Precision Trolling on Lake Lanier for Stripers and Spotted Bass

[LittleDrummerBoy]

The importance of prayer and Michigan Stinger spoons cannot be overemphasized.

 

[j_seph]

Love the prayer at the beginning

 

[j_seph]

How far dou you place your spoon behind the Dipsy

 

[LittleDrummerBoy]

How far dou you place your spoon behind the Dipsy

Good question. We've tried a lot of things over the years.

We make our leaders as long as the rod, which is 6' for the rods in the video. In principle, longer is better, so when we use 8' rods, we use 8' leaders. The idea is that getting the lure further behind the Dipsy makes the Dipsy less likely to spook the fish and also gives the lure a more natural motion. More distance also helps prevent the fish from shaking free once it gets to the top. (Since the Dipsy is heavy, it provides leverage for the fish to shake free against.) However, if the leader is longer than the rod, it is hard to net the fish when the time comes.

 

[LittleDrummerBoy]

I should probably give more details on the leaders. Fishing for trout in Colorado reservoirs we used 8 lb fluorocarbon for minimal visibility in very clear waters. In Lanier, we use 17 lb mono, because we want the added strength to land stripers, and the water is not clear enough to worry about fish seeing the thicker line (not fluoro).

 

[Rabun]

Thanks for the video and info! I troll a lot and all of your info is spot on. I use both diving planners and down riggers...not concurrently...one or the other. For the down riggers, I'll use a stacker to run a second line 8-10 feet above the line clipped t the ball. I love the strike on a trolled lure. Have not trolled much on lanier...mostly NE Ga reservoirs for trout. I use basically the same set up...ugly stick down rigger rods, 8lb main line with a 8lb flouro leader, sealine and ocuma line counters too

 

[robtest]

Thanks for the video! Where do you get your maps?

I have been thinking about trying some of these. I sometimes use downlines on my planer boards, and this looks much easier...

IIRC, the treeline is cut at 1040' elevation, and full pool on lanier is 1071', so it is safest to stay above 30 feet down... Of course, they say "if you aren't hanging, you are fishing hard enough"... lol

 

[LittleDrummerBoy]

Thanks for the video! Where do you get your maps?

I have been thinking about trying some of these. I sometimes use downlines on my planer boards, and this looks much easier...

IIRC, the treeline is cut at 1040' elevation, and full pool on lanier is 1071', so it is safest to stay above 30 feet down... Of course, they say "if you aren't hanging, you are fishing hard enough"... lol

https://www.topozone.com/georgia/forsyth-ga/reservoir/lake-sidney-lanier/

The above link is my online contour map source. I also have a map I bought in a local Marina or bait shop. I'll check the name of it and post later.

It's hard to fish deeper than 30' with Dipsy divers. You need the really big ones, and fishing that deep with them is snag prone in Lanier. But it can be done. Your best bet is to keep it over a creek bed, but that is easiest to do with a GPS with built in contour map. But with those big heavy Dipsy divers down deeper than 30', you hardly even notice your basic 14-18" bass, because the Dipsy is pulling so hard all the time. For those depths, I prefer copper line or lead core. But I'm usually happy to use smaller Dipsy divers down 10-30'. I still hang a lot, but that's mostly on unexpected humps when trolling new areas. No map has all the humps.

 

[robtest]

This map is pretty good... If you click on the config icon on the upper left, you can Enable Custom Depth Shading. I normally start with 25/50/75...


http://fishing-app.gpsnauticalchart...ZejErduP4NXfjoz6Fhj-ak#12.21/34.2067/-84.0042

 

[Coenen]

Have not trolled much on lanier...mostly NE Ga reservoirs for trout. I use basically the same set up...ugly stick down rigger rods, 8lb main line with a 8lb flouro leader, sealine and ocuma line counters too

Under-rated technique on the lake, I had some really nice success pulling small cranks in the early spring this year, both for stripers and bass. It seems especially effective when the water clarity is off.

Your electronics can be key to make sure that you're in open water, though.

Jim Farmer did a couple of interesting vids fishing for stripers with 'riggers a while back.

 

[LittleDrummerBoy]

This is the company that makes my hard copy contour map of Lake Lanier. The map is of good quality and very nice.

http://atlanticmapping.com/lakechartlist.html

 

[Coenen]

This is the company that makes my hard copy contour map of Lake Lanier. The map is of good quality and very nice.

http://atlanticmapping.com/lakechartlist.html

What's the interval between contours on those?

I'll eventually just breakdown and getting mapping with my sonar, 1ft intervals, and being able to highlight are a big deal for this sort of work. Especially when you want to get DEEP in the channel during summer, and need to stay in a small lane.

 

[LittleDrummerBoy]

What's the interval between contours on those?

I'll eventually just breakdown and getting mapping with my sonar, 1ft intervals, and being able to highlight are a big deal for this sort of work. Especially when you want to get DEEP in the channel during summer, and need to stay in a small lane.

I wonder if electronic maps which purport to have 1 ft intervals are directly based on reliable survey data at that level of detail. I suspect they are computer interpolations of the same older survey data used in the maps showing more 5-20 ft intervals.

In either case, having the contour map with GPS and sonar is ideal if one needs to stay in a small lane. A bot of experience combined with that contour map can keep you on the right trolling path once you've found it.