Lake Lanier Fishing Report May 13th - 19th, 2023
Lake Lanier Weekly Report
19 May 2023
Water Level: 1.27 feet BELOW full pool.
Water Temp: As of Thursday, morning water temperatures were 71 on Garmin and 74 in the mouth of Young Deer. I saw temps as high as 77 on Garmin and 80 on Lowrance up the Chestatee on Wednesday. Hopefully this current cooldown will slow the spiking water temps. I am not ready to break out the spy baits quite yet.
Water Clarity: As has been the case for the past few weeks, the water is clear on the main lake with increasing stain as you go back in the major creeks and up the rivers. There is some stained water in shallow pockets on the main lake/ mouths of major creeks from the carp spawning and wind/ boat traffic.
I was on the water 7 of the last 7 days. I had a couple of really good days, and I had some days that were OK at best. The herring spawn bite I have been on is sputtering out. I checked some bridge pilings on Wednesday and there was not a herring to be found on the ones that had been previously loaded. There were still some herring running marina walls over the past week but not as many as last week. North of Browns Bridge was the most productive for me this week, but that could change any day on the south end.
There were two new baits to enter the baits for the week: the CAST 20g OG in Blue Back Herring and the Trixster Little Round Wiggler. The retrieve for the OG was a little different than what has worked earlier this year. My client slowed down the retrieve slightly from my standard retrieve and that was the ticket on that day. It did not slow it down substantially, but he was not burning the reel as fast as he could. This led to a little more subtle presentation which the fish really seemed to want that day. The strikes were not explosive. Often, I would not even hear the strike in the front of the boat. The lesson to be learned here is don’t be afraid to adjust retrieve speeds over the course of the day. The location for the OG bite was the flat clay/ rocky points. If we did not see bottom, we did not get bit on that day.
I used the Little Round Wiggler in Sweet Candy and Sweet Baby Candy on chunky rock points for great numbers one day. I found fish on main creek/ main lake points with lots of rock that was about softball sized. The key depth for bites was 8-15FOW. I drug the worm over rock and the bites would come when I would pop it free from rocks. Twice, the fish was on the worm before I could get the slack out from popping it free. I fished this worm on a 3/16oz Davis HBT shaky head, 7lb Sunline leader, CAST 12lb braid on a 7’ St. Croix MF Legend Extreme spinning rod.
The other two baits that produced well this week are the Reactions Innovations Vixen in pearl and a 3/8oz Pearl with silver blade SpotChoker. The Vixen triggered bites on the shallow points as well as over some brush in 15-25FOW. As we move into June, this bite on this bait should only continue to improve. I used the SpotChoker when I knew fish were in an area, but they would not come up. I tipped it with a 2.8 Kietech in natural colors or white. I would slow roll this bait in the bottom 1/3rd of the water column. For areas, I targeted the draws that lead up to blow throughs, the deeper water around the shallow points, and bridge pilings. The SpotChoker was probably the most consistent bait this week. It produced some fish almost every day.
For May, I only have the 22nd available. For June, I have the 3rd and 4th, 12-15, 17-30th. I am only running ½ day trips on the weekends. Additionally, if you prefer an afternoon to dark trip, that is available as well. Please reach out if you are interested in getting out on the water.
Daily updates are available at: www.Jeffnail.uscreen.io
Jeff
770-715-9933
Jeffnailfishing@gmail.com
Jeffnailfishing.net
#hammondsfishingcenter #LanierBaits #TritonBoats #trixstercustombaits #stcroixrods #castfishingco #gillfishing #Spotchoker
