Lake Allatoona Fishing Report March 2015

Allatoona: Level: 8.3 feet below full pool. Temp: 42 degrees but changing by the minute, according to striper guide Robert Eidson. Clarity: Visibility 2 to 3 feet.

Bass: Tournament angler Matt Driver said he’ll be looking for bass to be on the move this month as they begin to head toward their spawning grounds. During the first few weeks of March, if the weather stays normal, fish will still be in the 9- to 15-foot range. “These fish will be keying on main-lake bait that is still suspended and typically not holding to any cover or structure. This is when I do a lot of idling with my Humminbird 899 with Side Imaging to look for the greatest concentrations of bait and feeding bass,” said Matt. “I’ll throw the Alabama Rig on main-lake points and creek mouths during the first part of March. Points allow them easy access to deep water for cold fronts, but they can move up easily on nice warm days.” Matt will also throw Spro Little John DD and a Spro Rock Crawler crankbaits in the same areas. Matt lays out an entire March plan for catching Allatoona bass in a feature article on page 24 of this GON magazine.

Linesides: Guide Robert Eidson reports, “The south end of the lake is still the place to be right now. All of our stripers are coming on trout and shad fished on planer boards and freelines out over open water. And all of our hybrids are coming on trout and shad fished on downlines 20 to 30 feet deep on humps and points. Most of our fish are coming within eye site of the dam. As the water starts to clear, I look for the fish to start to move north. By the end of March, the white bass should be making their spawn run up the rivers. Shortly after that, the hybrids and the stripers will make their spawn runs. But before they run, they will stage on the north end of the lake from Little River to Fields Landing. Freelining and planer boarding large shad will be your best bet to catch a big fish. If you’re looking for numbers, it’s hard to beat threadfin shad. As of right now, we are not seeing any signs of a shad kill. But with the extremely cold weather we are having, it’s still likely. If we do have a kill, the better bite may be on a spoon. I use a white 1/2-oz. white foil Flex-It. The u-rig bite has also been producing well for us. Our better bite has been coming on a Capt. Mack’s four-arm rig fully loaded with pink trailers. As the water clears, change over to all white.”