Lake Allatoona Fishing Report December 2013

Allatoona: Level: 11.5 feet below full pool. Temperature: Mid 50s. Clarity: Clear.

Bass: Tournament angler Matt Driver reports, “December is a good stable month for Allatoona. Winter pool and water temps that are stable means bass are a little easier to find than in November. The jerkbait bite is getting good with water temps in the 50s and dropping throughout the month. The Spro McStick and McStick 95 in natural-shad patterns fished around bluff walls and points at the mouths of creeks is a real productive deal. Use a 6-6 medium rod and 10-lb. Sunline fluorocarbon line, and mix the retrieve up. If the water is stained, the jerkbait bite goes away, and I’ll go more to a slow-rolled spinnerbait or the Scrounger. Don’t let cold weather and fronts keep you from fishing. Between now and April are when most of the bigger spots are caught. The Float-n-Fly bite is real good. Leader lengths between 9 and 11 feet are the way to go. Use sonar to locate balls of bait, and try to put your fly at or just about the depth of the school. The Red Rooster Custom Baits in Carter’s special, blue dun and perch are good choices. Remember to not over work the fly. Less is more. Also, an 8- to 10-foot Float-n-Fly rod with 10-lb. Sunline fx2 braid will help with casting the long leader. Bluff wall and mouths of creeks are the best areas to target. The technique will be a great through March.”

Linesides: Guide Robert Eidson reports, “Linesides are starting to move out of the river and back to the main lake and major creeks. The north end of the lake is still producing some nice stripers along with good numbers of white bass. The bigger stripers are eating trout and gizzard shad fished on planer boards and freelines both right at sun up and again at sun down. Look for these fish from Little River up to Fields Landing and as far south as Kelloggs. As we get into December, look for these fish to start moving south. Cooper Branch and Iron Hill always start to get good around Christmas. The hybrids and white bass are really starting to school and blowing up all over the lake right now. We have had reports of big schools breaking the surface from the dam to the S-turns and even as far south as Third Army. These busting fish will eat almost anything you throw at them. The bass guys have been killing them on jerkbaits. When these fish go down, they will still bite threadfins and small gizzards on downlines as well as spoons. Look for these schools on your Lowrance, and drop your bait right in front of their noses. The seagulls are starting to show up and will make finding the fish a little easier for us over the upcoming holiday break. Remember Allatoona has very few loons. If you see birds diving on Allatoona, this normally means there are linesides near by. Trollers keep pulling your Mack Farr u-rigs 60 to 120 feet behind the boat at speeds between 2.4-3.1 mph.”