Lake Allatoona Fishing Report – January 2022

Level: 13.6 feet below 840. Temp: 56 degrees. Clarity: Clear but stained in the creeks.

Bass: Tournament angler Matt Driver reports, “January will be different this year. At the first part of the month, the water temperatures were still in the mid 50s. Normally I would talk about low water temperatures in the mid 40s, fish being sluggish and possibly a shad kill in the month of January. Unless the weather pattern changes mid month, January is going to fish more like March (prespawn). I am ready for the water temperature to cool and make the bite more consistent by gathering fish in a common pattern. Mid to upper 40s would be great. Fish are still dirt shallow as well as out deep. I am going to sound like a broken record because many of the techniques I am about to talk about have not changed since the month of November/December. My go-to techniques are the jerkbait, A-rig and a small shallow crankbait, like the Little John. I use several jerkbaits that run at different depths.  The Mega Bass 110, the Pointer 100, the Strike King KVD in the 200 and 300. I like to fish it as fast as the fish will let me. I start off fast and slow down until I start getting bit. A lot of times the hit comes during the pause (nothing has changed). I caught a 7.03 on Dec. 19 doing this. Let the fish key you in on the cadence. Lighter line allow you to get the bait deeper.  I use 5- to 10-lb. Sunline fluorocarbon. For the A-rig, I use the Picasso Bait Ball. I like to downsize my baits in the winter. I use a 3-inch paddletail. I make long casts, count it down to 10 and slow-roll it back. For the bass holding tight to the bottom, I like to throw the 3/8-oz. Little Spotty by Picasso. Green pumpkin amber is my go-to color.  The key is a slow retrieve. You need to feel every rock on the bottom. I like a medium-heavy Shimano Expride 7-foot jig rod and 12-lb. Sunline fluorocarbon line. I fish main-lake points and parallel bluff walls and ditches in January. Concentrate on areas north of Bethany Bridge, the mouth of Stamp and McKaskey up to the mouth of Illinois Creek. Don’t fish alone in January. Hypothermia can be a killer if you fall in.”

GON Fishing Reports Advisor Matt Driver with a 7.03-lb. Allatoona bass caught in a tournament Dec. 18.

Linesides: Guide Robert Eidson, of First Bite Guide Service, reports, “Good. The bait is starting to move back into the creeks and so are the stripers and hybrids. Mid-lake seems to be holding better numbers of fish than the south end and the north end since they are trashed out due to all the rain. The best bite going right now is live bait­—shad and trout—fished on planer boards and freelines at sunup and then again at sundown. You will catch a few fish in the backs of the creeks. After the sun comes up, the fish will move out to the mouths of the creeks and can be caught on shad, trout and shiners on downlines anywhere from 18 to 50 feet deep. The spoon bite is also good midday. Once the water temp dips below 50 degrees, the spoon bite will get better than using live bait. The trolling bite is also good right now, and umbrella rigs are the only thing I am trolling right now. I have had my best luck this week pulling my rigs 145 feet behind the boat at 3.1 to 3.4 miles per hour. As the lake starts to clear, the umbrella rig bite will get better.”

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