Lanier 01-06-20

Went to Lanier today dock shooting for a few hours. Fished noon until sundown up the Chestatee river, above Thompson Creek. Caught (and released) 22 between 10-12 inches, no real hogs. Some docks I could cast my JDM UL inside, others I had to "shoot" with my new Ozark 7'. I'll post some 'bird side scan and Livescope pics later when I pull my memory cards. Probably going again as soon as possible. Some docks had hundreds of crappie under them, but they were finicky. Little bitty silver/gray jig and natural color slab-tail plastics did the best. I also marked some suspended schools on brush I found near the channel on the way back to the ramp. Like the Terminator said, "Ahl be back". I've pretty much given up trolling. I prefer the cast (or shoot) and thump of a single pole so much, I doubt I'll go back.
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Good catch. I bet that first one put up a good fight on the JDM rod. Alphahawk sings the praises of the Tict rods, I do not own one.....yet! The Thump on good JDM gear is so much more pronounced, almost like you can tell the bites apart from other fish. Look forward to the Electronics pics, thinking about the Livescope real hard.

Good report

Very gusty winds today, so I started spring cleaning the garage; the wife has been bugging me to do it, and it needs it. Forgot to get the sonar images off the cards, but tomorrow is looking good, so I'm going back out for the day, and will post some pics tomorrow night.

Don’t give up on trolling! The good longline bite will be starting soon! We need to go fishing together sometime soon. I live a mile from Thompson Creek ramp.

Today I went to the 'hooch at Clarks Br., it was so stained you couldn't see your jig after about 8 inches to 1 foot deep. Caught 1 crappie, and I fished hard for that one. So very different from the other river Monday.

Here are some shots from Monday. My strategy is to find docks with fish by cruising with side scan. If I see fish, I stop, move to LS, and try to figure out how to get my jig to the fish. For example, I'm idling past docks looking at sidescan, and I see this:
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So I whip a u-turn, kill the big motor and use the Terrova, and deploy the Livescope.
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Here's another LS shot:
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Going back tomorrow! Gonna rain for week starting Friday, I heard.

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Originally Posted by Gabepeeps

Don’t give up on trolling! The good longline bite will be starting soon! We need to go fishing together sometime soon. I live a mile from Thompson Creek ramp.

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Hey, sounds good to me. I'm going there again tomorrow afternoon. My Driftmasters go back on the boat as fast as they came off, but I'm not seeing a lot of suspended fish in the channel. Many are on brush and under docks. I'm having so much fun casting/shooting to fish I can see since I got the PLS, that is all I want to do right now. I'm still exploring the waters there; it is a lot of water to fish.

Nice catch and great pictures!!!

Great report, I really enjoyed it!


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

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Originally Posted by jawjatek

Today I went to the 'hooch at Clarks Br., it was so stained you couldn't see your jig after about 8 inches to 1 foot deep. Caught 1 crappie, and I fished hard for that one. So very different from the other river Monday.

Here are some shots from Monday. My strategy is to find docks with fish by cruising with side scan. If I see fish, I stop, move to LS, and try to figure out how to get my jig to the fish. For example, I'm idling past docks looking at sidescan, and I see this:
Attachment 363540

So I whip a u-turn, kill the big motor and use the Terrova, and deploy the Livescope.
Attachment 363541

Here's another LS shot:
Attachment 363542

Going back tomorrow! Gonna rain for week starting Friday, I heard.

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Love the electronics shot, great confidence when you stop and make the first cast...you know there are fish waiting on your offerings.

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Originally Posted by jawjatek

Hey, sounds good to me. I'm going there again tomorrow afternoon. My Driftmasters go back on the boat as fast as they came off, but I'm not seeing a lot of suspended fish in the channel. Many are on brush and under docks. I'm having so much fun casting/shooting to fish I can see since I got the PLS, that is all I want to do right now. I'm still exploring the waters there; it is a lot of water to fish.

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I wish I could join you! I have to work til 1. I definitely want to check out the livescope to see if I should invest in one. I like shooting docks and feeling the thump also. But trolling is something I’ve always done since I was 6. Crappie, walleye, Bass, trout, you name it. We will get together soon!

Super windy yesterday, whitecaps almost, with a big daytime moon had them lockjawed. Only went for an hour or two, then gave up and packed it in. I found a big school and tried many size & color jigs, with nibbles, slab sauce - not a bite. :dono

I was wondering how it went. Saw the clouds flying by. I'm going to go out tomorrow afternoon after my wife gets home from work. Hopefully find some before the rain comes in. May fish Sunday also if it isn't to windy.

Sunday is looking the best right now, winds light and variable, but heavy rain Sat night may blow out the river muddy.

I am going somewhere on Lanier Sunday AM. Send me a PM if you are going, I'll meet you at the ramp if I can, and you can check out the PLS. We can go hunt some crappie. I was thinking of going back to TC park super early if not blown out muddy, run up the river and fish back. If blown out, head down to Little Hall.

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Originally Posted by jawjatek

Sunday is looking the best right now, winds light and variable, but heavy rain Sat night may blow out the river muddy.

I am going somewhere on Lanier Sunday AM. Send me a PM if you are going, I'll meet you at the ramp if I can, and you can check out the PLS. We can go hunt some crappie. I was thinking of going back to TC park super early if not blown out muddy, run up the river and fish back. If blown out, head down to Little Hall.

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Ended up trolling Allatoona. Little River was full of trash. They love basketball over there because I saw at least 15 of them floating around. Found a clean area at the mouth of Sweetwater Creek. Caught about 25 and kept 16. Not a bad day. It was foggy so the run from Kellogg to Sweetwater was slow. Should've went to Lanier! Did you get out Sunday?

Yep, it was foggy on Lanier, too, but the water wasn't as muddy as I expected, although there was a lot of floating debris. The dock shooting bite was incredible. I didn't keep count, but I boated at least 30-40, including some big slabs. I released all, but I could have kept a limit. The killer jig was a 1.75" Fishstalker slabtail in "Ugly Green Glow", or an Emerald Shiner color Bobby Garland baby shad, on a Daiwa 1.5 gram jig with #8 hook (JDM). I fished sunrise to 4 PM and went as far north as Toto creek - that creek was muddy, but the fish were really biting. A great day!
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Originally Posted by jawjatek

Yep, it was foggy on Lanier, too, but the water wasn't as muddy as I expected, although there was a lot of floating debris. The dock shooting bite was incredible. I didn't keep count, but I boated at least 30-40, including some big slabs. I released all, but I could have kept a limit. The killer jig was a 1.75" Fishstalker slabtail in "Ugly Green Glow", or an Emerald Shiner color Bobby Garland baby shad, on a Daiwa 1.5 gram jig with #8 hook (JDM). I fished sunrise to 4 PM and went as far north as Toto creek - that creek was muddy, but the fish were really biting. A great day!
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That’s nice to know that you found them in that area. It’s not that far of a ride from Thompson to Toto. I just need to spend more time on Lanier. Shame on me for not, but your reports give me REAL confidence in finding them. Thanks! And we will fish together soon.

My Lanier COE and county boat ramp annual passes expire this week, so that means I've been fishing the lake for almost exactly one year. I really only started seriously trying to catch crappie there this fall. At first, I wasn't sure there were any in the lake!

all lakes have them just have to learn how and where. only place i can afford to fish is lake Blackshear.other lake is to far away for me to drive and have to return home in the same day. i can`t afford to rent a cabin being on just SS.when i was working i didn`t have time.

Lanier is my home lake; the nearest ramp is 15 minutes away from my home. Cheapest way to fish is to buy an annual pass (with senior discount). This thread is a Lanier report; Blackshear is 3.5 hour drive for me, and I've never fished there (yet).

On most COE lakes, If you have a senor pass, the Day use and boat launch is free. It is in Texas anyway.