Lake Allatoona Fishing Report – November 2008

Allatoona: Level: 8.3 feet below full pool. Temp: 64-69 degrees. Clarity: Mostly clear.

Bass: Good despite the recent cold fronts, said guide Mike Bucca. “Prior to the cool fronts, the number of fish being caught was outstanding. The fish are starting to move up on points and are working their way back into the creeks following the annual fall shad migration. Start on the points, and work your way into the creeks until you find the concentrations of fish. There are a lot of baits that are working right now, which is very typical of the fall time of the year. Lucky Craft CB 200 and Flat MiniDR cranks — in any color with some chartreuse in it — are doing great for numbers, as are blue-pearl 9S Senkos rigged weightless. Dr. Spot Spinnerbaits and the 7-inch Bull Shad swimbait are doing better for quality. Again, start at the main-lake points at the mouths of creeks, and start working your way into the creeks. You can catch fish on almost any bait you throw, so now is a great learning time for trying new baits and techniques. Once we get into November, I expect the fall bite to be full bore. If we get some cool fronts, the midday bite will probably be better once things warm up some. At first light, start off with the crankbaits, and as the day progresses, you can move up the water column as the fish start to chase more.”

Linesides: Good. “It’s the back end of the turnover right now,” said guide Robert Eidson. “Fish are bunched up real tight. If you can find them, you can catch good numbers, but if you don’t get right on top of them, you won’t catch any, but it will straighten out real quick. By the first of November, we should be into an early winter bite, which is great. It looks like we’ll get an extra month of good fishing before the shad kill. Right now, fish from Kellogg Creek up to the Red Top Mountain campgrounds. Troll U-rigs until you find the fish. They’ll be on main-lake and secondary points in water about 30 to 35 feet deep. Then come back across the point, and if you catch one or two more, then you can downline. Shiners are working well. Shad will outfish shiners, but not by that much right now. Pull U-rigs, then drop shiners, and you can catch eight or nine fish. As turnover straightens out, fish flatlines and planer boards until 9 a.m., then drop downlines. Also have a topwater plug ready and throw to swirls. I love that new 4-inch Spro BBZ-1 swimbait.”