by Capt. Clay Cunningham
It is rapidly approaching the best time of the year to catch a trophy striper on Lake Lanier. The first full moon in February is the first indicator for the fish that the spring spawn is on its way. Combine the moon with the water temperature starting to rise and the big females will start looking for food. With the increase in metabolism, this gives anglers the best chance of all year to catch trophy fish on Lake Lanier. The lake record was just caught a few years ago and would not be surprised if the record is broken again this spring. Most of the fish over forty pounds are caught every year in early spring.
The best baits for the big stripers will be either large gizzard shad or blueback herring on freelines and planer boards. Most of us will be using a little heavier tackle than other times of the year. Spool up a Penn Squall 20LC Liner Counter reel with 20 pound Trilene Big Game Line on a 7ft medium action Shakespeare Striper Rod. Tie on a small 80 pound Spro swivel and a 7 foot section of 20 pound fluorocarbon leader and match the hook to the bait size not the size of fish you expect to catch. On the herring this is usually a 3/0 Gamakatsu Nautilus Light Circle hook. The large Gizzard shad takes a more complicated rigging and is best explained by the employees at your local bait shop.
It is not uncommon to see the big stripers chase the large gizzard shad totally out of the water. Watching a 40 pound fish chase a 2 pound bait is worth the price of admission. February is not a good month for numbers when it comes to stripers. Some days you will have good success casting bucktails to the banks in the back of the creeks but without a doubt February and March are the best months to catch a trophy here on Lanier. Hope to see you guys out on the water,
Lake Lanier Crappie: If you are looking for numbers of fish, crappie are the fish you are after here on Lanier. February and March are the most popular months of the year to go crappie fishing here on Lake Lanier. The crappie are some of the best table fare in the lake. The crappie will be stacked up under the deep water docks in large numbers. Therefore, when you catch one you will almost always catch more. It is not uncommon to catch 50 to a 100 crappie in a trip. The best bait will be a small 1/32 ounce crappie jig tipped with a Berkley Nibblet. With each passing week the crappie will get shallower and shallower. Once they move shallow, this is the best time of the year to take kids fishing.
We are a little ahead of ourselves but start preparing now and be ready to take the kids in early April. Best time of the year to get kids hooked on fishing. See you out there.
Captain Clay Cunningham
Catching Not Fishing Guide Service
770-630-2673
www.catchingnotfishing.com
catchingnotfishing@yahoo.com