We joined the armada of boats in the back of flat bright and early Sat. Landed an 18 lb'er around 7:45. Traffic got very heavy so we left and checked out four, six and baldridge creeks. Never got a touch in them. Finished up back at the mouth of flat around 1pm and caught one small 6 lb'er.

Sunday returned to the back of flat early. Ended up playing five stripes and landed three between 7- 11am...12,11 & 6 lbs. We flat lined with herring and the smaller herring were the one's that got the hits and with one exception, everything was on the planner boards. All our strikes were in open water...not along the banks. Saw quite a few fish caught in flat Sunday. I think the weather kept the traffic down and the bite going all morning. Was nice to finally get some action!

The smaller fish from Sunday had a tag on it. Wasn't sure what to do with the tag...couldn't really see any information on it, so like the others, we released it. I did get a pic of it. What's the protocol for these tagged fish...should we be cutting it off and returning to DNR, take measurements, or what? I would attach the pic if anyone is interested...just need someone to let me know how.

the tags on the fish was an experiment the dnr did a few years back to track the fish sizes and traveling location. They was offering 5 dollars to anyone called in a tagged fish 4 years ago

Thanks Simon. Second one I've caught with a tag...first one was probably three years ago.

I would think that a 4 year old fish would weigh more than 6lbs..??

Yes the fish might have been tagged by someone, or the DNR may have tagged some youngsters so they could track there progress themselves. If a 4 year old fish weighs 6 pounds in Lanier he is deaf dumb and blind, with no sense of smell or no lateral line. lol:

The fish looked good and healthy...was weighed on a 30lb boga so the weight was probably off some. Brings up an interesting point though...what's the average growth rate in Lanier for stripers. Most go in as fingerlings don't they? I would think with the extreme cold weather and shad die off this year, they would add some serious poundage. I know I did :-)