Lake Lanier Fishing Report – November 2007

Lanier: Level: Down 14.2 feet below full pool. Temps: 72 degrees. Clarity: Clear.

Spotted Bass: Excellent. “Fishing for spotted bass is excellent right now,” said Ryan Coleman, who has his boat wet-docked so he can continue to fish as ramps are closing. “The bass are on the fall feed and eating all over the lake. Work topwater baits over humps, brush and timber for some very explosive topwater strikes,” Ryan said. The fish are holding in 20 to 25 feet of water, and they seem to be roaming a good bit. “You have to keep your boat on the move as they are chasing bait. I have been using a Super Spook and Vixen for my best topwater fish, but the Chug Bug will catch you numbers,” Ryan said. “There is a great spinnerbait bite on shallow rocky points until the sun comes out. Later work the topwater. A drop shot will get them, but the size will not be as good. Stick with the moving baits for your better fish. If the topwater slows, pick up a big jerkbait and work it very aggressively over the timber. Violently jerk it, then pause for five seconds. I have been using a Flash Minnow and a Rogue for the most part. If the water continues to fall, you may need a 4-wheeler instead of a boat. Be very careful as the lake is showing itself right now. Later in the month, look for the jig bite and jigging-spoon bite to pick up in creek channels in the 40-foot range.”

Largemouths: Excellent. “The cooler days and falling water have really turned the largemouth bite on,” said Billy Boothe. The bass are holding in ditches and channels and feeding on baitfish that are more concentrated due to the falling water. “Look for ditches and channels in 4 to 10 feet of water in the backs of pockets and creeks,” Billy said. “The largemouths are staging in the ditches, then coming up on flats and points to feed. Start the day out with a pearl Super Fluke and a 3/8-oz. blue-glimmer buzzbait fished with a fast retrieve around any cover that still has water on it. Later in the day, target ditches with a tandem 1/2-oz. pearl Nichols spinnerbait or a shad-pattern Mann’s Baby 4 Minus. Fan cast around the ditches first, then cast in the ditches and work them thoroughly. If it’s overcast or windy, you can spend the entire day throwing a chrome/blue Rat-L-Trap or a Mann’s 1 Minus right on the bank in the backs of creeks. Toward the end of the month, as the lake level falls even more and the water cools, the largemouths will pull out to river and creek channels. Some of the largemouths will suspend over the channels around baitfish. Target the suspended fish with a ghost-minnow Lucky Craft Pointer 100. For the fish in the channel itself, throw a 1/2-oz. green pumpkin TABU jig,” Billy said.

Stripers: Excellent. The report is a carbon copy of last month. There are huge schools of stripers over the river channel and at the creek mouths on the south end of the lake. Troll lead-core line with 1-oz. bucktail jigs tipped with a blueback herring or a chartreuse split-tail trailer. When you mark a big school, drop a 2-oz. bucktail tipped with a herring below the depth, and reel as fast as you can straight up through the school of stripers.