by Jim Farmer
Maybe the fishing patterns change from year to year but there’s one thing we can be sure of from year to year and that is that August is going to be hot here on Lake Lanier. Even an early morning run can be sweltering in the August heat, and if there is no breeze, fishing can be a miserable endeavor when stopping for an extended period of time. For me, fishing in August is all fast paced and just about all vertical. Whether it’s stripers or bass that I’m targeting, in August I’m generally fishing for them with vertical options. This is the time of year I move around a lot mainly out of the necessity of staying cool, but knowing that the stripers move around a lot this time of year, I figure we may run into each other.
Bass on the other hand are much easier to find if you know where to look. This time of year a lot of our bass are hanging around structure down in the 20-35 foot thermocline, so having knowledge of sunken brush piles or offshore structure and some good electronics to see the fish is the key to success to catching summer bass. Same goes for the stripers. This time of year the stripers are schooling in massive groups, and having good electronics to locate these schools in the deeper areas is going to be the key to success for summer stripers.
I like to mix it up on my fishing trips in August. I may target bass in the 20 to 35 foot range, then drift out deeper and run across some stripers and switch to targeting stripers in a moment’s notice. I may set out to idle around the deeper creek channels in search of striper schools and wind up spending the day with the drop shot for bass. If I’m heading out in the early morning hours, I’m generally going to be fishing some moving baits. By moving baits, I mean topwater baits and maybe a sub-surface swimbait. Believe it or not, you can catch some big ole spotted bass in August on topwater if you’re in the right place at the right time. Surfacing bass are few and far between in August, but if they can push a blueback up to the surface for a quick meal they won’t hesitate, even in the heat of the day. Mornings are the highest percentage for a topwater bite, and generally I approach structure and throw a topwater bait over the top of the structure just to see if there are any takers. My favorite topwater bait throughout the summer is my Emerald Popper. It’s a great topwater option on Lake Lanier from March through early November, and it is my favorite. If I don’t get any takers on the topwater, I may circle around and throw across the structure with a swimbait like a Sebile Magic Swimmer.
Sometimes the fish are holding tight on the structure and not interested in the moving baits, so I ease up closer to the brush pile or structure. When I start marking fish on the graph, I break out the drop shot rig and my favorite “Fruity Worm” from Lanier Baits, a tackle company located here on Lake Lanier. Keep in mind that Lanier is a very clear lake in the summer and using a lighter spinning gear with fluorocarbon line is important for success. The coolest part about using the drop shot technique is being able to see everything unfold in real time with some good electronics.
When drop shotting I don’t spend much time in one place. Either they are going to eat or they won’t, and it doesn’t take but a couple minutes to figure that out. If they are eating, I’ll stay until they quit, if not, I fire up the motor and head off to the next stop. I call it “turning on the AC” when I get the boat up on plane.
One thing I like to do on Lanier during the summer is fish during generation periods. You can just about bet that there is going to be a drop shot bite while the water is moving. I usually check the generation schedule before going out and I make it a point to drop shot during this period.
If I get bored with the drop shot or if the bite isn’t working out, I’ll shift my gears to stripers. I’ll usually look around the deeper part of the creek mouths where they meet the main lake or river channel and concentrate on depths from 50 to over 100 feet searching for striper schools. If I find a few stripers in a small area, I’ll usually stop and drop one of two things, either a Ben Parker Magnum spoon or a Capt. Mack bucktail with a soft paddle tail swimbait trailer on the bucktail. My favorite spoon color is called “Shattered Glass” and my favorite bucktail-paddletail combo color is white and chartreuse. Just keep in mind that you’ll want to use heavier gear for these summer stripers because some can get big, and also it is important to get the fish back in the water as quickly as possible. Using heavier gear shortens the fight time. Once the sun gets up high, the drop shot bite usually takes off and I’ll spend the remainder of my time either drop shotting bass on structure or targeting stripers in deeper water vertically spooning or power reeling bucktail jigs through the big schools.
There are also a few other very important things that I do in the August heat and that is keeping covered and keeping hydrated. I keep plenty of cold water in the boat because this heat can really drain it out of you. I also wear a buff, cover my arms with sleeves and wear a big hat to provide some shade. I make my stops short and I try to fish around the hottest part of the day if possible.
August can yield some great fish on Lake Lanier if you can keep moving around and tough out a little heat.