09/15/2026
🎣 LAKE LANIER SPOTTED BASS REPORT
Lake Lanier Fishing Company | Week of September 15
The fall transition has begun on Lake Lanier—but the bass have not completely left their summer homes yet. That is what makes this a fun time of year: you can catch spotted bass deep, shallow, and suspended. The key is letting the baitfish and your electronics tell you which pattern is working that day.
Lake conditions
* Water level: Approximately 1,065 feet, or about 6 feet below full pool
* Water clarity: Mostly clear; expect more stain as you travel farther up the river arms and into the backs of creeks
* Water temperature: Generally in the low 80s
* Safety note: Six feet low exposes more shallow points, humps, and rocky shoreline. Be careful running unfamiliar water, especially toward the backs of creeks.
Where to look
There are three main places to start this week:
1. Deep structure: Long-running points, humps, and timber lines in 30–50 feet of water. Look for bait and bass on your electronics before dropping a bait.
2. Suspended fish: Creek mouths, deeper pockets, brush piles, and standing timber in roughly 25–35 feet. These fish may suspend underneath bait instead of sitting on the bottom.
3. Shallow early and late: Rocky bluff walls, shallow points, and the backs of major creek arms can produce when fish push bait shallow—especially early in the morning, late in the afternoon, or when there is cloud cover.
What to have tied on
1. Jackall Riser Bait — for schooling fish and surface activity
When you see bass busting bait, do not hesitate. Have a Jackall Riser Bait 007R or 009 tied on and ready.
* Colors: Natural shad, ghost-minnow, chrome/shad, or a blueback-herring pattern
* Where: Schooling fish on points, humps, creek mouths, and around brush
* How to fish it: Cast well past the busting fish, bring it back with a steady medium retrieve, and do not stop it too soon. If fish swirl but miss it, speed the retrieve up a little on the next cast.
This bait is especially good for covering water and catching a better-than-average spot that comes up feeding for only a few seconds.
2. Drop shot — for deep fish you see on electronics
When you find fish holding near bottom, brush, or timber, a drop shot is one of the most dependable ways to put bass in the boat.
* Worm size: 3½ to 4½ inches
* Good worms: Roboworm Straight Tail, Zoom Shaky Head worm, or Berkley MaxScent Flat Worm
* Colors: Morning Dawn, Sweet Rosy, Blue Lily, Aaron’s Magic, Green Pumpkin, and natural smoke/shad colors
* Where: Deep points, humps, brush, timber lines, and fish marked below the boat
* How to fish it: Lower it directly to the fish, keep a little slack in the line, shake it gently, then let it sit. Do not overwork it. Lanier spots will often follow it and eat after it has been sitting still.
3. Georgia Blade spoon — for fish under the boat
Keep a spoon ready anytime you are graphing bait and bass in deeper water.
* Best choices: A Georgia Blade Flutter Spoon for suspended fish, or one of their smaller jigging spoons for fish near the bottom
* Colors: Chrome, chrome/blue, chrome/shad, or white
* Where: Timber lines, humps, points, creek mouths, and fish under bait balls
* How to fish it:
* For a flutter spoon: rip it, pause it, or reel it fast a few turns and pause.
* For a smaller jigging spoon: lift it sharply and let it fall on a semi-slack line.
* Most strikes happen as the spoon falls—watch your line closely.
4. Shaky head — for a slower deep-water bite
When the bite gets tough, a shaky head will still get attention from fish around deeper structure.
* Worm size: 4½ to 6 inches
* Good worms: Zoom Trick Worm, Roboworm Fat Worm, or a straight-tail finesse worm
* Colors: Green Pumpkin, Green Pumpkin/Blue, Morning Dawn, and Watermelon Red
* Where: Points, brush piles, rocky banks, and the edges of deeper timber
* How to fish it: Make a long cast, let it get to bottom, and drag or barely shake it back. Slow down more than you think you need to.
5. Shallow-water choices
If bass are pushing bait into the backs of creeks or feeding along steep rocky banks, keep these on the deck:
* Georgia Blade buzzbait: White or shad color; fish it early around shallow cover and bluff walls with an erratic retrieve.
* Spinnerbait: White, chartreuse/white, or shad pattern; good around blowdowns, shallow docks, and shoreline cover.
* Shallow crankbait: A Berkley Bad Shad or Berkley Frittside in a natural shad color; cover rocky banks and shallow points.
* Weightless fluke: White, pearl, or shad color; twitch it over brush when fish will not commit to a full topwater bait.
Weekend game plan
Start early around points and creek mouths with the Jackall Riser Bait. If there is no surface activity, move out and use your electronics to find bait on deep points, humps, and timber lines. Once you locate them, go to the drop shot or Georgia Blade spoon and stay with the fish.
The lake is in that in-between stage right now: some fish are shallow, some are suspended, and some are still deep. Cover enough water to find the day’s pattern, then slow down and work it.
Need to restock? Support our local tackle shop, Hammond’s Fishing Center. They can set you up with the right Riser Baits, Georgia Blade spoons, drop-shot worms, hooks, and weights for Lake Lanier. Tight lines from Lake Lanier Fishing Company.
