Happy Mother's Day!! It’s finally warming up after a good stretch of cold fronts in April. We have a lot of fish spawning, and they are quick to bite as expected this time of year. Lake Lanier is currently at 1071.11’ MSL, 0.11’ above full pool. We are seeing surface temps rising fast upwards of 73-75 degrees in most areas.
Striper fishing is good and getting much better. The month of April had its ups and down with the steady rolling of cold fronts coming through. We would see a few days to consistent weather which yielded a pattern to fish. After the fronts it scatter the fish again. It’s a much different story now and we are seeing some very active fish. I’ve had some recent trips boat 20-40 fish of all species by lunch time.
Right now there is a lot of bait spawning on vertical hard surfaces such as bridge pilings, rocks, and breakers. The spawning bait is holding some good fish. Even if you don’t mark a good amount of predator fish on your sonar give the bait the 5-10 minute rule and deploy a few lines. You will be surprised at all the different species swiping away at these baits.
As far as tactics, they remain about the same as last month. Trolling live blueback herring on freelines and planners have been the main producers with some downlines coming into play when the sun gets high. The Stripers are still pretty scattered but are becoming easier to find better concentrations of them.
The pitch bait bite has been excellent for the Spotted Bass and Stripers on points and reef poles. It has been yielding a lot of action most days and has been a lot of fun keeping the kids busy. Lately the Stripers have been chewing great early in the morning until about 10am. After 10am I have been running n’ gunning the shallow points towards the end of the trips. You can really peel through some bait doing this so make sure you have plenty. We have also been throwing a combination of white or bone colored nose hooked flukes, topwater, jerk baits, and Magic swimmers at the same shallow points.
I have a little break this week and I’m heading down to Homosassa, FL to visit the fam. If you’re not in the books yet, I have 8 open days left in May! The weather is perfect and the fish are chewin’! Also, don't forget Father's Day is right around the corner. I have Gift Certificates available on the website. They make for a perfect gift! Give me a call 404-803-8608 and let’s get after em’. Hope to see you on the water soon.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Andrew Hammond