Lake level is down 17.3 feet and the lake is clear and 49 degrees.

There are still humps, trees and long points exposed lake wide. Be very careful running the lake. Charleston Park’s two ramps are now open. Be sure to buy a pass at the ramp or you can get an annual pass Forsyth County’s Central Park.

Up north, Clarks Bridge ramp is open.

Black bass fishing is slow. In the early mornings, the water temperatures are around 47 degrees and by afternoon it is possible to see them climb into the lower 50’s.

Cooler water still remains in the upper portions of the rivers and lots of the smaller spots are starting to move up on the warm clay banks especially up river. Small mini lizards and pumpkinseed finesse worms seem to be the favorite this week.

Throw these baits on a Ú Tru Tungsten Ikey head with 10 pound test Sufix Elite line. Work all the rocky points that you can find and be sure to work the bait all the way back to the boat.

Most of the better bites are coming in 10 to 14 feet of water. Later in the day, look in the mouth of the larger coves for any structure like stumps or brush piles in the 10 to 20 foot range. Drop a marker on these areas and work them real good with the Texas rigged worm.

Work the major and secondary points with the Bandit root beer crank bait in the 200 series and stay off the points and make long casts into shallow water. Work the bait slow and even try stopping it once in awhile. Look for isolated stumps and larger rock piles in and around these larger points.

Dark brown and black jigs are producing a few bass when targeted at the front of docks and the end of any lay down trees that are still remaining. Lake levels are still low so be careful while navigating any unfamiliar waters.

Spotted bass fishing has been slow to fair. The fish that are being caught are coming off of points, main lake humps, and ditches of the last deep water going up into coves.

Areas where there are brush piles and bait in about 25 to 40 feet of water are good places to start.
Occasionally, when the warm weather pops out you can catch some spotted bass moving up into areas of warming water, such as areas out of the wind, and that get the most sunlight.

Most of the spotted bass that are being caught are being caught later in the day on jigging spoons with a small profile, and a slow flutter. Some examples would be a Flex-It or a small Silver Buddy/Cicada type bait, preferably in the  «-ounce size, in a white or silver color on a sunny day and a gold or solid white on a cloudier day.

On sunnier days, as things warm up, some fish are being taken on the deep rocky banks out of the wind on suspended jerk baits in a silver and blue or an orange and copper color, a Zoom’s Swamp Crawler worm rigged on a 3/16-ounce Tru Tungsten Ikey head and a green pumpkin and natural blue colors. Also use a small jig in a 3/16-ounce Strike King Bitsy Flip.

Colors need to be black and blue, browns, or the green and brown color rigged with a brown, black, or green pumpkin chunk like Zoom’s Super Chunk Jr. The spots are slow on Lanier so be very patient with any presentation.

Focus on areas that will warm the quickest, such as rock and areas out of the wind with stagnant water.  
Stripers are very scattered and flat lines and down lines are both worth fishing.

Many of the fish are not on the Lowrance so get you planer boards out or drag long 70-foot flat lines in the shallows mid lake.

There are some stripers in the rivers but these fish are moving but not feeding. Look on the main river creeks close to the current use live blue back herring on down lines at 30-feet over the trees.

During the day depths vary as the fish are ranging.

Watch the Lowrance for the schools of bait fish. Do not be surprised at how shallow these fish will get even in the stained waters in the backs of the creeks. Large gizzard shad and herring are working and get the baits right up in three feet of water on a planer board and short flat line no more than 20-feet behind the board. Most of the fish are off the fronts of the docks and the fish are moving to larger docks in the upper parts of the rivers and off river creeks.

Keep shooting docks out in front of them and keep the boat 20-feet out and work the baits all the way back to the boat.

Lake Lanier report from Ken Sturdivant of “The Southern Fishing Report.” Contact: 770-889-2654 or log onto www.havefunfishing.com.