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Aldrich: Fishing remains strong on Lanier
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The lake temperatures are in the mid 70s.

Lake Lanier is down and remains around 13.2-feet lower than normal pool at 1,057.8 feet. The lake is clear on main lake and stained in the creeks.

The Chattahoochee River is clear.

Bass fishing remains strong this week for anglers who are willing to adapt.

There is no need to get up too early because the top water action is best when the sun is directly overhead.

Continue to throw SPRO Dawgs and other top water plugs all day long.

The spotted bass are schooling up on their early summer areas, and when you find the active fish there should be plenty around.

We have been fishing a cross between running and gunning on main lake and slowing down and fishing the most productive areas thoroughly.

I talked about running and gunning last week and described this technique as fishing many areas in a day.

When you check a lot of areas, you should eventually find some large schools of feeding bass.

A few fish may bite quickly on top water plugs or swim baits, but afterwards there are usually still plenty of bass in the area. This is the time to switch over to finesse fishing techniques, which can boat you a few extra fish.

Drop shotting is a great technique and will work very well in these situations. I rig a ¬-ounce Tru Tungsten weight about 12- to 18-inches below a Gamakatsu Drop Shot hook on six-pound Berkley Fluorocarbon and attach a small Zoom Finesse Worm or Lizard to the hook.

Make sure to not overwork this rig.

Night fishing with large black single Colorado blade spinner baits or crank baits on rocky main lake points is producing some larger spotted bass after dark.

Live medium shiners or freshly caught spot tail minnows are working extremely well on main lake brush piles.

The down-line striper bite has been very good the last week both down south and up north.

Our boats have been out every day, and down-line bluebacks fished 20-feet deep over a 25- to 35-foot slick bottom have produced best.

Expect a wide range of sizes, 5-20 pounds being most common.

We have also caught and released many very big spotted bass that have been mixed in with the schools of stripers.

I have seen a good many busting stripers and spots the past few days, but we were getting great action on the down line so we stayed with it.

Overall, the down-line bite is very good, but you can still catch a few on a free line early and when it’s cloudy.

The number of fish have been very good. Please remember that catch and release does work. If you do keep fish, please observe Georgia. DNR creel limits.

Crappie are still relating to the deeper docks toward the backs of the creeks and are also setting up on bridge pilings at night. Fish from 5- to 20-feet deep with live minnows, jigs and Crappie Spoons around the docks during the day.

After dark set up your lights around the bridges and fish a crappie minnow on a down line at around 10-feet deep.

Watch your Humminbird Electronics and adjust your depths as the fish move up or down in the water column.

Worms are a favorite, natural bait for trout, and they will out-produce most lures when fished correctly.

After a hard rain, the trout really key in on earthworms that are washed into the river.

Rig worms on a large split shot and a small hook and fish below any rapids in the deeper pools. Almost any other technique will produce trout this week!

Eric Aldrich is a part time outdoors writer and bass fisherman. Reports are based on personal experience and permission from a close network of friends. Contact: esaldrich@yahoo.com or visit his Website at esaldrich.tripod.com.

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