by Capt Clay Cunningham
The stripers on Lake Lanier have skipped spring and went straight to summer. The water temperature has already moved into the 70s. The stripes have already made the spawning run and grouped up to head south.
Concerning location, the bulk of the stripers will be relating to points most of the month of June. With each passing week, the fish will pull further and further off the points. During the latter part of June, if the weather continues to be hot, look for the stripers to leave the points for the open water. Either way, downlines will be the primary method to catch the stripers. The downline is more or less a Carolina rig with a live bait hook. Use a 1 1/2 ounce Capt. Mack swivel sinker, a 5 foot section of 15 pound Trilene 100 percent Flourocarbon and a Gamakatsu 1/0 or 2/0 Finesse Wide Gap hook. If the herring are smaller, use the 1/0 and if they are running larger, go to a 2/0. If any doubt, the smaller the hook the better to increase bites. These hooks are incredibly strong. The best rod and reel for this set up is a Penn Squall 20 Linecounter reel paired with a Shakespeare 7′ 6″ ML Striper rod. The light action of the striper rod will increase your bites and hook up ratio.
Lastly, be sure to keep a chrome Super Sook or similar topwater walking bait for any last topwater action you see especially early in the morning. Change the hooks to Gamakatsu Magic Eye Trebles to make sure they stay hooked. Factory hooks on baits tend to be on the fair side. An extra dollar or two in exchange of not losing the fish or a lifetime is a good investment.
See you on the water. Summer fishing on Lanier for stripers is good as it gets on Lanier.