Lake Allatoona Fishing Report August 2014

Allatoona: Level: 0.2 feet below full pool. Temp: 85 degrees. Clarity: Clear; 6 feet visibility.

Bass: Tournament pro Matt Driver reports, “August is a tough month but can be good at times. The dissolved-oxygen levels are low, and the fish are tired and sluggish. This time of year the smaller fish are more active, and larger bass are a little harder to find. Smaller baits are working the best. There is lots of small bait from the late-spring shad spawn, and most bass are keying on them. Fish the drop shot tipped with the new Big Bite 3 1/2-inch jointed jerk minnow and a 3/16-oz. drop-shot weight, size 4 Gamakatsu drop-shot hook and 7-lb. test Sunline Sniper fluorocarbon. This bait can be fished horizontal using sonar, cast to the shore or thrown at schooling fish chasing small bait. The topwater bite is good at sunrise and sunset. Small poppers and a walking bait are working best on main-lake points. There are some shallow-water fish to be caught. Swimbaits, jigs and a buzzbait fished in the 3- to 6-foot range is a good way to catch a quality fish.”

Linesides: Excellent. Guide Robert Eidson reports, “The live-bait bite is still going strong. The key during August is to take plenty of fresh bait, and change your bait often. The dissolved-oxygen level is dropping fast, and shad will die fast on a hook. All of the fish seem to be within 1 mile of the dam. Our guides are catching between 20 and 50 hybrids, stripers and white bass on almost all half-day trips. We are taking a minimum of 100 shad with us, and again I can’t stress enough how important it is to use fresh bait. Concentrate your efforts from the mouth of Clear Creek to Clarks Creek. Once you find the fish, start the morning fishing live shad on downlines at 24 feet. This can be an awesome bite if you’re on feeding fish, but fresh baits is the key. Once the live-bait bite slows down, switch to trolling umbrella rigs. I have been having most of my success pulling nine 1/2-oz. white bucktails with chartreuse trailers about 110 feet behind the boat, which puts the rigs about 24 feet deep. Also, keep your topwater baits ready in case any schooling fish come up. They’ll hit a popping cork, fluke or Sammy, but I prefer the biggest white Rooster Tail I can find. The secret to getting bit is to fish these baits with light 6-lb. test line and to retrieve your bait as fast as you can crank it. In these conditions, it’s important to get your fish back in the water quickly if you want to release it. Keep your camera ready because a quick release can mean the difference between a dead fish and one that swims away. We also suggest riding back over any area you just fished earlier and keeping any floaters.”