Since my last post, things have really turned "on" up at Lanier. The Striped Bass fishing has been off the charts! Rick and I scored over 20 fish last Thursday with the big fish of the trip tipping the scales just over 20 lbs. Friday I was out by myself and even though I didn't mark a lot of fish, I was able to boat 9-10 via the troll and jig. The surface temps are still low considering we're in the middle of August but the thermocline appears to be in place and the fish are following the summertime pattern for sure.
After reviewing the charts for this week, it was pretty obvious there was going to be a "middle of the day" feed and sure enough, I was dead on. I caught over 20 today during a 4 hour time period and though I didn't boat any monsters, I did see a ton of fish. Just check out following screen shots from some video I took.
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- When you see Stripers this thick on the screen, it's not a matter of "if" they'll bite but rather "how many can I catch"!!
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- I boated over 20 fish and by the end of the day, I was pretty much exhausted!
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- These 8-10 lb fish are super strong and a blast to catch on spinning tackle!
For now on I expect most every trip will be productive. Fish are all over the lake and as the supply of bait pods dwindle, the ferocity of the "bite" will only increase. For the next 4-6 weeks, it should be the same pattern of trolling till you find them; then either keep trolling or jigging to boat fish. An average trip should yield 10+ fish; really good days will be 20+ or more and I expect several exceptional days (30+ fish) before it's over.
There is some hurricane activity brewing up in the Atlantic Ocean which I hope mostly misses us. Last year a couple of storms rolled over Atlanta and had a profound impact on Lanier. True we need the rain but all that wind plays havoc with the thermocline. Hopefully we don't get a "season interrupted" like last year….
Anyone who's been wanting to go on a trip I suggest you drop me a line so we can get it set up; the bite won't get any better!
C.J.
Jonathan and I hit the lake this afternoon for a quick trip. I figured we'd be able to catch a few fish between 2-5 PM and I was right. The prime was at 3:00 and though it was a Friday afternoon, I thought we'd manage the boat traffic Ok and it turned out to be a good bet.
We got our first fish of the day about 4 minutes after the lines got wet! Turned out to be the "big" fish of the day measuring a solid 16 lbs on the Chatillon scale!
The rest of the day produced fish both trolled and jigged. Jonathan has bested me lately while jigging. Not sure what he's doing but he keeps getting the fish to bite! Fortunately he goes back to school next week so he won't be able to show me up much longer!
Thursday, Bori and Jill hit the ocean for some summertime Coho Trolling. Now I have to say, based on what Bori is wearing, I find it hard to believe it's "summertime" up in Oregon but I guess he is a little north of us here in Georgia…
Not surprisingly, Rick and I decided to hit Lanier for some summertime Striper Trolling!! Check out these photo's proving once again that the "nut" doesn't fall far from the "tree"…
Rick and I had a decent Thursday afternoon landing over 15 fish in about 6 hours. We could have caught more but I was doing a lot of "experimenting" which basically means "not catching fish". I like to do this when we get on a consistent pattern that's working; use one rod to get the bite and the other to try things you thought might work but need to know the fish are biting to test your theory. Well, I got to test a lot of "theories" Thursday afternoon and for the most part, none of them panned out. Fortunately I was able to do well jigging and boated a couple including this solid 12 lb'er.
The good news is the fish are starting to get out over the main channel which means the trolling bite is on! Rick and I were able to get "in the zone" which means we were able to get bit on most every pass even though we weren't seeing many fish on the screen. And when these fish hit, they would take off ripping the leadcore off our spools causing my Diawa's to "scream"! These fish were biting shallow, right at the thermocline, and would make a mad dash for the trees down deep once hooked. Fortunately we didn't loose any to the timber though the big fish of the day came close to getting us snagged. Here's Rick with the "catch of the day" for this trip; a hefty 16 lb'er.
By dinner time we had enough and called it a day. This trip was good for numbers and all signs are pointing to it getting even better. The key "changes" happening right now include the following:
1) The massive quantity of bait we've been seeing for the past month is finally getting well above the thermocline. It's also grouping up so there aren't so many schools scattered all over the water column. This means it will become a lot more work for the Stripers to feed. Indirectly, this helps my type of fishing; trolling and jigging. As the bait moves up above the thermocline, the Stripers are a lot more willing to feed on my artificials that I can present "below" the thermocline. For the past two months, I've been pulling lures through thousands – I mean MILLIONS – of tiny bait fish (which, for some reason, have been overly abundant this summer). This supply of bait has made it so much tougher for anyone fishing lures (…like me…). The end result has been a slower than normal May, June and July; the last two years the bait has all but dried up by July making the artificial lure action a lot more productive compared to this year. Finally I'm seeing some signs of the bait not being so overly abundant which again, will allow us to get more bites so this will improve the action for sure.
2) The surface temps are finally breaching 85 degrees. During the last few years, I've learned the best summertime action seems to happen once the surface temps get over 85. I don't know for sure but it just seems the thermocline really sets up when the temps are at 86-87 and this "ceiling" over the Stripers makes it easier to figure out the "pattern" they're on. This is typically from August through September and into October. Last year (2008) we got ripped off because of Hurricanes which hit us in mid September. They caused the thermocline to scramble and break up and though the fishing was still Ok for the later half of September, it wasn't nearly as good as it was in 2006 or 2007. Based on the lack of "hurricanes" we've had come our way thus far in 2009, I'm expecting the summer pattern to last through September and carry into October.
3) The fish are finally moving to the main channel and deep water. To me, this is the final ingredient needed to get the "summer time bite" into full swing! Once I start seeing fish out in the this deep water, I'll start catching them there consistently. This means more fish but more importantly, more BIG fish! Tuesday was the first day I marked fish in this deep water and sure enough, I was able to catch some via the deep troll and while down-line jigging. Today was more of the same and it will only get better.
Lastly, the summertime "schools" of Stripers will soon be filling my fish finders screens. Once all the fish are forced to the Southside of the lake, into the deep water and contained in a limited amout of water that has a very distinct ceiling over it, the fishing will get as easy as you'll ever see on Lanier. Don't get me wrong; it's still quite a challenge to boat these fish but the limited amount of water to search makes your effort that much more productive and why I love the summer time on Lanier!
Jonathan and I decided to take Bella to the lake today and it was a blast!! Here she is sporting her new "life jacket".
Bella got a new "life jacket"
What's great about this new vest is that it's got a handle on the back that makes moving Bella around a breeze….
The new life jacket Bella wears is great for moving her around....
Well, the day started late due to a "rain delay" and with the strong winds, I wasn't expecting too much all things considered. Funny how these kind of days usually turn out to be the best! Before we got out of the "no wake" zone of Aqualand, we had our first bite. Jonathan promptly landed this healthy Spotted Bass caught on the troll.
Bella checks out Jonathan's first catch of the day.
Because the weather was "iffy", I decided to start by getting gas. This took a little time and during this break, the rains started in again… After another 20 minute delay, I thought I saw a break in the clouds up lake and decided to make the trip. This turned out to be a smart move with fish all over the water column biting everything we used. The troll bite was effective today with 4-5 landed via leadcore. Here is Jonathan getting a good workout on a nice Lake Lanier Striper.
Jonathan did a lot of this today and he's definitely tired this evening...
Once we got over fish, it took a little time for Jonathan to "remember" how to jig but I guess it's just like riding a bike. He ended up boating several as did Dad. Here I am sporting a nice Lanier Striper while Jonathan battles another one on the swimboard.
Dad showing off his catch with Jonathan fighting a fish on the swimboard!
Jonathan landed fish every which way and this year I'm working at getting him to handle them more. This will really help when the bite gets fast and furious. And he's gotten so much bigger he's barely able to fit under the top on the boat anymore. And of course Bella had to inspect the fish we caught. Usually they'd get a lick or two and she seemed to approve.
Jonathan holds his fish for the camera as Bella inspects.
This Striped Bass was actually about as heavy as Bella!
Bella checks out Jonathan's fish
After reeling in a bunch of fish, we decided to take a swim break. Bella is in training and one of the ways she likes to work out is to pull Jonathan around the lake. She doesn't "tread" a lot of water but she'll go and go and go….
Bella likes to pull Jonathan around in the lake
She ended up dragging Jonathan to shore where the two of them walked around looking for "treasure". When they came back aboard, Jonathan brought his find of the day – a chicken wing bone! Bella thought this was a sure prize too but I convinced him (and her) it had to go back to land.
Jonathan and Bella go treasure hunting
All in all, we did quite well considering the day started miserably. Even after the rain passed, the wind was relentless. It was blowing all day around 12-18 mph and it made fishing tough. I wasn't able to stay over them long at all and with all the trees around, it was amazing we boated as many as we did. Not sure if we got 10 or a 11 but it really doesn't matter. The big fish was 11-12 lbs and they were caught trolling and jigging. The surface temps were only 83 so the lake still has some heating up to do before the fishing peaks. And the fish are still scattered down lake but again, I expect that will be changing shortly. The good news is that I'm catching fish in 80-100 plus feet of water and that means they're moving deep. This is my kind of fishing!!!
Look for more of the same the next two months and at this point it's not a question "if" we'll catch them; it's more a question of "how big" are they gonna be!
Oh, and I want to Thank Rick for "pulling through" again. Keeping with tradition, the Stripers decided to bite as soon as he left to visit his Dad!! No bull, this is the third year in a row that we've had this happen. He usually goes to visit his Dad around the end of July and when he's gone it's like magic!! All the fish seem to just appear and they're aggressive too! I'm thinking when the fishing gets bad late in the year, maybe I'll pay for him to go make another trip to see good ole Bori and Jill….
Capt. J.