Lake Allatoona Fishing Report – June 2008

Allatoona: Level: Up 0.2 feet above full pool. Temp: 70 degrees. Clarity: Clear.

Bass: Fair. “The fishing on Allatoona has been hit and miss in May,” said guide Mike Bucca. “We started off slow, then ended up getting a lot better, and now we are back to slow again due to a cold front. We had a tough spring overall mainly because we had an algae bloom through the beginning parts of May which causes our water clarity to be kind of dingy. When the algae bloom cleared, the postspawn schooling started kicking in gear. With very little water movement for this time of year, it’s still a little tough. The best bet, if you can find a day with no wind, is to arrive early and get in on some of the schooling fish that are positioned at the mouths of major spawning creeks and pockets. A Sammy 100 and a Flashminnow 95MR are all you need to catch these fish. Just cast at the breaking fish with the Sammy, and when they go down, toss them the jerkbait.” After the topwater bite ends, Mike said to spend some time in the morning working a weightless Senko along the shoreline. He likes the blue-pearl color. “I am also doing very well on the north end of the lake using a Pointer 128 in MS MJ Herring for the bigger fish around the downed trees that were cut last year,” he said. As the sun gets up, try a drop shot on the main-lake bluff walls. “I am using a Robo Worm or a GYCB Cut Tail worm on a No. 4 Gamakatsu Splitshot/Dropshot hook and a 1/2-oz. quickdrop sinker. Just keep stair-stepping the drop shot down those walls until you find the magic depth. Don’t be surprised if you have to go to 25 to 30 feet,” Mike said. “For June I am hoping for a strong sonar and brushpile bite to start once our water temps get into the 80s. Concentrate on brush in the 20- to 25-foot range. My bait choice would be a deep crankbait like D-20 Lucky Craft, a spoon or a drop shot worked around the cover. If we can lose some water, we just might have a strong schooling topwater bite like we had last year,” Mike said.

Linesides: Guide Robert Eidson said the bite has been good, other than a slow few days during the full moon last week. “The fish are out of the rivers. We’ve been catching fish in the S turns, between Little River and the Etowah, and Kellogg Creek has been good,” Robert said. “The south end has had a real good bite in Allatoona Creek, and there’s been a strong bite down around Clarks Creek.” Robert said to fish flatlines and planer boards early, then downlines during the mid-morning and U-rigs after that. On the downrods, concentrate on fishing a 25- to 30-foot bottom. Drop it to the bottom, and bring it up one crank. “In the afternoons the small hybrids and white bass are coming up real good near Harbortown,” Robert said. “I like a popping cork with a Junior Fluke, but they’ll hit about any small bait in your tacklebox.”