Lake Allatoona Fishing Report – November 2023

Allatoona: Level: Down 7.1 feet from 840 and dropping. Temp: 66 degrees. Clarity: Mostly clear with a mild stain on the north and south ends of the lake.

Bass: Tournament angler Matt Driver reports, “November is a fun month on Allatoona. Shad migration and bass are on the move. They are feeding up and weights are increasing. There are four main baits for me in November on Allatoona: a jig, shallow crankbaits, a jerkbait and an A-rig.  November is one of the last months before winter sets in and we start to see fish move deeper. When targeting bass in November, wind is one of the most important factors when deciding where I’m going to drop the trolling motor and start fishing. Wind-blown pockets and points is where I focus. Bait typically bunches up, and the bass will take advantage of an easy meal. As always, don’t waste time on unproductive areas where you don’t find balls of bait. Have fun and enjoy this time of year while most sportsmen are in the woods hunting. The mouth of Little River, the main lake, bluffs and larger creeks are the best areas right now.”

Linesides: Guide Robert Eidson, of First Bite Guide Service, reports, “Lineside fishing is getting better. The fish are starting to school back up and are willing to eat. We caught most of our fish last week downlining shad off main-lake points and humps. We also caught some decent fish one-third of the way back in the major creeks—Kellogg, Stamp and Illinois. Most of these schools are 15 to 24 feet deep and want the bait right on their nose. Topwater is sporadic at best. There are small schools coming up all over the lake, but they don’t stay up long. Unless they’re coming up in casting distance, it just isn’t worth chasing them. Trolling is decent right now. U-rigs are working best, and color doesn’t seem to matter. We are running our rigs 100 feet behind the boat at speeds between 2.4 to 3.1 mph.”

Lake Allatoona Page: Archived Articles, News & Fishing Reports

Crappie: Robert DeHaas, of Red Rooster Custom Baits and an OG from “Team Geezer,” reports, “It’s the beginning of crappie trolling season. Historical lake levels show that the lake will continue to drop to 10 feet below full pool by the end of November. Be sure to mix up your jig colors to figure out which works best. Natural colors and bright colors will work well, depending on the weather, time of day and water clarity. When longline trolling, the typical trolling speeds are between .05 to .1 mph. Make sure to visit Redroosterbaits.com and download the ‘Long Line Trolling Guide’ for more accurate details on jig head size, speed and depths. During trolling season, I will mix up my jig-head sizes and colors to see what works the best. My go-to jig-head colors are hot orange, red, hot pink and chartreuse in 1/16- and 1/24-oz. I like glow-white jig heads for low-light conditions. In addition to mixing up jig-head colors, I also mix up my crappie jig colors and styles. My favorite trolling colors are blue glimmer, junebug, sour grape, black/chartreuse, lemonade, fried pickle, jive turquee chartreuse, lectric chicken and watermelon-red colors for clear and mildly stained water. I will also mix up the styles between the Kic’n Chic’n, Talon 2.0, Slab Dragon and a Small Fry to see what produces the most strikes. If the crappie want something smaller, I mix in the Georgia Razor or Dagger in the aforementioned colors. If I’m seeing fish on my sonar and not getting bites, I start changing colors about every 10 minutes until the fish tell me what colors, styles and sizes they prefer. Don’t be afraid to experiment to see what the crappie want and to build your own confidence in styles and colors. The crappie are consistently roaming and feeding in the fall, so when you catch a crappie or two, make a mental note of the location and circle back to see if a school of crappie are present in that area. My old saying is ‘never leave fish to find fish.’ If you catch several fish in an area, they may move from the area depending on fishing pressure, boat noise or with the food sources (baitfish). With that said, they typically don’t move very far, somewhere around 100 yards has been my experience. My personal trolling setup is a total of 12 rods, six rods up front and six rods in the back spaced at 2 feet apart. Make long s-turns, and from time to time start and stop the trolling motor, which will cause your jigs to rise and fall, which will trigger strikes. Please keep only the fish you need, and release the rest to keep our fishery strong and productive for years to come. ‘Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.’ Psalm 100:4.”