Another pair of trophy Lake Lanier stripers landed during a recent guided charter with Lake Lanier Striper Snipers.
Full Moon Has the Fish Looking… But Not Eating
The day after the full moon brought a slight improvement, but fishing is still feeling the effects of the lunar cycle.
Over the last several trips, I’ve consistently found good numbers of stripers relating to humps and ditches. The problem hasn’t been locating fish—it’s been convincing them to bite. Time after time, we’d watch fish rise to inspect a blueback herring only to turn away at the last second.
When fish behave like that, I start changing everything I can control. I’ll nose hook, belly hook, or tail hook the bait. I’ll adjust the depth, change trolling speed, and reposition with the trolling motor to show them something different. Occasionally it works, but during a full moon those fish can simply be full after feeding throughout the night.
The better pattern has been targeting fish roaming open water near the river channel and channel swings. Those schools have been traveling in “wolf packs,” actively chasing bait, but they’re covering a tremendous amount of water. You might find them, catch a fish or two, and then they’re gone.
Today’s trip reflected that pattern perfectly.
We started early over the river channel and quickly found an active group, putting a couple of fish in the boat before they disappeared. After spending a little too much time trying to relocate them, we checked several humps and eventually found another small group in a nearby cut where we added a few more quality stripers.
It wasn’t one of those incredible 30-fish mornings, but every day on the water teaches you something.
Tip of the Day
During the full moon, don’t waste your entire morning trying to force inactive fish to bite. If they’re only following your bait without committing, expand your search. Spend more time covering water around river channels and channel swings looking for actively feeding schools in open water.
The encouraging part is that today’s bite already seemed a little better than yesterday’s. Historically, I see the toughest fishing during the three days before and after the full moon. As we move beyond that period, I expect the fish on humps and in the ditches to become much more aggressive again.
If you’re planning a trip over the next several days, I expect the bite to continue improving as those fish transition back into a regular feeding pattern.
See you on the water!
Captain Matthew Haynes
Lake Lanier Striper Snipers
🎣 lakelanierstripersnipers.com/