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The New DVD,
“FINDING FISH WITH MODERN TECHNOLOGY”
is now on sale!
May 2, 2008
LAKE ALLATOONA IS FULL, 69 DEGREES
This Lake Allatoona fishing report is from Mike Bucca.
Bass fishing is still pretty good. The spots are either on the bed or knocking
on the door. There are still some staging fish going on and they are schooling
and busting shad. That bite is dwindling as the spots prepare for the spawn. I'm
doing very well with the Blue Pearl 4 inch Senko with a 5/0 Skip Gap Hook and
rigging it weightless. Best thing for schooling bass bar none. I am still
getting a few bites on the Hampton Shad which will be readily available in a few
more weeks. The 6 inch version is doing most of the damage for me right now.
Largemouth are in their typical areas they are now mostly post spawn and
hovering out in front of their spawning type areas. Same type of baits such as
swim baits and Senko's, Sammy 100 and also some Flashminnow 95MR jerk baits by
Lucky Craft. The Flashminnow is an excellent representation of the spot tail
minnow that is now cruising the shallows. The key now to me is put that trolling
motor on high and find those high concentrations of fish. Join us at
www.allatoonabass.com for the latest updates and happenings on Lake Allatoona
This Lake Allatoona fishing guides report for stripers and hybrid bass has been
brought to you exclusively by Robert Eidson of First Bite Guide Service, 770
827-6282. Lake Allatoona, Georgia email: eidson6260@comcast.net.
www.firstbiteguideservice.com
Lines sides fishing is fair and the cold front that we had earlier this week
shut the bite down. Look for the bite to rebound quickly as the water warms back
up. The spawn is all most over and the fish are coming back down out of the
rivers to feed. And they should be grouping up soon . There are fish from the
mouth of the Etowah River and as far south as Allatoona Creek. All of your major
creeks have fish in them right now. If you find the baitfish, you'll find
stripers and hybrids nearby. Flat lines in the morning and afternoon and down
lines mid day is the way to go. Trolling is working really well right now. The
Mack Farr 3 arm umbrella rig has been producing best for me right now. Color
doesn't seem to matter, but speed is a factor. The best speed for me this week
has been between 3.3- 3.5 miles per hour. Remember the month of May is one of
the best months for line-side fishing. We still have a few days open this month
and we’re offering family trips starting at $250.00. Come on mom and dad – let’s
take the kids fishing! Do you like to talk striper fishing? If so please visit
my fishing forum at www;lakeallatoonafishing.net
The FREE map card deal is still on with any Lowrance 5 inch sonar/GPS or
Lowrance GPS unit. See www.lowrance.com
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.
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.
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