Lake Allatoona Fishing Report – February 2019

Allatoona: Level: 10.7 feet low. Temp: 46-49 degrees. Clarity: Stained to muddy.

Bass: Tournament angler Matt Driver reports, “Fishing is tough right now. This is very typical for the month of February. Allatoona is had copious amounts of rain and very cold weather at the end of January. The lake is stained to muddy. The water temperature has dropped into the mid 40s and will possibly go lower this month. If the water temperature drops into the low 40s, we will see a shad kill. For the overall health of the lake, a shad kill is not a bad thing, but it makes fishing very tough. Slow-roll a Picasso Smackdown Rig (a castable umbrella rig) with 3-inch plastic swimbaits. Also, the month of February is good for jig fishing. The Picasso Fantasy football head in green pumpkin and chartreuse is producing. If the water clears up a little bit, it will be hard the best a Float-N-Fly. The fish that are suspending around bluff walls are in the 10- to 15-foot range. These fish are mainly located around bait balls, and I don’t have to travel very far to hit bait. Fish it slow. Areas that are most productive for February are around Bartow Carver, Iron Hill and the mouth of Stamp Creek. This time of the year, I spend more time searching higher concentrations of fish before actually trying to catch them. Instead of searching with a bait, I save a lot of time not fishing dead water.”

Linesides: Guide Robert Eidson reports, “The lake is stained to muddy from Little River to the dam. The loading docks at the ramps are out of the water. And about 90 percent of the ramps are unusable. But the good news is the fish are eating. This has been the best winter bite I can remember. The best bite is within eye-site of the dam from Stamp Creek, Red Top Mountain Camp Grounds. Live bait (shad shiners and small trout) are working right now. We are running a full spread right now. Freelines, planer boards and downlines. There is also a good artificial bite right now. Both the Capt. Mack umbrella-rigs and the Mini Macks are working well. The key to the rig bite is sunshine combined with the cleanest water you can find. The spoon bite is also good right now. And the white bass are killing them. If you find a big school, it’s common to boat 50-plus fish in a couple of hours. These fish are small but fun to catch.”