Lake Lanier Fishing Report – July 2022

Lanier: Level: 0.6 feet below 1071. Temp: 86 degrees. Clarity: Clear.

Bass: Jimbo from Jimbo’s Lake Lanier Spotted Bass Guide Service reports, “Depending on the water temperatures, there are several techniques you can utilize to stay on top of the fish, sometimes literally, and remain successful on Lanier during the hot summer months.  Let’s review the locations, techniques and lures you can utilize to ensure you keep catching fish in July. By July, the majority of the spotted bass are normally in their traditional summer patterns. While some fish will be relating to key features at the mouths of the major creeks, you will begin to find more and bigger spots active on the main lake.  The fish tend to relate to either schools of bait or to some of the thousands of man-made brushpiles that can be found around the entire lake. Look for brush and other fish-attracting features around the steeper side of long-running points, rock, steep banks, rocky ledges, as well as underwater humps throughout the lake. Locating these areas and the man-made cover that is often found on them, which will often concentrate the fish, will be important to your success. Now that we have explored the location that the spots can often be found in July, let’s examine some of the techniques and lures that can be used to catch these fish. Topwater lures and swimbaits remain a viable approach until the surface temperatures hit the mid 80s. At this point, the majority of the bait goes deeper, as do the fish. Until then, look for this bite to remain solid around the man-made brush. The Gunfish and Chug Bug are two of my favorite topwater lures. When the fish are stubborn, try a weighted fluke as a great second option on missed fish.  Swimbaits such as a Sebile and the offerings of the Sweet Bait Company are two of the best choices for the hard swimbaits. Note that in 2022, the summer is trending to be a hot one and the weather has gotten hot early. Unfortunately, this bite may disappear more quickly than anyone of us would prefer. When the topwater/swimbait bite slows, pick up your Georgia Blade Underspin.  Tip the underspin with a Super Fluke Jr. trailer and fish the bait over and around offshore brush for your best success. Vary your retrieve speed and depth until you hit on the right combination for that day. When you see fish in brush on your Humminbird electronics, try the worm and jig. I like the Georgia Blade ball head.  Explore different worm sizes, shapes and colors when you are fishing. Something different presented appropriately can make a big difference on certain days. Georgia Jigs in 3/8-oz. are my favorite jigs on Lanier. A pb&j color pattern is often a good bet. A drop shot is also a great tool when the fishing gets tough and the water temperatures soar in the middle of summer. I opt for this offering when fish are suspended in or around brush, or when they are suspended on points or humps. This presentation can be made vertically or it can be cast or pitched toward the feature. I prefer the Lanier Baits options—they have a tremendous selection of soft plastics. Check them out at LanierBaits.com.”

Crappie: Capt. Josh Thornton reports, “The early morning bite has been really good until about 10 a.m. Look for deep-water brush up to 40 feet. The bite is soft. I’m using small, 1- to 1.5-inch jigs on a 1/24-oz. jig head. Also look at blowdowns off steep banks or trees that extend 50 to 70 feet off the banks. If you are using jigs, I would recommend a black-and-green combination or a white-and-green combination. Remember to retrieve slow and give the jig time to sink to the level of the fish. About 50% of this week’s catch came on minnows. I am setting minnows 10 to 12 feet deep most of the time over a 30- to 40-foot bottom. Crappie love the shade so cast into the shadows or shaded areas of dock. When dock shooting, the biggest fish are usually the first to bite. I’m using Skippers Jig Moon Jigs. Use the promo code ‘heroes’ when ordering. I’m using ATX Lure Company plastics. I use 5-lb. test high-visibility yellow braid for my line (unless I am using a bobber) and a Piscifun reel on an ACC Crappie Stix. I use Garmin LiveScope and the Navionics Boating app. Find me on Facebook and like my pages @crappieonlanier and @fishingwitheverydayheroes.”

Lake Lanier Page: Archived Articles, News & Fishing Reports

Stripers: Capt. Ron Mullins, of The Striper Experience, reports, “The summer Lanier striper pattern is setting up and getting better every day. This means big schools of fish from Flat Creek south all the way to the dam. In the mornings, you will find these fish in pockets and coves in the major creeks like Flowery Branch, Two Mile, Six Mile, Big and Shoal Creeks, as well as pockets on the main lake like between Vann’s Tavern and Port Royale, both sides of Shady Grove campground, and Cocktail Cove. Look in these areas in 40 to 60 feet of water on your Humminbird Helix or Solix with both your Down and Side Imaging. Pay close attention to fish in the trees all the way to the bottom. Most of these pocket fish will be caught close to the bottom so look for an area that doesn’t have a lot of trees, so that you can get your herring down there to them. Once you find a school of fish, downlines will be the go-to live-bait technique. Your setup should be a 1.5- to 2-oz. lead, 6 to 8 feet of 10- to 12-lb. fluorocarbon leader, finishing with a No. 1 or No. 2 Gamakatsu Circle or Octopus hook attached to an Okuma Coldwater line counter loaded with 15- to 17-lb.  mono on an Okuma Striper rod. This setup will get your fragile bait down through the hot water fast and allow him to swim around without dragging around an oversized hook and heavy leader. Fresh and frisky bait will get you bit, so make sure you take enough as you will be changing out baits every five minutes or so. This year is also setting up like last year where we caught a lot of fish on freelines behind the boat, as well. This setup is a 7.5-foot medium-action Okuma Reflections spinning rod with a 3000 class Okuma Helios SX loaded with 20-lb. braid with 4 to 5 feet of 10-lb. Tatsu leader attached to the braid with an Alberto knot with a No. 5 split-shot on the line and a No. 2 Gamakatsu Circle hook at the end.  Pitch your herring out behind the boat 35 to 40 feet and set it in a Stealth QR2 rodholder (the absolutely most secure and versatile rodholder around) and wait for that drag to scream. When this bait drifts down and under your rear downrods, go ahead and reel it in and pitch it back out behind the boat. The big schools of fish that you will encounter this month will also readily hit a power-reeled bait like a Captain Mack’s 2-oz. bucktail with a 6-inch curly tail trailer in white or chartreuse or the Boss Hawg spoon in nickel or nickel/silver scale. July is the beginning of Lanier’s lead core  and downrigger trolling season, as well. Lead core will be best pulling at 2.5-3 mph with six to eight colors out. When using your downrigger, put your baits 50 to 75 feet behind the ball that is set 20 to 30 feet down. Your best bets to pull on lead core will be the new Captain Mack’s/ Striper Tackle Super Spin Shad in 1- or 1.5-oz. white/white, white/glow or chartreuse/chartreuse or the Fat Hawg spoon in nickel, nickel/silver scale, pearl or pearl/blue scale. All of these artificial baits are available at Oakwood Bait and Tackle as well as the best live bait on the lake. God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life, John 3:16. He loves us and His love covers all our sins. We should be like Him and love. Love God, love your spouse and love your kids in this order. Everything else you love needs to be a distant fourth to all of these.”

Capt. Clay Cunningham, of Catching Not Fishing Lake Lanier Fishing Guides, reports, “The summer heat has arrived on Lanier, and the stripers have moved south on the lake. The topwater bite with Berkley Magic Swimmers and walking baits like the Berkley Jaywalker is slowing down but definitely still keep the rods ready to cast. If you want to try artificials, keep a Penn Fathom 15 Linecounter reel spooled up with  20-lb. Trilene 100% fluorocarbon and a Nichols Ben Parker spoon. Drop the spoon below the school and reel it up through the stripers. The best fishing has already moved to the south end of the lake due to deeper, colder water, which means higher oxygen levels for the stripers. The size of the schools has been behind schedule so far this summer. With most of the schools being smaller than normal, it has been harder to catch big numbers of fish in one area. More traveling around looking for the fish on electronics has been necessary. Look in the creek channels near patches of timber. The primary pattern is the downline. The primary setup for the downline is a Shakespeare Striper Rod paired with a Penn Fathom II 15 Linecounter reel spooled with 15-lb. Trilene Big Game line, the Captain Mack’s 2-oz. Swivel Sinker, a 6-foot section of Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon and a 1/0 Gamakatsu Octopus hook. Add a live herring to the hook and you are good to go. Great electronics like the Humminbird Solix are the keys for success right now. Once you spot a few on the fish finder, drop your baits rapidly. The trolling bite is also picking up. Talk to your local tackle store like Hammonds or Oakwood Bait and Tackle for the specific rod and reel needed. Look for a Penn Fathom reel paired with a Shakespeare Tiger rod. Once you are set up, tie up one rod with a Ben Parker spoon and one with a 1- to 2-oz. white Berkley Fusion bucktail and troll at 2.8 to 3 mph. Tip the Berkley Fusion bucktail with a 6-inch Captain Mack’s chartreuse or white trailer. Let the first couple bites tell you which one is hot. It can vary from day to day. Also be sure to pay attention to the size of the bucktail that is getting the bites. A small difference in weight can make a big difference in success. Be sure to release the fish as fast as possible. Every second out of the water in the hot summer months increases mortality. If you are taking pictures, have everything ready for a quick release. See you on the water.”