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Summer is prime time for fishing
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Lake Temperatures are in the mid- to upper-80s. The lake is down around 13.6 feet at 1057.4 feet.

Lake Lanier is mostly clear but it will get stained during the weekends from all of the boat traffic.

The Chattahoochee River is clear.

Bass fishing has been consistent and they are hitting several different types of lures.

Topwater plugs continue to produce bigger spotted bass out on main lake points and humps.

Don’t make the mistake of fishing too close to the shore. I usually stay way off the point or hump and actually fish the water where most anglers position their boats.

My lure of choice is a SPRO Dawg 100 or the new larger SPRO Dawg 125 in shad or clear chartreuse colors.

Some days the bass prefer a fast retrieve and other days they want a slow, walk the dog, type of retrieve.

Soft plastic worms and jigs are also catching some nice fish, with the jigs working best for the bigger spots.

On sunny days target brush piles or standing timer in 20-to 30-feet of water.

Early in the mornings or when the clouds or rain come in, the bass sometimes move up to the shallower waters and they can be caught in under 15 feet of water.

You can fool these shallow fish into biting swim baits, crank baits and Texas rigged zoom curley tail worms.

After dark switch over to heavy black spinner baits or try a black and blue SPRO K-Bite jig around clay or rock banks.

Striper fishing is very good and the fish are starting to migrate a little deeper towards their summer feeding areas.

Hammond’s Bait and Tackle has been selling a large amount of blueback herring and these have been the best bait this week.

Watch your Humminbird Electronics and fish bluebacks on a down line at the same level that the stripers and bait appear on your screen.

A good depth to start out at is around 30 feet over a 50-foot bottom.

The mouths or the creeks both up and down lake, have all been producing good fishing.

Even though the stripers are deeper there has still been a decent topwater bite, especially early in the morning before the sun gets high.

Some days you can catch stripers on topwater all day long.

Night fishing below hydro glow lights will start working very well as the water warms to summer temperatures.

The night bite of the crappie is pretty good if you can find the active fish.

Start after dark around lighted docks and the bridges.

The creek bridges that have deep channels at over 20 feet are your best areas. Wahoo Creek and six-mile bridges are all good areas to try.

Use medium to small crappie minnows or spot tail minnows on light line.

Shooting small jigs up under the deeper docks during the day has been working well for some anglers.
You can’t beat the cooling effect that the Chattahoochee River produces in June.

The river remains under 60 degrees in the summer and provides natural air conditioning for anglers.

This cold water is why the river is able to sustain trout year round. ¬-ounce Rooster Tails or small gold and black count down Rapalas are consistent fish catchers on the river.

If you prefer live bait fishing from the bank then use red wigglers or night crawlers (where permitted) in the deeper pools.

Eric Aldrich is a part time outdoor writer, bass fisherman and is sponsored by Humminbird, SPRO, Gamakatsu, Tru Tungsten and Hammonds Fishing and Boat Storage.
Reports are based on personal experience and permission from a close network of friends. Contact him at esaldrich@yahoo.com or visit his website at esaldrich.tripod.com. Remember to take a kid fishing!

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