About Lake Allatoona and Lake Allatoona Fishing Guides Allatoona Bass Fishing, Spotted Bass, Lanier Spotted Bass, LanierSpots, Lanier Stripers, FirstBiteGuideservice.com, This 11,860-acre US Army Corps of Engineers (COE) impoundment of the Etowah River is 30 miles north of Atlanta on I-75. Numerous COE facilities and a Georgia State Park located around the lake provide anglers convenient boat ramp access and parking, as well as camping opportunities. The lake receives heavy use by boaters, skiers and anglers due to its close proximity to Atlanta. Fishing early and late daylight hours, and at night, are effective ways to avoid the crowds and catch wary fish. Anglers fishing Allatoona from July - September should concentrate their efforts in water no deeper than 30 feet, as dissolved oxygen is rarely satisfactory for fish at greater depths that time of year. When it comes to black bass, angler catch rates in Allatoona are better than most Georgia reservoirs, yet average bass size tends to be smaller on average. One reason is that spotted bass, which attain smaller adult size than largemouth bass, dominate the black bass fishery, making-up approximately 80-90% of the black bass population. The average spot will be 10-12 inches in 2007, while older fish will measure out in the high teens and low twenties. The less abundant largemouth bass will typically weigh in at around 1 ¼ lbs. and few largemouth bass over 6 lbs. will be caught in 2007. Target largemouth in the Little River and Etowah arms of the reservoir, as this is where the best largemouth habitat exists. Any type of woody debris, especially that found in the backs of coves, will hold largemouth bass. Spotted bass tend to hold in deeper habitats than largemouth. Drop shot and spooning are both good ways to target these deeper fish. Anglers should try both techniques around the 36+ locations the WRD and COE has placed fish attractors. These locations are typically in 25-30 feet of water at full pool and best fished from fall through spring. In April 2007, WRD will again tag spotted bass to gather information on their abundance, survival and angler harvest rates in Allatoona. More than 1,000 spotted bass will be tagged with individually numbered plastic tags. Anglers catching a tagged fish should snip the tag off close to where it enters the fish and call the number on the tag. Callers will be asked for their 1) name, address and phone number; 2) date of catch and general location, and 3) whether the tagged fish was released or taken home. Anglers also can mail or bring tag and information to the WRD Summerville (706-857-3394) or Calhoun (706-624-1161) Fisheries Management Offices. Anglers can expect crappie fishing to be consistent with years past. The average crappie should be around 10 inches and weigh about ½ lb., though larger crappie tipping the scales over 1 lb. will be caught. Most crappie anglers focus their efforts during the spring spawn, when the fish concentrate in shallow water. Early spring is an excellent time to catch a trophy "slab" as the females will be laden with eggs and in excellent condition prior to the spawn. Besides jigging or live bait fishing over structure, anglers should try slow trolling small artificials in these same areas. Trolling is a good way to cover a lot of water and locate schools of feeding fish. Popular areas to catch spring spawn crappie include the Kellogg, Illinois and Stamp Creek areas of the lake. During the summer months, crappie will concentrate in deeper waters, where anglers can catch them by targeting brush piles and other fish attractors located on humps and channel ledges. Night fishing with the use of lights and light tackle around docks and bridges will likely be an anglers best chance at consistently boating finicky summer crappie. WRD continues to stock striped bass in Allatoona at a rate of 2.5 fish/surface acre. Striper fishing is best from October-June and trolling live shad is an anglers best approach to consistent catches. Stripers will be found in the main body of the lake in winter, but migrate to upper reaches of the lake on their spring spawning run. As summer heats up smaller stripers (<10 lbs.) will be found in the main lake, but most larger linesides migrate far up the Etowah River seeking coolwater in which to beat the summer heat. Enticing a summer bite from these large fish can be extremely difficult as they slow their feeding rates. However, with the onset of fall and cooling lake waters, these large stripers migrate back into the main lake body and feed voraciously as they pack on pounds lost during the hot summer months. Increased stocking rates of hybrid striped bass by WRD in recent years continues to bear fruit& and lots of it! Hybrid abundance in Allatoona continues to remain high, rivaling some of Georgias best-known hybrid lakes. The average hybrid will be in the 1-2 lbs. range but plenty of 5-8 lbs. fish will be caught. Hybrids can be caught year-round, but summer is best for boating large numbers. Regardless of season, anglers seeking these hard fighters must locate their primary food source& shad. Locate schools of shad using depth finders, while keeping a sharp eye open for schooling hybrids boiling the waters surface as they feed on shad in the morning and early evening. White spinners, spoons and crankbaits will produce summer fish, but serious hybrid fisherman will slow troll with 3-5 inch live shad on free-line or down-line rigs. In the winter months live shad will continue to be an effective bait, but anglers wishing to use artificials can try umbrella rig trolling too. In terms of location, the mile of lake above and below the popular Galts Ferry boat ramp is a year-round hotspot for Allatoona hybrids. Spawning runs of white bass will be up somewhat from recent years, as the population begins recovering from several years of drought believed to have weakened the population. Target these spawn-run fish from March-April in the Etowah and Little River arms of the lake. The rest of the year whites can be caught on small baits in amongst the numerous striper and hybrid schools. Bluegill, redbreast sunfish and redear sunfish are all present in Allatoona. Bluegill are the dominant sunfish species. However, they typically average 5 inches in length and few individuals over 7 inches are present. Channel and flathead catfish also are available. While channel catfish are more abundant, flatheads tend to grow to a much larger size. Pursue channels and flatheads on the rocky bedrock banks in the Etowah River arm using chicken livers and live bait fished on the bottom. The numerous rip-rapped shoreline banks are also good areas to locate big Allatoona catfish. Carp are numerous, widely distributed, and grow to moderately large sizes. Most carp fishing is concentrated in the Acworth Dam area. Carp are strong fighters and will give a worthwhile battle to those who pursue them. Gar also are numerous in Allatoona. Though not generally considered good eating, these toothy fish are strong fighters and can be great fun to catch. Gar can be caught using a number of techniques ranging from live shad or minnows fished below a bobber to sight fishing with minnow type lures made from frayed rope. Such lures rely on the gars numerous teeth to become entangled in the frayed strands of rope during the strike. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Lake Lanier and Lake Lanier Striper Fishing Lake Lanier is a 38,000-acre reservoir operated by the Corps of Engineers (COE) about 50 miles northeast of Atlanta. Lanier receives heavy fishing pressure due to its proximity to Atlanta. The most popular species are spotted bass, crappie, striped bass and catfish. Lake level information can be obtained from the COE at 770-945-9531. Black bass fishing should again be excellent in 2007. Spotted bass are very abundant, in excellent condition, and are putting on weight from the ample supply of blueback herring and threadfin shad. Therefore, anglers should experience another good year catching numerous of 1 to 5 lbs. spotted bass. The largemouth bass population appears to be rebounding from poor spawning success during the past drought years (1998-2002). Based on fish sampling in 2006, the abundance of 1 to 2 lbs. largemouth bass is much improved over the past three years. Spotted and largemouth bass can be caught on night crawlers, crayfish, and bait minnows throughout the year. Many Lanier anglers and fishing guides post fishing reports on the Bass Fishing Home Page (http://www.wmi.org/bassfish/index.html). Consider checking internet bulletin boards like this one for hot tips before coming to Lanier. Crappie anglers should experience an average year when it comes to numbers. The population of ½ to ¾ lb. fish is stable and these pan-sized fish will be common this year. The heaviest stringers will be produced from late February through April when larger spawning fish are shallow. Top areas for these panfish are the upper Chattahoochee arm (Clarks to Lula Bridge), Thompson, and Taylor Creek. Lanier anglers can expect another excellent year for striped bass. Angler success during the summer months will depend on oxygen conditions at cooler depths (greater than 25 ft.), the stripers habitat from July through September. The abundant supply of blueback herring, a preferred summer forage of stripers, plays a key role in maintaining a healthy population in Lanier. The lake supports an abundance of small (2 - 10 lbs.) stripers produced from successful stockings from 2003 to 2006. A good supply of 10 - 15 lbs. fish stocked from 2000-2002 will also provide plenty of action. An average number of trophy (20 - 30 lbs.) stripers are in the lake. Both winter (November-March) and summer (July-August) offer excellent striper fishing. Live bait (herring, shiners, bluegill and shad), soft-plastic jerk baits and trolled bucktail jigs will produce the best results. WRD stocked 114,000 walleye fingerlings in 2005 and 2006 to enhance late winter fishing opportunities during walleye spawning runs up the rivers. WRD fall gill net samples verified that a good number of stocked fish survived. A number of anglers reported catching one-pound walleyes during 2006 in Wahoo Creek and the upper Chattahoochee River arm of the lake. These young walleye will weigh ½ - 2 lbs. in 2007. Adult walleye are few in number but can be caught in the Chattahoochee River near Belton Bridge in February and early March. They migrate in summer to the lower reservoir seeking the cool, oxygenated waters (25 - 40 ft. depths) closer to the dam. Trolling the shoreline with spinners and crankbaits and still fishing nightcrawlers on the bottom at depths of 5 - 30 ft. is an effective method for taking walleye year around. Check out http://www.walleyehunter.com for tips on walleye fishing. Channel catfish are numerous lakewide and average about 1 lb. Bluegill weighing ¼ - 1/3 lb. can be caught on a regular basis from May through August. Carp are abundant and readily take prepared catfish baits, corn and dough balls from May through August. In 2007, WRD, State Parks and COE personnel cut and anchored shoreline trees where permitted at two cove locations at the Don Carter State Park property, just below Lula Bridge. These downed shoreline trees will attract crappie, bass and other species for anglers to catch this year. Maps showing the locations of attractor sites can be obtained from the COE office at Lake Lanier (770-945-9531) and the Gainesville WRD office (770-535-5498). A guide to bank fishing opportunities is also available. Some key bank fishing spots include Lanier Point Park, Thompson Creek Park, Little Hall Park and Little River Landing. Buford Dam Park and River Forks Park are two good sites that also are accessible. It is legal to fish with and possess live blueback herring, a preferred baitfish for stripers on Lanier. Spotted bass and striped bass populations have benefited from the increased food supply of herring. Negative impacts of bluebacks include their ability to out compete other young fish for available food and predation on larval fish, including bass less than 1-inch long. WRD will continue to monitor the impact of this species on sport fish populations.