Lake Allatoona Fishing Report – May 2006

Allatoona: Level: Down 1.9 feet below full pool. Temps: 72 degrees. Clarity: Very clear.

Bass: Excellent for numbers of 1- to 2-lb. spotted bass. “It simply doesn’t get any better than it has been for the entire month of April. Forty- to 60-fish days have been the norm,” said guide Mike Bucca. The spotted bass are on main-lake points and in short pockets just off the main lake. Run-and-gun the pockets. The bass are hitting a wide variety of lures. Mike recommends the topwater Sammy 100 and 115s, Fat Ikas in Blue Pearl, Senkos, Pointer 78s, a dropshot rig, and a swimbait. “You name it, they will hit it, and they’re hitting all day long from one end of the lake to the other, especially if there is cloud cover,” he said. “My best bait has by far been the Fat Ika in blue-pearl color rigged with a 4/0 Offset Gamakatsu hook and a G Stinger Gamakatsu trailer hook tied to the 4/0 hook.” Most of the largemouths are on a postspawn pattern. “I would say we are two-thirds over with the largemouth spawn, with the spots at peak spawn or slightly over with as we speak,” Mike said. “May is a huge spinnerbait and jerkbait bite for us. Concentrate on the main-lake points as the fish migrate back out. It is also not uncommon to see schooling fish in the morning on the main-lake flats. The key is to cover water. If the fish are present, they will bite. I won’t slow down my run-and-shoot approach until at least June when the fish start to settle into a summer pattern.”

Linesides: Excellent. the river bite is phenomal, but guide Robert Eidson said he’s not even heading up there because you can catch fish down the lake. “They’re scattered, but that just means you can probably find hybrids and stripers in about any creek you try,” he said. Robert mentioned that he’s caught fish recently in Kellogg and Clear creeks, and also on the Allatoona Creek arm. “Use flatlines and planer boards over real shallow water. It doesn’t matter how deep the bottom is, it’s the water column. They’re staying up close to the surface.” Robert is pulling shad, but he said you can catch them fine on shiners right now. “Hook up the boat and go fishing,” Robert said. “We should start seeing schooling activity any day,” he added. Robert likes to throw a Zoom Super Fluke or a Sammy 110 topwater plug at breaking linesides.