Got the big fish fever about a week ago and decided to pull the boat up to Lake Lanier for a few days last week. BIG thanks to Chip Bragg for letting me borrow everything but his boat (big bait tank, net, map, battery.etc lol)
My Fianc? and I picked up about 2 dozen trout (10-12" long) and 6 big Gizzard shad from Oakwood Bait & Tackle. This bait shop was GREAT; Larry (owner) is a standup guy and treated us like he had known us for 15 years. He didn’t mind giving us tips on bait, hooks and where to find big fish this time of year. Big Thanks to him.
Put lines in on Thursday and within about 20 minutes I had a 17lb fish in the boat (which we released). I thought we were going to kill them from there, but that ended up being the only fish of the trip because of wind and just tough luck.
Overall, it was great visiting a new lake and meeting some good people. I would recommend going to anyone who hasn’t made a trip to Lanier. Definitely planning to get back there before spring.
Beautiful fish, Great Job. It seems like they really have a better class of fish (bigger) up there. What are their management policies/? Do they have a slot limit? what is their size limit/creel limit?
I was wondering about this last week and looked around to see what I could find. From what I can find on Lanier they have NO minimum size limit with a 15 fish per person limit; but you can only keep 2 OVER</font id=“red”> 22".
Before I went down a couple weeks ago I was reading site after site doing reasearch. Turns out they are a very UNDER stocked lake. They do have a fair population of 10# and bigger fish but they are very short handed on 2yrs old fish. ( 16-22") fish.
Man could u imagine murray in 4-5 yrs with those type of regs…wow…it would be a dream lake…lol…
Haha…I did see that Rob. Chip tried to give my fish away.
Those regs would be nice. Not sure what that would do to the other fish population though. It would also be nice to buy and use big trout here like other lakes.
Wow that fish looks bigger than 17 pounds! I don’t think Murray has the water quality to be able to grow a bunch of trophy fish. Before the phosphorus band our lakes got plenty of nutrients but not now. Having the lake stratify is probably another big reason our fish can’t pack on the pounds. Although I’ve never seen Lanier so maybe it is all trophy management. Will have to put it on my bucket list though.
It would probably take about 9 years for a striper on lake murray to get to the 20# range. Considering the fish kill of 2007 killed most of the adult fish, it will be a few more years before there are many fish in that range. Of course this all depends on the good water quality and no big fish kill
bioguy …don’t waste your time …I cut my teeth striper fishing Lanier(20yrs ago)… That fish is one in a thousand…imagine 10x the boats ( 90% ATL city A ___s ) about a million jet ski’s …If you want to hear a thousand decibel cigar boat and see some REALLY FINE T & A … go there ! … or just put an extra “p” in your “strip er” search …and you will find them …bring 20’s though…they wont bite on a mere 2 !
Murray used to be like that back in the 80s. Too much pressure these days; most seem to be focused on “keepers” rather than catch and release as well as proper techniques based water temps. I had no idea that fresh water stripers were such a delicacy…
Yup, remember that to. Also remember catching 8 and 9 lbers on almost every cast at tmes. Don’t understand why we can’t have that now. If the pressure has increased (and it has) hen change the regualations to compensate for it. Mike H, LOL! I agree with you…I had no idea.
bioguy …don’t waste your time …I cut my teeth striper fishing Lanier(20yrs ago)… That fish is one in a thousand…imagine 10x the boats ( 90% ATL city A ___s ) about a million jet ski’s …If you want to hear a thousand decibel cigar boat and see some REALLY FINE T & A … go there ! … or just put an extra “p” in your “strip er” search …and you will find them …bring 20’s though…they wont bite on a mere 2 !
Man 1 in a 1000…I should have played the lottery instead of going to Lanier a couple weeks ago…lol…As well as everyone else that fished that weekend…haha…
I will day this. From what I seen on and around that lake you could not pay me to fish there in the summer time. Marinas full of cigars, fleets of jet skis, house boats out the yang. But I will be headed back mid/late feb if the wife says it cool.ha.
I still believe murray needs a slot limit and there is no better tasting fresh water fish than a striper…
Forgot to compliment you on the nice catch! One of the differences in the lakes is that fish that size seem to rarely be released on Murray. We could have a fishery like that again if the culture would change…
Forgot to compliment you on the nice catch! One of the differences in the lakes is that fish that size seem to rarely be released on Murray. We could have a fishery like that again if the culture would change…
I agree 100% with this. I always tell evwryone. ANY Double digit fish caught on my boat goes back. Of course unless it’s in the summer when they won’t live. I try not to fish too much in the summer though. Have found a new love in the summer. Smallmouth and river stripers
To me Clark’s Hill is the lake that really has it going on in these parts. Though the DNR has set a very liberal 10 fish limit, limiting harvest to 3 26 inches or longer will pay dividends. The lake has good striper habitat and forage, and the summer oxygenation system is a definite plus. It regularly gives up big fish. Heck, if I go over there and don’t land one over 30 inches, it’s been a fair day at best. We just don’t regularly get that size fish on Murray.
Murray used to be like that back in the 80s. Too much pressure these days; most seem to be focused on “keepers” rather than catch and release as well as proper techniques based water temps. I had no idea that fresh water stripers were such a delicacy…
Obviously you do not really know how to heat up a stripperr correctly ! …when done right …they are most certainly a delicacy ! …you just have to know how to butcher them (cut out the red meat)
any of ya’ll who don’t eat what you catch obviously have more dollars than sense.
Maker, didn’t you just say ,last week that a slot limit “would never work on Murray”? I happen to think it would work, but I’m curious, what has changed your opinion?
…when done right …they are most certainly a delicacy !
…you just have to know how to butcher them (cut out the red meat)