Lake level: Down .62 feet
Clarity: Main lake, creeks stained
Temperature: 60s
Bass: Bass fishing is fair. It has been off and on all week with the fronts. Now on the 30th is the full moon. The upcoming cold fronts should get the fish through their fall transition and positioned more in their winter locations and therefore more predictable.

Look for areas with rock and quick access to deep water as well as ditches as primary locations. The early morning bite has been fair with the jig and the Mini Me spinnerbaits. Focus on rock and clay points in the mornings with the aforementioned lures.

Look for bait in the area. If there is no bait, move on. The Davis Shaky Head with a Zoom finesse worm in green pumpkin has been producing some bites as well so don’t hesitate to throw any green worm out there if the bite slows. Fish are often in 15 to 20 feet or shallower when they are active but look for those fish to get deeper as the water gets colder. A jerk bait and a Fish Head Spin is starting to work in the mornings as well. Steeper rock points and ditches are the key here. Use the Lowrance down scan with Fish Reveal so anglers can spot the fish from the structure. No other sonar has this deep water penetration with down scan and sonar all at one time.
Report by Buck Cannon Buck Tails Guide Service,
404 510-1778.

Striper: Striper fishing is a hunting game in recent days. Stripers are getting bigger on Lanier this week we have had a 30 and 29 pounder and a couple of 28s. We might be on the way back to the good old days when bigger fish were more common. Fishing above Browns Bridge in the backs of creeks and coves have produced using blue backs on flat lines have produced 80 feet behind the boat. Planners will help get the spread out and fish 30 to 40 feet behind the boards. Always keep a top water tied on because you never know when they’ll pop up. Areas that have produced are River Forks up to Wahoo Creek. Watch for the birds they are showing up.
Report by Buck Cannon Buck Tails Guide Service,
404 510-1778.

Crappie: Crappie fishing is excellent. The recent hot bite target zone is 10 to 15 feet deep. Be flexible in your technique to figure out what depth the crappie are biting and what they want to eat – jigs or minnows. Then concentrate on what they want. There’s no need in throwing 100 jigs if they only want minnows on that day. Recently the bite has been heavily on minnows, but we are still getting some on jigs. Look for open water brush in 15 to 25 feet of water. Plan on losing several jigs and minnows because you have to be down there with them to catch them. Look under docks that are in 15 to 30 feet of water and have brush or structure. Use your electronic charts to locate these areas.

Try down lining small crappie minnows with BB-sized sinkers or set up slip bobbers. Jigs have been producing a few big guys recently. My Jig recommendation is baby shad green over chartreuse or an amber color with glitter single tail. Jigs can be used for short casting, vertical jigging or dock shooting. I’m using five pound test, high visibility yellow K9 braid for my line and a Piscifun reel. Use scanning type sonar (e.g. Down and Side Imaging) to locate schooling fish, and complement this with the latest in live scanning sonar technology (e.g. Garmin’s LiveScope, Humminbird 360 or Lowrance’s LiveSight). Set waypoints on your electronic charts so that you can quickly return to productive locations. You can do this on a smartphone using the Navionics Boating app.
Report by Captain Josh Thornton, 770 530-6493.