Lake Allatoona Fishing Report – April 2022

Allatoona: Level: 3.2 feet below 840. Temp: 60-68 degrees. Clarity: Clear to a slight stain.

Bass: Tournament angler Matt Driver reports, “Best month of the year—April is the month for numbers and quality on Allatoona. March has been very stable leading up to April, and the water is in the low 60s already. April on Allatoona is a triple threat, with bass in all phases of the spawn. You can catch fish any way you want to right now. My top-5 baits for April are: #1: A 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. #2: The jerkbait. I like to use a 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. #3: The Fluke. Not many baits are better for covering water and getting tons of great bites. Fish it fast and hang on! #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. #5: The squarebill crankbait. The Little John and a squarebill with rattles in shad/natural colors. Fish Galts Ferry north toward the Delta and Little River. Red clay banks and secondary points are the best places. Keep an eye out for some schooling fish, especially toward the end of the month.”

Linesides: Guide Robert Eidson, of First Bite Guide Service, “Fishing is good! The hybrids have started their spawn runs up both the Etowah and Little rivers. The river bite should remain solid as we go into  May. The main lake is also fishing well. The fish that are returning out of the rivers are starting to school up from the Little River Bridge up to the Delta and from the S-Turns to Kellogg Creek. There is also a decent south-end bite going on right now from Iron Hill to the bay out in front of 3rd Army. The fish on the main lake are up in the water column and are very hard to mark on 2D sonar. If you have a Lowrance with Side Scan, you can locate these fish. If you don’t have Side Scan, the best way to find these fish is to put out a spread of planer boards and freelines and pull the banks and open water until you get bit. Planer boards and freelining live shad on the main lake have been our best bites and are counting for at least 95% of our catch. Small to middle size gizzard shad and threadfins has been the ticket. Trolling is on fire! The Captain Mack’s umbrella rigs are hard to beat this time of year. We are running a four-arm loaded with all chartreuse 120 feet behind the boat at 3.1 miles an hour.”

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