“The Southern Fishing Report” by Ken Sturdivant
106 Hickory Ridge
Cumming Georgia 30040
770 889 2654
www.havefunfishing.com
February 12, 2010
LAKE LANIER IS 1.3 FEET OVER FULL AND CREEKS ARE VERY STAINED AND THE MAIN LAKE IS CLEAR AND 43 DEGREES.
Bass fishing has been slow and there are hardly any anglers on the lake. If you plan to go, stick with main lake stuff like points, main lake humps and ditches close deep water. Avoid the backs of any creeks with the stained cold water. There are tons of shad dying and the spots are gouging themselves on these easy meals. Areas where there are brush piles and bait in about 25 to 40 feet of water would also be good places to start. Occasionally, when the warm weather pops out you can catch some spotted bass moving up into areas of warming water, such as areas out of the wind and where they get the most sunlight. Fish deep brush piles and the fish are close to brush and they are swimming around the brush piles lake wide. The mouth of Young Deer Creek and the mouth of Shoal Creek are good areas with clear water. The bass move around these deep water areas looking for food. Bass can be caught later in the day on jigging spoons with a small profile and a slow flutter. Use a Flex-It or a small Silver Buddy/Cicada type bait no bigger than ¼ to 1/2 ounce sizes in a white or silver color on a sunny day and a gold or solid white on a cloudier day. On sunnier days as things warm up bass may move up shallow to deep rocky banks out of the wind. Use a suspending jerk baits in a silver and blue or an orange and copper color. Use a Zoom finesse worm in green pumpkin and natural blue colors. Rig the worm on a 3/16 ounce spot sticker and a spinning reel. Jigs are winter favorites and the small jig like the 3/16 ounce Strike King Bitsy bug with a small Yamamoto trailer in the twin tail style can work all day. Use black and blue, brown or green and brown colors. Use Zoom’s Super Chunk Jr. as an additional trailer style and see which one the bass like. The spots are slow on Lanier right now so try to slow down and focus on areas that will warm the quickest, such as rock and areas out of the wind with stagnant water.
This Lake Lanier Striper report is from Captain Ken West and Captain Mike Maddalena of Big Fish On! Guide Service, 404-561-2564. http://www.bigfishonguide.com/" href="http://www.bigfishonguide.com/">http://www.bigfishonguide.com/" color="black">http://www.bigfishonguide.com/" style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none">www.bigfishonguide.com
Not much has changed this past week. High winds, rain and cold temperatures continues. The lake is at full pool, the creeks and rivers are stained and 41 degrees in the morning warming to as high as 45 in the afternoon. We are experiencing a winter threadfin shad kill due to the cold temperatures. Consequently, the birds are staying busy picking up the dying shad and they no longer have to rely on the stripers to push the bait to the surface. This makes the birds less reliable as "fish finders". If you see working birds, check the area with your electronics before committing to pulling bait. Finding the fish continues to be the challenge. Overall the fishing is spotty. The fish are scattered lake wide. Your best bet remains the mid to south end creeks from Browns Bridge south to Shoal creek. Herring, trout and small shiners on free lines and planner boards are working. Umbrella rigs are the go to method if you are marking fish and can not make them bite. A few fish have been caught casting Mack Farr's bucktail jigs on flats and points. If the temperature ever warms and the rain storms let up, the back of the creeks will warm up first and the bait and the fish will move in almost overnight. When this happens the fishing will go from fair to great! We will keep you posted on the conditions. The new Lowrance Structure Scan is a very helpful tool for finding the fish and bait. If you haven't had a chance to see the Lowrance LSS-1 Structure Scan/Down Scan technology in action, you need to.
The new Lowrance Structure Scan is a very helpful tool for finding the fish and bait. If you haven't had a chance to see the Lowrance LSS-1 Structure Scan/Down Scan technology in action, you need to.