Lake Lanier is down 6.5 feet, and the lake is clear and 82 degrees…

Largemouth bass are suspended under docks and around the secondary points and creek ledges mid lake. The mouths of the lower lake creeks half way back is best. Use bright hot mustard DT6 crank baits, spinner baits, worms and jerk baits. Use the dark smoke red and green worms in the Zoom u tail style on a light Texas rig. The Texas rigged worm and a 3/16 ounce weight cast on and around the bank cover and around docks in the creeks will get strikes. The bass are shallow and feeding up lake with the fish very close to the banks and structure and use bright crank baits. The fish are right on the bank so casts should be very shallow. The #7 jointed perch Shad Rap will work but use a stop and go retrieve. Float a green Zoom trick worm in the backs of creeks and super shallow. Spend some time on the river from the mouth of Limestone Creek up to the and past the rowing area. The current is cooler on the river and the bass tend to hang right on the outside bends waiting for the food to come by. Fish the north end in Wahoo Creek just below the Wahoo Creek Bridge for a few small bass. Fish the deeper banks on both sides all the way to the Little River mouth. This area is a little deeper than the rest of the creeks and Bill Norman Middle N’s in the perch pattern caught a few small largemouth. Right in the mouth of Yellow Creek on the right side is an old road bed that runs out to the river. There are three docks there and they hold bass year round. Use these lures and crank baits in the backs of creeks up and down lake. Work the back of lower lake creeks around any marina. Zoom baby bass Super Flukes will fool a lot of fish all month. Skip them under docks and use a 4/0 Owner offset hook.
 
Spotted bass fishing has been steady. Some fish are still being caught off deep rocky points mid lake and on primary points and main lake humps. Most of the larger fish have migrated into their summer patterns and holding areas. The largest numbers of fish are concentrated around brush and on humps at 20 to 27 feet of water. Points in Two Mile Creek hold lots of old stumps and there are lots of brush piles in 17 to 29 feet of water. Docks in the back of Big Creek around the water intake to the back of the long cove have been good locations afternoons. The spotted bass are being caught on a Zoom Super Fluke with a 3/0 Offset Mustad hook in the white pearl or any shad color. This week we found spots, and some five to 15 fish in a bunch, chasing small bait fish in and around Bald Ridge Marina. We were in the backs of the marina in the shallow water that was only 10 to 28 feet deep. These wolf packs would chase only a 3/8 ounce all white Strike King spinner bait or a solid all chartreuse spinner bait. This spinner bait had even all solid chartreuse double willow leaf blades, head and skirts. The fish even ripped off the skirts on three baits. They would not chase a crank bait or even sniff a top water bait. We tried small Flukes and dipped the tail in chartreuse dye and the fish would take them on a ½ Mustad hook. We fished rocky points in the marina and caught a few fish on a Zoom finesse worm rigged on a 3/16 ounce sinker on Texas rig. Sand, watermelon, natural blue, smoke and purple, and smoke and blue colors were working too. Try the Lucky Craft Pointer 78 or 100 model and jerk the bait under water. The fish have been taking small top water baits, especially on overcast days, in the forms of a Pop r style baits and a Lucky Craft Sammy 100. Get a Rice from Bass Pro and it will take some bigger fish. Spots are hitting crank bait better and the DT6 is a good choice in several colors. The colors that are most reflective to imitate a shad or the herring forage seemed to be working the best.
 
Striper fishing is good. Both trolling and down lining live bait on down lines with live herring is going to be your top producer. Fish have been anywhere from 25 to 40 feet deep so fish your live bait a few feet above the depth of the fish you are marking using a 1 1/2 to 2 ounce lead sinker and approximately a 6 foot fluorocarbon leader. The bite is still pretty consistent throughout the day and the best times have been in the morning and the later part of the afternoon. This is when you really need to read that Lowrance and find the fish. Fish in the mouth of any creek. We see most anglers on the lake in the mouth of Flowery Branch Creek, Six Mile Creek and Big Creek. Watch for the afternoon storms rolling in too. Trolling is getting better and better every day. Use a single buck tail 1 ounce trolled on lead core line. Lake Lanier Fishing and Outdoors and The Dam Store has all the tackle and the knowledge so ask the professionals about these rigs and how to use them. A 6 inch curl tail trailer in chartreuse seems to be what the fish prefer this week. Trolling is a great way to locate fish. When you mark a good school, pull in the lines and drop your live bait to them.

Crappie fishing has been fair as the fish set up in summer locations. Bridges, lighted docks and lights with minnows for bait is the best combination. Both up lake and down lake fish are biting and the clearer the water, the deeper the fish. Fish down lake at 13 feet and up lake in the off colored water look from 5 to 8 feet both day and night.
 
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