By Ryan Coleman
Good. Lake Lanier is up about a foot now and the surface temperatures are finally in the lower 60’s on the bottom end. A lot of the spotted bass are up bedding but there is still a ton of fish that have not moved up yet. Look for a big spawn in May
Fishing has been pretty good working windy points out on the main lake with white Mini-Me spinnerbaits with double white willow blades. This has been good on days where the wind blows or if we get a good cloud cover which seems to be about every day now.
There are also a good many fish up around the docks and can be caught skipping jigs or worms around them when the sun is out. Look for the shady places and just soak your bait as they have been slower to react this year. I have been using a ZOOM swamp crawler rigged on a 3/16oz jig head as well as a 3/8 brown or green jigs. These have been very consistent for me.
During the middle part of the day, I have been working off shore brush with jerkbaits and swimbaits for my big fish. A Megabass Vision 110 jerkbait in Pro Blue or a Bull Herring have been my choices. The big swimbait bite is just picking up for me and should only get better over the next few weeks.
Also look for the post spawn fish to start to hit the reef poles by the middle of May and that is a great time to fish Lanier. Work them with a topwater bait then slowly fish the shallowest part of the reef pole area with a small worm rigged on a SpotSticker 3/16 ounce jighead. It is deadly for big bass during May. Good luck out there.
Ryan Coleman
LanierSpots Pro Guide Service
770-356-4136