Lake Allatoona is quite the spectacular sight this time of year and is exhibiting a lot of beautiful colors in God's little geographical corner we inhabit and enjoy.
With Lake temps ranging from 64-68° the current Lake level is at 831.44'. We have had a 4 inch rise since yesterday alone. We could expect to maintain this level or higher through the weekend considering the delighful rainfall.
We highly recommend spending some time in nature and enjoying the Autumn transition by water, land or both. Consider quality time of a scenic drive through Red Top Mountain State Park if time is limited. Maybe even bring the fishing poles.
The fishing has been fantastic, and we are enjoying extremely active fish on our multi-species outings again this past week. This is happening even while all target species have been cooperative in the mornings and afternoon/evenings. What a blast to have a hefty channel cat or a ol' bucketmouth just happen along into your presentation while the Stripers and Hybrids are already giving you a workout.
The Linesides are active lakewide. While we have not seen any spectacular topwater Lineside feeding this past week, it's not to say it can't happen on your outing, so always have a topwater lure, spoon or spinner/A-rig ready to reach into them when it does happen. The fish are eating small bait, and they are eating it well. Small threadfins to larger baby gizzards are getting it done on the downlines and freelines. This is the predominant forage in many of those clouds of bait you may see on the sonar, as well as in their bellies upon examination.
They are chewing nicely and active schools are being found in the channel. Concentrate on channel turns where you might find good fish on the deepest water right against the forest wall. We are primarily catching good #hybrids and #stripers between 12-22 feet down in water up to 45 feet deep this past week. They are responding well to smaller baits on the downlines and freelines as well as trolled A-rigs and larger spreads of U-rigs. We've been saving a lot of motor and fuel sitting on a hole with livebait and spoons and staying plenty busy getting pulled on.
FISH HEALTH FACTOR: Don't be too alarmed if you see some fish with red spots/sores on their skin, and even presenting a bloodshot look into the fin tips. Having caught 10+ fish these past 2 weeks aboard our boat with such an affliction, as well as corroboration from other fisherman having caught one or multiple fish with this. This is most likely an Aeromonas bacterial infection. Images depicting this can be found below.
With a little proactive investigation, particulary valuable insight has been provided by our resident Biologist Jim Hakala, one of the state's leading biologists and the Georgia Wildlife Division Regional Fisheries Supervisor. Jim is a fellow caretaker and steward of our natural resources and very attentitive to our concerns. "The red sores are likely the result of a common bacterial infection (Aeromonas spp.) presumably brought on by the stress of a long hot summer. Aeromonas bacteria are very common in freshwater. The symptoms should subside in the coming weeks and typically most fish will heal and recover."
You may have seen this same type of "red rash" in your experiences, particulary seen on Spotted Bass after the stress of spawn in the Spring. Yup, that's what that likely was. It shouldn't be prevalent, but it's not uncommon to see.
We as a community shall continue to monitor this. We have personally noted that the flesh of such a fish sampled recently was untainted and delectable. These fish can survive this and do in most cases. Some could die if their bodies cannot fight it off. I believe this helps to keep the gene pool strong. Cull responsibly.
The bite for all species is very good right now.
Presenting a bait by working from top to bottom on a steep ledge could give up some nice channel cats as well as bonus spots and crappie and even white bass. White bass are also schooling up nicely in some of the major deltas right now and riding the humps where those are present.
The Crappie bite has been all we could hope for with the dropping temperatures and we are well on our way to an all out prime Crappie catching season coming real soon. We also have the most dedicated Crappie fisherman sharing good reports for October overall.
The Spotted Bass are still able to provide all the excitement one could want. Of all the techniques we fish, these rascals are in a predictable fall pattern and once you have identified the school on the ledges and channel edges, they will take most any good presentation. Tackle from a 1/16 oz. tube jig to a flexi-spoon to small live baits have produced well when on a school of these critters and plenty of other species being caught with save techniques.
Learn to read the way the Spots (and other species) show up on your Electronics and you'll know what you are dealing with down under. Our mainly using Lowrance sonar and di/si, catchable Spotted Bass will often show loaded up along bottom and side by side and often tight, somewhat like a band versus being stacked on on top of another (like crappie) and even spread out. Obviously this is subject to school size, but the most sizeable schools we have personally found on Allatoona typically have 35-40 fish max, and these will be in a bottom-holding tight band. These fish will often eat even when not actively chasing a school of bait above them. The Linesides, when feeding and active, could resemble a screen of spaghetti on the sonar and spread in a loose ball pattern on the DI.
We highly recommend spending some time in nature and enjoying the Autumn transition by water, land or both.
We will be in a relentless pursuit of targeting Autumn and Winter Hybrids and Stripers as well as always maintaing a good bead on the Bass and Crappie.
Helping make a great fishing trip a reality is what we specialize in so please let us know if we can help be a part of an excellent adventure for you, friends and family.
We truly strive to ensure you to have the best chance of a successful fishing adventure aboard our boats. Let's go fishing! Call 404-919-4918 to book your adventure or for more information, any time. Tightlines!
Joseph
**(We are currently offering extended trip times on Lineside adventures at no additional cost for new trips down in the books by November 15. This does include most all dates available through December 31, 2019)