More rain this week means more water in the lake!  The water came up over .5 feet last week and the water temperatures have remained fairly stable.  The fishing on Lanier remains good, although it is starting to change slightly as the fish seem to be trending more toward their mid-summer patterns.  The topwater bite is still good and as long as we don’t get consistently hot temps, it should still stick around, although it won’t be as consistent as we have seen it.  Most days will offer periods of good topwater fishing, but count on having to do some other things during some parts of the day to get bit. We have again this week been working topwater and swimbaits for the majority of our catches. A chug bug, a sammy, and a fluke have been my main choices for topwater, and a sebile for a swimbait.  Focus on offshore structure with cover, such as brush on humps and points, for this approach. We are focusing on brush in 18-25 feet of water.   For the past week, the mid-morning time frame has seemed to produce the best topwater action, however, there always seems to be a return of the bite at some point in the afternoon as well.  When the fish are schooling, pay attention to the size of bait they are chasing.  Match the size of your topwater to the size of the bait on which the fish are focused. The drop shot bite continues to improve and it is proving to be a good option when the topwater bite slows.  I have been using the Lanier Baits offerings.  Candy has seemed to again be the best color this week.  Also, look for the SuperSpin bite to really improve over the next few weeks as the fish become less and less willing to come to the surface.  Work this bait around points and humps with brush and vary the areas of the water column you work until you find the sweet spot. Here are my open July Dates: 12, 13, 14, 18, 20, 21, 22, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31.  Now is a great time to learn off-shore fishing for mid-summer bass on Lanier!  Deep humps, hidden points, and ledges are a focus now – Give me a call and see what that is all about!  And I’m sure we will have some fun along the way!  Thanks to all and May God Bless.