Lake Allatoona Fishing Report – June 2006

Allatoona: Level: Down 0.3 feet below full pool. Temps: 72 degrees. Clarity: Very clear.

Bass: Fishing was outstanding the entire month of May, according to Mike Bucca. “The water temps for May have been abnormally low, and that has done nothing but help the fishing on Allatoona,” Mike said. A variety of patterns have been producing, including a very hot postspawn schooling bite first thing in the morning on shallow flats and secondary points that are near deeper water. “The best baits were the Sammy 100 and G Splash. If you wanted a big fish, throwing a big swimbait like a 22nd Centuries seven-inch Triple Trout is a great bait to cull out the bigger fish in the school.” Later in the morning Mike has been switching to jerkbaits like a Pointer 78 and Flashminnow 110 in chartreuse shad, and he has also been catching bass on a deep drop-shot bite. “You can pick a rock wall, any rock wall, and you will catch huge numbers of fish on the drop shot. They are hitting Yamamoto Flat Tails, 3 1/2-inch Cut Tails, Tiny Flukes, Baby Sluggos and Basstrix baits in shad colors. The smaller fish and numbers are right on the bank and out to 10 feet. For the bigger fish and less numbers you need to concentrate deeper in the 40- to 50-foot range. I am using a No. 4 dropshot/splitshot Gamakatsu hook, 8-lb. Triplefish Fluorocarbon line and a 1/2-oz. Quickdrop drop-shot hook about 18 inches above the Quickdrop weight.” The bass will be transitioning to summer patterns soon. “The topwater bite window will get shorter and shorter as we progress into June, and the fish will start to go deeper and deeper as the thermocline starts to develop. The best chance to get bit will be the drop shot on the steeper banks, and there will be some active fish in the very backs of the major creek and river arms seeking cooler water temperatures,” Mike said.

Linesides: Excellent for huge numbers of hybrids. “It’s absolutely on fire,” said guide Robert Eidson. “U-rigs, u-rigs, u-rigs — yesterday we had 40 something fish on umbrella rigs. It’s big numbers right now,” Robert said. “People don’t need me right now unless they just don’t have a boat. Everything is out on the river channels right now in the mid-lake from Bartow-Carver to Clear Creek. I can put in at Galts and hardly have to run the boat.” In addition to bucktail jigs on umbrella rigs, Robert said flatlines with live bait are working in the mornings, then downlines at 18 feet are producing. “That 18-feet deep is the magic number again this year,” Robert said. “That’s why u-rigs are working so good — that’s about how deep they run.”

Crappie: Fair. Look for schools of crappie on creek-channel ledges with brush that drop from 10 feet on the flats down to 25-feet deep in the channels. Use small minnows fished straight down on tight lines.