The weather has been so nice I decided I wanted to get out again even though I wasn't expecting to catch much given the prime and recent fishing being reported. My best chances would be up the lake but I didn't have any gas and I wasn't planning on hiking up that far even after I did fill up. I fished from 8:30 to 1:00 on the South side from Big Creek up to BB. For the day I landed one 8 lb Striper and lost one in FBB as I was headed back to the dock. That last fish was most likely a big fish. It hit a large spoon, 12 colors out, after I had marked two fish at 40 ft.
Temps were hot all over the lake. I marked 70 when I left the dock early but the water quickly jumped to 71-73 all across the lake. I actually marked some fish shallow and early in the back of FB by the 7 marker but couldn't get them to bite. Not a lot; maybe 1-3 at a time for 10 minutes. Prime was set for high noon and the barometer was rising the whole time so there wasn't much expected till the PM. I came across some fish breaking just after noon in front of AL over the channel but they were moving fast and gone before I ever got close. A lot came up though; the most I've seen since last year, and they were Stripers.
Caught my lone fish around 12:30 while trolling from VT up to FC. Thought about heading up FC but didn't and that might have been a mistake. I later heard someone caught 7-8 fish up the river, about half way, from FCB to FCC. Headed in around 1:00 when I got that big bite in front of the NWZ at AL. All in all it was about what I expected given the temps on the water and the time of year.
In summary, it looks like fish are moving back down the lake already. The temps are about equal up the lake as I was getting reports of the water temps up at GM to be the same as I was reading; 73-75 by mid day. I consistently marked fish deep, in the 40-60 foot range out over the channel, and I'm thinking fish are on the move aleady. With the high humidity we've been having, I don't think the lake is loosing much at night temperature wise which means it should warm up faster than it has these past two years. This rise could also be attributed to the fact that they're letting water out daily now and with all the water flowing (something they weren't doing these past two years either) the south side of the lake is getting all that warm water from up north a lot sooner rather than later in June like it's been. I plan on hitting the lake again next week at least once to closely monitor the channel and see if I note more fish on the move. My guess is the week of my birthday could be killer for fishing the southside but a lot will depend on the temps and whether they're still letting out daily or not.
Took the boat out for a short day trip to see what was going on up the lake. I got to the dock around 7:30 and was fishing by 8:30 up around Gainesville Marina. I spent most of the day looking and didn't see much. I'm not sure if I missed all the surface activity but I did hear of a few people catching fish earlier in the morning. I wasn't so lucky. Late morning I did get over some fish and was able to boat one small Striper along with a spotted bass. These fish were all hugging a 15-25 ft bottom and didn't seem to want to turn "on". I caught my fish jigging swim baits and did have quite a few window shoppers so they were "coming up" but just not taking it. The water temp up in this area was over 70 and sometimes as high as 72. There was a slight wind and the prime for the day was around 11:00 but the BP stayed high and I would say that was the main reason they never really turned on for me. Later in the day I heard of some fish being caught between 3-5 and noted the BP was dropping for a few hours right at the same time.
On the SS below BB, the water was still high at 70 so the lake is definitely warming up. I'm guessing there are fish SS already but that no one is fishing for them so there isn't much of anything being reported on them. I'll be heading out 1-2 a week now trying to keep on top of the fish to be prepared for when the real downline trolling action starts. Won't be long now…
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…..