Lanier Fishing Report: Early Winter Bite, Spots, Stripers, Crappie - Quiet Please Fishing Podcast

This is Artificial Lure with your Lake Lanier fishing report. Lanier’s sitting in classic early‑winter mode: cool, clear, and a little stingy mid‑day, but feeding windows have been solid around the solunar majors. Fishingreminder’s bite chart for Lanier shows prime windows right around daylight and again late afternoon into dark, so plan on those low‑light periods for your best shot. No tides to worry about on Lanier, but water level is a bit down, and that’s pulling fish to breaks, timber edges, and ditch lines off the main lake. According to the National Weather Service for the Lanier area, we’re looking at seasonable December temps, light north to northwest breeze, and high pressure—bluebird skies after any morning clouds. That makes the mid‑day bite tougher, so think finesse once the sun gets high. Sunrise and sunset today are right around 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. locally, give or take a few minutes depending where you launch. Treat first light to about 9 a.m., and then 4 p.m. to dark, as your money windows. Recent reports from local Lanier guides and anglers on social show **spotted bass** still chewing on **ditches and drains in 25–45 feet**, with some fish pushing bait up on windy points. Small swimbaits on jigheads and underspins have been producing numbers of 1–2 pound spots, with a few 3+ mixed in. Largemouth have been more random but a couple of 5‑ to 6‑pound fish were reported this week out of shallow pockets around wood. **Stripers** have been scattered but catchable. Guide reports out of the mid‑lake area show boats putting 5–10 fish in the boat on a good morning, mostly 6–12 pounds, with an occasional teen‑class fish. Free‑lined and lightly weighted **blueback herring** and **medium shiners** are the ticket when they’re up, and downlines when they slide deeper over the timber in 35–60 feet. The Georgia DNR’s trout stocking report this past week shows Lanier Tailwater below Buford Dam getting fresh trout, which helps striper fishing in the river section—those linesides know what’s coming out of that pipe. Crappie are holding tight to brush in 15–25 feet on the south end and in creeks with good stained water. Folks are reporting 15–30 fish mornings slow‑rolling small **crappie jigs** and **minnows** over brush and docks with good shade. Best lures right now: - For spots: 3–4 inch **jighead minnows**, small **paddletail swimbaits**, and **finesse worms** on a shaky head. Natural shad and translucent colors in the clear water. - For stripers: 1/2‑ to 3/4‑ounce **spoons**, bucktail jigs, and soft‑plastic flukes on jigheads when they’re under the boat; live bluebacks when they’re finicky. - For crappie: 1/32–1/16 oz **hair jigs** or tube jigs in monkey milk, blue/white, or chartreuse, tipped with a minnow if they’re shy. If you’re looking for a couple of hot spots: - **Six Mile and Four Mile Creek area**: good for spotted bass on ditch bites and the occasional striper roaming the channel swings. - **River Forks to Gainesville Mar This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.