Lake Lanier Striper Fishing is great!, Freshwater Fishing Report

Striper fishing is very good. Its February and the water temperature is in the low 50's. I have never seen the lake water this warm in February. I have also never seen this much bait. There is plenty of bait 30 to 50 feet down over the river and creek channels. The river channel from Gainesville Marina to the Hwy 60 bridge is a prime example of deep water bait. We are also seeing some bait starting to move into the back of the creeks over a 20 to 30 foot bottom. Ada and Gainesville Creek are good examples of what I will call shallow bait. This has been a very good week for free lines. Un weighted lines and lines with a single split shot fished 50 feet behind the boards and 100 feet behind the boat has out fished downrods. I have not had any luck graphing for groups of stripers. Instead I am pulling free lines and down rods where I find the highest concentrations of bait fish. Small baits continue to your best bet. If you can throw the net get some Threadfin Shad and use those. If not, take some medium shiners, very small trout and small herring. Try any creeks with a large concentration of bait. Focus on the creeks and river channel from Flat Creek north to Wahoo. Holly Park area, Ada and Gainesville creek are good starting places.

About the Author:

Captain's Bio: Capt. Mike fishes the lakes & river of North GA & Eastern and Middle TN. Mike was introduced to striper fishing by his grandfather when he was growing up on the Jersey coast in the 1970's. Work brought him to the ATL area in early 80's and when he found out there were stripers in the area lakes he was hooked all over again. It wasn't long before Mike moved to near Lake Lanier and purchased a boat and started striper fishing. He proceed to do very well in regional striper tournaments and decided to share his passion for striper with others. He and fellow North GA striper club member Capt. Ken joined forces and started "BIG FISH ON" Trophy Striper Guides in 2005.