A big Lake Lanier striper and one very happy young angler! ??
How the Fishing Trip Started
Had Marvin and the crew out with me for an afternoon trip, with one main goal in mind: make sure the kids caught fish. We started around 2:00 PM and fished until about 7:00 PM.
The afternoon started out a little frustrating. Our first stop had a giant school of stripers underneath us, but they were moving fast. We dropped the bluebacks down and the fish disappeared. After sitting there for several minutes with nothing happening, we reeled everything up. As soon as the baits came out of the water, the screen completely loaded back up again.
We dropped right back down, and just like that, they were gone again.
After playing that game for about ten minutes, I decided those fish were simply traveling through the area and weren’t worth chasing. We moved on and found another good group. We had several bites there but couldn’t get the hooks to connect.
The next move finally got us going. We put a few stripers in the boat, got the skunk off, and everybody started feeling a little more confident.
From there, we moved to some ledges near the river channel at the mouth of a creek. That ended up being the key move of the afternoon.
Finding the Active Lake Lanier Stripers
The graph was loaded, the fish were much more concentrated, and they were actually willing to stay in the area and feed. The wind had also started picking up and pushing toward that section of the lake, which seemed to help everything come together.
Once we got set up, the rods started bending.
We caught roughly ten fish there in a fairly short period of time, and the bite improved steadily as the sun started getting lower. The fish were eating blueback herring on downlines, and once we found the right group, the action stayed consistent.
We didn’t catch any on spoons this trip, but there were plenty of stripers around. The biggest lesson from the afternoon was that it wasn’t enough just to find fish on the graph. We had to find the right fish — fish that were concentrated, holding in an area, and actively feeding.
By the end of the trip, Marvin and the crew told me it was the best fishing trip they had ever been on, which is always great to hear. More importantly, the kids got exactly what they came for: bent rods, big smiles, and plenty of Lake Lanier stripers.
Trip Results and Captain’s Takeaway
Another successful afternoon for Lake Lanier Striper Snipers. ??
Captain’s Takeaway:
When fish are showing up on the graph but disappearing every time you drop baits, don’t be afraid to leave them. Sometimes the best move is simply finding a group that is settled in and willing to feed. Once we found that group, the whole afternoon changed.
Read more Lake Lanier fishing reports, or book a guided Lake Lanier fishing trip with Lake Lanier Striper Snipers.