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Lake Lanier
Lake Lanier is a very popular reservoir in north Georgia for anglers and recreational boaters. It was created by the completion of Buford Dam on the Chattahoochee River in 1956, and is also fed by the waters of the Chestatee and Chattahoochee rivers. The lake encompasses 38,000 acres, or 59 square miles of water, and 692 miles of shoreline at normal level, which is at full summer pool of 1,071 feet above sea level. Lake Lanier boasts some of the best striped bass and spotted bass fishing in the country.
Lake Lanier Resources
Lanier: Level: 0.4 feet over 1071. Temp: 68-71 degrees. Clarity: Varies from clear on the main lake to stained the farther north in the river systems. Bass: Guide Jimbo Mathley with Jimbo’s Lake Lanier Spotted Bass Guide Service reports, “Lake Lanier is arguably at its very best during the late spring and early summer due to the consistent availability of an aggressive topwater and swimbait bite during this time. This is an excellent opportunity for anglers to catch spotted bass and watch the action as wolf-packs of monster spotted bass chase your topwater plugs. In this month’s installment, you will learn the necessary tackle, equipment, locations and resources to catch topwater fish on Lanier. Now—at the end of April and heading into May 2024—the lake appears to be behind schedule by a couple weeks compared to previous years. Still, most of the spotted bass on Lake Lanier will finish the spawn…
Read MoreLake Lanier Articles
A record for common carp has been established on Lake Lanier by James Martin, of Gainesville. His carp weighed 9-lbs., 3.2-ozs. and was caught the morning of June 6. “Anybody who knows me knows I’m always out on the water with my sidekick and beautiful wife Amber until deer season,” said James. “If you find…
Lake Lanier is known for its magnum spots and a great winter ditch bite. It’s true that in December lots of Lanier bass are moving into the ditches, but they can also be caught on rocky points near the coves, on boat docks, and there are many fish still on main-lake brushpiles. There is a…
Lake Lanier was clear with water temperatures in the mid 60s. The spotted bass are chasing bait in the mornings off of rocky points. We were catching these fish on flukes on tournament day, but in practice we were catching them on walking topwater baits. We were sitting in the 35 to 42 feet of…
A new Lake Lanier rainbow trout record has been set. The initial record was caught almost 50 years ago by Charlie Hobbs Sr. with an 8-lb., 5-oz. giant. Brooke Wheeler and her boyfriend, Landon Crafton, began the day of March 2 in Shoal Creek. They were after spotted bass while targeting rocky points. After running…
B.A.S.S., the world’s largest fishing organization, will host the Bassmaster Elite at Lake Lanier, Feb. 14-17. The event is the second of nine regular-season Elite Series bass tournaments and is the first time for the Elite Series to visit the fishery. The tournament pits 75 of the top bass anglers in the world against one…
Lake Lanier Record Fish
| Largemouth Bass | 17-lbs., 9-ozs. | Emory Dunahoo | 12/19/65 |
| Spotted Bass | 8-lbs., 0.5-ozs. | Patrick Bankston | 05/20/85 |
| Striped Bass | 47-lbs., 12-ozs. | Ward Schanhals | 04/03/10 |
| Hybrid Bass | 12-lbs. | Fred Duncan | 12/22/92 |
| White Bass | 5-lbs., 1-oz.* | J.M. Hobbins | 06/16/71 |
| Shoal Bass | 5-lbs., 5-ozs. | Peter T. Thliveros | 12/01/94 |
| White Crappie | 3-lbs., 2-ozs. | Bill Fretwell | 04/17/91 |
| Black Crappie | 3-lbs., 5-ozs. | Chris Williams | 10/06/06 |
| Walleye | 8-lbs., 9-ozs. | Buddy Wade | 01/20/13 |
| Bluegill | 1-lb., 2-ozs. | Mrs. Pat Johnson | 06/03/79 |
| Yellow Perch | 1-lb., 8-ozs. | Jeff Howard | 02/02/90 |
| Shellcracker | 1-lb., 9.44-ozs. | Michael Madryga | 12/12/21 |
| Rainbow Trout | 9-lbs., 6-ozs. | Brooke Wheeler | 03/02/19 |
| Brown Trout | 6-lbs. | Tim Wyatt | 04/24/04 |
| Flathead Catfish | 51-lbs., 10-ozs. | Rodney Stephens | 08/14/16 |
| Channel Catfish | 22-lbs., 8-ozs. | Robert Hancock | 09/28/11 |
| Longnose Gar | 30-lbs., 13-ozs. | Gerald Kennedy | 09/04/13 |
| Common Carp | 19-lbs., 9.6-ozs. | Charlie White | 03/17/24 |
| Blue Catfish | 15-lbs., 8.8-ozs. | Matthew Haynes | 04/09/23 |
For Subscribers: Lanier Map-Of-The-Month Bass Articles
Anglers are learning to go to the ditches at Lake Lanier during the winter months for numbers of spotted bass, but you can also fish rocky points for kicker-size fish to feel the fight of a magnum Lanier spot. The ditch bite is in full swing this month, and you can catch a lot of…
Everyone has heard about the good winter ditch bite at Lake Lanier, but how do you locate those fish and catch them? James Harmon, known as “Lanier Jim,” or LJ for short, has spent years learning to read electronics and using them to catch Lanier bass, and his tips will help you. In 2012, I…
Big spotted bass are feeding from the surface down to 35 feet deep at Lake Lanier this month. You can catch October bass all month long on a variety of baits by fishing humps and points that have wood cover. Lake Lanier’s 40,000 acres on the upper Chattahoochee River northeast of Atlanta is ranked in…
Parker Guy teamed up with Tyler Campbell to represent Emmanuel College in the Georgia Bass Nation state championship that was held on Lake Lanier Oct. 8. They won with five bass weighing 17.58 pounds and had big fish with a 4.49-lb. spotted bass. Their weight beat out 17 other college teams, and the win earned them…
Lake Lanier is famous for its big spotted bass, and in August you can catch them from top to bottom on points, roadbeds and humps near deep water. They may be chasing bait on top, suspended in the water column or on the bottom, but fishing the right places with the right baits will put…