Lake Lanier Fishing Report October 2015

Lanier: Level: 4.5 feet below pool. Temp: 74 degrees. Clarity: Mostly clear on the main lake, some stain in the creeks and pockets.

Stripers: Excellent. Capt. Ken and Mike from Big Fish On Guide Service report, “October is viewed by some as a difficult month to catch stripers. However, last year was the best October we have seen in more than 20 years of fishing Lake Lanier and was one of the best months of the year. The keys to catching stripers in October is understanding the lake conditions, how the fish are reacting to those changes and being flexible enough to change your approach and tactics. October is when the lake will turn over. During the summer months the lake stratifies and separates into three layers: a warm water layer, a middle layer known as the thermocline and a cold water layer. As the air temperature gets colder, the surface water cools and becomes denser. This denser water is heavier than the warm water and sinks, pushing the warmer water up. This turnover process continues until the water is mixed and reaches a consistent temperature from the surface to the bottom of the lake. This process will normally take two months to complete. When the lake turns over and eliminates the warm water layer and the thermocline, the stripers are no longer restricted to their cold water refuge and are free to do what stripers do: swim and eat. These fast moving fish will move up in the water column and disperse very rapidly throughout the lake. This makes October a challenge for striper fishermen as they must react to this change in lake conditions. October begins with the fish in their typical summertime pattern with downrods and trolling with umbrella rigs and lead core as your primary techniques. October will end with a shallow-water pattern with live baits on flatlines and planer boards. We are also looking forward to a couple of weeks of topwater action. We have a good number of 2- and 3-year-old fish, which should be schooling and aggressively busting baits on top.”