Lake Allatoona Fishing Report August 2013

Allatoona: Level: 0.2 feet below full pool. Temp: 88 degrees. Clarity: Ranging from clear to stained in the Etowah River.

Bass: Fair: “Fishing during August on Allatoona can be tough,” said tournament pro and radio host Matt Driver. “The fish are weary from the long summer and still not to the mode of fall feed up. This is the month where I work on my sonar, drop-shotting and long-lining deep crankbaits. Fish are scattered around deep cover in the 18- to 25-foot range. Idle over areas of interest with side-imaging and down-imaging until you find schools of spotted bass. Normally I don’t mess with schools of less than 10 fish, but on occasion I will drop in on a single if it looks to be an active fish. Turn the sensitivity up until you start getting clutter on the screen, and then back off until it just goes away. This way you can pick up your bait on the fall. I use a Big Bite Baits 4-inch Shaky Squirrel or 4-inch Squirrel Tail worm in the easy-money color fished on 5-lb. Sunline Sniper line and a 3/16-oz. drop-shot weight. As far as long-lining a crankbait, find the area, drop the bait, and drive back across it while letting the reel free spool. Spool off about 80 to 100 feet of line, engage the reel, and crank slowly. The longer line allows the Spro Little John DD to get to a depth of 18 to 20 feet and maintain depth for a longer time. This keeps the bait in the strike zone longer. I use 8- to 10-lb. Sunline and a 7-foot, 11-inch medium cranking rod. Be careful—lots of skiers on the water.”

Linesides: Fair. Guide Robert Eidson reports, “The fishing this week has really slowed down compared to the last few weeks. The warm weather of late has really risen the water temperatures and has slowed the live-bait bite. We are still catching decent numbers, but we are having to run-and-gun right now. The fish are on the move and aren’t staying in one location for more than five minutes. Downlining shad is still working, but shad are dying very quickly on a hook. Be sure to take plenty of bait with you. Downlines fished at 14 to 21 feet deep is working best right now. The dissolved-oxygen level is so low below 21 feet bait is dying in less than five minutes on a hook. Netting bait isn’t that hard right now. I have caught fish this week as far north as Kellogg Creek and as far south as Allatoona Landing. These fish are on the move and never seem to be in the same place the next day. August seemed to come a week or two earlier this year. Hopefully this is just a minor setback in what has been a great summer live-bait bite on Lake Allatoona. The trolling bite has been my better bite the last few weeks, and this will probably hold true into mid September. I am pulling nothing but umbrella rigs right now. Color doesn’t seem to matter. It is more of a reaction bite right now. I have been having my best luck at 145 feet behind the boat at speeds of 2.4 to 3.1 mph.”