Learning how to fish Lake George: Think in terms of seasons

The more time I’ve spent learning how to fish Lake George, the more I’ve tried to analyze a seasonal movement of all the types of fish we target. The bottom line in fishing is this: you can’t catch fish unless you’re on ‘em. So location is huge to fishing success. And that’s why you need to pay attention to water temp and where the fish are at in their seasonal progression.

For smallmouth, this is a rough breakdown of how I think about a strategy on Lake George:

Ice out - 55 degrees = Pre spawn. Fish put on the feed bag as thing move closer to the spawn. Often fish are spread out a bit, but when you find them, you can often find fish stacked up.

55-65 = Spawn. Fish begin to move toward the spawn. After the females lay their eggs, they move off and recover and the males guard the nest. You will find fish shallow (3-10 fow) during this period - primarily males.

65-70 = Post spawn. Can be a bit tricky as fish are a bit scattered and in recovery. I have found this to be an awesome season. Often fish suspend and respond really well to jerkbaits and top water baits.

70-75 - Summer Pattern. One day the fish are shallow and then next they move. Usually to near shore humps first and eventually to their summer pattern on off shore humps. This is when hair jigging deep and drop shotting excels on George.

Location is key to finding fish and having great electronics is key on a lake like Lake George. Garmin’s stuff gives us the edge - this year we added some unique Livescope options to try and utilize this amazing technology.

If you’re wanting to learn more about Lake George or develop a better understanding of what it would look like to be successful as a fisherman, book a trip with us this summer and get a hands on learning experience.

Let us know if there’s questions/topics that you would like to write or do a video on. Thanks and leave a comment!

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