Lake Lanier Fishing Reports – November 2020

Lanier: Level: The lake is still a little over full pool from the rains in October. Temp: 65-68 degrees depending on where you are on the lake. It’s very warm for this time of year. Clarity: The main lake is clear as usual, and the backs of the creeks are stained pretty good. We are expecting some more heavy rains this week, so expect the level to go up and the water to get dirty again in the creeks.

Bass: Guide and tournament angler Ryan Coleman reports, “Fishing has been good on Lanier the past few weeks. Fish are much shallower than normal, and that trend should not change. There are some big spotted bass sitting up on rock points on the lower end, and they will eat jigs, spinnerbaits or worms thrown up there. I have been using a 3/8-oz. jig with some orange in it, as most of the crawfish I am seeing have orange all over them. A 3/8-oz. Georgia Craw jig or a green-pumpkin craw jig has been my choice. For spinnerbaits, I have been using a 1-oz. and 3/4-oz. single painted bladed Mini-Me in shad and chartreuse/white colors on the lower end. The single blade allows you to get the bait a little deeper and move it a little faster without the bait rising to the surface. As the water cools, I will switch to a double-willow painted blade. There are still some fish out on brush and will bite a underspin thrown over them or a swimbait like a Sebile Magic Swimmer or a Bull Herring. If you can’t get them to chase a big swimbait, switch to a 3.8-inch soft blueback herring swimbait rigged on a 3/8-oz. screwlock swimbait head. Slowly roll the swimbait over the brush, and draw the fish up to eat it. As we move into December, the deep bite should start up. It will be there this year like every year, but I expect there to be shallow fish all winter due to the water level being so high.”

Crappie: Capt. Josh Thornton reports, “Crappie fishing is excellent! Don’t be afraid to look for blowdowns in shallow water. This week while scanning docks in 20 feet of water using side scan, we found a blowdown 5 feet deep loaded with crappie. Look for open-water brush in 10 to 20 feet of water, and plan on losing several jigs and minnows. You got to be down there with them to catch them. Look under docks that are in 15 to 30 feet of water and have brush or structure. Use your electronic charts to locate these areas. Downline small crappie minnows with bb-sized sinkers. ATX jigs are also producing very well. Fish them short casting, vertical jigging or dock shooting. I’m using 5-lb. test, high-visibility yellow K9 braid for my line. Watch your sonar graphs carefully for bait. Crappie like to live near their food source.”