Lake Lanier Fishing Report – August 2010

Lanier: Level: 0.7 feet below full pool. Temp: High 80s to low 90s. Clarity: Clear.

Spotted Bass: Tough. Ryan Coleman said the size is pretty good, but the numbers are off. Mid-lake to down-lake has been much better than up the lake for spots. He said he’s getting a good reading of the thermocline at 28 to 30 feet deep. The best bite going is on 20- to 30-foot man-made brushpiles. Ryan said you can draw the fish up with a Sammy, Spook or any other walking bait. Use a medium retrieve. A 1/2-oz. Fish Head Spin with an albino or green-albino Super Fluke Jr. is a good bet around brush. Also, a drop shot with 4 1/2-inch worm in green will catch fish.

Largemouths: Tough. Billy Boothe reports, “The best bite for largemouths is right at daylight on main-river flats, picking off the fish that were up feeding that night. Sub-surface lures have been the way to go. I’ve had the best success with an albino fluke and a Mann’s Baby 1-Minus Elite Series in American shad. If those don’t produce, switch to green-pumpkin Mann’s Hardnose Wonder Worm on a light jig head. Once the sun gets up, most of the fish are pulling out over deep points and ledges. Look for bait and arches suspended about 15 to 20 feet down. I’m burning a crystal-threadfin Mann’s 20+ through the fish using a stop-and-go retrieve. If I see fish near the break or on the bottom, I’m hopping a watermelon-red 9-inch Mann’s Hardnose Worm to trigger strikes. You can pick up a few fish pitching a 5/16-oz., green-pumpkin-green, TABU jig around docks and laydowns.”

Stripers: Good. “The striper fishing remains strong most days,” said Shane Watson. “Our boats have been out every day on both morning and afternoon trips. Freshly changed, quality live bluebacks on a downline are working best. Fish your bluebacks 30 to 40 feet deep over a 35- to 80-foot bottom in the mouths of creeks and just off the main channel. There are fish starting to show up in decent numbers out over the main river channel, but we are a couple of weeks or so away from this pattern. Lead core is producing a few daily. We are seeing some great topwater fishing on a Spro Dawg and a Spook on points and humps after the sun gets up. I haven’t seen this good a late-morning, summertime topwater bite in years.” Mike Maddelena reports, “The striper fishing is great and will remain great all summer. The fish still haven’t schooled up into the ‘mega’ schools we are used to seeing this time of year. After reviewing the most recent temp/DO profiles provided by the DNR, I suspect the good temperature and oxygen levels below Browns Bridge are allowing the stripers to remain in shallower-than-normal water, and the fish are not concentrating into the big schools. These good water conditions would also explain the ‘hump’ bite discussed below. We are seeing some schools with 25 to 50 fish in them, but not all that many. There are multiple patterns working right now. The first pattern is for the fish that are starting to move over open water off the river and the first half of the creek channels. Look for the fish over a 35- to 90-foot bottom from Chestatee Bay to Big Creek. Don’t overlook the bigger coves off the river or creek channels. The fish are holding in 30 to 50 feet of water over trees. These fish can be caught with lead-core line seven to eight colors back, using a 2-oz. Capt. Mack’s Chipmunk Jig pulled at 3 to 3.5 mph as well as on downrods fished 30 to 50 feet deep. Keep the depth of your downrods staggered, and be sure to check the baits often. The lake is very clear, and you should be using 8 to 10 feet of high-quality 12-lb. test fluorocarbon leader with 15- to 20-lb. main line. Power reeling with a Capt. Mack’s 2-oz. Chipmunk Jig tipped with a herring will also work for stubborn fish. The second pattern is main-lake humps. There are a lot more fish than normal on the humps. Look for humps topping out at 25 to 35 feet. The fish are holding off to the sides of the humps over a 30- to 50-foot bottom. Downlines and U-rigs will work on these fish. The umbrella bite continues to be strong for these fish holding off the humps. I am pulling a four-arm loaded with nine, 1-oz. Chipmunk Jigs with white-and-chartreuse trailers 120 to 140 feet back. As we move into August and the warmer top layer of water continues to expand into the depths and the DO levels drop, the fish will move off the humps into the deeper water. Hopefully they will begin to school up in the big schools we expect in the summer. In the morning these will be in the creek mouths, and as the sun gets high, they will move toward the river channel. As always throughout the summer, troll with lead-core, downriggers or heavy U-rigs while you search for fish. Once found, hit them with the downrod.”