My neighbor and I got out this afternoon, looking for stripers. We picked up a few trout at the marina and started searching. We didn’t find anything where I had left them biting 2 weeks ago and the water had cooled another 4 degrees. I couldn’t find any surface activity, not even the occasional bass chasing bait on the surface. The lake was like glass and the gulls were just floating around on the water. The surface temps were 53-54 degrees and the lake was about a foot above full pool. The only fish we could find was over deeper water and bunched up and not moving. We had put out a spread of 2 planer boards with medium sized trout about 50-100 feet behind the boards. We also ran our biggest trout on a freeline 150 feet directly behind the boat. Our 2 smallest trout went on downlines. As the planers passed over the fish we marked the left planer board took off and my neighbor David brought in a nice teenage striper. We had another nice striper chase our freelined trout around for a while, but the striper couldn’t catch the trout and he finally gave up. We fished from 1pm till 4pm and caught 1 nice striper; not a bad way to finish off the work week. Here’s a pic:

“It’s all about sight in December”

If there is one major attribute that I can say increases my success rate on any of our major striper lakes in the south in December, it would have to be my sight. Even if I had to, I couldn’t read a newspaper today without my glasses, but if you put me in a boat, I can still see a striper roll from a mile away on a glassed over lake on a clear December morning. For me, December is all about the birds and rolling stripers. The birds have been my guiding eye for stripers for years and I couldn’t begin to count the times birds have helped me in tournaments on strange lakes.
Last weekend we were running down lake and as I scanned the lake I caught a few circling birds out of the corner of my eye. As I looked closer I saw several loons popping up and quickly diving back down as the gulls hovered and darted into the water’s surface. I watched for signs of rolling stripers and soon I saw a tail and a dorsal followed by several surface splashes from other fish around the area. I knew these fish were on the move and the frenzy wouldn’t last long so time was critical. As I approached, I started thinking about what I should throw and settled for burning a bucktail through the area if the fish were still on the surface. The bucktail allows me the ability to cast from a fair distance away and speaking from experience, this kind of fish feeding activity was better observed from a distance. These fish would spook as soon as a boat approached on previous outings and I wasn’t going to take a chance this time. From a fair distance away I cut the motor and quickly dropped the trolling motor. I cranked up the trolling motors speed and got up to the bow platform with my half ounce bucktail at the ready. I picked out a good boil on the surface and put the little bucktail just beyond the boil and started the quick burn back to the boat. Seconds later two quick jerks on the rod tip told me a striper had fell for the little bucktail offering. After setting the hook I was fighting a decent striper on light tackle.
I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve been in that scenario. Not only on my home lake here on Lanier but on numerous lakes throughout the south. The best part about that scenario is that at times the stripers will stay in that general area as long as the bait is there. Last year I was returning from a run up to Browns Bridge from the south end of Lanier and a saw a few gulls and loons working the surface in a pocket in the back of a large bay. I was using live bait at the time, so I put out a spread of planer boards with large trout and gizzard shad as bait behind the boards and my biggest trout straight out the back 150 feet. It didn’t take long till one of my boards was headed back towards Brown Bridge at breakneck speed being towed by a large striper. I fished that general area for the next two weeks and netted four fish over 20 pounds and some nice teenage fish to add to the mix, and the best part was that I had the place all to myself. That is another scenario that plays out for me year after year on our lakes. Just find the birds working the bait and that should be the start to good things if you are a live bait fisherman. If I’m live bait fishing in December I like using a good mix of large and small baits such as trout, gizzard shad and blueback herring on planer boards, downlines and freelines. But whether you’re a live bait fisherman or you enjoy the challenge of using artificial tackle, December is the month of the birds so let them guide you to some great striper action. Happy Holidays!
Jim Farmer is an avid fisherman and is the owner of Cast Away Bait and Tackle, a custom tackle shop located just off the shores of Lake Lanier in North Georgia.

I managed to get out with an old friend on Friday, the 22nd. We had no problem locating stripers and we were rigged up with trout and bluebacks on an assortment of downlines, planer boards and a free line. We pulled baits through striper schools all day and had a couple stripers and 3-4 big spotted bass to show for the day. It was that way a week earlier when I had found plenty of fish but getting takers was tough. I had been using some Sunline fluorocarbon for leader material and finally made a trip to Bass Pro for some decent fluorocarbon. I picked up my favorite, Bass Pro XPS in 17lb test. That’s what I’ve used for a few years now and I really trust it for all of my fishing. Once I made the switch, fishing got a lot better. We had margarita’s on Friday night with some old friends and Saturday morning I was feeling rough. I could see that the lake was windy, looking out the living room window at our bay. I still had a dozen trout in the tank and I also had about a dozen blueback I netted off the dock after we got back from dinner. The blueback were only about 2 inches long but I figured they would make a good small bait offering on downlines. Much to my surprise, when I checked the tank right before going out, all the bluebacks had been eaten by a dozen fat trout. I jumped in the boat and told Lisa I was going to the marina to get gas. After I got gas I cruised over to an area that we saw stripers the day before but it was very windy and no stripers were in the area. I drove the boat back to a little cove that was out of the howling NW wind and started marking fish. I saw a few nice fish come to the surface and I thought it might be a good place to fish out of the wind for a couple hours. I went back to the house and convinced Lisa that there was a good chance of getting a couple stripers if she wanted to get out. She agreed and we were off with the dog on an afternoon run with our 12 big fat trout. We ran 2 planer boards and a freeline trout straight out the back 100 feet. We spent the next 2 hours catching fish before we left them biting because we ran out of bait. Out of 12 trout we had landed 8 stripers and 2 catfish. It was a lot of fun on a Saturday afternoon. Here’s a few pictures and a video of our short trip.

It was overcast on Saturday morning as I left the dock and headed to the mouth of the creek. It was shortly after 7 am and just as I left the Marina area I saw a small school of bass busting the surface on a point within casting distance. I made about 4 casts with my little bucktail and then moved on without incident. It was good to see some surface activity right away. As I headed for the mouth of the creek I watched pockets and the main channel for surfacing fish. I saw a few inactive loons and gulls in the channel as passes a large bay around mid creek. When I got to the mouth I pulled back to idle and started scanning the area for activity. The wind was swirling from north to northeast and then harder out of the east. To me, the east wind is a buzz kill when it comes to surface activity. There was a good chop building on the water and I wasn’t really feeling it for the area so I decided to head back into the creek and look around. As I got back to mid creek I saw the same birds and loons I had seen earlier working the water intently and I immediately saw some big splashes that were the tell tales sign of striped bass. The loons were going nuts and the gulls were squawking and diving on the surface as the stripers popped up, sometimes jumping completely out of the water chasing the bait. I spent the next hour chasing these fish, throwing artificial after artificial at them to no avail. I finally ran to the Bait Shack and picked up a few trout to try. I put the trout on planer boards and ran through the fish a few times with the trout but I believe the fish were being very bait specific and trout just wasn’t on the menu. I had to go do some work so I headed back to the house with my tail between my legs. The stripers had won this round. Here’s a short video of the surface activity.   On Saturday morning I got a late start. I followed the same course as the day before but I saw no activity at all. The surface temps were down to 59-60 degrees and the wind was light and out of the east again. I looked in the same area where the fish were earlier but there was no fish and no bait to be seen. I thought maybe the fish had moved to deeper water over night so I went into search mode, pulling trout on planer boards and free lines. I was just about to give up when I started marking fast moving stripers over deep water, just off a long flat. I followed the stripers and found that they were cruising up and down the flat feeding on threadfin in 10-20 feet of water. When the fish reached the flat they would stack up and go into feeding mode. They were not feeding on the surface and I could see that the were not coming up. I figured a downlined bait would work fine so I went and got Lisa and we returned to the flat to see if we could catch one. I put out 2 downlines with 6-8 inch trout on them and we started slow trolling the flat. Every time we would go over a group of stripers, one would pick up the trout and run with it but rarely would they take it all the way down. The weather was building and the rain was starting to come down so we knew our time was limited. Finally we got a striper to take a trout and we got hooked up before calling it a day. Here’s a video of Lisa’s fish. 

Fishing has been hot and cold for us over the past few weeks. We’ve been getting out early in the morning and then again in the evening, but we’ve not been out a lot. I haven’t been on the north end of the lake for some time now but I’m finding a striper or two just inside the mouths of some of our south end creeks. Getting them to bite is the biggest obstacle right now. From what I can tell they are feeding on small stuff but even a small bucktail doesn’t work at times with these fish. The water temps are in the mid to lower 60’s as I write this and fully expect more and more stripers to show up in our south end creeks as the water temps get down in the 50’s. I’ve only used live bait once in the past few months and I’m finding it quite a challenge to catch stripers with any regularity on artificials. Late last week I had big stripers crashing bait all around my boat off and on for over an hour but the only thing I got them to hit was a small bucktail. The big striper smoked my little spinning reel with 6 lb test. The striper tore off with the jig so fast my drag couldn’t keep up with the fish and the line snapped after 100 feet. After that, they wouldn’t hit anything I threw and I threw the kitchen sink at them.

Lisa and I are still catching bass by trolling crankbaits. On Monday evening we caught 6 nice bass trolling in the back of Bald Ridge. We’ve been using deep diving lipped crankbaits that dive down about 20 feet at 2.5 mph and running 75-100 feet behind the boat.

Other than that, right now there’s not much more to report but I will be out this weekend again and I’ll post my progress and another report.

Jim

Cold nights and hot striper action

Well folks, since the Atlanta Braves didn’t make the World Series again this year, there’s only one thing left for me to do for excitement on these cold late fall evenings. I’ve been looking forward to November for a while now, and I believe this year will be a banner time for striper fishing in the dark. Every November, generally early in November our lake stripers tend to cruise the shorelines just after dark in search a quick shallow meal.  These stripers can be very big and very very aggressive when feeding at night. This year will be just a bit different than past years because we’ve been able to maintain full lake levels and there will be plenty of bait foraging the shore after dark. This has been a great year for spawning baitfish and the numbers are great. I’ve been turning on my dock lights to check the bait situation in our creek and the threadfin shad and blueback herring under the lights after dark are very plentiful. This can create a great night time Bomber Bite on Lake Lanier. Ok, I’m sure you’re asking “what the heck is a night time Bomber Bite”? Well, let me explain just a bit.

 First, I don’t think there would be a late fall Bomber Bite if it wasn’t for our Blueback Herring population on Lanier. The Bluebacks create the catalyst for the Bomber bite. The Bluebacks spend their evenings cruising the shoreline looking for an evening meal of small insects, microscopic aquatic plants and plankton. Most of the time they are cruising the surface or just below the surface and often times they create wake on the water’s surface which is a telltale sign for stripers to come to dinner. With that being said, as a fisherman, I’m always trying to re-create that scenario in order to catch a striper or two. One of the best artificial baits I’ve found that works exceptionally to create that wake is the Long A Bomber. The Bomber and I go back several years and I’ve found a few colors that work for me. I would have to say my favorite color over the years has been the bubblegum color, but several colors have worked for me over the years. The secret sauce to the Bomber bite is to create that wake. That’s what the stripers often react to and if you can find the right areas, a nighttime trip can be an experience that will last a lifetime. As for my advice for finding the right locations, I’ve always fished the same areas the stripers frequent during the days. If the stripers are holding at the mouths of the creeks, that’s where you want to be in the evening. They won’t stray far from their daylight feeding grounds.

If I could make a suggestion for the first timers at running your boat at night in search of the Bomber bite, I would suggest that if you have a GPS with the capabilities to lay down tracks, I would lay down a few tracks during the day in the areas you plan to fish after dark. By doing this, you will be somewhat familiar with the area and if you stay on your tracks, you can be fairly confident you won’t hit any unexpected obstacles with your boat on a dark night. Another way to get used to fishing at night is to fish near lights and docks that are lit up. There are plenty of stripers hanging around lights at night and throwing the Bombers around lights can product a few fish also. Other areas include long points and mud banks as well as some of our main lake humps.

Guys, this should be a banner fall for nighttime fishing because of our high lake levels and the amount of edibles for the Bluebacks along the shoreline. Be patient when fishing at night and remember to work your baits slowly to create that wake. Oh, and if I can make one more suggestion while making that wake with your surface baits; Hold onto your rod very tight because these big stripers will appear from nowhere and if you’re not ready, you’ll be needing to replace a rod and reel. Remember to dress warm and stay safe on these cold fall evenings on the water.   

“The Southern Tackle Box”

More Hot Action in August

             This season is going to be one for the books. It’s been a few years since we’ve seen our area lakes at or above full pool. I strain to remember fishing during the summer with the lake levels this high. I try and think back to successful areas and patterns I may have used during the summer months. One thing that I have established is that the fish are harder to find with more water filled acreage to search. So far it’s gone well this year and we’ve been fortunate in finding fish. I’m seeing more and more fish suspending over deep water and the groups of fish are getting larger as the water continues to warm. Trolling for stripers is in full swing on Lake Lanier and finding the fish is the biggest obstacle right now. A lot of fish are moving around and finding fish for any length of time can be another obstacle. I have been finding the majority of my fish scattered across deep water, and suspended from 30 feet to the bottom. I haven’t really targeted a few specific areas but I’ve been doing some driving around to find a good bunch of fish to target.

            Stripers are like Nomads on the south end of the lake right now. They move and drift through deeper areas and when the dinner bell rings they seem to appear from everywhere in numbers. Early in the morning I’ve been able to see several stripers deep in the standing timber below the surface. As the sun rises and the day progresses, the stripers are slowly rising from the underwater forest. By midday they are above most of the tree tops and starting to target the massive schools of bait drifting through the top of the thermocline. When these stripers go into a feeding mode, the action under the surface can be pandemonium with frenzied baits running everywhere. That scenario is why single bait deep water trolling works so well. The 3 mph artificial bait looks like a fleeing bait to a striper and there is a quick reaction to that bait. I’ve been using heavier jigs in order to target the deeper fish. For the past 2 weeks we have been using 1.5 ounce and 2 ounce jig heads with big shad bodies on leadcore line and running 8-9 colors or 240 feet to 270 feet behind the boat. I’ve also been using my downrigger with minimal success.

        One other tactic I found useful in August is power reeling inactive fish. By August the groups of stripers can become rather large but sometimes getting a big school of striper to eat can be a task. Sometimes you can running your live bait over a school of stripers and never get a sniff. This is a time when I try and make my own luck by power reeling fish into hitting a bait. The term “Power Reeling” by definition means dropping your bait below the school of fish and then swiftly reeling the bait through the school. I like to make frequent stops with my bait while reeling it through and above the school. Sometimes that’s all it takes to coax a striper into hitting a bait. This tactic works with live bait and artificials. I use this tactic with 2 ounce bucktails and a good paddle tail shad body. The weather is hot in August but fishing for stripers couldn’t be better whether you’re using live bait or artificials. If you find a school and loose them on the graph, give the general area a good look, sometimes they leave but they don’t go far. Good luck in August!

“The Southern Tackle Box”

Fishing the Striper Highways in July

As I write this piece, it is mid June and overcast. The water on the lake has back tracked in temperature and the lake is still above full pool. I know that the stripers will be moving south soon but with lake levels above full pool the process has slowed. I suspect the majority of the fish are still enjoying well oxygenated water due to all the vegetation along the shores, our wet weather and the cooler water temps. Still, the fish are called to the south end of the lake as the water temps rise and targeting fish along their travel routes are a good way to find success when fishing for stripers. Over the years I’ve enjoyed catching some of my best stripers in July. The fish are moving and there is plenty of bait moving with them. The schools of Blueback Herring migrate to the south to enjoy the cool oxygen rich thermocline in the deeper trenches of the lake. They bask in the cool water in clouds that are 20-40 thick and can run the length of a football field. There is also a mix of threadfin shad in smaller groups floating around the deeper water that are a favorite target of the smaller, quicker fish.

In July, the stripers are grouping up in full force to work together gorging themselves on the huge schools of bait within the thermocline. As they move south, waves of smaller schools of stripers are using the river channel and creek channels as their traveling routes to get down south. These traveling routes of the migrating stripers are a great place to pick off a few while trolling. The fish that are in the creeks generally use the creek channel to move towards the main river channel and the deeper trenches of the south end. Every year one of my favorite areas to target moving stripers is the intersections where creeks meet the river channels. These areas seem like a loitering area for stripers. It’s like they are hanging out on the street corner looking for trouble. Actually, they are ambushing bait as it travels along the same routes as the stripers. One of my favorite tactics for July is trolling along the edge of the river channel, moving from deep to the upper edges of the channel and back down into the channel. I use this pattern to work the intersections, and if you are patient, you can generally find a few in these areas. If I am working the river channel exclusively, I generally drop my downrigger bait deep in the treeless bottom of the channel and target a bigger fish. Generally the bigger fish travel below the smaller stripers so running downrigger baits deeper in the river channel can yield a bigger fish. As far as my tackle selection, I’m generally running baits that are 4-7 inches in length and a couple of my favorite successful colors for July are a Blueback pattern, chartreuse over white and a pearl white color. Jig weights are generally 1-3 ounces and usually my target depth is 25-35 feet.

I know there is an increase in boat traffic on Lanier during July, but it’s been my experience that the suspended stripers are rarely bothered by the traffic. They are 30 feet below the traffic a they usually go about their business oblivious to the boats above. Leadcore and downriggers with artificials are a great way to target summer stripers on Lanier and checking those striper highways and intersections are a great way to find a few good fish in July. Stay cool this summer and enjoy the hot striper action.