Lake Allatoona Fishing Report – June 2010

Allatoona: Level: 0.8 feet above full pool. Temp: 79-83 degrees. Clarity: Clear.

Bass: Good. “June may be hot, but the fish still have to eat,” said Matt Driver. “Topwater is still good first thing in morning up until around 8 or 9 on poppers. Try the Spro Dawg 100 and the Zara Spook Jr. fished fast in a walk-the-dog motion.” Matt said the best bite has been in the evenings and at night. “We’ve been catching good numbers of spotted bass off bluff walls flipping a Vegas-flash colored Big Bite Bait’s Rojas Fighting Frog with an 1/8-oz. bullet weight and a 3/0 Gamakatsu worm hook. Or go with the ol standby, a finesse worm like the Big Bite Bait’s Squirrel Tail fished on a jig head. Get the boat close, and work the bait slowly. Where the rocks form points along the bluff wall seem to be the key areas. Work the bait at different depths to find where the fish are. The best thing going for bigger fish is a Spro Little John DD crankbait fished on points up the lake. Make long casts, and just slowly crank it back. You should feel the bait banging off the rocks. Keep in mind that it gets tough in the summer for bigger fish and usually only takes 10 to 12 pounds to be at the top of the leaderboard at most night tournaments.” Craig Miller at the Dugout reports, “Night fishing seems to be where it is at for green fish. Fish steep rock banks and points with single Colorado blade nighttime spinnerbaits. A Punisher short arm in black or black and red or a Hornet Night Bait are both working well. You can also cast medium-running crankbaits, such as a Norman DLN in raspberry or midnight-blue colors. As the water warms this month, start fishing brush or any wood cover with Texas-rigged worms and small jigs.”

Linesides: Excellent. Guide Robert Eidson said the river run is over, and the fish are back in the main lake and biting like crazy. “I can catch more fish than I can catch bait right now,” Robert said. “We had a big shad kill this winter, so there’s not a lot of bait in the lake, which means these fish will eat anything right now. On the south end, there are a lot of fish in the mouths of Tanyard and Clark creeks, and they’re at Iron Hill, too. In the mid-lake, Marker 3E in Stamp Creek is holding a lot of fish, and Bartow-Carver and Illinios Creek are also good. The best bite is from the mouth of Kellogg Creek to the S turns. The schools will black my fishfinder out. I think every fish must have survived from the striper stocking three years ago. We’re catching a ton of 8- and 9-lb. stripers right now, and we’re catching a 50-50 mix of stripers and hybrids, which is unusual. The fish are holding right on the humps. If there’s a reef marker nearby, you’ll find fish. Downline live bait 30 feet down on a 35 foot bottom at edges of points and on humps.”

Crappie: Fair, and it’s best at night. “Concentrate your efforts around bridges and boat docks,” Craig said. “You may want to put floating lights out to draw in the bait. Use small- to medium-sized shiners on deep floats or freelines.”

Bream: Good. “Fish the backs of the creeks around any cover,” Craig said. “Use a 2- to 3-foot length bobber rig. Pink worms and crickets seem to be the bait of choice.”