Lake Allatoona Fishing Report – April 2019

Allatoona: Level: 1.8 feet high. Temp: 56-58 degrees. Clarity: Clear to stained.

Bass: Tournament angler Matt Driver reports, “Fishing is great! April is the month for numbers and quality on Allatoona. We had very high water for the entire month of March, but the levels are getting back to normal. I believe that this year’s spawn will benefit from the influx of water. April on Allatoona means bass are prespawn, spawning and even postspawn. You can catch fish anyway you want to right now. My top-4 baits for April are: No. 1: The Picasso Rhino Ned rig and a Z Man green-pumpkin TRD. This bait works best when fished on 7-lb. test Sunline Sniper fluorocarbon line and worked slowly around spotted bass spawning areas. No. 2: The jerkbait. I like to use a Spro McStick, KVD 200 and a Pointer 78SP. The key to fishing this bait in the spring is speed. I work the bait very erratically and fast. It’s best when fished on 10-lb. Sniper fluorocarbon and a medium spinning rod. The spots are running in wolf pack schools and are biting aggressively. No. 3: The Suijin. The Suijin tipped with a 4-inch Big Bite Jerk Minnow reeled slowly on long points leading to spawning coves is a great way to locate big spots staging to spawn. I fish the Suijin on 10-lb. Sniper. Reeling it slowly is the ticket. No. 4: The Picasso 3/4-oz. green pumpkin/brown tungsten football head jig and a twin-tail grub. This a universal bait that can be fished on gravel points, as well as the backs of pockets and ditches leading to spawning coves. The football head allows you to cover water while staying in contact with the bottom. The tungsten is super sensitive and allows you to feel the bottom. The good part about April is fish are active all over the lake. Take a kid fishing, and make some memories!”

Linesides: Guide Robert Eidson reports, “Spring has sprung, and the bite is on fire. The winter is over, and the fish are biting. The best part of it is they are everywhere, in the river on the north end, mid lake and on the south end. The warmer, dirty water and no shad kill this season has contributed to a very early spring bite. The number of fish we are catching right now are a mirror image to what we catch in summer. It has been a norm for our boats to catch between 30 to 60 fish on almost every outing. These are crazy numbers for this time of year. All the major creeks are holding fish right now. Stamp, Clear, Kellogg and Tanyard are all fishing exceptionally right now. We look for these fish to move up north any day now to start their spawn run. So if you’re a river guy, your time is almost here. As far as techniques, it really doesn’t matter. They are eating everything right now. Downlines, freelines—shad, shiners, threadfins—are all working well. Spoons, a Capt. Mack’s Mini Me and his regular size umbrella rigs are getting hammered right now. Pick your favorite, grab a kid, and head to the lake. Fishing just doesn’t get much better than it is right now.”