It's starting to feel a lot like winter. Bundle up and let's go fishing!
Lake Allatoona was at 828.88' on Thursday (11"+ below full pool) with current water temps between 52-56. While December rains are the norm, we shall see what the good Lord brings forth and just fish on with a thankful heart.
The Stripers, Hybrids, Spots, Crappie and White-Bass are biting being pretty good right now. While the fish can sometimes have a little lockjaw, persistence will pay off while we find what they like on any given day.
There are good concentrations of bait and fish (all species) from Bartow Carver to Kellogg Creek and all the way along the route to Little River. Every stretch has its own great holding and transition holes, but overall you will be working the channels for locating the fish. While scouting the South end this week, I can only say we did not see much bait and fish are seen down deeper overall
Downlines and freelines are producing and the fish are foraging on smaller baits consistently. We still like to pull a big bait or two when committing to a stretch. The threadfins are thick in places along with the baby-small gizzards in the mix. You have to dig a little deeper for the bait or pick them up at your favorite bait shop. Minnows are also hearty and can be dynamite.
Trolling has been effective, especially when you find a hole or channel ledge holding fish and get that mini school of shad down to them. Mini Macks and 2-3 oz. total weight rigs at 100+ back and bigger U-rigs at 60+ feet back might be a good starting point. Adjust for your boats' idle speed, wind conditions and so on as needed.
Casting the A-Rigs into these same fish holding holes as well as working an area fan-casting Spoons or Rigs can be very productive when the fish are active. Vertical jigging a flexi-spoon or similar spoon might just trigger the bite even when a slow rolling shad might not.
Should you be a first-timer or an experienced ol'-timer, please consider us to guide you through some of the best techniques and turns on lovely Lake Allatoona. We are blessed to have enjoyed some spectacular trips to date this year, having clients from all corners of the U.S. and all walks of life and all experience levels. We have found that many of our guests live on or near Lake Allatoona and fish it often and simply want to add proven tools and techniques to successfully do it on their own. We have a perfect success rate in effectively teaching our guests something new and catching fish on Lake Allatoona, and it will be our absolute pleasure to have you on board. Please also consider giving the gift of an Adventure experience to a loved one this holiday season. Your Adventure awaits. Tightlines!
