Shane Watson Guide Service Report (02-24-12).

Dwayne and I spent much of last week in Miami for the boat show. While I was gone and since I've been back our boats have had trips daily. Down the lake freelined bluebacks and gizzard shad fished up shallow from the middle to the rear of creeks have produced well at times. Up north, we've done well on downlined trout and on Capt. Mack's 4 arm u-rigs.

I've seen a few groups of fish boiling on top since returning from Miami and we have caught these surfacing fish on white bucktails. It really has depended on what we are seeing every morning as to the pattern we've been using. Some days, the fish have been up shallow and the blow-ups on the freelines have been amazing. At times, the fish have been much too deep for freelines and we've had to troll or catch them on downlines 40 to 60 feet deep. You just have to be flexible in these transitional months. Have a game plan, but be willing to change everything and make drastic moves if your chosen pattern is not working.

We've caught and released many big spots the last couple of days on downlines 40 to 60 feet deep while striper fishing over a slick bottom. Our crappie guide is doing well on jigs around deeper docks. Looks like an early spring for us Thank God. I look forward to more fish moving up shallow as surface temps continue to rise.

This report is brought to you by Shane Watson Guide Service, Carolina Skiff Boats, and Hammond's Fishing Center. Good Fishing.

Shane Watson Guide Service
www.lakelanierstripers.com
770-889-5549

Our boats continue to do well on downlined trout 25-40 feet deep over a 40-60 foot bottom. Capt. Macks 4 arm shad body u-rigs are also working when the fish are up in the water column. I have ran a good many bucktail jig trips the last few weeks and we've done well beating the banks up north and mid-lake. A white 3/8 to 1/2 oz. Spro bucktail jig with a white fluke or white hyper striper tail has worked best. We've caught and released many stripers up to 25 pounds on the jig and many big spotted and largemouth bass on the jig. It's great to see the largemouth rebound over the last few years.

I can remember have good the largemouth bass fishing was here back in the early to mid 70's, it's nice to see some good ones again. The seagulls have been helpful on the stripers some days, especially the further north you go. Down south you will see thousands and thousands of gulls, sitting on the water and flying around. Don't be distracted by these, keep moving until you can find the smaller groups of seagulls that are hitting the water, with and without loons.

We are catching some quality stripers right out from under the loons. We've had good reports from our scouts that are way down the lake south, but I haven't been down there this week. Our crappie guide has also been doing very well on jigs, under deeper docks up the lake. It's great to see Lake Lanier come back up, hope it continues to rain.

This report is brought to you by Shane Watson Guide Service www.lakelanierstripers.com, Hammond's Fishing Center, and Carolina Skiff Boats. Good Fishing and Watch out for floating debris.

We are continuing to see good u-rig and downlining fishing on the stripers. Capt. Mack's 4 arm shad body rigs, fished 80 to 90 feet behind the boat at 3.0 mph are working well. Downlined bluebacks and trout fished 25 to 40 feet deep have also been working well most days. Mid-lake and north has been best on our boats. I have had dock pick-up down south a couple of days this past week and we have found the birds diving back in the creeks. We caught a few stripers on leadhead flukes and bucktails when you pulled up to the diving seagulls with and without loons. We caught a 20 pounder on a jig right under a loon.

Whether you fish north or south, active seagulls are a dead give away this time of the year. Our crappie guide has also been doing very well on a split trip catching stripers early and then going crappie fishing later in the day. They are catching crappie under deeper docks on jigs. This good crappie fishing will last thru spring. This report is brought to you by Shane Watson Guide Service www.lakelanierstripers.com, Hammond's Fishing Center, and Carolina Skiff Boats. Good Fishing and We Appreciate Your Business.

Shane Watson Guide Service Report. We've had boats out on trips both north and south over the last couple of weeks with a mix of results. We've had some days when the stripers were up and in the feeding mode and you could catch 15 or 20 in 4 hours.

Go back for your next trip and have to work hard for your bites. That's just the way striper fishing is. Your best bet for numbers have been up north and your best size has been down south. Up north, Capt. Mack's 4 arm shad body u-rigs have worked best and we've caught many stripers from 3 to 12 pounds. Down south, it's more of a big fish thing. Most of the fish that we are catching down the lake have been from 15 to 30 pounds. These bigger fish have bit freelined, ballooned, and planerboard medium trout, gizzard shad, and bluebacks. We've also caught a good many 20 to 25 pound stripers this week on down lined trout. This bigger fish pattern takes some patience, but the reward is much greater.

The middle to the backs of creeks have been best. We've seen some rolling fish this past week and a white bucktail or leadhead fluke have both worked well when the fish have been on the surface. Look for this pattern to increase over the next couple of weeks.

This report is brought to you by Shane Watson Guide Service www.lakelanierstripers.com, Hammond's Fishing Center, and Carolina Skiff Boats. Good Fishing.