My apologies for missing last month's fishing report. It has been a super busy summer which is a great problem to have! It means the fish have been chewing and cooperating. We have been seeing some studs being caught on a daily basis as this summer pattern continues. This is certainly my favorite time of year to target Stripers!
Lake Lanier is at 1069.93’ MSL which is 1.07’ below full pool. Surface temps are pushing 86 degrees. With the full moon approaching on Monday, we should see some great fishing with a strong afternoon bite. I still recommend the morning full day trips simply to beat the heat, beat the pleasure boat traffic, and beat any potential afternoon pop-ups. On the full day (6 hours) typically if you don’t get em’ out of the gates strong you’ll end up whacking them later on. There is no beach season diets for these fish. This year the Stripers are very healthy with our abundance of threadfin shad.
Striper fishing has been very good. I predict this trend will continue through the late summer months. The summertime pattern has been very consistent. Downlines anywhere from 30’ to the bottom and freeline pitch baits while anchored with live blueback herring has been the primary pattern. We are almost always working a spoon or Captain Mack’s Super Spin bucktail jig while we have the live baits deployed. Work these artificials by power reeling them back to the boat. Power reeling is dropping your bait vertically down past the fish and/or all the way to clean bottom, then burning it back up reeling it as fast as you can. This triggers a reaction strike and can also attract the attention to your bait spread. A good tip on power reeling, stripers can swim faster than you can ever crank that lure. Have you ever watched them chase your lure all the way to the boat doing this? While you're reeling as fast as possible those fish are still in 2nd gear. Reel fast. A higher gear ratio conventional reel will help get that speed up. If you get worn out take turns with the other anglers on the boat. It’s a lot of fun when you get bit on these. I like to use 1.5-2 oz. Captain Mack’s bucktails tipped with a soft plastic paddle tail or a blueback herring. For the spoon, a 9” Nichols Lures Ben Parker Magnum Spoon in the Shattered Glass pattern is hard to beat. Trolling has been a big player right now and will continue to produce this summer if you choose to do so. For the leadcore,9 colors out with a 2 oz Captain Mack’s bucktail tipped with a soft plastic or herring has been the sweet spot.
Lastly, this time of year is the most stressful time for a cold-water saltwater fish to thrive in a hot-water freshwater lake. Their mortality rate is very high if you do not take special care in releasing the Stripers. I have been seeing a lot of floaters out there. During the summer months a few extra steps and an extra minute or two will greatly increase the “let go n’ grow” process. One method is using a Seaqualizer. It’s a very simple tool similar to small boga grips. It’s clamps on the fish's mouth and with another rod you lower it down to the release depth you set. The grips open automatically when your set depth is reached getting the fish down to the cool water they survive in. The second and what I use more often is a vent tool paired with my 50-gallon livewell. I keep my bait tank on average 55-65 degrees by adding ice through the day. Also, I diffuse pure O2 into it. After the fish is caught, I put them in what I call the recovery tank for a few minutes. It’s just like a football player in September taking the bench with an AC fan and oxygen mask to get their wind back. Then I fizz their air bladder with the vent tool. After that process they are good to go and get back down to that cool water quickly. I recently found a little time during a trip to video this process. I will put this video out this week so you can see how it’s done. Ya’ll enjoy the summer and this great bite! I still have August and September dates available. With school back in, now is a great time to get your coworkers and employees out or entertain your clients. Hope to see you out on the water soon.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Andrew Hammond
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