Early June Lanier Area Kayak Fishing Report

Summertime is upon us and the fishing is good!  If you haven't allready dusted the yak off and got on the water now is the time! Below is what is working for Yakdawg and LAKE members on Lanier and surrounding waters over the past few weeks.
Bass:  The spots are up on top and will hit moving baits if you are at the right place at the right time!  The key to fishing the topwater bite in the kayak is patience.  If the fish go down before you are in casting distance continue to make several casts and retrieves in the area you saw fish surfacing.  Sometimes you will "call up" an aggressive magnum spot!  It is hard to beat humps and points this time of year for topwater action on Lanier.  The zara spook and chugbug are two great lures to throw.  I have also been doing well throwing a jig-head 3 inch grub at surfacing fish.  Jerkbaits and swimbaits will also get hit.    
Stripers:  The striper fishing remains good but be prepared to get "window shopped!"  Downlined blueback herring is the ticket for a sleighride this time of year.  I have been catching fish this week 20-30 feet down over a 40-60ft bottom on the south end of the lake.  The great news is that the stripers are really starting to bunch up, but just because you have found them does not mean that you will get bit!  Some tactics that will help trigger a strike:  power reeling (dropping the bait below the fish and reeling up fast).  Lighter leaders, try 12 or even 10 pound.  Paint your weights black.  Also have a bucktail jig ready to drop to the fish and even try cut-bait if nothing else works!  Seeing lots of fish on the sonar is a bad problem to have!  I would much rather figure out what they want then to spend all day looking for them!   
Crappie/Bream/Catfish:Bream and crappie are biting on smaller lakes in the North GA area and can be a blast on light tackle!  I have been catching a mixed bag of bull bream and crappie on micro jigs, sometimes tipped with a berkley crappie nibble.  For larger bream, stay off the banks and let the jig sink to the bottom before working it back to your yak!  Crickets are deadly on these big bream as well!  Just because the spawn is over doesn't mean you can't catch crappie!  I have been catching crappie around deep blowdowns and bridge pilings.  Use jigs or live minnows for the slabs!
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