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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
Scott Barnes reports that is took 20.95 pounds to win the Ameris Bank Mortgage/Hammonds bass tournament over the weekend. The winners were Cole Cloud and Justin Padgett. It took 19.02 pounds to get in the money, and eight places were paid. Many teams fished from the mouths of the pockets to the very backs in shallow water. Moving baits that produced fish were Keitech swimbaits on 3/16-oz. heads and jerkbaits. The wind helped the bite. Also, several draggers caught good bags with a 1/4-oz. jig and a shaky head in the 10- to 15-foot range. Lots of male fish are up, and you have to weed through them to get a bigger bite. A few teams did sight fish and brought in 16 to 17 pounds of largemouth. Two bags had all largemouth by sight fishing. Overall the bass fishing is very good at Lake Lanier. The next Hammonds tournament…
Read MoreLake Lanier Articles
One of the keys to being a good fisherman is being observant. North Hall High School senior Charlie White was fishing for bass off his grandparent’s dock on Lake Lanier when he noticed a change. “My grandparents have one of those green lights in the water off their pier, and I noticed that the bass…
Brooks Anderson, of Marietta, caught a five-bass limit weighing 23-lbs., 3-ozs. on Saturday, Feb. 19 to win the Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Lanier. The tournament was the first event of the 2024 season for the BFL Bulldog Division. Anderson earned $4,584 for his victory. Anderson began his day…
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…
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has entered into partnership agreements with two Lake Lanier area counties that should improve maintenance and operation at several key parks on the lake. Tim Rainey, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Lake Lanier Project Manager, and Dawson County’s Director of Parks and Recreation, Matt Payne, recently co-signed a…
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
Georgia fishermen have a dilemma in May; there are just too many good lakes to fish right now. What makes one stand out? Consider the big spotted bass at Lake Lanier, where low water has reduced fishing pressure for a couple of years, and the spots are big, strong and feeding heavily. Lanier is a 40,000-acre Corps of Engineers lake that was filled in 1956.…
Yes, Lake Lanier is down to the lowest level in its 50-year history, more than 20 feet below full pool. But there is still water more than 100 feet deep in lots of places. The bad news for fisher- men is there are few ramps open, and it is very hard to find a place…
Georgia bass fishermen have a wonderful dilemma every March. There are so many good lakes for bass fishing this month that it is hard to choose which one is best. Lake Lanier has to be at the top of any list when considering where to go right now. Lanier is full of big spotted bass,…
The big spotted bass at Lake Lanier will be feeding a lot this month, getting ready for winter. They will be on predictable patterns that you can take advantage of and catch them. November is one of the best months to be on the lake, and several patterns will work. The arrival of blueback herring…
It would be hard to pick a bad lake to fish in April. This is one of the best months of the year. Though the angling choices are many this month, Lanier should be at the top of any bass fisherman’s list. Lanier has varied structure that is easy to fish in April, both largemouth and…