Lake Allatoona Fishing Report – June 2009

Allatoona: Level: 0.9 feet above full pool. Temp: 69 degrees: Clarity: Clear.

Bass: Excellent. Mike Bucca reports, “The spawn is over, and the postspawn bite and shad spawn are in full swing. The fish are moving out of the creeks and heading toward the main lake. Most secondary and main-lake points are full of fish. Also, main-lake flats at the mouths of spawning pockets are also killer at first light. I am starting off with the Sammy 100 and a 7-inch Bull Shad at first light. The swimbait will nab the bigger fish out of the schoolers, and then you give them the Sammy 100. Anywhere from 20 to 30 fish are common. Flukes and Senkos are also doing very well on the main lake. The Christmas trees and rip-rap are also great places to try. I expect the migration to the main lake to continue through June as the fish head deeper in the main lake. The topwater bite and schooling activity will get shorter as we head into the summer patterns. In June, I fish the bluff walls with a drop shot, and I’ll cast Fish Head Spins off both the bluff walls and long, tapered points. The notorious spoon bite will also begin to pick up. I recommend a Flex-It spoon in the 3/4- to 1-oz. range, and use 12- to 15-lb. Triple Fish fluorocarbon and a DX703 Dobyns Rod to keep them buttoned up.” Matt Driver says bass fishing on Allatoona is very good right now. “The fish are postspawn now and are migrating slowly but surely to their hideouts in deeper areas. At the end of May we were able to get a tournament win with a nearly 13-lb. bag of spotted bass. My partner Travis McDermott and I caught all keeper fish on topwater. For the morning bite, the Jackall Bostick and the Spro Dawg 100 are great choices. Target the back sides of wind-blown points, and look for schooling fish. As the sun gets up, break out the shaky-head jigs and hit the same points you fished the topwater on that morning. I’ve been throwing a Big Bite 6-inch finesse worm and the Squirrel Tail worm on a 3/0 or 4/0 jighead.”

Stripers and Hybrids: Excellent. Guide Robert Eidson said the fish are back out of the rivers and hitting on the main lake between Victoria and Clear Creek. “Fishing is beyond good. It’s off-the-charts good right now. A bad day right now is 15 fish. We’ve got 19 right now,” Robert said at 10 a.m. on May 26. “We’re fishing downlines over a 40-foot bottom fishing down 30 feet. Kellogg, Clear Creek, Bartow-Carver — I’m making a living there right now. There are fish on the south end. I had a guy working Allatoona Creek on Saturday, and I think he caught 23. I’m looking for the fish; they’re schooled up real tight. It’s common to see 15 or 20 schools in a four-hour trip with 60 to 100 fish in them. They’re chasing bait around. We caught them on threadfin and gizzards, but I’m sure they’d hit a shiner. I expect them to be on top (soon). Catch them on Rooster Tails, popping corks, Flukes and Sammys.” Robert said to expect the topwater and downline bites to continue until August. Be there at daylight looking for breakers. When fish aren’t up, ride the area looking at your graph for big schools of linesides and drop downlines. “After the sun is up, the umbrella-rig bite is very good,” said Robert. “I’m using the Mack Farr rig with nine baits, all 1/2-oz. baits.” Troll it 100 feet behind the boat at 3.1 mph.

White Bass: Excellent. “There’s a monster white-bass bite in the afternoons starting about 6 p.m. on the flats right out in front of Kellogg Creek,” said Robert. “Everybody is fishing for those. They’re coming up on top. Sometimes you’ll catch 30 in 50 casts. Use popping corks, Rooster Tails and 1/2-oz. Flex-it spoons.”