Lake Allatoona Fishing Report May 2014

Allatoona: Level: 1.1 feet below full pool. Temp: 65 degrees. Clarity: Slight stain.

Linesides: Good. Guide Robert Eidson reports, “Lineside fishing is good and will only get better as we enter May. The fish are biting from one end of the lake to the other. The hybrids have started their spawn runs up both the Etowah and Little River. The run has just begun and should get stronger daily and should stay decent into the middle of May. The main lake is also fishing well. Look for the fish that are returning out of the rivers to start to school up from the Little River bridge up to the Delta and from the S-Turns to Kellogg Creek. There is also a decent south-end bite going on right now from Iron Hill to the bay out in front of 3rd Army. The fish on the main lake are up in the water column and are very hard to mark on 2-D sonar. If you have a Lowrance with side scan, you can locate these fish by running your side scan setting on 60 feet on both sides. If you don’t have side scan, the best way to find these fish is to put out a spread of planner boards and freelines, and pull the banks and open water until you get bit. Planner boards and freelining live shad on the main lake has been our best bite. Small-to middle-sized gizzard shad have been the ticket. If throwing the net isn’t your cup of tea, Striper Soup Bait and Tackle in Acworth has plenty. The river bite is a different story. Cut bait seems to be fishing best right now. Cut shad and chicken liver fished in any bend of the river or near any blowdown will catch fish. Trolling has been decent but should get really good once the water temperature hits 70 degrees. Umbrella rigs fished 100 feet behind the boat at speeds of 2.4 to 3.1 miles an hour are working best.”