Lake Lanier is down 14.2 feet, and the lake is clear and 73 degrees

There are lots of humps, rock piles, tree stumps and long points exposed lake wide with the lake down over 14 feet. Be careful running the lake.

Black bass fishing has been fair and crank baits in the middle of the day are working up lake. The lake is still dropping so be very careful lake wide. There are lots of areas above Gainesville and past the Little Hall area that have small fingers off the rivers that have shallow cover close to the banks. So watch the water temperature all day and find any warming waters. Early and late, go to all black or all brown Ø-ounce Strike King Jigs with either a Zoom salt trailer or an Uncle Josh pork trailer can work. Use a DT6 Rapala crank bait in hot mustard, a Shad Rap or Bomber 6a or 7a and use 10-pound test and fish warm clay banks.

This is a good time head up the rivers and find the warm and off-colored waters. Try swimming the jigs on and around cover then drop them into the cover after a few swimming casts. Run a Leverage spinner bait in the Ø-ounce size with silver and gold blades in either the willow leaf or Colorado combinations on any wood. Later each day up river, use the chartreuse and white Bill Norman crank baits or the chrome and blue combination Shad Rap crank bait. Work these baits right up on points but get the baits run as deep as 12 feet for strikes.Spotted bass are feeding and the better fish are deep at 30 feet. The fish are biting all day on spinner baits, top water lures and drop shot rigs. All day spots are biting all white Ø-ounce Mini Me spinner baits and all white Rooster Tails and all white crank baits.

Spotsticker jigs are with a Zoom finesse worm on a spinning reel and 8- or 10-pound test has been an excellent deep water tactic. The Spot Sticker allows anglers to feel the light strikes and the spots will pick up this lead head and hook combinations and swim of with the whole rig in their mouth. One trick on the soft plastics is to dip the tail in clear garlic. Drop shot rigs are accounting for lots of fish and this is an easy rig to use. Just be sure to keep your line tight while fishing the baits. Zoom mini lizards are also good lure to use on the drop shot. Use a 3/16-ounce sinker on the bottom of the rig or lighter. Spoons are also working very well and get the small «-ounce sizes as all the bait fish the spots are easting are very small. Live minnows will work on the drop shot too. Sand worms, natural blue and cinnamon green pig and jigs or creepy crawlers are the baits of choice. Be sure to drop a «-ounce Flex It spoon on the same locations.Stripers are scattered and there are some fish feeding on top. Main lake creek mouths are the best areas and if the wind is blowing down lake, be sure to work main lake humps and points.

With the stable weather stay right in the major creek mouths from River Forks to the dam. Spoons, Spooks and buck tails are best as well as live bait. Vary you bait sizes and styles as many stores have all sorts of sizes of baits to choose from. The Dam Store and Hammonds have great live baits but add a few large shiners in with the blue backs. Down lines seem to be best but have a top water lure ready and a 115 Sammy is a great choice in Aurora Black.Crappie fishing has been fair and the up-lake creeks are best with a little stained water. Fish are around the deeper docks are around 17-feet deep. Tiny minnows and small tubes on the lighter jig heads fished on a down line will work.

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