Lake Lanier Fishing Report – January 2007

Lanier: Level: Down 8.4 feet below full pool. Temps: 57 degrees. Clarity: Clear.

Spotted Bass: Cold weather will improve the spotted-bass bite on Lanier, although the fishing is good now. Spots on the south end of the lake are starting to bunch up in the timber in the 30 to 40 foot depths. Try drop-shot rigs, jigging spoons, or a jig ’n pig on these deep spotted bass. Typically, a jigging spoon is the best and easiest way to catch good numbers of spots this time of year. Watch your electronics for big schools of shad, with good places to begin searching at the mouths of major creeks and also the mouths of deep, secondary pockets in the major creeks. Also try the deeper boat docks with jig-head finesse worms.

Largemouths: Fair, according to tournament pro Billy Boothe. The largemouth bite can be hit or miss this time of year, but when you find them, they should be bunched up. “Now’s the time to cover water with a search bait like a Mann’s 10 Plus crankbait in a shad pattern or a 1/2-oz. Nichols spinnerbait with tandem blades. When you get a bite, slow down and pick apart the area with a 1/4-oz. Bite Me jig head teamed with a green pumpkin Reaction Innovations Flirt Worm. The bigger jigs will get you a kicker fish, but with the jig head you will pick up the more finicky fish. Concentrate on the deep, v-shaped rocky pockets that are midway back in the creeks. Wood cover is a bonus, but rock is the main deal right now,” Billy said. He recommends trying Thompson Creek or Little River because they have plenty of steep, rocky banks. As January turns colder, a couple of other patterns will emerge. “It will be time to slow-crawl a Mann’s Stone Jig in the river channels, or throw a Carolina rig with a mini lizard on steep, rocky points up the lake,” Billy said.

Stripers: Excellent on the north end up the Chattahoochee River. The Laurel Park area is loaded with a huge school of stripers, and it’s no secret as lots of boats are working the area. Most of the creeks above the Hwy 53 bridge are holding stripers — Sardis, Ada, the Gainesville pocket have all been good. Umbrella rigs have been producing well. In the backs of the creeks, try flatlines and planer boards and get them up as close to the banks and far back from the boat as possible. Also watch for stripers chasing bait right on the banks and be ready to cast a pearl-colored Super Fluke.