LAKE LANIER IS DOWN 8.22 FEET, THE CREEKS ARE SLIGHTLY STAINED AND THE MAIN LAKE IS CLEAR & 57 DEGREES

Bass have moved off the banks with the cold weather but there will be a few bass that can be coaxed into soft strikes. This is the time to pull out the jigs and spoons. The bass will be right on and in the cover and depths are from 7 to 17 feet deep. The primary structure is brush piles on and around docks. Pick the upper end of the lake for black bass and find any warmer waters and use the spoons on creek channels and then a jig in all brown.

Scent is a good way to get a few bites and Jack’s Juice in garlic is the best choice. Zoom green pumpkin u tail worms on a Texas rig is the other bait. Use a 3/16 ounce slip sinker and see how slowly you can fish this bait. Pick the upper lake creeks and even go to the backs of the creek afternoons for warmer water.

Crank baits will not work until later in the day. The point’s right in the mouth of Thompson Creek and Taylor Creek are holding bass. Stay 60 feet out off these main river points with crank baits and spoons. Try a small 200 series root beer Bandit on 10 pound test and make sure to cast the baits super shallow and dig up the bottom on the initial cast.

With the turnover bass scattered, do not spend anytime in one location and range all day. Just pick any place and any bait. All the bass are very scattered and there is not any type of structure that seems to be prevailing. Bass will move shallow with any overcast or foggy conditions and they will be roaming looking for food. With the stable warm weather, bank cover out to 14 feet deep will be good depths for the fish.

Slow rolling a Leverage spinner bait in the 3/8 ounce size with silver and gold blades in either the willow leaf or Colorado combinations has been fair. It’s important to slow roll these baits on and over points. Later each day up river, use the chartreuse and white Bill Norman crank baits or the chrome and blue combination Shad Rap crank bait. Jigs almost always work but fish then very slowly over the heavy structure. The 1/2 ounce all black Enticer jig will be a good choice with a matching pork trailer by Uncle Josh. Also work these lures in the same location for a few casts and this can make the better fish strike the lures.

Spotted bass fishing is good and these fish are feeding and very fat. Spots like deep water and 30 to 45 feet depths are the key areas for the bigger fish. Pick the mouth of any lower lake major creek like right out on front of Vann’s Tavern ramp and run the Lowrance on and over the points and pockets close by. Follow the depths out and the fish will start to show up at 20+ feet.

Bigger spotted bass can be very finicky so plan to fish deeper. All the fish are deep to at least 25 feet and any main lake point can be a hot spot. At main lake marker #26 in the mouth of Flat Creek ride out off the point with the reef marker and watch the sonar. The fish are there and they can bite all day. Fish all the points you can with several baits. There are a few small fish a little shallower but they strike baits so lightly, unless you have a soft tip rod and light 6 pound test, you will not feel the strikes. All they seem to bite is a Zoom finesse worm in natural blue or Limeaide. The best fish start at the 25 foot range. Spoons, Spot Sticker 3/16 ounce plain heads with a green worm and even creepy crawlers can work from 20 out to 40 feet deep.

Go into Balus Creek and stop on the very first point on the right and start fishing all the docks on the right. Get next to the docks and work worms and jigs as close to the docks as possible. The lake came up 2 feet and the fish relocated to some of these deeper docks. Drop shot rigs with small hooks and small finesse style baits or even the small Basstrix baits will work and they seem to be producing a little better than a Texas rig. Sand worms, natural blue and cinnamon green pig and jigs or creepy crawlers are the baits of choice. Be sure to drop a ½ and 5/8 ounce white ounce Flex It spoons on the deeper channel right out in front of the Balus Creek docks. Look across the bay and you will see a large white houseboat in the cove straight across from the ramp. The house boat has a palm tree painted on the side. Fish that dock, the channel in front and the three small docks just up from the houseboat. same locations in the little cove.

Striper fishing is fair and the fish have been moving around all day. The trolling bite is fair but the best bet is live bait as this cold weather sets. Look on and close to the river channel. You can troll until you can find the stripers. Troll the one ounce chipmunk jigs in white or white Mylar with chartreuse trailers. Troll these baits on mono 80 feet back on 14 pound test line and watch your Lowrance. Do not limit yourself to specific depth range. Flowery Branch Creek in the back just before it gets narrow and Orr Creek right in the center of the creek and the surrounding coves have schools of fish. The birds are there working too. Troll until you locate fish and adjust your depth as needed based on what the sonar shows. You might as well troll because you will need to cover a lot of water. Concentrate your search for the fish over the river channel and in the mouth of any creek. The fish may move shallow on major feeding times but they will return to the deep water. Use a down rod, two ounce sinkers and remember to take some shiners as well as some blues. Typical for this time of year, the fish are inconsistent and can be found in a huge variety of depths, so be versatile and ready to fish from the surface down to 40 or 50 feet. Up lake at River Forks Park up to markers 42 and 43 are good areas to troll and pull trout and herring. Plane boards and flat lines are all working and the best bite is from 8am until 11am. Watch the birds and they will get you close to the bait schools and the stripers will be close by.

Searching for the singles is your best bet and the surface activity has been slow all week. We are getting a few birds on the lake to help us out so keep an eye on the gulls. Downsize your baits and you will generate more strikes. Cast small buck tails in smaller sizes when you are trying to downsize, fish the jig without a trailer. Better yet, trim the hair flush with the bottom of the hook to give it a smaller profile and eighth to half ounce, white with small or no trailers, small top waters, or a rooster tail or similar in line spinners. The float and minnow rig that is so effective in the spring will also work now, especially if the fish are on the banks. A medium minnow will do well on the float rig. Pull a free line or balloon rig while you are casting but get the baits out at least 120 feet. Small bait on light line will help. Down rods will work on the deep fish as well, if you can stay on top of them. Downsizing will be an advantage here as well. The bomber bite has been inconsistent, but is still worth a try.

Crappie fishing is fair but is going down hill after the recent rains. We had 5 inches in a week in this area and down lake fish half way back in the creek and use bright jigs. Live bait is slow. All the fish seem to be at 18 feet in these areas.

Lake Sidney Lanier ramp calculator: http://lanier.sam.usace.army.mil/BoatRampElevations.htm once on the spread sheet, at the word HERE blank that word out and then add the current lake level for that day. Today's elevation is 1061.83. Hit enter and the spread sheet will automatically calculate the end of the ramps for the entire lake. Many thanks to Mark Williams for this information.