Lake Lanier Fishing Report | August 23, 2014
Striper Fishing remains very strong and anglers are racking up some nice catches. The trolling bite has been excellent.The Captain Mack’s Chipmunk Jigs pulled on lead core line, or behind a downrigger are very productive right now. Tipping the jig with a live Herring as opposed to plastics, has been a big benefit in the past few days.
If you elect to pull the umbrella rig, which has also been very productive, fish the 4 arm 9 bait rig 150 to 180 feet behind the boat for the best results.
Live herring are producing some nice catches with some really big fish mixed in as a bonus. Fish the down lines anywhere from to 35 to 120 feet (no that’s not a typo) deep, depending on where you are marking the fish. Make sure that you take really good care of the live Herring; they are great bait when they are in good shape and not so beneficial when they are compromised. Keep the water in your tank cool (Around 70 degrees). An aquarium thermometer is an easy and inexpensive way to monitor the water temp in the tank. Adequate aeration is essential, and I really prefer to use pure oxygen to aerate the Herring, The Keep Alive Oxygen Systems are a very worthwhile investment and will allow you to increase the holding time for your bait and keep the bait decisively healthier.
If you are trying to catch a Spotted Bass, that should be easily accomplished. The deep water, main lake brush pile bite is a still a staple, but we have had some other patterns emerged in the past few days. There has been a pretty good top water bite and casting baits like the Zara Spook or Sammie Over the brush will catch some very nice Fish. In the last week, we are seeing more surfacing activity from the Spotted Bass, especially over open water areas. These fish are up and down very quickly, so you’ll need to be ready to cast quickly. Small compact lures that enable long casts, such as a Flex-it Spoon or Game Changers, would be good choices for the schoolers.
Crappie Fishing is also good; make the run to the upper part of either river for the best bite. Free Standing Brush piles are the best structure; trees that top out around 12 to 15 feet are holding the most fish. Brush under/around docks in the same depth range may also hold fish.
The after-hours bite has also been pretty good with anglers dunking live minnows under lights recording some nice catches. If you try this technique, dedicate a couple of your lines to fishing larger bait, perhaps a shiner or a blueback, in 20 to 30 feet. The lights attract all game fish, so the bigger baits fished deeper may draw the attention of Bass, Catfish or some small stripers as well.
Good fishing!!!
Capt. Mack
