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 Lake Allatoona Fishing Report

The Great Outdoors Show

Perry Georgia February 12-14, 2010

Seminar Schedule
SEMINARS ROQUEMORE CENTER
Friday
3:00 P.M. NAVICO-Ken Sturdivant-- Proper use of Marine Electronics
4:00 P.M. Captain Judy Helmey, Miss Judy Charters-- Inshore Fishing
5:00 P.M. Turkey Hunting with Marty Fisher
6:00 P.M. Snake Show-- Southeastern Reptile Rescue – Jason Clark
Saturday
1:00 P.M. Joey Mines—Freshwater Fishing
2:00 P.M. Turkey Hunting with Call Maker Dickie Champion
3:00 P.M. NAVICO-Ken Sturdivant-- Proper use of Marine Electronics
4:00 P.M. Captain Judy Helmey, Miss Judy Charters—Offshore Fishing
5:00 P.M. Snake Show-- Southeastern Reptile Rescue – Jason Clark
Sunday
12:00 P.M. Turkey Hunting with Call Maker Dickie Champion
1:00 P.M. Captain Judy Helmey, Miss Judy Charters—Fishing the River Jetties
3:00 P.M. Snake Show Southeastern Reptile Rescue – Jason Clark
NORTH LAKE
Friday-- Saturday – Sunday
2:30 P.M. Retriever Dog Show – Roy Coffee
3:30 P.M. Georgia Kayak Club – Fresh/Salt Water Fishing w/ Randy Vining
Miller Murphy Howard Bldg
Georgia Wildlife Federation Grand America Turkey Calling Contest
Saturday 1:00 P.M.
Sunday 12:00 P.M.

Meet Ken Sturdivant, Lowrance Professional Fishing Staff at Bass Pro Shops in Lawrenceville Georgia Saturday's. 

See samples of the New Lowrance HDS Structure Scan Down Scan at this address: http://havefunfishing.com/fishingreports/lowrance.htm

Ken Sturdivant, Lowrance Professional Fishing Staff will be conducting FREE! Sonar Seminars at Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World in Lawrenceville Georgia.

Ken Sturdivant, Lowrance Professional Fishing Staff will be conducting FREE! Sonar Seminars at Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World in Lawrenceville Georgia.

The next Sonar Seminar is SATURDAY,

February 27, 2010 at 2pm.

 All seminars start at 2pm and are subject to change without notice.

If you would like to have a free set up sheet for your sonar, send me an e mail to

 kensturdivant@earthlink.net

and ask for the “Sonar Setup Quick List”.

February 5, 2010

LAKE ALLATOONA IS DOWN 3.4 FEET, STAINED UP AND CLEAR DOWN, 43 DEGREES

Spotted bass are slow all over the lake. The waters are stained up lake so look for any clearing waters in the creeks. Spoons and worms doodled dead slow might get a soft bite. But it’s slow all over the lake. Use the small Creme tubes, Zoom natural blue finesse worms and doodle these baits like you would for the crappie just deeper. Drop shot rigging these baits work well on an 18 to 30 inch rig with a 3/16 ounce drop weight on 6 pound fluorocarbon line on a spinning reel. Add the small silver spoon and later each day go to the deeper brush piles and on points. Add the small silver spoon and later each day, go to the deeper brush piles and on points.

This Lake Allatoona fishing guides report is bought to you by Robert Eidson of First Bite Guide Service. www.firstbiteguideservice.com 770 827-6282.

Striper fishing is poor. There are dead shad from one end of the lake to the other but not as many as last week. Fishing should get back to normal in the next two weeks. The lake is still heavily stain from all the rain we have had in the past two weeks and is rising fast. The key to catching fish when the bite turns back on is to find clear water. The backs of the creeks will clear first and will be your best bet. Small baits trout, shiners and shad fished on planner boards and free-lines will be your best bet. Trolling is poor and until the lake clears up trolling isn't worth the time or gas. Until the fishing picks back up on the lake we are moving all of my trips to Lanier. We have also canceled all trips to Carters Lake do to the shad kill.

Bass Pro Shops Spring Fishing Classic in Lawrenceville Georgia seminars by Ken Sturdivant. On Sunday, February 28, 2010 at 2pm Ken reveals secrets to finding schools of fish that others overlook through the effective use of sonar and structure identification. On Saturday March 13, 2010 at 1pm be sure to catch this seminar as Ken Sturdivant covers the twelve lures you never want to be without on your favorite bass waters.

We have the NEW! Book: “BASS FISHING LAKE ALLATOONA” for sale $39.00 total.

If you would like a sample send an e mail to kensturdivant@earthlink.net. Our mailing address is: Southern Fishing Schools Inc. 106 Hickory Ridge, Cumming Georgia 30040. All the books are $39.00 total. Check or money orders ONLY, NO CREDIT CARDS. Make the payment to: SOUTHERN FISHING SCHOOLS INC, 106 HICKORY RIDGE DRIVE, CUMMING GEORGIA 30040. Please allow 14 days for delivery.

NEW BOOK! "BASS FISHING LAKE ALLATOONA" is now on sale. Get the full years fishing reports and locations exclusively for bass fishing this great lake. If you would like to see a sample, send an e mail to kensturdivant@earthlink.net and ask for the sample of the BASS FISHING LAKE ALLATOONA book.

Stop wasting time, gas and Money! Learn how to Find the Fish with our On the Water Schools. Here s a course outline:

Southern Fishing Schools Inc.
106 Hickory Ridge
www.havefunfishing.com
Cumming, Georgia 30040
770-889-2654

“On the Water” Sonar School Outline

We will spend the day tuning the sonar, locating fish and structure and marking fishing locations where fish “live”. We will SEE the fish and the structure where they live.

1. Learn how sonar works. What is the cone angle? What do fish look like when we are sitting still and when we are moving? What are those long skinny lines coming off the bottom? What are those long horizontal lines? What does a school’s of bait look like.

2. How do I find the places where Bass live? Learn the technique that will eliminate water and hot to “find” the fish.

3. How to use the right bass lures at the right time. We will use the Fish and Game Forecaster and learn when to fish with what. www.moontimes.com

4. Tune a sonar from a to z. All the settings are there for the angler to customize their machine.

4. Learn how to use the Aqua Vu under water cameras. www.aquavu.com SEE THE FISH!

5. See the GPS features in action and load numbers into a GPS unit. We will give anglers a list of several locations at Lake Lanier where bass live. Learn how to load GPS numbers in machines.

6. How to run software updates.

COPYRIGHT Southern Fishing Schools Inc.

We have the NEW! Book: “BASS FISHING LAKE ALLATOONA” for sale $39.00 total. If you would like a sample send an e mail to kensturdivant@earthlink.net. Our mailing address is: Southern Fishing Schools Inc. 106 Hickory Ridge, Cumming Georgia 30040.

If you would like to have a free set up sheet for your sonar, send me an e mail to kensturdivant@earthlink.net and ask for the “Sonar Setup Quick List”.

We have these books for sale: “BASS FISHING ON WEST POINT LAKE”, “BASS FISHING LAKE RUSSELL”, “BASS FISHING WEST POINT LAKE” and “BASS FISHING LAKE HARTWELL”. These books are written by Tim White and Ken Sturdivant and each one has over 65 locations exclusively for bass and covers every week of the year. Each book $39.00. If you would like a sample of any book, send us an e mail to kensturdivant@earthlink.net. Our mailing address is: Southern Fishing Schools Inc. 106 Hickory Ridge, Cumming Georgia 30040.

We have 3 books that cover all species in the lakes, “52 WEEKS ON LAKE ALLATOONA, “52 WEEKS ON LAKE LANIER”, and “52 WEEKS ON WEST POINT LAKE” on sale. Each book is $23.95. Our mailing address is: Southern Fishing Schools Inc. 106 Hickory Ridge, Cumming Georgia 30040.

Lake levels from http://lakes.southernco.com/

Lake Lanier Striper Survey: www.stripersurvey.com

You can see the feeding times daily with a Data Sport Fish and Game Forecaster on our web site.

We teach “ON THE WATER SCHOOLS”: “Rods, Reels and Lures for Bass or Maps and Depth Finders. Call 770 889 2654 for details or see the web site: www.havefunfishing.com.

Take a look at www.aquavu.com. You really need a camera. Copyright 2007, Southern Fishing Schools Inc. calls us to set up a school “Rods, Reels and Lures for Bass”. See our web site, www.havefunfishing.com for more details or call us right away, 770 889 2654.

ALLATOONA LAKE DNR 2008 Predictions: This 11,860 acre U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) impoundment of the Etowah River is 30 miles north of Atlanta on I 75. Numerous COE facilities and a Georgia State Park located around the lake provide anglers convenient boat ramp access and parking, as well as camping opportunities. The lake receives heavy use by boaters, skiers and anglers given its close proximity to Atlanta. Fishing early and late daylight hours, and at night, are effective ways to avoid the crowds and catch wary fish. Anglers fishing Allatoona from July September should concentrate their efforts in water no deeper than 30 feet, as dissolved oxygen is rarely satisfactory for fish at greater depths that time of year.
When it comes to black bass, angler catch rates in Allatoona continue to be better than most Georgia reservoirs, yet average bass size tends to be smaller. One reason is that spotted bass, which attain smaller adult size than largemouth bass, dominate the black bass fishery, making up approximately 80 90 percent of the black bass population. The average spot will be 10 12 inches in 2008, while older fish will measure out in the high teens and low twenties. The less abundant largemouth bass will typically weigh in at around 1.25 lbs, but a few more over 5 pounds may be caught in 2008. Target largemouth in the Little River and Etowah arms of the reservoir, as this is where the best largemouth habitat exists. You also may find largemouth in the 400+shoreline trees toppled into the lake last year for fish habitat a program that will continue in 2008. Spotted bass tend to remain in deeper habitats than largemouth. Drop shot and spooning are both good ways to target these fish. Anglers should try both techniques in and around the 36+ deepwater locations that WRD and COE has placed in the reservoir. These locations are typically in 25 30 feet of water at full pool and best fished from fall through spring. Updated fish attractor location maps can be downloaded and printed from the WRD website at www.gofishgeorgia.com. In April 2007, WRD tagged spotted bass to gather information on their abundance, survival and angler harvest rates in Allatoona. Anglers catching a tagged fish in 2008 should snip the tag off close to where it enters the fish and call the number on the tag. Callers will be asked for their 1) name, address and phone number; 2) date of catch and general location of catch, and 3) whether the tagged fish was released or taken home. Anglers also can mail or bring tag and information to the WRD Calhoun (706 624 1161) Fisheries Management Office. The average crappie should be around 10 inches and weigh about 0.5 lb., though larger crappie tipping the scales over 1 pound will be caught. Most crappie anglers focus their efforts during the spring spawn, when the fish concentrate in shallow water. Early spring is an excellent time to catch a trophy “slab” as the females will be laden with eggs and in excellent condition prior to the spawn. Besides jigging or live bait fishing over structure, anglers should try slow trolling small artificials in these same areas. Trolling is a good way to cover a lot of water and locate schools of feeding fish. Popular areas to catch spring spawn crappie include the Kellogg, Illinois, and Stamp Creek areas of the lake. During the summer months, crappie will concentrate in deeper water, where anglers can catch them by targeting brush piles and other fish attractors located on humps and channel ledges. Night fishing with the use of lights and light tackle around docks and bridges will likely be an angler’s best chance at consistently boating finicky summer crappie. As summer gives way to cooler fall and winter temperatures, crappie will begin feeding more actively. Target these fish near old river channel edges found in many of Allatoona’s coves. WRD annually stocks striped bass in Allatoona at a rate of 2.5 fish per surface acre. Severe drought conditions last summer may have reduced the number of large stripers that will be caught in Allatoona this year. On the plus side, additional striper fingerling stocking last year has created an abundance of young stripers in the reservoir for 2008. Overall striper fishing is best from October June and trolling live shad is an angler’s best approach to consistent catches. Stripers will be found in the main body of the lake in winter, but migrate to upper reaches of the lake on their spring spawning run. As summer heats up smaller stripers (<10 pounds ) will be found in the main lake, but larger linesides will likely migrate far up the Etowah River seeking cool water in which to beat the summer heat. Enticing a summer bite from these large fish can be extremely difficult as they slow their feeding rates during this time of year. With the onset of fall and cooling lake waters, these large stripers migrate back into the main lake body and feed voraciously as they pack on pounds lost during the hot summer months. Increased stocking rates of hybrid striped bass by WRD in recent years continue to be successful! Based on sample data, hybrid abundance in Allatoona continue to remain high, rivaling some of Georgia’s best known hybrid lakes. The average hybrid will be in the 2 pounds range this year but plenty of 5 8 pounds fish also will be caught. Hybrids can be caught year round, but summer is best for boating large numbers. Regardless of season, anglers seeking these hard fighters must locate their primary food source, shad. Using depth finders, locate schools of shad while keeping a sharp eye open for schooling hybrids “boiling” the water’s surface as they feed on shad in the morning and early evening. White spinners, spoons and crank baits will produce summer fish, but serious hybrid fisherman will slow troll with 4 6 inch live shad on simple free line or down line rigs. In the winter months live shad will continue to be effective, but anglers wishing to use artificials can try trolling umbrella rigs or vertical jigging with spoons. In terms of location, the mile of lake above and below the popular Galt’s Ferry boat ramp is a year round hotspot for Allatoona hybrids.
Bluegill, redbreast sunfish and redear sunfish are all present in Allatoona. Bluegills are the dominant sunfish species. However, they typically average 5 inches in length and few individuals over 7 inches are present. Anglers are encouraged to harvest bluegill to increase growth rates of those remaining. Redear are less abundant than bluegills, but tend to be larger. Redear will speckle the bottom of shallow coves with their nests from early to mid summer. These nests can be fiercely defended by hand size males that don’t think twice about jumping on a lure or bait passing close by. Channel and flathead catfish are available. While channel catfish are more abundant, flatheads tend to grow to a much larger size. Pursue channels and flatheads on the rocky bedrock banks in the Etowah River arm using chicken livers and live bait fished on the bottom. The numerous rip rapped shoreline banks are also good areas to hunt big Allatoona catfish.

We have these books for sale: “BASS FISHING ON WEST POINT LAKE”, “BASS FISHING LAKE RUSSELL”, “BASS FISHING WEST POINT LAKE” and “BASS FISHING LAKE HARTWELL”. These books are written by Tim White and Ken Sturdivant and each one has over 65 locations exclusively for bass and covers every week of the year.

Each book $39.00. If you would like a sample of any book, send us an e mail to kensturdivant@earthlink.net  Our mailing address is: Southern Fishing Schools Inc. 106 Hickory Ridge, Cumming Georgia 30040.