Lake Allatoona Fishing Report April 2015

Allatoona: Level: 5.3 feet below full pool. Temp: 54 degrees. Clarity: Clear.

Bass: Great. Tournament angler Matt Driver said, “April is the best month to catch a bass on Lake Allatoona. The spawn has begun, but it doesn’t happen all at once. The largemouth began first, and the spots will go on mid month. Right now there are waves of bass waiting to spawn. Those that are prespawn are feeding up like crazy. Baits like the Big Bite Jerk Minnow and the Trick Stick in pearl white are a fun and productive way to seek out wolf-packing spots. Fish these baits on a 3/0 or 4/0 Gamakatsu Skip Gap hook and 12-lb. Sunline Sniper fluorocarbon. Watch for schooling fish. There has been a mix of spots, largemouth and hybrids. Topwater is good and will only get better toward the end of the month, when schooling fish are up. Cast a Spro Dawg or a Zara Spook past the school and retrieve it back at a rapid pace. Make sure the bait disappears, and you feel tension before your set the hook. Big spots are also being caught on shaky-head finesse worms on pea-gravel banks that are protected from the wind. The spots will spawn much deeper than largemouth, and the jig head is a great tool to coax a bedding spot to bite.”

Linesides: Guide Robert Eidson reports, “The lake is coming alive! There have been some good reports from both the north end and south end the last few days for good numbers of hybrids, stripers and white bass. The better bite has been on small gizzards and threadfin shad, as well as small trout fished on freelines and planer boards. Both ends of the lake are holding decent numbers. The south end of the lake seems to be better for hybrids, while the north end of the lake seems to be fishing better for stripers and white bass. I look for most of the fish to migrate north by the first of April and start staging for their annual spawn run. Look for these fish to stage between Little River and Fields Landing before and even after the run. April is one of the best months of the year to fish Allatoona.”