Lake Allatoona Fishing Report March 2013

Allatoona: Level: 6.7 feet below full pool. Temp: Upper 40s to low 50s. Clarity: The lake is stained from Little River all the way to the dam. The water is pretty clear from the dam south to Clarks Creek.

Bass: Good. Tournament angler and Pro Angler Radio host Matt Driver reports, “Finally, March is here! If you are looking to catch both good-sized bass and the numbers of fish, this month is good as the great migration begins. Both largemouth and spots will be moving up and feeding up to prepare for the spawn that will begin as early as late March. The prespawn bite is great, but fish will be scattered due to the fact that all bass do not move shallow at the same time. Fish will be moving from the deep-winter haunts to shallow flats. Areas to key on are places like ditches and other deeper water near shallow flats. They use these areas like a highway. A good bait to use during the prespawn is the McStick jerkbait in shad patterns. I use a slow retrieve during the first of the month but increase the speed as the water temp increases. March is also known as a crankbait month on Allatoona, and a majority of bass tournaments are won this time of year cranking. Hit areas with stumps and rock near the same areas I just talked about. I use three different types of cranks, the Spro Little John Baby DD, the Little John Standard and the Aruku Shad. Once you locate fish in the ditches, slow down and use baits like a Spotsticker with a Big Bite Baits Shaking Squirrel or a Kacys Custom Jig to catch these big fish pulling up the spawn. Mix it up this month, and if the lake stains, don’t worry. Get shallow and have fun!” Guide Jody Samples reports, “The fish are still scattered, but the bite is picking up. A Big Bite Bait Shaking Squirrel in the talapia color has been working well on both a shaky head and drop shot. Fish seem to be holding between docks in the 15- to 18-foot range. As the weather warms up in March and the water stabilizes more, there will be a more consistent pattern. I caught some really good fish this week on a lipless crankbait in the threadfin-shad color. For both numbers and size, run wind-blown points. And when the bite slows, head for the docks and slow down.”

Linesides: Fair. Guide Robert Eidson reports. “Linesides fishing is decent. Finding fish is easy right now, but getting them to bite with any consistency is another story. The better bite this week has come between the dam and Bethany Bridge. There is also a bite from the Blockhouse to Clarks Creek. But both bites are fair at best. Downlining shad and small trout seems to be working equally as well. Most of the bigger schools are between 22 to 50 deep. If we could go two weeks without rain, I think our bite will get great. The water temps are really good for this time of year. If we don’t see a big prolonged arctic blast, I think we will avoid a shad kill again this year. This will make netting bait easier this spring, but fishing may be a little harder. As we enter into March, look for these fish to move north and start staging for the spawn run. I look for the run to start early this year due to the mild winter. I really look for these fish to make the migration north by the second week of March. The white bass should show up first, followed by the hybrids and stripers. I really think the bite will be off the charts by the middle of March. Trolling is still slow but is getting better. The best times seems to be midday. I have been pulling my rigs at 2.4 to 3.3 miles per hour 100 feet behind the boat. The trolling bite is just around the corner. I really think once the lake clears the trolling bite will get as good as the live-bait bite. The topwater bite was close to breaking loose before we got all the rain. I look for it to return as the lake starts to clear.”