Lanier Lures: Spotting Big Bass and Crappie Chasing Minnows on a Sunny June Day

Artificial Lure here with your Lake Lanier fishing report for Friday, June 13th, 2025.

Lake Lanier is sitting a tad above full pool at 1071.9, and water temps are holding steady in the upper 70s. Clarity is excellent across most of the lake—plenty clear on the main body, but you’ll notice just a little stain hanging in the backs of creeks. Today’s sunrise came at 6:26 AM, and sunset won’t roll around until 8:47 PM, giving anglers prime extended hours to chase that early and late bite. No tides to worry about here, but those low-light windows are magic.

The fishing action is hot, and the bass bite is nothing short of electric. Post-spawn spotted bass have gathered in wolf packs over main lake points, long-running humps, and classic Lanier brush piles sitting around 20 to 25 feet deep. This week, I watched packs of big spots blow up on topwater baits—heart-pounding stuff. Spooks, Gunfish, and Chug Bugs are the top producers right now. Cast them right over the brush and work a quick, darting retrieve. If the bass won’t come up, drop a Spot Choker jig or a Keitech swimbait right over the brush—both have been pulling solid fish out of the schools. According to Jimbo’s Lake Lanier Spotted Bass Guide Service and recent reports from Georgia Outdoor News, these patterns are holding steady and should stay strong so long as the weather remains stable.

Crappie are also on the chew with water temps around 72. The bite is good on deep docks and brush, with live minnows and small jigs the ticket for filling a cooler, as reported by Captain Josh Thornton.

For stripers, trolling with live bluebacks or casting soft swimbaits early and late has put some hefty fish in the boat these past few days. The north end river arms, especially Lathem, Yellow, Wahoo, and Gainesville creeks, have produced well this week. Don’t overlook deep mid-lake creek channels for those bigger linesides as the sun climbs.

Best baits this week:
- Topwaters (Zara Spook, Gunfish, Chug Bug) for spots
- Flukes and jerkbaits over points and brush
- Spot Choker jigs and Keitech swimbaits for subsurface
- Shakey head with green pumpkin worms on rocky, shallow points for finicky fish
- Small live minnows or tube jigs for crappie
- Blueback herring or swimbaits for stripers

Hot spots:
- Main lake points and humps from Brown’s Bridge to the dam
- Brush piles at 20–25 feet near Young Deer and Six Mile
- Deeper docks and brush in Little River and Gainesville Creek for crappie
- Lathem and Wahoo creeks for stripers

The ramps are open, the fish are hungry, and the weather’s looking prime—now’s the time to get after them! Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe for the latest from the lake. This has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.