Lake Lanier Fishing Report – September 2018

Lanier: Level: 0.2 feet above full pool. Temp: Low 80s. Clarity: Clear.

Spotted Bass: Guide and tournament angler Ryan Coleman reports, “Fishing is OK— not great, but not terrible. The best baits for me are drop shots and jigs. I can catch a few on top and a few on some type of swimming lure, but the bottom-contact baits are working best. A 3/8-oz. green-pumpkin craw or a Georgia Craw SpotSticker casting jig with a 5-inch cinnamon pepper twin tail have been my go-to baits for fish in the brush. I am approaching the brush with this bait, and then after a few casts, I move over the brush and drop a 6-inch drop-shot worm on the visible fish on my Lowrance electronics. There are also a few big spotted bass out deep in 40 to 50 feet of water, but they are very slow to bite right now. I can work on these big spots for a while and eventually get one to bite, but it is a grind. I look for these bites to pick up as the thermocline starts to break up and the lake does its fall turnover. With the cooler nights, the water temps fell a little more than normal, so that could be early this year.”