Lake Lanier Fishing Report – March 2006

Lanier: Level: 1.6 feet below full pool. Temps: 50 degrees. Clarity: Clear, except some color in the backs of creeks up the lake.

Spotted Bass: Plenty of healthy spots in the 2- to 4-lb. range are being caught. While a lot of spotted bass are still in the deep brush and structure, the jerkbait bite is on, according to tournament angler Billy Boothe. “I’ve been catching some on the main-lake points and humps on a Staysee 90 in the chartreuse/shad color. Also, there’s a dynamite dock bite just getting started. I’m fishing a tube jig in a smoke/purple color in five to 15 feet of water and concentrating on the docks in the mouths of the pockets. Two areas are producing for me. Bald Ridge and Six Mile are heating up pretty good,” Billy said. (See article on page 58.)

Largemouths: It’s getting right, and just in time for the FLW tournament. Billy said he’s expecting some big bags in the FLW. “The big largemouths, the prespawn females, are already starting to move up,” Billy said. He’s only getting about five bites a day, but they are 2- to 6-lb. largemouths. Billy is fishing up the lake and is throwing to secondary points and to laydowns in the mouths of pockets. His primary lure is a 1/2-oz. green pumpkin Mann’s Stone Jig. “It has a stand-up head. It’s about the only skirted stand-up jig you can find,” Billy said. He’s also throwing a Bandit 200 Series chartreuse/white crankbait. “A lot of people are throwing a blade, so I’m not throwing it so much. Five to 10 feet of water seems to be depth right now. As the water warms, fish more in the backs of the pockets, and use a Senko or a spinnerbait,” he said.

Stripers: Very good. The bait — and the stripers — are bunching up in the very backs of the creeks. Live bait like bluebacks or shad are working well on flatlines and planer boards, but these stripers will also hit a Zoom Super Fluke. Also try casting a white bucktail jig, and tip the jig with a bass minnow. The back of Flat Creek is loaded with bait, as are most of the creeks in that section of the lake. Big stripers are being caught. Be prepared to also try trolling bucktail jigs and downlining live bait because there are also stripers on the deeper structure like main-lake humps.