Shane Watson Guide Service Report (01-29-10).

Since my last report, we’ve had some great jig fishing at times. We’ve also had some great freelining when the fish have been active and up in the water column. These patterns have worked best early morning and late afternoon before the passing of a cold front. After a front passes or if the fish are down, shad body umbrella rigs are your best bet.

There a lot of birds mid-lake and south, some on the main lake and some in the creeks. Keep moving until you find some active fish or active seagulls with and without loons for better numbers. If you can’t find any active fish or birds, pull your freelines around the bank and cast a white leadhead fluke or a white 3/8 or 1/2 oz bucktail, to as many points, banks, and boat docks as you can. Don’t be afraid to cast up into a foot or two of water. There are some big, loner stripers to be caught on a jig right now that are up cruising the bank. Use a white fluke trailer, a white hyper striper tail, or a white Fat Albert grub on your bucktail for best results.

Most of the time, you won’t see these big fish rolling, you want even know they are there until they slam your jig. This report is brought to you by Shane Watson Guide Service www.lakelanierstripers.com and Hammond’s Fishing Center. Good Fishing.

Lake Lanier has long had a Polar Bear Swim on January 1st to raise money for the Canoe and Kayak Club. Now Special Olympics Georgia is attempting to launch a similar annual event a few weeks later.

They call their event the "Polar Plunge" and the concept is the same ... jump into Lake Lanier's freezing waters. This year's date is February 20th and it will be held at the Lake Lanier Islands.

What is the Polar Plunge?

In a nutshell, participants collect pledges from friends and family in exchange for the opportunity to jump into icy waters in the middle of winter.  All proceeds collected by “plungers” will benefit the athletes of Special Olympics Georgia.

Prizes will be awarded in several categories, including oldest plunger, youngest plunger, best “group” plunge, best costume, and many more.  For those who are not lovers of the Polar Bear habitat, we will have areas to keep you warm – such as heated areas, warm concessions, and fun souvenirs.

What it takes to be a “Plunger”

Anyone with a little guts and a warm heart wanting to support the athletes of Special Olympics Georgia is welcome to participate.  Other states sees plungers in varying ages, mayors, law enforcement officers, news anchors, sports figures, corporate teams, civic organizations, mothers, high school clubs, college organizations, and everyone else in between!  Of course there is always room for more hesitant souls who just wish to be spectators!

Click here to find out more about the Polar Plunge.

Early results have arrived from the 1071 Coalition study of the impact of low water levels on Lake Lanier business. There are two stand-out numbers:

• Lake Lanier lost nearly 1 Million visitors in 2008.
  
• Visits in 2009 were down over 13% compared to 2000.
  

The Gainesville Times is reporting that around 800,000 less visitors came to Lake Lanier in 2008 when compared to 2007. During the period the lake dropped from near full to near record lows.

Those lost visitors meants millions of dollars in lost revenue to local business. Marinas lost over $400,000 in concession income. Visitors that did come spent over $180 million in the area.

Shane Watson Guide Service Report (01-10-10).

Nothing much has changed on the striper fishing on Lake Lanier. Downlined bluebacks and small trout fished 30 feet deep and shad body u-rigs fished 120 to 130 feet out are working best on my boat. I have been fishing mostly up the lake the last couple of weeks and the fish are in most of the usual winter locations. Look in the deeper pockets just off the main lake and the entire lengths of the creeks up north.

Some days they are rolling on top at daylight in the backs of creeks and the next morning they might be all the way out at the creek mouths down 30 feet deep. The seagulls are up flying early and late most days. There are fish in the popular mid-lake wintertime creeks, but expect a lot of boats. I've got a couple of jig fishing trips coming up and I am going to head down south and sight fish for the boiling stripers that are down there. This pattern was working well 2 weeks ago before we headed north in search of better numbers of trolling and downline fish. I will let everyone know on my next report how the jig fishing bite is going.

Overall, the striper fishing has been up and down. You might catch 20 to 30 stripers one morning and have to work for two or three the next. That's just the nature of wintertime striper fishing. It can be some of the best fishing you will ever do, depending on the day. Over the next 120 days or so, you will see the biggest stripers of the year caught on Lake Lanier. We do catch big stripers thru out the year, but historically the next 120 days or so, are when most of the 30 pound plus fish are caught.

On another note, the new store should be opening within the next couple of weeks. Current inventory is now being placed and new inventory is being added in the process. It is really turning out great. The current location is still open regular hours daily. All items are readily available during this moving process. We will be happy to assist you in anyway. This report is brought to you by Shane Watson Guide Service (www.lakelanierstripers.com) and Hammond's Fishing Center. Good Fishing and We Appreciate Your Business.