Lake Lanier Fishing Report April 2015

Lanier: Level: 0.5 feet below full pool. Temp: 52 on the south end, and 62 on the north end. Clarity: The creeks are stained, and the main lake is clear.

Spotted Bass: Guide Ryan Coleman reports, “Fishing is still slow on the lower end. There are still shad and herring dying off, and the fish are just not chasing artificial lures right now. I fully expect things to pick up any day, but we are still waiting. If you get a day when the sun comes out, you can work docks with a worm rigged on a SpotSticker jig head and catch some big fish. You can also work those same docks with a jerkbait if there is some shade around it. For the most part, work points and pockets with a jerkbait right now. Take it easy on your retrieve, and it will produce more bites. As the sun comes out and the water warms, they will chase a little harder. The spinnerbait bite has also started to pick up and should turn on strong by the first of April. Work points and pockets near the main lake with a 1/2- or 3/4-oz. spinnerbait with painted white willows always in the spring on Lanier. Those white willows are key to a strong spinnerbait bite here. I always use a free-swinging trailer hook on my blades in open water. Don’t even bother throwing it without the trailer hook. As April rolls in and the weather warms, we will start our first big wave of spawning activity. I believe things will happen fast this year. We are a good bit behind right now, and things have a way of catching up in nature. Look for big waves of fish to hit the banks all at one time.

Stripers: Big Fish On Lake Lanier Guide Service reports, “Striper fishing is good but has slowed on the south end of the lake. The threadfin shad die-off seems to be more severe on the south end of the lake. This makes for easy pickings for the fish. With a lot of bait on the bottom, there is no need for the fish to chase live bait, and the fishing tends to slow. However, this situation should play itself out this week, and the fishing will improve. It is springtime, and the fish are getting frisky. The stripers will start moving to shallow water. Live bait continues to be your best bet. Blueback herring is the bait of choice when fished on freelines 100 feet behind the boat. Keep your trolling-motor speed between 0.6-1.2 mph. Keep your bigger baits closer to the boat with some split-shot on them. We have not used umbrella rigs this past week as the live-bait bite has just been too good. Fishing the mid-lake creeks between Browns Bridge to Hwy 136 and Clarks Bridges are your probably your best bets. Striper fishing in April is one of the best months of the year. As the water continues to warm, the fish are going to continue to move shallow. The big females are going to be hitting the big baits getting ready for the spawn when temps get in the low to mid 60s. These stripers are aggressive and will attack all sizes of baits—trout, herring and gizzard shad. This is the time of the year when other stripers follow hooked fish to the boat. Have someone casting a bucktail in the vicinity of the fish you’re reeling in. Points, flats and shallow-water clay banks are the key areas to focus on. Pulling baits on freelines and planer boards is the primary technique during the month. When you are pulling baits, always keep someone on the front deck casting a Captain Mack’s bucktail jig or Red Fin. Topwater normally starts sometime in April, so be on the lookout for that. Red Fins, Spooks, Sebile Magic Swims and a fluke-tipped bucktail all work. The best approach is to focus these baits on cut throughs, points and flats with a live bait on a freeline out the back of the boat. Don’t forget about pitching herring to points with a focus on the deep-water side of the points. This is a great approach for just catching fish.”