We wish you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving. Of our many blessing to count, our lake and the local fishery are among them. Lake Allatoona is currently at 829.7 feet and is truly showing out with all her Fall colors.Surface water temps are holding around 54 degrees and continuing to drop into what are our prime ranges for good catching.
Linesides are finicky.... until they are not. With the bait stacked in abundance, there are times a plenty when you will see your electronics showing fish stacked up around the bait - and not a bite to be had. Dozens and dozens of good marks and you think "surely one of them wants to eat!" But sometimes they just do not and it can be a little annoying. We are experiencing this often when pulling live bait through the schools during predominantly inactive feeding periods. A combatant for the inactivity here may be trying to draw a reflex strike by pulling a crankbait, spoon or A-rig through the schools. It is easy enough to jig a spoon or cast an A-rig while trolling at .5 mph as long as you are willing to stay a little active and put in the good work. Then there are the times during your trip when all the stars align and the fish turn on and they are chewing real good and things get a little hectic and the fish are coming to the boat and surely the fishing will be good the rest of the day, right? Not necessarily the news. Enjoy the peak periods with an ever grateful heart. They may last 10 minutes or an hour. It may not happen at all during your excursion. It will be O.K. You still went fishing:) On occasions this past week we simply wrecked the stripers, hybrids, white bass and spotted bass on A-rigs and U-rigs for an extended period of time. They came to boat in 1's to 4's for up to 2 hours straight. We went with this technique because others were not producing consistently in previous trips. Could we have sat on these same fish with a spoon or even a live shad and gotten results? Maybe, but when something is working really well, it is difficult to stop and try something different. The spotted bass and are schooled up tight, too! Standing over a school of these rascals on a ledge, flat or wherever they are holding and jiggling that that little fluke, sexy shad (or whatever else you have confidence in) can produce handsomely.
The crappie are cooperating as well and long-lining for them in the 15-25' water range has been producing some very respectable catches. These fish are also being caught in the marinas with a small jig presentation worked around the docks, motors and submerged brush. You did build your own brush-pile, right? The most consistent factor here may be smaller baits in the 3-4" range. Whether it is down-lining or free-lining shad, casting crankbaits or A-rigs, spooning or drop-shotting, smaller baits have been consistently more productive these past 2-3 weeks.
There have been several reports of "We tore up the stripers and hybrids while crappie fishing!" Having been there and done that, I think a truer translation is " The Stripers and Hybrids tore us up while we were crappie fishing!" See, a 2-5 lb. Lineside on 4-6 lb. test and a light action rod is always memorable. Want to know what they were using for bait? Small jigs and or minnows most likely.
We still have availability for dates in December if you would like to get out on the water and experience a full-service guided fishing adventure with us. While we are primarily targeting Stripers and Hybrids right now, we are geared up for the Crappie and should that be your preferred targeted species for the day. If you would like to go out and learn some techniques such as jigging or drop-shotting, we definitely do that as well. Lake Allatoona is giving up many of her secrets this time of the year and we are happy to give up as many as we may on your trip. Call today for availability and details: 404-919-4918 and Let's Go Fishing!
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