Lanier Fishing Report: Early December Tactics for Bass, Stripers, and Crappie

Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in with your Lanier fishing report. Lanier’s sitting several feet below full pool, around 1,064 and change per Discover Lanier, so there’s a lot of red clay and rock showing. Water’s in the low 60s on the main lake, a touch cooler up the rivers, with clear water out on the main and stained in the creeks, according to the December report in Lakeside News. No real tide to worry about on this reservoir, but the *moon and light* are driving the bite. FishingReminder’s solunar tables show the stronger feeding windows lining up with early morning and late afternoon. Around there, you’ll want to be on your best stuff from first light until mid‑morning, then again the last couple hours before dark. Sunrise is right around 7:30 local, sunset just after 5:30, so you’ve got a short but productive day. Weather-wise, we’re in typical early‑December Lanier mode: cool mornings in the 40s, afternoons pushing into the upper 50s and low 60s with light north to northwest breeze. That breeze is your friend—follow it to the windblown rock and points. According to Ken Sturdivant’s December Lanier report in Lakeside News, **bass fishing is good** with a lot of quality spots being caught. Fish are scattered from 2 to 40 feet. Shad are balled up in the creeks from about 10 to 40, and the bass are glued to them. Over the last few days anglers have been doing work on four main offerings: **spinnerbaits, crankbaits, underspins, and spoons**. Spinnerbait: white and chartreuse with silver or white willow blades, slow‑rolling it about five feet deep over rock when that wind hits a point or bluff. Crankbait: mid‑depth plugs like a Rapala DT10 or Spro RKCrawler, banging through chunky rock in 8–12 feet. When you see shad on the screen out in the ditches, a 3/8‑ounce underspin with a small paddle‑tail swimbait is money, especially in 30–40 feet. For fish pinned under bait, a Georgia Blade‑style spoon dropped on their nose—short two‑foot hops and let it free‑fall—has been putting spotted bass and the occasional bonus walleye in the boat. Striper guys are still grinding out some nice fish. Lakeside News reports solid catches on **live bait**—trout, bluebacks, gizzards, and big shiners. Downlines over 40–60 feet with the bait set just above the marks are the most consistent. On calmer mornings, weighted and naked flatlines pulled across creek mouths and over the river channel swings mid‑lake are producing. Always keep a topwater or fluke‑style soft jerkbait rigged; small wolfpacks of stripers are still blowing up briefly around birds. Recent catches around the lake include mixed bags of 2–4 pound spots, a few 5‑plus class fish for folks camping on windblown rock, and stripers running 8–15 pounds for the live‑bait crowd. Crappie are tight to brush in 15–25 feet; small minnows or 1/16‑ounce hair jigs will do the trick on docks that still have enough water. If you’re looking for a couple of **hot spots** today: - **Six Mile and Two Mile**: Wor This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.