Got on the lake today with Doug Youngblood for a short 1/2 day trip. We left Shoal creek bright and early traveling all the way up to Wahoo and Little River. For the most part the day was a bust. We did manage a few spotted bass but based on the prime for the day, we should have done better. We fished from 7:30 to 1:00 and worked free lined Blue Backs, flukes and Sebiles. Though we managed a few Spotted Bass, overall the day was a disappointment. Water temps ranged from 71.5 up in Wahoo to 68 in the backs of some creeks on the south side. Given the prime for the day was at 11:00 in the morning, we should have fared better. I'm not sure we marked any Stripers but this time of year the fish are very shallow and hard to see anyway. Still, we should have at least "bumped" into a few given how many main creek points we fished.
In the coming weeks, the water temps should continue to rise and the fish should start funneling back down the lake. I expect the fishing to get better as spring moves to summer. May is just a few days away and I've always been able to successfully troll and jig during this month; I expect more of the same this year.
Just got word a monster Striper was caught Friday, March 27th just after the full moon. I don't know the angler but my hat is off to him; this is about as close to the lake record that you can get without breaking it. This fish tipped the scales at 43 lbs and measured out at 44 inches.
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- Giant Striped Bass 44 Inches Long
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- Giant Striped Bass 43 lbs
There have been some big fish caught in the spring over the years and many people believe that if a lake record is to be caught on Lanier, this is the time of year it will happen. After doing a little math, I concur. Lets use this chart for reference.
Striper Size Chart
Now lets compare some fish that have been caught over the years with this chart. First, lets list some fish that have been caught in the "spring" just prior to their spawning run.
1) Friday, March 27th 2009. A Striper measuring 44 inches tipped the scales at 43 lbs. That's 4 lbs OVER the "max" according the chart above.
2) Rick landed a fish back on March 15th 2009 that measured out at 39 inches and 31 lbs (maybe 32 lbs). Again, that's 3.8-4.8 lbs OVER the "max" listed on this chart.
3) Last year on April 12th 2008 Rick landed another big fish that wieighed in at 32 lbs and measured out at 40" long. This fish was 2.5 lbs OVER the "max" listed on the chart.
4) On April 15th 2008, Shane Watson recorded a fish landed that weighed in at 35 lbs and was 42" long. This fish was 1.5 lbs OVER the "max".
Clearly big fish caught in the spring seem to be bigger. All four of the above fish were caught just prior to their spring spawn run; all weighed in above the "max" for their lengths according to the chart above.
Now what about summer time fish? This is when I've boated some big fish. The local biologists claim Striped Bass tend to loose weight during the summer months. Lets see what the data says. Here are some numbers from the last two years.
1) July 29th, 2008. We boated a fish that measured out to be 39" and weighed 28 lbs. According to the scale, this is .8 of a lb OVER the "max".
2) August 13th, 2008. Jonathan jigged his 31 lb'er that measured out to be 42" long. That's 2.5 lbs UNDER the "max" listed on the chart.
3) August 6th, 2007. Jonathan boats his 26 lb'er that measured out to be 38" long. That's .5 lb's OVER the "max" listed on the chart.
4) August 3rd, 2007. Jonathan boats his 21 lb'er that measures out to be 37" long. That's right in the middle, about 2.5 lbs UNDER the max on the chart; just .3 lbs over the average (20.7).
5) August 14th, 2006. Jonathan boats his first "mountable" Striper. At 16.5 lbs and 35" long, it comes in just UNDER average. The chart says 15.5 lbs minimum – 18 lbs average for this length.
6) August 29th, 2006. I boat my 33 lb'er which measures out to be 42" long. It's .5 lbs UNDER the "max" listed on the chart.
7) August 29th, 2006. I boated my monster 42 lb'er which measured out to be 46". This fish was 2 lbs UNDER the "max" listed on the chart.
As a numbers guy, I wouldn't declare this data as showing anything significant. Clearly we'd need a lot more fish caught to establish any clear "weight to length" seasonal pattern. That being said, it does appear that fish caught in the spring are "over" sized or heavy, which only stands to reason given the circumstances this time of year. As summer sets in, the weight seems to drop off these big fish and by the middle of August, it looks as though the big fish we're catching are well within the weights listed on the above chart. Using these numbers, I can now extrapolate that my big fish, caught at the end of August in 2006, would have weighed over 46 lbs if caught in March of April since the "max" weight for this length is listed at 44 lbs. The weights of all the fish caught in the spring have been way over the "max" so it only stands to reason my 46" easily could have been 4 lbs over if not 5 or 6. Having noted this "trend", I think I now have a justifiable reason why I need to spend more time on the lake in the spring. Now lets see if I can convince the Wife using this logic…..
The heavy rain we've been enjoying here in Georgia is filling up Lake Lanier. We just breached 1059 and I'm pretty sure we'll break 1060 in the next day or two. We haven't had this much water in almost 2 years so it appears we're headed in the right direction water wise. Unfortunately, all this rain will make the fishing tough for a short while. We were just getting into a good solid night bite pattern. Though we haven't had any "killer" nights on the lake, we have managed a consistent bite pattern with some decent sized fish being landed. I expect this pattern to pick up in the next week again and last through mid April. But at some point real soon these fish will get into their spring run and when this happens, they seem to disappear for a few weeks. We usually start catching them in May again and then the summer pattern starts to set up. Can't wait!
Winter is just about over. Look for some fishing reports to be posted as I make it out of the house and back to the water in the coming weeks. I should be hitting the river and the lake starting in March, 2009. For now, the best place to find a good fishing report on Lanier would be on Doug Youngblood's site. He posts reports on both Crappie and Stripers during the winter and gets out as much as any other guide if not more.