It’s summertime fishin’ and my favorite time of year! I apologize for my lack of reports. I’ve been putting in about 50-60 hours a week on the water since my last report. I finally got a little break in my schedule now that school started back up in the surrounding counties. Also, I would like to thank everyone who has fished with me this season both return and new clients! I’m truly blessed to have such great customers turn friends and it’s great getting to meet new and awesome folks every week. Thank you!
Lake Lanier is currently at 1069.14’ MSL. That is 1.86’ below full pool and surface temp at 86 degrees.
Striper fishing is good! It’s all about timing and pulling every trick out of your hat to have a successful day. It’s your typical summer pattern. Start your search below Browns Bridge and south to the dam. For this time of year, the dissolved oxygen has been good. What we are battling is the abundance of bait fish everywhere. We haven’t been having the hard freezes in the winter to kill off the excess of threadfin/shad. The fish are gorging on these baits and don’t have to put much effort into it. All of the predator fish are fat and healthy but there is an imbalance that is affecting anglers. To combat this, try taking the time extra time to find larger concentrations on fish before deploying your spread. Trolling while graphing is a great way to fish while burning that gas in your search. You might as well have some lines wet at the same time!
With my saltwater background, I have been implementing a few "non-traditional" tactics that has been triggering those picky fish that don’t want to eat. If you have been on a trip with me in the past few summers, you have seen that it is a combo of few small changes that make a huge difference. Give my IG a follow (capt.andrew_hammond) I will post a video soon in the coming week and reveal what a couple of these tactics are.
For live bait, down-lining live blueback herring 28-100’ has been the primary pattern…but try deploying freelined pitch baits while anchored on spot-lock. I’m almost using my downlines as teasers and getting the primary bites on the pitch baits. Just let those herring swim on their own down to the zone. Experiment with hooking the baits differently than your traditional nose hook.
Trolling leadcore has been the secondary pattern with a lot of success. Deploy your combo of favorite baits such as Capt. Mack’s Chipmunk Jigs, Mini Mack’s, Hog Spoons, or under spins with an artificial or live bait trailer. I’m finding 8-10 colors out at 2.8 mph has been the most successful. Lastly, the afternoon bite has been hard to beat if you can take the heat and dodge the afternoon pop-ups. Weekdays, that’s typically when they pull water through Buford Dam. If you’re familiar with fishing tides it’s the same thing and the fish fire up when that current is moving!
I still have some dates spread out through August. Give me a call and let’s catch em' up! Hope to see you on the water soon.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Andrew
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