Lake Lanier Weekly Report January 15th - 20th, 2023
Lake Lanier Weekly Report for 20 January 2023
Water Level: 0.97 feet below full pool
Water Temps: 48-52 with warmer pockets scattered around. (I saw 51 on Garmin and 55 on Lowrance the afternoon of Jan. 20th)
Water clarity has improved greatly over the past week. There is still some stained water in the backs of the South end creeks, but there is exponentially more fishable water than a week ago. Clarity can still vary greatly depending on where one is on the lake, particularly the further north you go.
Lanier still fished very good for January over the past week. I had some great days, but it did seem to slow down as the week progressed with today being my toughest day by far.
All of my clients this week wanted to work on the finesse swimbait bite, so my focus has been on the ditches with a spinning rod in my hand. The fish moved around from last week some with some of last weeks most productive ditches being this weeks least productive and vis versa. If there is one consistent thing about Lanier, it’s that the fish can often be inconsistent.
Again, I used a methodical approach where I did not run all over the lake, but picked an area of the lake and fished a bunch of ditches in that area. More time with my bait in the water and less time running from location to location. With that, unless I get bit quickly or see something of interest on my bow graphs, I keep easing around the ditch. Unless it’s a long or wide ditch, I won’t stay there longer than 10/15 min unless the fish tell me otherwise.
I focused on water that was less than 40 feet. This seemed to be more productive for me. The fish definitely seemed to be a little shallower this week compared to last.
Big fish: most of the 4+ lb fish that came in my boat this past week where solo fish. Meaning they were the only fish that were caught in that ditch. Additionally, if I was going to get bit in a location, it happened in the first couple casts. Often, on the first cast in an area.
I doubt it will come as a surprise to anyone who reads these reports weekly that the 2.8 Kietech on a 3/8 guppy head and a 3” Cast Fishing Co - USA Prodigy on a 3/8oz Queen tackle sonar head were the best producers day in and day out. For the Kietech, I threw electric shad and gizzard shad. For the Prodigy; Gypsy and Chartreuse Glow were the best producers. Honorable mentions this week include the Shaky head, 1/2oz war eagle spoon, and a vision 110 jerk bait which produced the big fish for a the day for a client earlier this week.
I’ve had some questions on why the different heads for the different swimbaits. For best results, they are not interchangeable. Each pairs up with the profile of the respective bait. The Prodigy is too slim for the guppy head and the Kietech is too soft for the hook keeper on the Queen head.
Speaking of reliability, I’d love to say how many fish can be caught on a single prodigy, but I can’t. I have never replaced one before I get hung up and break off. So for you guys who are short on space, definitely give those baits a look. 2 baits will last you all day in many cases.
Lastly, I have heard that Spot Choker has a chartreuse head that is coming out very soon and from the photos I received today, the spots seem to love it.
As always, if you have any questions, please let me know. I am more than happy to get them answered.
I have most of the first two weeks of February available and am booking into early March now. For January, the only dates I have left are 22, 23, 26 (AM only), and 28th.
Best of luck to all on the water this week!
Jeff
770-715-9933
Jeffnailfishing@gmail.com
#TritonBoats #advantageboatcenter #trixstercustombaits #LanierBaits #stcroixrods #castfishingco #gillfishing #Spotchoker #hammondsfishingcenter
