The lake level is 1070.87 and water temps are 66-69 degrees. Water clarity varies from clear on main lake to slightly stained farther north in the river systems, but will get muddy up the rivers and backs of the creeks with the strong storms that move through in May. The striped bass spawn is mostly over and the majority of the fish are moving back south out of the river systems and the backs of the main free flowing creeks on the south end of the lake. There will still be a few fish spawning the first few weeks of May, so don’t completely disregard the river bite as those fish will hang out up the river arms till the end of May. This month is one of our kitchen sink months as you will be able to catch stripers with every technique that we mention throughout the year. Flat lines, planer boards, down lines, pitching, u-rigs, and stealth trolling will all be used this month. Heck, they will all be used on the same day most of the month. At the beginning of the month look for fish on rocky points and humps that the herring and shad will be spawning on thru mid-May. Flat lines and Capt Mack’s Perfect Planer boards will be the ticket pulled over these areas. Your flat lines out the back of the boat should be between 75-125’ behind the boat and place your lines between 50-75’ behind your planer boards. Early in the morning it will probably be best to fish without any weight on these lines, but as the sun gets up try adding a #5 split shot or two to get your bait down a bit. Best bets on bait this time of year are herring or small to medium size shad. On the north end of the lake you should be able to find fish around these bait spawning areas in Wahoo, Little River, Gainesville, and Ada Creeks on the Chattahoochee side and Thompson, Taylor, and Latham on the Chestatee side. Down south, the fish will be on secondary points in Bald Ridge, Young Deer, Two Mile, and Big Creek. These main lake points will also be great areas to stop on with your Minn Kota Ulterra. Spot Lock your boat in 30-40 feet of water and pitch your herring up to 5-15 feet of water using a 7 foot Medium action Okuma Reflections spinning rod paired with an Okuma Helios 40 class reel loaded with 15 braid with a 3-4 foot 12# fluorocarbon leader attached to a #2 Gamakatsu circle hook. You will use lots of herring doing this so make sure you load up the tank and get that O2 system cranked up this month to keep all that bait lively. While you are sitting on these points make sure you drop down a couple of down lines to about 5 feet from the bottom. The stripers will be running up and down the point and you will catch them with the down rod on their way out. The top water bite will also crank up this month, so make sure you have a Chug Bug, Zara Spook, or Redfin tied on to throw to the points and humps you are targeting as you approach them. Towards the end of the month the stripers will begin stacking up in the pockets close to these points and moving around slowly on the trolling motor with a spread of down lines will be the better technique especially later in the morning or afternoon. May is a great month to fish Lanier and you will use every rod on the boat.
In 1519 Cortez landed in Mexico and burned his ships. He forced his troops to be all in and realize there was no retreat. There was no Plan B. As Christians we need to be all in and know there is no retreat as well. It will make us uncomfortable, but as we follow Jesus Christ we must let the Lord lead. When we do that and are obedient in the ordinary things in our lives we will see his work in our lives. Then the doors for the Gospel will be opened for those around us who need to hear it.
Call us at 678-300-4865 to book your Striper Experience!