THE SOUTHERN FISHING REPORT
by Ken Sturdivant
106 Hickory Ridge
Cumming, Georgia 30040

February 2, 2012

LAKE LANIER IS DOWN 8.34 FEET, THE CREEKS ARE SLIGHTLY STAINED AND THE MAIN LAKE IS CLEAR & 52 DEGREES.

Bass fishing is good. The lake level has stabilized over the past week and the water temperatures have been on the rise. The upper end of the lake is now 52 degrees and climbing, and that is where we have been focusing our efforts of late. We have continued to work the ditches in creek arms and we have also focused on main river points and secondary points with rock/clay and brush that are near deep water. We have found good activity in the 15 to 25 foot zone where brush is present. When we are out deeper, we are focusing on the ditches with isolated timber and using either a spoon jigged vertically or a jig worked VERY slowly through the timber. We have caught the shallow fish on shaky head worms, jigs, crank baits, jerk baits and the Fish Head Spin. The shallow fish seem to be the best fish and most available during periods of sunny weather, while the cloudy weather pushes the bait and fish deeper. If there is wind blowing, fish your moving baits where the wind is the strongest and most direct into the bank and use a very slow retrieve with any of the above baits. When using the jerk bait make sure to impart three to five second pauses between your twitches. When searching for the deeper fish in the creek channels/ditches, use your Lowrance electronics to identify subtle structure changes to include creek ditch depressions. Where there is bait, there is or will soon be fish. As always, once you find a creek, pocket, or main lake area holding bait and fish, you may have success by rotating that area with other areas you find holding bait and fish. Fish move up and down in the water column throughout the day, and in the same context move from deep to shallow. Given that, if you have success at one point in the day in a particular location, you may return again later and enjoy further success in the same area and perhaps at different depths.

This Lake Lanier Striper report is from Captain Ken West and Captain Mike Maddalena of Big Fish On! Guide Service, 404 561 2564. www.bigfishonguide.com

Striper fishing is very good. It’s February and the water temperature is in the low 50's. We have never seen the lake water this warm in February. We have also never seen this much bait. There is plenty of bait 30 to 50 feet down over the river and creek channels. The river channel from Gainesville Marina to the Hwy 60 Bridge is a prime example of deep water bait. We are also seeing some bait starting to move into the back of the creeks over a 20 to 30 foot bottom. Ada Creek and Gainesville Creek are good examples of what we will call shallow bait. This has been a very good week for free lines. Use the flat lines with no weight and lines with a single split shot fished 50 feet behind the boards and 100 feet behind the boat has out fished down rods. We have not had any luck graphing for groups of stripers. Instead, we are pulling free lines and down rods where we find the highest concentrations of bait fish. Small baits continue to your best bet. If you can throw the cast net, get some threadfin shad and use them. If not, take some medium shiners, very small trout and small herring. Try any creeks with a large concentration of bait. Focus on the creeks and river channel from Flat Creek north to Wahoo Creek. Holly Park area, Ada Creek and Gainesville Creek are good starting places. We teach ON THE WATER SCHOOLS for SONAR and Rods, Reels and Lures for Bass. Call for details. Call for details.

Check with US Army Corps of Engineers web site to find a list of the ramps and their status.
http://www.sam.usace.army.mil/lanier/BoatRampElevations.htm

Georgia lake levels are from www.lakelevels.info/?StateID=GA

We teach “ON THE WATER SCHOOLS” for SONAR and Rods, Reels and Lures for Bass. Call for details. Call for details.

Our DVD, Rods, Reels and Lures for Bass are now on sale for only $25.00 including shipping. Send a check payable to Southern Fishing Schools Inc. to: Southern Fishing Schools Inc to 106 Hickory Ridge Drive, Cumming Georgia. Please allow 14 days for delivery.

Ken Sturdivant, Lowrance Professional Fishing Staff will be conducting FREE! Sonar Seminars at Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World in Lawrenceville Georgia. The BASICS OF SONAR seminars are held on the last Saturday of each month at 2pm. All seminars are subject to change without notice.

If you would like to have a free set up sheet for your sonar, send me an e mail to kensturdivant@earthlink.net and ask for the Sonar Setup Quick List. See the new Lowrance machines at www.lowrance.com. Lowrance Announces HDS Gen2. See them in action at Bass Pro Shops in Lawrenceville this Saturday from noon until 5pm.

We have these BASS FISHING books for sale: BASS FISHING LAKE LANIER, BASS FISHING LAKE ALLATOONA, BASS FISHING WEST POINT LAKE, BASS FISHING LAKE RUSSELL, BASS FISHING WEST POINT LAKE and BASS FISHING LAKE HARTWELL. These books are written exclusively for Bass and each book covers every week of the year. Each book $39.00. If you would like a sample of any book, send us an e mail to kensturdivant@earthlink.net. Our mailing address is: Southern Fishing Schools Inc. 106 Hickory Ridge, Cumming Georgia 30040.

Copyright 2012, Southern Fishing Schools Inc. calls us to set up a school, Maps and Depth Finders or SONAR and Rods, Reels and Lures for Bass. Call for details.www.havefunfishing.com 770 889 2654.