Lake Allatoona Fishing Report May 2017

Allatoona: Level: Full pool. Temp: 73 degrees. Clarity: Very clear.

Bass: Tournament angler Matt Driver reports, “Fishing is great. The month of May is a very fun time on Lake Allatoona. With most bass coming off the bed, we get into the postspawn time of year. Fish are looking to eat after being on the bed for several weeks. Now is the time to key in on shad. Topwater this month is as good as it gets. The first few hours of the morning should be spent throwing walking-type baits, such as the Spro Dawg and Spook. I am also mixing it up with a popper-style topwater. Soft plastic jerkbaits like the Big Bite Jerk Minnow are doing great. The key is covering water quickly. Faster retrieves where bass are not allowed time to think before they bite work best. The action will be fast and furious but will die off after the sun gets above the trees. Once the topwater bite dies down, the swimbait bite is good, as well as the shaky-head worm bite. Areas from Victoria to Little River are the best choice. We will see the fish move to a mid depth by the mid to end of the month. The shad spawn and mayfly hatch will heavily influence the amount of bass activity this month.”

Linesides: Guide Robert Eidson reports, “Good! Fishing will only get better as we enter into the month of May. The hybrids have started their spawn runs up both the Etowah and Little rivers. The river bite should stay decent into the middle of May. The main lake is also fishing well. The fish that are returning out of the rivers are starting to school up from the Little River bridge up to the Delta and from the S-turns to Kelloggs 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 2D 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. This has been working great for me on my Lowrance 12 Intouch. If you don’t have side scan, the best way to find these fish is to put out a spread of planer boards and freelines and pull the banks and open water until you get bit. Planer boards and freelining live shad on the main lake has been our best bite and are accounting for at lease 95 percent of our catch on both Lake Allatoona and Carters Lake. Small- to middle-sized gizzard shad and threadfins have been the ticket. The white bass are being caught on top and are off the charts most mornings and afternoons. The April full moon really fired up the topwater action on Allatoona. The white bass have been coming up in 1/2-acre schools most mornings and afternoons. The better action is between Little River and Fields Landing. A white Rooster Tail has been the ticket on light spinning gear. Allatoona is alive. Grab the kids, and hit the lake.”