Lake Allatoona Fishing Report – April 2008

Allatoona: Level: 1.7 feet below full pool and rising. Temp: 53-58 degrees. Clarity: The upper end of the lake from Victoria toward Little River is stained.

Bass: Good. “I’m starting to see a stronger and stronger jerkbait and swimbait bite on the main lake,” said guide Mike Bucca. “I’m using a Staysee 90 and a 6- and 8-inch Hampton Shad swimbait. For the stained water in the upper reaches of the lake, use a Flat CB DR Lucky Craft crankbait in Tennessee shad. I like paralleling the bluff walls and hit any kind of wood structure with my crankbaits in this off-colored water. April is by far the best month. The fish will be shallow and very active and start their prespawn ritual by staging on certain main-lake points. Jerkbaits like a Pointer 78 or a Flashminnow 95MR would be my baits of choice. Don’t forget the big swimbaits like the Hampton Shad in 6- and 8-inch sizes as well as the big Triple Trouts in the 10-inch range are also great gizzard-shad imitators,” Mike said. See the article on page 52 for more details.

Linesides: Good, said guide Robert Eidson. “The afternoon bite is better right now,” Robert said. Downlines 20 feet deep over 30 to 40 feet of the water have been producing best. “I’d like to be pulling planer boards and flatlines, but there’s a lot of trash on the surface from the lake coming up so quickly,” Robert said. There are lots of fish in the mid-lake section at Kellogg Creek, Victoria, Gaults and Bartow-Carver. “Watch the birds, they’re really giving these fish away right now,” he said. “White-bass fishing is incredible in the same areas. The flat right beside Victoria Landing is a white-bass haven.”

Crappie: Stewart Wright said the crappie are in prespawn patterns right now, and they are biting well. He caught 76 fish last Thursday trolling 1/32- and 1/16-oz. jigs in 3 to 4 feet of water. Since then, with a mild cold front moving in, they have moved back out into 8 to 12 feet of water. Stewart fishes Big Bite Bait Co. curly tails on his jigs, and he said they are working well in colors with chartreuse tails right now. Bubblegum, yellow, white and black/red, all with chartreuse tails, are good producers. “As the weather warms up, they’ll just get heavier and heavier in the pockets,” he said. Good creeks to try are Sweetwater, Sixes and Abercrombie, which are up Little River. “You can also catch ’em using minnows and corks around where the corps has cut those trees down in the water,” Stewart said.