Lake Lanier Fishing Report – June 2010

Lanier: Level: 0.2 feet above full. Temp: Low 70s. Clarity: Clear.

Largemouth: Billy Booth reports, “The largemouths are starting to move into their typical summertime patterns. Start out early on the main river points with a small wake bait. I’m using a ghost minnow Mann’s Baby Waker, and the fish are taking it a lot better than other topwaters. Look for the longer points that fall into the channel or steeper banks at the mouths of pockets. As the sun gets up, back out and throw a watermelon-red Mann’s Wonder Worm on a jig head on the same points and banks. As the month progresses, look for a move to the ledges. Watch your graph, and look for a combination of stumps and bait. When you locate both, throw a sexy-shad Mann’s 20-plus. If the fish are not active, throw a 9-inch junebug Mann’s Hard Nose worm. The big-fish bite has been pretty tough. If you’re targeting bigger fish, flip laydowns and brushed-up docks with a 7/16-oz. green-pumpkin TABU jig.”

Stripers: Shane Watson reports, “The striper fishing has been very good this week (May 21) on Lake Lanier. Our boats have done well on downlined bluebacks fished 20 to 25 feet deep over a 35- to 70-foot bottom on points. We have also done well on Capt. Mack’s u-rigs fished from 60 to 80 feet behind the boat on the 4-arm rig and 120 to 130 feet out on the 3-arm rig. The north end has been better this week for numbers. The fish on the south end have been a little bigger this week on average. We have done OK on a freeline and on a Redfin for the first hour most mornings but switched over to downlines and trolling after the sun got up.” Mike Maddalena reports, “We have been catching good numbers of small fish south of Browns Bridge with the bigger fish coming on the north end. The fish are starting to school up and are scattered lake-wide. The pattern is to downrod herring on points. Fish 20 to 25 feet deep over a 25- to 50-foot bottom. Look for points with sharp drop-offs into deep water on the main lake and in the first half of the creeks. In the creeks, look for the points that drop into the creek channel. The fish can be very tight against the drop-off. There are also spots on the same points, up in the 15 to 20 foot range. Freelined herring, 80 to 100 feet back, will work in these same locations for the first hour of the day or so, longer if overcast. The bite is best early but remains strong thoughout the day. Expect to catch a mixed bag of stripers and spots, along with an occasional catfish. You might even get a walleye up on the north end. There is limited topwater schooling, but the fish are tough to get to in time. Clipping these same points with Capt. Mack’s 4-arm rigs, 70 to 90 feet back, is also working and a great way to find the fish so you can drop bait on them. As we move into June, things should remain about the same with the fish moving deeper off the points. The quicker the water warms, the quicker the fish will move deeper. The downrod bite will be getting stronger, and lead core will start coming into play. It’s hard to say what the fish will do when they move off the points, but typically they will move to the first half of the creek channels and deeper on main-lake flats (60-plus feet) at the mouths of the creeks.”