Lake Lanier Fishing Report April 2018

Lanier: Level: Full. Temp: Water temps are currently in the low to mid 50s but should be in the high 50s to low 60s by April 1. Clarity: The water is clear on the main lake and stained in the backs of the creeks.

Spotted Bass: Guide Ryan Coleman reports, “Fishing remains very good. We are catching fish out on the main lake, as well as shallow in the pockets. The main-lake fish are holding on humps and brush and are good-sized fish. I have been throwing a jerkbait out over the brush and catching them pretty good when the sun shines. Other days, I have been burning a Mini-Me spinnerbait on windy points and humps, as well as a lipless crankbait and waking a topwater bait. The topwater bait, a small Red Fin, has been best on the calm days. During the few sunny days we are having, I am working shallow boat docks with a jerkbait, jig and jig-head worm. Best colors have been herring jerkbaits, green-craw jigs and electric-shad SpotSticker 6-inch Finesse Sticks rigged on a 3/16-oz. Screwball shaky head. This has been a staple for me this spring. As we finally get some warm weather, look for a big group of fish to move up to spawn in early April. Everything is ready. We just need the weather to cooperate.”

Stripers: Big Fish On Guide Service reports, “Striper fishing is fair and should improve rapidly with the longer days and higher water temps. The warmer temperatures will fire up the stripers. The stripers will be looking to pack on the weight in preparation for the spawn. The bite this past week has favored the smaller baits, but look for the fish to start the move to larger baits with rising water temps. Look for the warmest water, which should be holding bait with the stripers nearby. Shallow, stained water should be the warmest. Mudlines are your friend. Fish freelines and planer boards shallow with the bank side planer board set at 20 feet behind the board, freelines at 70 to 100 feet behind the boat and the deep-water boards at 50 to 80 feet behind the boards. Use split-shots on some of the lines to ensure depth coverage. We are using 5- to 7-foot leaders of 15-lb. test fluorocarbon on all of our lines. Keep your trolling motor speed between 0.6 and 1.0 miles per hour. Expect the bite to slow when the sun gets up on those bluebird sky days. Move to deeper water, slow your presentation and deploy a couple of downrods in addition to your freelines. Also, keep someone on the front deck casting a Captain Mack’s 1/2-oz. bucktail jig with a fluke. Not all the fish will move to the backs of the creeks and rivers. The open-water bite has lasted throughout the spring for the past couple of years. We caught a couple of stripers with the umbrella rigs last week pulling at 3 mph over deep open water at 100 feet back. At the time of writing, the south end of the lake continues to out fish the north end, but look for that to change as the water warms. As we move later into April, the fish should remain fairly shallow and move out of the creeks and rivers toward the main lake.”