A winter day on North Georgia’s Lake Lanier with the guru of striped bass on the fly
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On The Fly Freshwater
January 2026
By Polly Dean
Hailing from New York, avid angler Henry Cowen, had the good sense to come south and unlock the methods for catching striped bass on a fly on Georgia’s largest lake just north of metro Atlanta. Henry, basically a saltwater angler during his years growing up and living in the Brooklyn area of New York, had decided to make a work-related move to our region.
Henry Cowen on the “Pond,” as he refers to 38,000-acre Lake Lanier. Photo by Jimmy Jacobs.
Cowen has been pursuing striped bass for 50 years. As a youngster in New York using conventional gear, Henry jumped on his bicycle and headed to whatever water he could to fish. Saltwater and striped bass were often the destination and targets of convenience and choice. The love of fishing was instilled by Henry’s father, who was an avid bass fisherman. Angling turned into a passion that Henry also has embraced in his work and recreational endeavors.
While doing a little research, first on coastal towns to feed his affinity for the salt, he learned that Lake Lanier in North Georgia contained a population of land-locked striped bass that Henry has christened “sodium-free” stripers. After picking a local quide’s brain on the subject of what lures on conventional gear brought success in catching those stripers, Cowen concluded that all of those methods could be replicated using flies and fly-fishing gear. Since Henry is married to a Georgia girl, and the lake’s location is convenient to a major airport that was necessary to his work, the Cowens decided that Gainesville would be their future home.
My winter morning trip with Henry began with a heavy fog enveloping much of northern Georgia. We delayed the start time for our day of fishing. Conditions were good in the sense that it wasn’t an extremely cold January day, and that it was supposed to be overcast, which was favorable for this fishing. But the fog was a hazard for navigation.
We targeted the northern end of the lake, since the water temperature was a tad warmer than the southern portion. Henry has a selection of favorite coves where he navigated the boat around looking for signs of stripers attacking schools of bait and gulls diving on the threadfin shad. Often the shad are pushed toward the surface in the deep lake as the stripers feed on the baitfish, which attracts the gulls.
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The author hooked up to a striper. Photo by Jimmy Jacobs.
We did encounter a number of birds diving on bait and a bit of a feeding frenzy going on. We eased to the area, where the water was churning and cast the fly to where stripers were rolling on baitfish just under the water’s surface. We made a few blind casts toward the disturbances and as Henry instructed, our retrieves were repeatedly three short strips and a pause. In just a moment, I felt a solid resistance to my strip, and quickly determined it was a striper. There wasn’t a tug or even a pronounced hit, but instead a solid definite resistance to my attempt to move the fly. The fish ran a bit, then held deep and “bulldogged.” I was able to steadily retrieve the fish toward the boat, where Henry put it in his net. It was a healthy fish that we determined to be about 10- to 12-pounds.
Cowen and the author with her striper that is of average size for catches on Lanier. Photo by Jimmy Jacobs.
The fly we were using is a creation of Henry’s, he calls “Something Else.” In the past I have thrown this fly with success in a white-and-gray, 2.5-inch version Clouser-like fly. In this instance, however, we were throwing smaller 1.5-inch ones. Henry mentioned that for whatever reason, the actual threadfin shad in the lake were smaller this winter, so we matched them in that respect.
The Something Else fly. Photo by Henry Cowen.
Henry’s electronics marked stripers at or below a depth 20 to 25 feet. Since we were throwing a fly, he intentionally moved around to locate our targeted species at a shallower depth. Though we were using intermediate sinking line and had rods on hand with full sinking lines, Henry thought it much more fun to find and cast to fish that were on or near the surface. He also noted it is virtually impossible to get a fly down and present it properly at 30 feet or more. I will agree that adding to the experience of hooking a fish, just seeing the flashes of several other striped bass that were darting and rolling around our boat added excitement.
In addition to guiding on Lake Sidney Lanier, Henry designs and ties flies for Umpqua and Orvis. He has authored a book, “Fly Fishing for Fresh Water Striped Bass” and a number of articles for national publications. He has appeared on a number of fly-fishing television shows and serves on the pro staff for a number of related manufacturers.
For more information on Henry Cowen and his guide service click here or call (678) 677-5382.
