Lake Lanier Fishing Report – May 2019

Lanier: Level: 1.7 feet above full pool. Temp: 67-70 degrees. Clarity: Clear on the main lake to stained farther north in the river systems.

Bass: Tournament angler and guide Ryan Coleman reports, “The fish are mostly finished spawning, but there are a few left to spawn in May. The postspawn fish are out feeding up and are getting easy to catch. Most of them are still fairly shallow around points and humps. A lot of fish will be around the shad spawn areas for a few weeks before they make that move out to the deeper structure. These will be shallow bars and humps with sand and rock for the most part. The shad spawn has started in a few places. This bite usually lasts about a hour or so early in the morning and then pretty much disappears for the rest of the day. Look for bait flickering shallow around sand and rock. Work these areas with small topwater baits like a Chug Bug or a small walking bait.  You can also do very well with a spinnerbait with small silver blades along these bars and blow-throughs. During the day, work flukes, spinnerbaits and topwater baits over brush and in between the brush and points. This is a very typical area for the fish to position on until they are in a full-blown summer pattern. Also, work a finesse worm on a jig head shallow around rocky reef poles for some of the late spawners all through the month of May. This can be a great pattern and produce some very large catches. Good luck out there everyone.”

Stripers: Capt. Ron Mullins reports, “The striped bass spawn is over, and the fish are moving back south out of the river systems and the backs of the main free-flowing creeks on the south end of the lake. May will be the time to catch these fish on rocky points and humps that the herring and shad will be spawning on through mid May. Flatlines and Capt. Mack’s Perfect Planer Boards will be the ticket pulled over these areas. Your flatlines out the back of the boat should be between 75 and 125 feet behind the boat, and place your lines between 50 and 100 feet behind your planer boards. Best bets on bait this time of year are herring or small to medium shad. On the north end of the lake, you should be able to find fish on these areas in Wahoo, Little River, Gainesville and Ada on the Chattahoochee side and Thompson, Taylor and Latham on the Chestatee side. Down south, the fish will be on secondary points in Bald Ridge, Young Deer, Two Mile and Big Creek. The topwater bite will also crank up this month, so make sure you have a Chug Bug, Zara Spook or Redfin tied on to throw up to these spots as you drag your baits over them. Another great lure to throw on these areas is a Capt. Mack’s Mini Mack. May is a great month to fish Lanier. Get out there and catch them up.”