Lake Allatoona Fishing Report – March 2006

Allatoona: Level: Down 8.8 feet below full pool. Temps: 49-52 degrees. Clarity: Clear.

Bass: Good, and getting better. “The fish are officially in prespawn,” said guide Mike Bucca. “They are moving up out of the deeper water and onto the shallow, newly flooded flats,” he said. Mike recommends a Lucky Craft Flat Mini DR crankbait in peacock or mad craw (red with black tiger stripes) colors, as well as a Lucky Craft LVR D-7 lipless crankbait in nishki (chrome flash with a red head) or mad craw colors. He said the jerkbait bite should also heat up. “I’m using 12-lb. Triplefish Fluorocarbon line and a medium- to semi-fast retrieve. First thing in the morning concentrate on the northwest shorelines or the southeast-facing banks.” These shorelines warm the quickest, especially if there are rocks present. “I am also doing pretty decent with the dropshot on the main-lake bluff walls, especially where the bluff walls come to a point. The best bait for me has been the 3 1/2-inch Cut Tail which best mimics the size of the shad they are feeding on.” Mike likes a blue-pearl color. “Stair-step the dropshot down the bluff wall,” he said.
Linesides: Good. Guide Robert Eidson said now is the time to catch a big striper on Allatoona. On Friday, February 24, Roy Griffin of Smyrna put a 31-lb. striper in Robert’s boat. Then on Monday morning, Richard St. Germain of Marietta caught a 32-lb. striper that hit a big gizzard shad on a planer-board rig. “We saw it boil 120 feet behind the boat. All the big bites are coming on top,” Robert said, and big baits are best. “The dollar-bill-sized gizzard shad have produced best. The stripers are big and fat, and they’re eating big — the 10- to 12-inch gizzards. It’s hard to get the bait, but that’s what they want,” Robert said. Pull planer boards and flatlines early. As soon as the sun comes up, drop two downrods off the front of the boat to about 20-feet deep, and continue to pull planer boards and flatlines off the back. “You’re not going to catch a lot of fish right now, but for the next five weeks until they run back up the river, this is the time for a trophy striper,” Robert said.