Lake Allatoona Fishing Report – December 2010

Allatoona: Level: 7.8 feet below full pool. Temp: 55-60 degrees. Clarity: Slight stain on the north end of the lake; clear from Victoria south.

Bass: Excellent. Mike Bucca reports, “Fishing is starting to pick up and become more predictable with the cooler water temps. Lots of baits are working right now. Swimbaits, jerkbaits, spinnerbaits and the Float-N-Fly are all producing fish. There are fish all throughout the lake: backs of coves, mouths of coves and everywhere in between, and it changes daily. Make sure you are moving around a good bit If you’re not getting bit, keep the trolling motor moving. There is no reason to finesse fish right now. The fish are chasing, but the pattern varies from area to area. If you’re fishing the main lake, the float-n-fly bite is on. I’m using a custom Georgia Tackle Float-N-Fly from Natures Tackle Box in spot-sushi color and fishing it on about a 10-foot leader under a custom stick cork on the main-lake bluff walls. This bite has been working for almost a month now and is just starting to get good as the temps move into the mid 50s. This bite will get even stronger in December pending clearer water conditions. If you want big fish, it’s hard to beat a swimbait. I’m rotating between a 7- and 8-inch Bull Shad, 8-inch Triple Trout and an 8-inch Huddleston. It’s a grind bite, but if you want a legit shot at a 5-lb. plus fish, look no farther than the creeks. Fish your swimbait around any visible structure, and fish it tight to the structure. Triple Fish Camo Line in 25-lb. test is the minimum size line I would recommend for these bigger baits. For numbers, Senkos, jerkbaits and Dr. Spot Spinnerbaits are working throughout the lake. Points, both secondary and main lake, are producing some good numbers as are the backs of creeks. You can be very aggressive with these baits and cover a lot of water. I’m using a 4-inch Blue Pearl Senko with a 5/0 hook. For jerkbaits, I like the Pointer 78 and Pointer 100 a lot right now. I am using the Allatoona-special color Dr. Spot Spinnerbait. This bait has dual willowleaf blades, one yellow and one white. Natures Tackle Box in Hiram has a complete assortment of all of these baits listed above in stock. For December, the float-n-fly will rule supreme for fish of all sizes. Concentrate on the steeper banks and brushpiles with the tops about 10 feet under the surface. I would recommend Georgia Tackle’s spot-sushi and spot-candy colored flies for most conditions. If it stains up some, Mike’s magic and bluegill (darker colors) are better choices. I would recommend starting out at 10 feet deep with your leader and vary 1 to 2 feet either way. A good rule of thumb is cold fronts make the fish go slightly shallower, while during warm fronts they go a little deeper.” Matt Driver reports, “December has so much to offer on Allatoona, like the float-n-fly (FNF) bite! As the temps drop into the mid to low 50s, it will be hard to beat the FNF bite with 20-plus fish days. I like to throw a 1/16-oz. Red Rooster fly in white craft hair with blue and a hint of chartreuse dipped in rooster booster. I cast this bait on a 8-foot St. Croix FNF rod with 10-lb. high-vis braid main line to a three-way swivel attached to a float, and 7-lb. Sunline Sniper fluorocarbon as my leader. I start with a 9- to 12-foot leader and experiment with depth until I find fish. This bite is best on sun-beat bluff banks. Pitch the bait up close, and very slowly work it back to the boat, sometimes not moving it at all. Another great pattern for December is the jerkbait. I throw a MCRIP85 blue bandit or a McStick110 Norman flake. Fish these baits slowly; watch your line for movement. I fish these baits on 12-lb. fluorocarbon on a rod with good tip action. Mid to upper lake tends to be best this time of year.” Craig Miller at the Dugout reports, “December is a great month to start fishing the float-n-fly. Fish steep banks and points with a Punisher or Red Rooster Fly. The leader length will be somewhere between 8 and 11 feet deep. The spinnerbait bite is good on flats and points with a shad-color Nichols Spinnerbait. Use a fast retrieve. The crankbait bite is good in the afternoons. Use 300 Bandits in shad or chartreuse. Jig fishing is good on any wood cover. Use a small Spanky’s Jig in brown or green pumpkin.”

Linesides: Excellent. “It’s an anglers dream,” said Robert Eidson. “This is the best October and November I’ve ever had in my life.” Robert said it’s almost too easy to catch great numbers of hybrids and stripers in the 4- to 6-lb. range on live shad. He’s averaging 40 to 60 fish a day on flatlines, downlines and planer boards, and you can even catch them on an umbrella rig if you run out of bait. The fish are schooling on flats on the north end of the lake from Little River up to Fields Landing and back through the “S” turns to Victoria Landing. Robert said the fish will black out your depthfinder. On into December, Robert said it’ll get even easier, as the seagulls are just starting to show up. Soon you’ll be able to find fish by watching the gulls.

Crappie: Craig reports, “Fish laydowns or brush with a little depth around them. Small shiners 3 feet under a bobber seem to be working best.”