Jimbo's Lake Lanier Guide Service Fishing Report: 8/28/2014

Hey Gang - I can't remember my last day off, and I'm loving it! It has been a great August for my business and the fishing has been fantastic. A big thanks to all my new and repeat customers that came out with me this month. It has been awesome and I appreciate you all!! I know this sounds like a broken record, but we have been throwing topwater, topwater, and topwater. The bite has just been great, particularly once the sun gets up. We have been catching great numbers and size every day. We have really hammered some studs the last few days. The cooler weather and bright sun each day has been a big plus. When this bite is on, its just tough to throw anything else. The aerial shows we have enjoyed from these fish have been impressive to say the least - just a blast to watch these fish crush a bait on top. A Gunfish, Spook, and a chug bug have been our main weapons. Brush in 25 or so on off-shore structure has been best. I am full the rest of week, but I have Tues, Thursday, and Friday open next week (Sept 2,4,5). My phone is on the fritz at the moment, so please email me at: jim@laniermapped.com with trip requests. You can also leave a message at 770-542-7764. I check those twice a day remotely and emails at night. I'll get back to you ASAP, I promise. Thanks to all, and May God Bless!! Jimbo

Jimbo's Lake Lanier Spotted Bass Fishing Guide Service Report: 8/17/2014

Hey Everyone - Just a quick report as we wrap up the weekend. I hope everyone got out and enjoyed the great weather! I have been out on trips all week as well as both weekend days and the bite has remained very strong. It has been a long time since we have had such a productive August on Lanier for both numbers and size. The fish are eating topwater and swimbaits everyday out there and my customers have been enjoying it! The cooler water temps have kept the bait up and the fish active on the surface. Spooks, Gunfish, Chug Bug...throw it and they will come! LOL. We rarely pick up anything else through the day. There are alot of schoolers first thing in the morning. These fish are roaming on humps and keying on smaller bait fish. Downsize your offerings for best results on these fish. As the day progresses and the sun gets up, we have been focusing on brush in 25+ on offshore humps for the majority of our fish, and the full size baits seem to work best. August has been a great month - thanks to everyone for the calls! I only have 3 days left open: 21, 26, 28. Also, I have had many people ask me about September dates recently- those are filling up - please call me ASAP to reserve your September dates - they are going fast! Thanks to everyone - I am looking forward to an awesome fall fishing with y'all. It's going to be a good one! May God Bless - Jimbo

Jimbo's Lake Lanier Bass Fishing Guide Service Fishing Report: 8/11/2014

Hey Gang - I hope everyone has been enjoying the summer. It's hard to believe the kids are already going back to school! Mother nature has smiled on us so far this year with some very nice summer weather, especially for August, and I will tell you the fish like it! I wrapped up 8 trips over a 6 day stretch this past Saturday, and my customers enjoyed an outstanding week of fishing! Looking back, Wednesday was probably our best day as we had a 19 lbs sack, all on Topwater. Hard to say that on this lake in August very often! We have been working topwater and swimbaits over brush on off-shore structure in 20-30 feet of water. I know this sounds like a broken record for us this summer, but the weather has kept the surface temps low enough to keep the bait shallow in the water column and thus creating a continuing opportunity for a surface bite, and we have taken advantage of it. Nothing matches the excitement of our aggressive spots hammering a topwater plug, especially when they attack ten or more at a time! There are also some good fish getting very shallow in the mornings as well as throughout the recent cloudy days, so don't hesitate to throw shallow when the conditions are right. In addition to a gunfish, a chug bug,a Bite Sized Herring and a Sebile, a Fish Head Spin has been a good near the surface at times as well. With more cool weather in the forecast this week, I look for this bite to continue. This week I have open days on Thursday and Friday, August 14 and 15. After that, I have several open days throughout the remainder of August: 19, 20, 21, 22, 25, 26, 28. This is a great opportunity to enjoy the rare August topwater bite or do a spot tail trip. Lot's of fun on either one. Give me a call and let's fish! Thanks to all and May God Bless - Jimbo

Jimbo's Lake Lanier Bass Fishing Guide Service Report: 7/24/2014

Hey Gang - WOW! What a great week it has been on Lanier! The cool weather in combination with the Corp pulling water regularly this week has made for some fantastic fishing!! We have been smoking the big girls this week on a swimbait and topwater. This has been some of the best late July fishing I have seen on Lanier. The water temp was in the upper 70's at the start of the week and the fish liked it. We have been running and gunning brush in 20-30 ft. on humps and points throughout the lower lake. The Bite Sized Herring and a Sebile have been our best choices for the swimbait, and a Sammy along with a Gunfish have been our best topwater offerings. When the topwater/swimbait bite slows, we have been utilizing a drop shot out in 30-35 for some nice fish as well. I ran some spot tail trips last week, but since then it has been all artificial for us. The first set of pictures above are from yesterdays trip with Jim, Mike and his son Tyler. They had a SACK yesterday, most on swimbaits with a couple of topwater fish. Tyler stroked a 18 lbs sack on his own - what a great day for him. Uncle Jim had bought the trip for Tyler as his Christmas present back in December. I think Tyler had a good Christmas....looking forward to next year guys! Awesome day! Also, on the 3rd pane of pictures attached, I want to give a shout out to Hui. She was the SuperStar that day when she and her husband Darryl were out with me. We were both very proud of her - great work Hui!! Here is what I have open over the next couple of weeks: JULY - 26, 28 (PM), 29 (PM), 30, 31(PM). August - 1,6, 8. Give me a call and let's get out there. I am still running spot tail trips also, so let me know your pleasure! Finally, before closing, I wanted to take a moment to share a great story of assistance. I can't speak highly enough of Shawn, Jody, and of course John at John Megel Chevrolet on Hwy 19 (GA 400) in Dawsonville. These guys are simply a Class Act! I was in a jam and these guys bailed me out without hesitation, and I am grateful. They took care of me and did so in a first rate manner. I was blown away with their attentiveness and professionalism. I can assure you when in comes time for me to purchase my next Chevy Truck, John Megel will be getting my business. I hope you all take the time to check them out as well. Thanks guys!! May God Bless - Jimbo

Jimbo's Lake Lanier Spotted Bass Fishing Guide Service Fishing Report Lake Lanier: July 12, 2014

Hey Gang - I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the summer. I also hope everyone's 4th of July was awesome as well. Such a great holiday, and we really do have so much to celebrate as a country. Even though I worked most of the holiday, we still had a great time and helped celebrate our country's independence through attending some of the local events - I just love fireworks! The fishing has been very good the last 10 days or so. The fish are now in a transitional stage as some of the bigger fish are moving out deeper as they traditionally do this time of year. We have been catching our fish from 20 feet all the way out to 40 feet on offshore structure, typically near brush. When the wind is up in mornings, we have found a very good swimbait bite. Rick's Bite Sized Herring has been king. Topwater has actually still been good on most days, but is not quite as dependable as it was. We are still able to bring fish up from the brush, and we have also seen alot of schooling activity. As most of you know, when you get a bait in the action, you will get bit! Just leave it in there long enough and don't jerk it away from them and you will connect! A fast retrieved Sebile has been a nice compliment as well on some days. We have caught a few on a jig this week, and have brought the drop shot into play as well. One day this past week we found a very good deep bite on the DS for some very nice fish. 35 feet or so was the key that day. Look for the deep DS bite to strengthen, depending on the temps. However, it looks like we are in store for a big cool down next week, which could revive the weakening topwater bite, which would certainly be fine with me! The first block of pictures are from the artificial trips the last few days. The bigger block of pictures is from all of our recent spot tail trips. I have been running several spot tail trips with some youngsters and that has been a blast! Watching and helping kids to catch fish is awesome. 20-30 fish in a half day experience has been the norm. This is a great time for young and old alike! This coming week, I have Monday and Tuesday open. With the weather change on it's way, as well as being on the tail end of the full moon phase, I look for some great fishing on the artificial side. Swimbaits and topwater come to mind...LOL. After this week, here are the days I have remaining open in July: 21, 23(AM), 24(PM), 28, 29, 30, 31. Topwater, Swimbaits, Deep Drop Shot, Spot tails....all sorts of options. Give me a ring, and lets fish! Rick also has some days up on Hartwell - let me know if you would like to get out with Rick as well. Thanks to all, and may God Bless! Jimbo

Jimbo's Lake Lanier Spotted Bass Guide Service Fishing Report: 7/1/2014

Hey Gang - This report, as well as the multiple pages of pics, are all from last week. I am in the midst of a 13 day straight run of trips. Somewhat exhausting, but it has been awesome! Thanks to everyone for the calls and keeping me so busy - I love it! I was on Day 9 today, so still a few more to go before a day off, which, yes, I am planning to spend fishing. And yes I will be out in the mornings over the holiday weekend. Should be interesting. LOL. A great story from last week is where I will start. If you y'all remember, I had just got back from Disney last weekend, and was starting back on trips as of Monday, June 23rd. I posted a report and included some pics from the week prior to my departure. All that said, I headed on out the 23rd to get spot tails for an afternoon trip with some kids. I launched early and tried to find some minnows. No luck. I had been away for a week, and wasn't sure where to check, as my usual haunts were not producing. Finally, I had to give up the search, and hope that somehow we could make the artificials work, which is a tough order with inexperienced anglers, especially kids. Looking back, I'm SO GLAD that I could not find the spot tails. I will tell you all that I had the best, most rewarding week of my career last week. I worked with 5 different young men and women with limited, if any, fishing experience, and taught them to fish. To really fish. From the ground up. Started with teaching them to cast a spinning rig, and then how to properly fish a chug bug and a swimbait. And then, how to fight and land a fish. All week, we threw those baits, and those baits only, to catch all of the fish pictured in these multiple posts. Those kids did so well and I was so proud of them for learning and applying all that information so well. The sense of accomplishment for them, and me, was incredible. It was just awesome. They now each have a great base of fundamentals that will carry them through a lifetime of learning and growing in a sport that we all cherish so much. Great week. Agian, all the fish pictured came on a chug bug or a swimbait. You can see the baits we were using in one of the photos. We had several multiple hook ups, including one triple and several doubles, which are also pictured. The topwater bite has slowed a bit this week, but it is still there and, at customer request, we are still chasing it. We caught several today, including a big one, and lost a monster as well. Pics on those later. I have Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday open next week (July 8,9,10). Give me a call - I would love to have you out. And, I would love to teach your kids to fish. I forsee some topwater, as well as a Fish Head Spin, a swimbait, a Dude, and a drop shot in my future, as well as some minnows. Maybe next time I can find some. LOL. Enjoy the Holiday weekend and stay safe if you chose to hit the pond this weekend. It should be quite a sight. LOL. Thanks to everyone, and May God Bless - Jimbo

Jimbo's Lake Lanier Guide Service Fishing Report: 6/23/2014

Hey Gang - I am fresh back from a trip to Disney with the family. We had this vacation planned for awhile as it was a gift from my wife's parents from this past Christmas. There were 11 of us staying in a condo in Kissimmee and hitting all the different parks for 7 days. I am exhausted! LOL. The kids in the family had a blast and that is what it is about. We took about 4 bazillion pictures this week, but the above left is my favorite. This was taken early on day 1 just after we had entered the Magic Kingdom and pursued our personal appointment with Mickey. All the kids met with him and talked with him and it was cool to watch him interact with the kids, especially the younger ones in our family. The park staff would take pictures with Mickey and each of the kids in our group. With every picture, as it was about to be snapped, Mickey would say "Cheeeeeeese" really loud. Shocking I know. Anyway, as a spoof, I took the opportunity to meet him also as I was at the end of the line. The above left is a picture taken of Mickey's reaction to my question as he and I were posing for a picture about to be taken by the staff. As we posed, arm in arm, I said right in Mickey's ear - "So Mickey, about that money you owe me...". My family and the park staff lost it. The mouse turned and looked at me for a long time, speechless, and finally uttered "cheese?" in a questioning tone. Folks, you had to be there, but it was hillarious! One of my many favorite moments of the trip. Thanks to my wonderful in-laws for a great trip and some awesome memories. My good friends kept me up to speed on the bite while I was gone, and I am about to head out on a topwater and spottail trip with some youngsters this afternoon. I suspect we will be throwing topwater, topwater,and topwater this week when we aren't dropping minnows. I hear the bite is still strong in the right places. My favorite for sure. Hard to beat the action. The remainder of the above pictures are all topwater fish from last week before I left on the Disney trip. I have had a cancellation this week for Wednesday, June 25, if anyone is interested. I also have a free seat tomorrow afternoon. Just give me a call. Next week I only have July 1 and 2 open. I am excited to be back and looking forward to getting back on the water. Give me a call or drop me a line if you would like to get out there and chase 'em! Thanks everyone and May God Bless - Jimbo