“The next time you catch a walleye, or for that matter its first cousin a sauger, take a moment to carefully examine its eyes. Not only are these features the origin of its common name and a prominent part of their appearance, but their unique physiology permits this fish to adapt into an ecological niche that is occupied by few other species. Walleye are perfectly adapted for capturing prey in very low light, or even in total darkness. At the same time in most clear waters that they occupy, they forage most effectively at dawn and dusk when the prey fishes have limited vision but remain active. For this reason, walleye are termed low light condition feeders, and fishing success is traditionally best during these periods. Some of the most avid walleye fishermen never fish during daytime, finding catch success best in semi- or total darkness”. This is not always true on southern lakes. The bite seems to be better mid morning and day during the fall.
Fishing Reports
Lake Lanier Striper Fishing
November 23, 2012 – 1:15 am
Today I guided a Lake Lanier Striped Bass Trip
The fishing started out slow,but by 9am the Striped Bass action was ON FIRE! Gainesville Marina Seemed to be the hot location. Find the bait and the fish are close by. There are millions of bait fish on the north end of Lanier right now. Most of our fish were caught on a 50ft bottom dropping Blue-Backs down about 28ft deep. Hopefully the turnover will complete this week and clear the Lowrance up a little.
Lake Burton Fishing Report November
November 23, 2012 – 1:11 am
Lake Burton Fishing
Water temp: 56
Water Clarity: Clear
Down 8ft
Brown Trout: The Brown Trout continue to be in the backs of creeks. Some of the larger fish are out a little deeper. This years stocking looks great, with lots of bigger fish. Hopefully with these bigger stockers Lake Burton’s predators won’t be able to eat them. Most of the juvenile fish will eat any bait presented at them. The Rapala countdown, Mepps spinners and Shad Raps have been working well. Most of these fish are shallow (less than 8ft). Trolling large Loco Spoons has been working well for the bigger Brown’s. I have been varying my trolling speed with lots of turns (2.5 to 3.5mph). The Bigger Brown Trout will slowly work towards deeper water over the next couple of weeks. Look for these fish to show up near and around the main river channel.
Bass:
The spotted bass have moved to a deep water late winter pattern. We have been catching these fish on white crank baits and spoons. The spoon bite should continue on through December. Work the spoon over a 35 to 48ft bottom. I like to flip flop the spoon slowly this time of year. This seems to catch a few of the larger lethargic fish. White/Gold 5/10 spoons have been working best.
Walleye:
The Walleye bite continues to be consistent. We are still having our best luck trolling large crank baits (20ft divers). The numbers of fish are not so great, but when you catch one they are large (5 to 7Lbs). Most of the Walleye in the North Georgia lakes are holding in the 35 ft range. Some of the bigger fish have been caught in the 28ft depths. Drop shot-ting brush piles should be good for the month of December as long as the state does not seem record lows!
Yellow Perch:
Wow! I have seen the Yellow Perch as shallow as 4 ft and as deep as 28ft this month. These fish seem to have no rime or reason for their wandering. Maybe the concentrations of small bait fish swimming in and around all of the creeks has caused this. Try and locate a concentration of fish in about 15ft of water on your electronics, pull the boat about 25ft or so away. Cast any pan fish jig working it slowly toward the boat and you’ll produce. Slow trolling small crank baits this time of year is very effective.
Good Luck!
Captain Wes Carlton Georgia Lake Fishing https://www.georgialakefishing.com/ 770-318-9777
Lake Lanier Striper Fishing Report October
October 20, 2012 – 3:56 am
The Striper have moved north. The bite has picked up the last few days. we boated 28 fish Tuesday in a three hour period. Most of these Stripers were small 6 to 9lbs but fun to catch. The Walleye are starting to pick up on Lake Lanier.
Lake Burton/Lake Rabun October Fishing Report
October 20, 2012 – 3:50 am
October Fishing Report:
Lake Burton/Lake Rabun
Water Clarity: clear
Temp: 67deg
Level: Full Pool
Walleye:
The walleye are biting fair this week and should start biting better as we head toward the end of October. Look for these fish in the 16 to 28ft range. There have been some fish caught over a 50ft bottom trolling crank baits. Be sure to slow the trolling speed down a bit (1.8mph) as we head toward cooler water temperatures. Don’t be surprised if you land bigger fish this coming month. Some of our biggest fish have come in the end of October and November in the last couple of years.
Brown Trout:
The Brown Trout bite has been very consistent. With some bigger fish being caught last week I am looking for the pre spawn bite to be very good this year. Most of the Browns have started heading up the lakes toward the creeks. Look for these fish close to the main lake channels at he mouths of the creeks. Jigging spoons have been working well (white Flexit). Try positioning the boat directly over or close to these schools and work the spoon really fast up from the bottom. Trolling crank baits shallow in the 12ft depth range will be a good technique for the next couple of weeks. Just remember “you can’t go wrong with white baits”.
Yellow Perch:
The Yellow Perch bite continues to be great. We have had two days in the last week or two where we have caught over 60 fish in a five hour period. Some of these fish are in the 15 to 16″in range. That’s a big Perch! Although most are around 10″. We have caught Perch on Crappie Jigs, Night Crawlers,Drop shotting minnows, and little spoons. They don’t seem to be very picky. Look for the Yellow Perch in the 20ft water column around grass and brush.
Spotted Bass:
The Spots have been holding over deep water lately. Most of the bigger spots we have caught have been over a 40ft bottom. I look for these fish to rise quickly over the next few days. We should be seeing some surface action real soon. So have a Silver Spook, Fluke or Sammy handy while out. The fall pattern is typically finding fish over mid lake humps and points in the 16 to 20ft depths. We’re not far form this. The Jerk Bait bite(Spro-McStick) will be ON!. Clear flourocarbon is essential on these northern clear water lakes. Lake Burton has been producing some of Georgia’s biggest Spotted Bass this year!
LargeMouth Bass:
The Largemouth have been holding in the 16ft range. These fish have been biting live bait real well! We had five Largemouth over 6lbs and one about 9lbs this week. These fish are slow at eating a live bait or artificial swim bait, so be patient when fishing for these fish and the results will be good!
Captain Wes Carlton Georgia Lake Fishing https://www.georgialakefishing.com/ 770-318-9777
Lake Lanier Fishing
October 2, 2012 – 1:44 am
Lake Lanier Striper fishing report
Striper fishing on Lanier continues to be great. The morning bite seems to good with mostly smaller fish. The afternoon bite has produced some big Striped Bass. They are deeepp. The south end of Lake Lanier is where these bigger fish are hanging out. The largest fish we caught last week was twenty one pounds. The topwater bite should be on real soon.u
Lake Burton Fishing
August 5, 2012 – 9:27 pm
The Brown Trout are on fire. Today we trolled 16 to 30ft deep and boated some healthy Brown Trout. The size ranged from 3 lbs to 5lbs. These fish are congregated over deep water.