Lanier, Happy Thanksfishing!

[Coenen]

Made it out on Lanier Thursday for most of the day, and what a fine day it was!

Kept the 'yak close to home after my last trip. I blew all day Sunday hunting for fish out in the bigger water near the creek mouth and ended up finding them much further back, right near the dock about an hour or so before dark. Murphy's Law of fishing, I suppose. I headed back to the back of the creek right off the bat and spotted some schooling action on top. Let the baits back a little, and pulled on through. Bagged a little dink spot to get the skunk out as I made the turn to head back out.

Had plenty of fish and bait on sonar so I made another circle. I was letting my planers out when the port side reel starting singing in double time. Circle hook grabbed good, and it was on with what turned out to be a really nice spot, maybe the biggest I've taken in 2018. Right about 19" with the tail pinched, and fat, fat, FAT!


Wandered furth back in the creek again when one of the other rods went off, hook held fast, and soon enough I had my first striper of the fall season. He wasn't big, but he was a start...


Kept working the area a bit more to no avail, so I bumped over into the next pocket for a while before circling back, stuck one more 20" range stripe before making a move across the channel to a big flat that is often a producer this time of year. It was a good move, packs of fish were around, and surprisingly active for a day with high skies and flat calm. Managed to get my Thanksgiving guest of honor in the form of this nice 24-25" stripe. While I was getting everything back set, I got a really solid channel cat as well, first I've caught in a long time, no pictures there, though.


Followed the surface action back into another nearby creek arm, and managed another couple of 18-20" stripers, before I called it a day and headed home for dinner, but what a day it was...


Everything for me came on weighted freelines and shiners. Fish showed a pretty strong preference for a deeper presentation. Baits in the 2-3" range seemed to produce best. I had a few jumbos that I laid out on true flatlines behind the boards, and didn't get rewarded, may have just been lazy baits. A lot of the fish I caught were hacking up little, tiny threads. Had piles of bait on screen for most of the day, most of it was down deep, 45 feet or so. Active fish were up higher, 20-25ft, I took a couple of shots with casting gear at a group of nice stripers that were in maybe 10ft. Bass seemed related to quick depth changes, I'd go over a drop-off or pull up on a flat, and the 'Bird would light up. Surface temp was in the high 50's. I'll likely be back at it tomorrow, even if it means singing the "post frontal blues."

Y'all get out and catch a couple!

 

[Browniez]

Very cool! Thursday morning was nice. Found some busting at the ramp about 615 and caught a few before dropping the boat in.

Everything was on pin shad that were just lazily rolling around. After the sun came up we couldn’t catch any on artificial until we started chucking tiny silver spoons.

A very nice older gentleman gave me a ton of knowledge on the spoons. Thank you if you are on here Rich. Watched him stand in one spot on the bank and do work. Ended up following his lead later in the day and it paid.

 

[Coenen]

I tried a little with a white 6/10 Flex-it for no result. Guess I'll go down to 1/2oz and try it again. I'm sure that'd be the best for some of these up and down schools out in open water. I'm just not super confident in my spoon fishing, so I'm more apt to reach for the fluke rod.

They are super fun to catch on casting gear.

 

[Big7]

Good eating.

Hope everyone keeps linesides.
I NEVER put one back.

Congratulations on a good trip!

 

[Browniez]

Confidence was definitely the key. I wouldn’t have stuck with it if Rich wasn’t nice enough to educate me on some finer points. Now it’s going to be a confidence presentation. For some reason the bucktails don’t work for me.

It was just nice to have something that matched size wise that could be thrown a good ways and worked deep.

It’s such a different ballgame than the river fish. They key on size so much more, as you mentioned the shiners. Gotta be spot on (which I’m usually not)

 

[Browniez]

Good eating.

Hope everyone keeps linesides.
I NEVER put one back.

Congratulations on a good trip!

They do make some darn good blackened tacos.

 

[Coenen]

Mine go back. I want big fish

Good eating.

Hope everyone keeps linesides.
I NEVER put one back.

Congratulations on a good trip!

That good? What do you do with them?

I don't keep them, the kayak is ill equipped, and I want big fish. Filets don't often grow back. ?

 

[hopper]

Conan were you launching from. I think that last picture gave me a good Idea but a little grainy when I blow it up. I am getting my canoe ready for some winter time Lanier learning.

 

[Big7]

Mine go back. I want big fishThat good? What do you do with them?

I don't keep them, the kayak is ill equipped, and I want big fish. Filets don't often grow back. ?

The larger ones are actually easier
to get the blood line out. Larger ones
are a little sweeter and I like the big
flakes of the edible flesh.

The reason I don't put any back is
because they are not native to
this part of Ga. and they eat tons
of native game fish.

As far as what to do you can deep fry,
blacken, grill and bake. Really good tasting
fish as long as you get all the red flesh
cut out.

 

[Coenen]

It’s such a different ballgame than the river fish. They key on size so much more, as you mentioned the shiners. Gotta be spot on (which I’m usually not)

They can be remarkably picky. I pulled a medium trout through an active school once that was busting threads all around, and didn't even get a whiff. Sometimes they'll eat anything, but when they get locked in on one thing, you'd better have that one thing. Someone who knows more than me will have to comment, but my impression is that as the water cools those little threadfins feel the effects first, and that makes them the easiest food source for the predators. At least that's how I think it works, I could be completely off-base.

Conan were you launching from. I think that last picture gave me a good Idea but a little grainy when I blow it up. I am getting my canoe ready for some winter time Lanier learning.

Haha, I knew I should've cropped that pic, or done "soft focus" along the shore! I'll shoot you a PM, maybe we can hook up some time. If the stripers hang around I won't be back up at Lathem until May.

...they eat tons of native game fish.

I'm not sure I buy that narrative. I'm assuming most of that predation is on fry in the spring, or young of the year fish during the cool water months? I know they will take hooked fish, and other atypical forage, but I'm just not a big believer that they go out of their way to do that when their normal food sources are plentiful. Now if we were to talk about the big flathead cats that are showing up in Lanier, we'd be in agreement. There's a lot more habitat overlap with other game fish species, and they're not known to be picky eaters in the least.

That said, I may keep a couple for the table. I've just never heard of them mentioned as a prime table fish. It's probably been 20 years since I ate one, and I don't recall it made much of an impression.

 

[RamblinWreck]

I don't have planers nor weighted line, just bass gear. Would I be able to do any good? I am either going to Lanier or Lathem tomorrow.

 

[Big7]

Coenen,
Try them again.
They got a bad rep by folks that
didn't clean them properly.
Unfortunately, the bad rep stuck.

As far a flatheads, we agree on that.
They are also great table fare.
Small one's no problem. Just do
them like any other cat.

The big monsters is more about
getting the fat as well as the blood
line out.

They eat a lot of fish too.
I never put one back except when
I go to Santee-Cooper. Used to be
anything goes. They won't let
you keep but a few monsters now.

That water is bathtub clean.
The big ones taste just as good
as smller one's.

 

[Coenen]

I don't have planers nor weighted line, just bass gear. Would I be able to do any good? I am either going to Lanier or Lathem tomorrow.

That's what I fished my first season out of the kayak with, and I caught plenty of fish. I bagged a lot of stripers using 6ft Ugly Sticks with normal baitcasters for reels. A really big one is going to clean your clock, but average size fish from 20-28" are catchable, and will give you quite a tussle.

My setup for this type of fishing is dead simple. You have your main line, I use 20lb on most of my "proper" striper rods, but 15lb will do nicely, and so will 12lb. Tie a small swivel to the bottom of your main line with glass bead above, and a 6ft-8ft leader, I like between 8-12lb fluoro, and then an appropriately sized circle hook for your bait. Crimp on a split shot above the bead, and you're good to go. I think the one pictured here is a #2, or so. That's either a #4 or #6 Gamakatsu Octopus Circle hook.



Trail that out behind your kayak, loosen your drags, and wait for that rod to bend over. Pull the rod, tighten the drag a bit, and get ready to go for a sleigh ride.

Before I went technique-specific with my gear, I used a rod set perpendicularly on either side of the 'yak out with splitshots, and a true(unweighted) flatline out along the back centerline.

 

[Rabun]

Heck of a day on the water! Congrats on a great day of catching!

 

[615groundpounder]

Good eating.

Hope everyone keeps linesides.
I NEVER put one back.

Congratulations on a good trip!

The spots taste so much better!
And they aren't a native fish here either.

 

[Big7]

And a 2 pound spot don't eat as
much as a 20-30 pound strip.

 

[615groundpounder]

And a 2 pound spot don't eat as
much as a 20-30 pound strip.

And I don't believe a lack of baitfish is ever a real issue on Lanier so I'm not buying that argument. And no its not native, but neither is your beloved spotted bass.
So your reference to eating the striper for that reason is also a mute point. And my comment about the spots tasting better... they really do! I don't get your disdain towards the striper. The spotted bass population on the lake definitely isn't hurting. And not to forget mentioning the largemouth and white bass making a come back too.

 

[Coenen]

The spotted bass population on the lake definitely isn't hurting. And not to forget mentioning the largemouth and white bass making a come back too.

It's almost as if the problem was habitat degradation and poor spawning success and recruitment following two major droughts and subsequent draw-downs of the lake. Consistently high lake levels and some help from DNR for the white bass seem to have both species on the comeback trail.

I wonder as well how much of an impact the herring have, they are a direct predator of fish fry. I've also read that they produce an enzyme that inhibits spawning success in the fish that prey on them, some of the walleye guys here mentioned it a while back. It would make sense that it would affect other species as well.

Lanier isn't producing too many 20's and 30's these days anyway, I think it's a matter of time before DNR throws up their hands and gives us some Hybes. Maybe not in the near-near future, but eventually. I don't have anything to back that up really it's just a feeling I've got.

 

[Papa Bear]

Nice fish there Coenen!

 

[615groundpounder]

Here's a good post that I remembered from a while back. Look at the link attached in the posting too.

http://forum.gon.com/threads/striper-must-read.688094/post-6900277