Lake Lanier Fishing Reports – August 2020

Lanier: Level: Full pool. Temp: 86-88 degrees. Clarity: Clear.

Bass: Guide and tournament angler Ryan Coleman reports, “Fishing has slowed some over the last couple of weeks, and fish have started to feed early in the mornings on top and then a little later in the day. In between, you are having to pull these guys off structure like man-made brushpiles and deep timber. Look for brush in the 25- to 35-foot range on the main-lake humps and points. Work around and on top of these brushpiles with a jig or a drop-shot rig. For a jig, I like a 3/8-oz. casting jig in either a Georgia craw or herring color. For my drop-shot rig, I like a heavier weight, so I typically use a 3/8-oz. weight on 6-lb. line with a No. 2 drop-shot hook. For plastics, I prefer a 6-inch SpotSticker Drop Shot Worm in either crushed herring or cinnamon purple. These are go-to colors on Lake Lanier when the bite gets tough. Just use a 15- to 18-inch leader, and drop this rig around fish or structure that you mark on your Lowrance sonar. Be patient. In the mornings, you can still work topwater over humps and points for the aggressive fish, but be there early. Once the sun gets up, that bite slows dramatically and the fish lock on the structure. This bite will more than likely hold strong for us through August.”

Stripers: Capt. Ron Mullins reports, “Summer fishing on Lanier is awesome. We are starting to see huge schools of fish in their normal summertime haunts. They are moving out of the pockets and into the south end creek channels like Big, Shoal, Two, Four, Six Mile and Bald Ridge. In early August, there will still be some fish in main-lake pockets in 50 to 70 feet of water first thing in the morning, but as the sun gets up, they will move out to the creek channels and the river channel in 90 to 120 feet of water. Catching these fish with a downline 30 to 80 feet down will be your best bet. When you mark them on your Humminbird Solix or Helix, make sure you have a lively bait on the hook at all times. We will be using 8 to 10 feet of 10-lb. fluorocarbon leader and a No. 1 or No. 2 octopus circle hook this month and changing baits out every five to seven minutes. You will be most successful with strong bait on your hook. All the guides and great weekend fisherman on the lake are using KeepAlive oxygen systems and cooling the tank water with ice blocks. Freeze a couple of 2-liter bottles full of water the night before and set one in the tank every hour and a half or so to keep the water temps down. Power reeling a magnum Parker spoon or a 2-oz. Captain Mack’s Super or Chipmunk Jig with a 6-inch trailer or even one of your dead herring will be the best artificial setup this month over these big groups of fish. Drop down through the school and start cranking it back up through the school and hang on as they try to rip the rod out of your hands. It will be hot, so make sure you have some water with you when you get out there to catch ’em up.” Capt. Clay Cunningham reports, “The best fishing is on the south end of the lake due to deeper, colder water, which means higher oxygen levels for the stripers. The schools are getting larger and larger. Look in the creek channels near patches of timber. The primary pattern is the downline. The primary setup for the downline is a Shakespeare Striper Rod paired with a Penn Fathom II 15 Linecounter reel spooled with 15-lb. Trilene Big Game line, the Captain Mack 2-oz Swivel Sinker, a 6-foot section of Trilene 100 percent Fluorocarbon and a 1/0 Gamakatsu octopus hook. Add a live herring to the hook and you are good to go. Take plenty of herring since they will not live long on the hook. Great electronics like the Humminbird Solix are the keys for success right now. The trolling bite is also picking up. Talk to your local tackle store like Hammonds or Oakwood Bait and Tackle for the specific rod and reel needed. Look for a Penn Fathom reel paired with a Shakespeare Tiger rod. Once you are setup, tie one rod with a Ben Parker spoon and one with a 1- to 2-oz. white Berkley Fusion Bucktail and troll at 2.8 mph. Tip the Berkley Fusion bucktail with a 6-inch Captain Mack chartreuse trailer. Let the first couple bites tell you which one is hot. It can vary from day to day. Also keep Captain Mack trailers in white and pink and all sizes of bucktails on hand. Be sure to release fish fast as possible. Every second out of the water in the hot summer months increases mortality. If you are taking pictures, have everything ready for a quick release. See you on the water.”

GON’s Lake Lanier Page