What you need to know about fishing Lake Lanier

Lake Lanier is a large reservoir approximately 30 miles north Atlanta, Georgia. The lake was formed by building the Buford Dam on the Chattahoochee River in 1956. At normal pool level the reservoir has over 38,000 surface acres and supports cold water species like trout and walleye with max depths just over 200 feet. Clearer, cooler and deeper waters on the southern end of the lake support use of more natural soft plastic colors while cloudier water on the north side of Lake Lanier require some added flash and color. When targeting bass consider the Texas rig with a worm in a classic color like green pumpkin with chartreuse tails. Our friend Ken Sturdivant for SouthernFishing.com provides a weekly report on Lake Lanier for catching bass, crappie and catfish. As always, it’s useful to eliminate dead water on large reservoirs like Lanier by finding fish and mid-lake structure in summer months using sonar.