Lake Allatoona Fishing Report – July 2023

Allatoona: Level: 0.6 feet above 840. Temp: 74-80 degrees. Clarity: Clear.

Bass: Tournament angler Matt Driver reports, “Temperatures are a little behind for Lake Allatoona this year. It appears that the heat wave is coming, and things will change. The topwater bite is still good early in the morning, and a good swimbait and jerkbait bite still exists until about 11 a.m. Colorado bladed spinnerbaits and small crankbaits in blue and black seem to work best right now around shallow brush. If you can stay away from the boat traffic, the fish continue to bite throughout the day. From now until September, things will remain about the same and not much will change.”

Linesides: Guide Robert Eidson, of First Bite Guide Service, reports, “The summer bite is in full swing. All the major creek mouths are producing good numbers of fish right now. The downline bite is nothing short of incredible. These fish are scattered in the water column anywhere from 13 to 40 feet deep. Shad, herring and shiners are all working. The better bite seems to be the first hour of sunup until the last hour before sundown. Our numbers right now are stupid crazy. Most days our boats are exceeding the 40-fish mark. There are some weekdays when we are seeing well more than 50 fish per boat. We expect these numbers to slow down as the water warms up. Be sure to carry plenty of bait and change it often. Frisky bait is the key to putting more fish in the boat.”

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Crappie: Robert DeHaas, of Red Rooster Custom Baits, reports, “Summertime crappie fishing on Lake Allatoona can be fun and productive, but summer does bring a new set of challenges, especially with the pleasure boats and wave runners. The big wave action from the multitude of boaters can make it difficult to stay on a brushpile for very long. If your only option is weekends, use a buoy marker as a reference point to mark the structure you want to fish. With a buoy marker, you can quickly get back to your fishing spot if the wind or waves move you around. You can still find fish early in the month suspended first thing in the morning around the brush 8 to 10 feet deep, and this lasts until about 9:30 to 10 a.m. The larger crappie are moving deeper, so you will want to concentrate on the 16- to 18-foot range structure. The water temp is almost 80, and the fish want something slow and small. We are still casting to crappie using 1/16- to 3/32-oz. jig heads with No. 4 red hooks watching the jig head fall to just above the target and then slowly swimming the jig just above the top of the structure. The evening bite still is outperforming the morning bite for now. If you can go during the week, Monday-Thursdays are the best times. Spider rigging is now in full swing. This technique of dropping a live minnow down just above the pile can load the boat. In addition to crappie, you will also catch channel cats and spotted bass. My spider rig setup is four 12-foot rods mounted in rodholders pointing straight off the front of the boat. I personally use cheap baitcaster reels spooled with 12-lb. mono. Slide on a 1/4-oz. egg singer to the main line and tie on a barrel swivel. I then use 4- to 6-lb. mono for a 14- to 18-inch leader. Then finishing up with a No. 2 gold-wire hook tied with a snell knot. The end result should resemble a mini vertical Carolina rig. As a side note, myself, along with Team Geezer, are a group of older gentlemen who hold a similar passion for Lake Allatoona crappie who work together to build artificial attractors, self-impose creel and size limits with the goal to improve and sustain Lake Allatoona’s fishery. We have more than 75 years of experience fishing Allatoona. We have one retired guide, several tournament fishermen and recreational fishermen on our team. Red Rooster custom baits is proud to be a part of this group of men who love Jesus and care about building relationships with people. I hope this report helps you or someone you know become a better crappie angler and remember to keep only what you can use and release the rest. Help conserve our wonderful fishery!”