Lake Lanier Weekly Fishing Report, May 18 2024

Lake Lanier Weekly Fishing Report

May 18, 2024

Water Level: The lake level stands at .65 feet ABOVE full pool.

Water Temp: Temps are hovering in the low to mid 70s depending on the graph, location and day.

Water Clarity: The lake is clearing up with the main lake being clear and the rivers above hwy. 369 starting to look more like summer clarity than winter/early spring.

I have been on Lanier for 6 of the past 7 days. Compared to the first week of May, things have slowed down a little bit. However, there are still plenty of fish biting and many of them are moving into their summer haunts by the day.

What I found this week is not all of the fish are in the same part of the water column. There are fish that are positioned near the bottom, then there are some fish that have suspended out over brush. The fish that are over the brush are catchable with topwater and soft jerk baits. However, the fish on the bottom showed little interest in baits over their heads but they could be enticed with a Trixster Custom Baits Tamale if we decided to slow down and target them.

I am throwing two types of soft jerk baits: the Trixster Tricky Shad and the Lanier Baits Jerk Shad. Both of these baits have their own strengths and shine in their own light.

If I am throwing a pearl or chrome I will go with the Trixster. The chrome can be dynamite when the sun is out as it has a ton of flash and the pearl is a go to color under almost any conditions.

For the Jerk Shad, I typically throw the FZNH2O or the Blue Ghost. The FZNH2O is very versatile in its own right and the Blue Ghost seems to shine on cloudy overcast days.

My soft jerk bait set up varies slightly from what some of the others are using. Most notably, I do not run a swivel on mine. Simply, braid to leader to hook, nothing fancy about it. I don’t seem to get get a lot of line twist with the CAST Braid so I take advantage of having one less knot that can fail. It also helps save my rod tips from damage when the bait is reeled up too far by accident. If I need some added weight, I simply add a tungsten nail weigh into the nose of the bait. I insert it from the belly forward and allow enough room for the hook.

Speaking of hooks, I rig mine Texas style on a 4/0 or 5/0 Owner Offset Worm hook. Nothing crazy. If the fish are short striking the bait, I will attach a “stinger” treble hook to the worm hook.

For my retrieve, a steady retrieve with constant rod twitches is typically what is most effective. That being said, I do not think there is a wrong way to fish a soft jerk bait. There are just better ways. The key is finding out what the fish want on any given day. If retrieve A is not working, don’t be afraid to try retrieve B or even C.

Rod: St Croix Victory 7’1MF or 7’1 MHF

Reel: Shimano Stradic 3000

Line: 20LB CAST braid W/ 14lb Sunline Sniper Leader

As for locations, brush is and will be key moving forward. Look for brush in 15-25FOW now and move out a little deeper as the summer progresses and the water continues to warm. Brush will be key for the next 90 to 120 days on Lanier. If you don’t have a bunch marked, it is well worth an anglers time to spend a day graphing and finding brush. That one day spend graphing will pay huge dividends for the rest of the summer. I have a video on my Uscreen page that covers my entire system for finding brush. https://app.uscreen.tv/bullet/contents/videos/2305074/details

The daily videos I publish cover these techniques in greater detail and all other techniques that were effective over this past week. In these videos, I cover the conditions, part of the lake, and how I caught fish (or did not) for most days that I am on the water. All subscribers will have access to all historical videos as well (261 previous videos). You can sign up and view videos at https://jeffnail.uscreen.io

For the new few weeks, I have the following dates available: May 19, June 11-13, 15-17, 20, and 21. If you are interested in a trip, please reach out and I will get you on the calendar.

Jeff

770-715-9933

jeffnailfishing@gmail.com

jeffnail.uscreen.io

Jeffnailfishing.net

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