 30 feet of water, so use your electronic charts to locate these areas. Downlining small crappie minnows with bb-sized sinkers and jigs are both producing very well. My jig recommendations are any color and chartreuse! The ATX Lure jigs can be used equally well for short casting, vertical jigging or dock shooting. I’m using 6-lb. test, high-visibility yellow K9 braid for my line. If you want to try dock shooting, you’ll need a one-piece rod, preferably medium-light (not ultralight) and a spinning reel. For first-timers, I recommend a 1000-series reel  with  a B’n’M SharpShooter Six rod. YouTube has many videos demonstrating this. Watch your sonar carefully for bait. Crappie like to live near their food source. Use scanning-type sonar (e.g. down and side imaging) to locate schooling fish, and complement this with the latest in live-scanning sonar technology (e.g. Garmin’s LiveScope or Lowrance’s LiveSight). Set waypoints on your electronic charts so that you can quickly return to productive locations. Note that you can do this on a smartphone or tablet using the Navionics Boating app.”

Stripers: Guide Clay Cunningham reports, “The topwater bite has started early this year. As the water temperature drops, look for the topwater bite to become solid. Be prepared for the surface action with a wide selection of topwater baits. Spool up a Fenwick medium-action rod with 10-lb. Trilene Big Game and a Sebile Magic Swimmer as the lure. The Magic Swimmer has caught tons of stripers over the past decade. The Magic Swimmer comes in several sizes, and they all work, but the 125 is the most popular on Lanier. Be prepared with several colors, like the holo greenie and white liner. Other key topwater baits include the Berkley J-Walker 120, Berkley Surge Shad and the Berkley Driftwalker. Each one has a different action. Also, keep the trebles in tip-top shape. If they are bent, replace them with Gamakatsu Magic Eye trebles. So far this fall, the J-Walker and Magic Swimmer have been the best baits. The key bait can change daily based on conditions. Three of the key colors are black chrome, green back ghost and bone. Look for schooling fish and cast right in the middle of them. Some of these schools can be massive. Concerning live bait, herring will continue to be the primary bait in October. Rig the herring on a freeline, which is basically a 1/0 Gamakatsu Octopus Hook, a section of 10-lb. Trilene Big Game 100% Fluorocarbon and a Spro Power Swivel rated at 120 pounds. The Spro Power Swivel is important. Do not buy the cheap swivels on the market. Use this setup on the same Shakespeare Striper Rod used for downlining paired with a Penn Fathom II 15 Linecounter spooled with 15-lb. Trilene Big Game. Troll the points and shoreline at about 1 mph. This is usually the most exciting month of the year on Lanier. Do not miss it!”

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