Lake Lanier is down 5.3 feet, the creeks are slightly stained and the main lake is clear and 80 degrees...

Bass fishing has been fair early and late and night fishing is fair. Look for the early bite to be in major creeks on and around points with natural under water structure. These bass are not on the brush piles until early evening. Start the day with the Spittin Image in the shad pattern and use a Zara Spook in chrome. The all white Zoom trick with the tail dipped in a red dye works on the wood and around the docks as long as the sun has not hit the banks. After the sun is high, the bass move to the natural deep structure and the anglers that can fish to 17 feet will catch a few mid day fish. Be sure to make a lot of casts and cover a lot of water until the sun is up. Once the sun hits the water it’s not a bad idea to head up both rivers. The points right at Clarks Bridge are summer areas worth fishing any day. Fish crank baits of varying sizes and cast them downstream and pull them up with the current behind you. Lower lake creeks on outside creek bends are good with spinner baits and the Poes 300 bone crank bait. The fish down lake have been slow with the changing water levels for the last month, so stay north for the rest of the month. The docks behind the Keith’s Bridge access point are frequently fished by local anglers and there is some brush under and around the ones just north of the ramp. Use the Stanley spinner baits with double Colorado blades in copper and silver. The skirts should be white and chartreuse and make casts right to the wood and stumps in the middle creeks. Cast into the center of the creeks instead of on the bank. Limestone Creek and Wahoo creeks are and the water is a little cooler than the lower lake. Use the white skirts and a gold or silver blade on the Lunker Lure buzz bait and throw it right on the banks. The Culprit watermelon seed lizard on a Texas rig is fair after the morning action dies off. Be sure to any soft plastic bait as deep as 20 feet on the stumps and deep docks. A live lizard can get the attention of a hungry bass on a small #1 weedless hook. Down lake fishing has been slow, but top water is fair in the back of 2 Mile creek with a green trick worm or a white and silver Enticer buzz bait.

Spotted bass are at depths of 15 to 25 feet as the lake settles into the summer patterns. Zoom worms in natural blue and natural greens are good choices on the Texas rigged worm. Day fishing has been a little better early in the day and the anglers that fish in deep structure at 20 feet have been catching a few more fish. The middle of the down lake creeks are fair and standing timber and deep natural structure is holding most of these fish. We are seeing a lot of great fish suspended in and around 25 foot brush piles. It is not uncommon to see 30 fish around one area. Fish the reefs and markers around the Lake Lanier Islands on the main lake side. The water is cooler at 30+ feet and this means the fish are little more active. Down in front of the dam, fish the rocks with a Zoom Fat Albert green or white grub and 8 pound test Sufix Elite line on a spinning reel. Cast the bait to the rocks with long casts and swim the grub all the way down the rocks. Stay as close to the bottom as possible and “tick” the bottom. Live minnows are catching some deep fish on a drop sot rig in the deeper docks in the mouth of Young Deer Creek on the right side right across from the ramp. Use a live shiner instead of a plastic and drop the minnow to the bottom and get the line tight and hold on. Want to catch some more spots? Use live night crawlers on a drop shot too! Another technique overlooked by many anglers is trolling. Using the #5 and #7 silver black back Shad Raps and 8 pound line, trolling the main lake creeks mouths has been working. It’s a great way to read the lake bottom as trolling and watching the Lowrance will disclose a lot of great detail. Night crawlers on a jig head on docks and points are catching some spots during the day. Check our web site for the 50 bass fishing spots for $99.00 offer for anglers using G P S.

Stripers have headed to deep water as they set up soon to go to their summer homes. Look down lake on the main lake humps and the deep standing timber. Top water is about over. Most of the fish are half way into the creeks down lake like Big Creek; do not go to the backs of the creeks as the water is poor quality. A few fish are coming up very early each day on the main lake humps and reefs at 30 feet early each morning. Herring or jumbo minnows are fair but a secret bait is fresh bream. The secret bait right now is small fresh live bream. A striper will grab a bream over a herring right now. Be sure to get fresh bream on a hook and line. Down lines with a full 2 ounce weight and a small diameter leader can make this baits attractive to the striper. The heavy weight can get the bait down quickly to the fish ounce these fish show up on the Lowrance. A few anglers have been using down riggers and this technique can hold lures in the most effective strike zones for a great period of time. But this technique requires a lot of patience and it’s most important to be able to read the Lowrance depth finder. The deep standing timber in the lake will take the entire umbrella rig and pulling this bait at the right speeds can make or break this action. If the umbrella rig is ticking the trees, speed up and get the bait at least 80 feet behind the boat. Up in Wahoo Creek the umbrella rig is taking lots of small fish at the mouth of the creek in the big bay right off the river. All these are small 6 to 9 pound fish. Night fishing has been unpredictable so far and not many are out after dark. Use live bream and herring on the main lake humps right on the river.

Please participate in the 2007 Striper Survey: www.stripersurvey.com

Crappie fishing is good at night and live bait has been the best bet for a stringer of these fish. Use live minnows on the bridges all over the lake. Night fishing will improve as the lake is developing the thermocline. These fish and many of the other lakes game fish will become more predictable on their summer patterns. The fish are biting best all night and the angler that can spend the night on the lake will catch enough fish to have a fish fry. As the night progresses, the crappie are moving as shallow as 7 feet both up and down lake.