Live Bait Is The Cold Water Answer At Lake Lanier by Bill Vanderford

Though Lake Lanier is heavily populated with catchable fish during February and March, several problems exist. The weather during this period is constantly changing , and one cold front after another will roll through, which generally has a detrimental effect on most fish. Some of these fronts will be accompanied by rain, high winds, and bitter cold temperatures. Nevertheless, if one employs good common sense, Lake Lanier can be a "hot spot" during February and March!
Live bait becomes a productive choice during this colder period when the metabolism of many fish has slowed. Often threadfin shad or blueback herring are the most prevalent baitfish during the late winter. Catching these, however, requires considerable work with a cast net, and a good bait tank is needed to keep them alive. The easy alternative is to take a trip to the local bait store and buy a couple of dozen, commercially raised, emerald shiners or trout. These can be dumped into the lake water in a bass boat livewell and will survive for days.
The equipment used when live baiting can be anything from spinning tackle with 8 pound/test line to the heavier baitcasting outfits. What is needed is a rod with a soft tip and enough backbone to fight a big fish properly. The soft tip will result in a higher percentage of hooked fish with live bait. When a big fish initially inhales the bait, the softer tip offers little resistance during the first few critical seconds before the angler can pull the rod out of its holder.
Rod holders are a necessary item when fishing shiners or natural baitfish. On most boats, two holders near the back of the boat and an additional two near the middle section seem to be the best solution.
Regardless of the outfit used, the baited rigs are normally dropped to the depth where the graph recorder has shown large concentrations of fish. If feeding fish can be seen periodically driving shad to the surface, bring one of the down-lines up, cut the rig off, tie a hook directly to the end of the unweighted line and free-line the bait approximately 50 feet behind the boat.
While these rigs are down at their respective depths or trailing behind the boat, the electric trolling motor is used to ease the boat along a path where fish have been seen visually or on sonar. Most of these areas are adjacent to a defined creek channel.
A cold front tends to bunch fish into a smaller area and usually at a certain depth. Though this may slow down their aggressive nature, when these concentrations are located, it often makes the fish easier to catch using this slow method with live shiners. For more information, go to: www.georgiafishing.com