Lake Allatoona Fishing Report – October 2022

Allatoona: Level: 4.3 feet below 840. Temp: 82 degrees. Clarity: 6 to 7 feet.

Bass: Tournament angler Matt Driver reports, “October is the month when the temps start to cool and the fish are on the move feeding up. With football and hunting season in full swing, I’ve noticed the weekends are a lot calmer and the lake is more enjoyable! Historically, we notice an increase in fish activity in October, but this year has been action packed for months, so we will see if the bite can get better. Fishing this month is great! No matter if you’d like to fish offshore or dirt shallow, October is your month. The first part of the month is very similar to the month of September. Not much changes, but as the cooler mornings begin toward the end of the month, we will see more fish transition and their location change. Fish will begin to move from the main lake to the creeks. As the water drops into the low 70s, we will see fishing get good shallow all the way until the water gets into the 50s in December. In the month of October, if we see a turnover or an algae bloom and the bite gets tough for a few days, it’s always best to move shallow on Lake Allatoona. October is still a great topwater month. For open water, I throw the Spook, Whopper Plopper and a Rico Popper, and for the shallows, I love a black buzzbait around cover. I do mix it up with a buzzbait, squarebill crankbait and a fluke-style bait. In October, the jig is one of the best ways to catch a big largemouth. Target pockets and secondary points. For those with patience, October is great for big swimbaits. Four- to 6-inch hard swimbaits will produce good fish, but you have to cover a lot of water to make that happen. Little River, the Etowah River and Allatoona Creek will be great until we start to see the water recede due to the winter drawdown.”

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Linesides: Guide Robert Eidson, of First Bite Guide Service, reports, “Lineside fishing is fair at best. The fish are still scattered up and down in the water column out over the river channel. They are starting to bust topwater along with the white bass, but they don’t stay up like the white bass, which will stay up for five to 10 minutes at a time. Hybrids and stripers are only staying up for seconds. Downlining live bait is working fair off of any main-lake point down south. Carry a lot of bait with you. When downlining, change your bait frequently if you are not getting bit. Trolling is your best bet if you want to catch numbers. Most of the fish we caught this week came on Captain Mack’s umbrella rigs. Pull these rigs at 3.4 mph 125 feet behind the boat and have an umbrella-rig retriever on board. White bass fishing is still the best bite on the lake. These fish are schooling on top from sunup to sundown. Just ride until you find them. Mid-lake has been the best. A Zara Spook Jr., popping corks and Rooster Tails are working best for these little linesides.”