Guide Jerry Hester displays an average-sized striped bass taken from Lake Lanier. Photo by Don Baldwin

Avid anglers deem few things more exciting than hooking, fighting, and landing a big fish — and I mean big: a line-stripping, rod-bending beast that makes your drag scream and your adrenaline levels soar. The satisfaction of getting into an extended battle of wills with such a creature, then conquering it, and at last leading it to the side of the boat is what big-game fishing is all about.

For most of us in Georgia, big-game fishing entails a trip to the coast and long rides out to the blue water in search of king mackerel, bull dolphin, or oversized red snapper. But if you live inland, an easily-accessible alternative option may be found very close by: chasing striped bass in our area reservoirs.

Georgia’s aggressive stocking program has resulted in the development of noteworthy striped bass fisheries in many of our lakes. Their seagoing kin spawn in freshwater rivers, so the brutes are well suited to inland environments, and survival rates for stripers introduced into the larger, deeper reservoirs have been observed to be extremely good.

Let’s explore a few of the Peach State’s better venues for lineside action, and ask some experts about their methods for catching stripers during the cold of the winter months.

LAKE SIDNEY LANIER
This mammoth impoundment north of Atlanta has long been known as a pretty decent striped bass fishery. The deep, clear lake is loaded with striper-friendly habitat and forage. Reggie Weaver, the fisheries biologist assigned to the lake by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division, described the striper population on Lanier as healthy and numerous. “We stock about 10 fish per acre on average in Lanier every year,” he said. “That means that over 350,000 1-inch fingerlings are being added to the fishery annually.”

Dropped into the lake in several places, the fingerlings spread out all over, affording them better access to food and cover. This relatively new distribution program is leading to stronger year-classes than resulted from large numbers being dumped in one or just a couple of locations.

“The addition of blueback herring has also had a positive impact on the striper survival and growth rate,” Weaver added. “These baitfish go much deeper than shad typically do, so they provide an excellent deep-water food source for stripers during the summer months, when the big fish are deep looking for cool water.”

The average Lanier striper weighs between 8 and 10 pounds, but specimens of 20 pounds and up are far from unknown in the reservoir. The lake-record striper weighed 46 pounds — and you can bet that the drag screamed during that fight!