Lake Allatoona Fishing Report May 2012

Allatoona: Level: 0.8 feet below full pool. Temp: 69 degrees. Clarity: A little dirty on the north end; clear from mid-lake south.

Bass: Good. Matt Driver reports, “May is less eventful than April on Allatoona. Most bass are off bed, and the postspawn blues have worn off. Fish are feeding and making up for lost time. Fish will begin to transition from shallow spawning areas and keying in on shad and the route to summer holes. Topwater baits like Spro Dawgs, Hydro Pops, buzzbaits and soft jerkbaits like the Big Bite Jerk Minnow are fun and very productive for the first couple of hours of the day. As it gets later in the day, Carolina rigs and jig-head finesse worms will produce. Fish will migrate toward brush by the end of the month.”

Linesides: Good. Guide Robert Eidson said the river run is over. The fish will be staging on the flats and schooling up at areas like The Delta. The mouth of Little River should be loaded with stripers and hybrids. There is a good early morning topwater bite in the Little River area, and there’s also lots of action on top at Victoria Landing by the sailboats. Also, look for fish from Iron Hill to the spillway. Fish flatlines and planer boards early, and then switch to downlines dropped to between 18 and 24 feet. Bait is plentiful in all the creeks, and shad are on seawalls, rip-rap and bridge pilings. It should be easy to net your own bait, and shad are the best bait right now. Along with the downlines, a Mack’s four-arm umbrella rig with chartreuse jigs pulled between 2.7 and 3.1 mph is good once the sun gets up. While you’re trolling, keep your eyes open for white bass coming up in schools, and have something ready to throw to them. A Rooster Tail or Zara Spook are both good. See page 56 for a full feature on Robert’s May tactics.