The Bite - Lake Allatoona:
With a nice mild spring easing into a 'sure to make you smile' summer, rest assured that the fishing is some of the very best in the southeast. Naturally, this depends on your desired target species, however, Allatoona has one of the finest hybrid striped bass and white bass fisheries in the state. With just the right information to capitalize on these rascals, you have a chance at a day filled with 3-5 pound hybrids, dozens of white bass anda even a shot at a 20 lb.+ Striped Bass that roam the river and reservoir.
With nice steady levels controlled by the ACOE, and a multitude of other factors, we are off to the races with a fresh load of little fry after some ideal spawning circumstances for the white bass, crappie and spotted bass. The reservoir has held fairly steady at full pool, with water temperatures in the mid-70s reservoir wide. As of today's date, we are a couple of feet above full pool. Getting to fish where there's often land can have it's advantages.
The Lineside action has been pretty decent this season to date. There are hotspots on each end of the reservoir and so many points in between. While the majority of the linesides may have made their way up the river and back into the reservoir already, we have seen some recent catches of big egg laden female striped bass still in the reservoir.
Some of them just don't go up the river, either. They will spawn in the backs of creeks and pockets or wherever they desire. They don't all run up the river and the many that return stay again until colder water refuges are desired. In the meantime, they love the abundance of bait in the main lake.
With the continued proliferation of freshwater herring as a forage base, we are noting the linesides and spotted bass being found deeper overall through this spring. Even through April and into May we are finding ourselves in 40 to 50 feet of water fishing 2 feet off the bottom for the best bite on some days. Downlining with 1 to 2 ounce weights, a 6 foot leader of fluorocarbon and a number o1 or 2 octopus hook are one of the staple setups for tethering 3-6" threadfin shad or herring.
These same fish can be enticed into striking a spoon, especially in the deeper depths. We are still finding a good bite both on flats and on long points early in the morning, and catching active fish even while casting A rigs and spoons as well as pitching shad. Sometimes where you start fishing may be predicated on which way the wind has been blowing day/days preceding, and some of our best mornings on the water have been facing a 10 to 15 mile an hour northwest wind coming across a flat onto the channel edges. When it's our day to fish, we fish pretty much regardless of weather conditions but mindful of how those conditions could affect the locations of bait and gamefish.
While the crappie bite is still on, as they do eat year-round, these fish are finished spawning and are back to their both nomadic at times and structure holding routines. We've even picked some up while down lining 20 to 25 feet down over deeper water with threadfin or herring and have targeted some specifically on deeper brush piles with 2-3" swim jigs and small tubes.
The spotted bass fishery is becoming better and better each year the past several years Notably one of the most benefited species from the high-protein forage base, we might just give it a couple more years to see it rival other close by spotted bass fisheries with respect to both quantity and quality. It's on it's way there. We are definitely hoping to see more largemouth bass take root and spawn, particularly with the added efforts of state stocking just this past year.
We hope that you may have a chance to get out of the water soon. We do hope that some information shared will point you in the right direction, and should you be in the market for a full-service guided instructional trip, we will be happy to help you there as well. Please always feel free to reach out at any time to 404-919-4918. Tight lines, friends!
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