by Shawn McNew
Allatoona is in full winter pattern. Small baits, big fish. The water is fluctuating with rainfall rising and falling as much as 10 feet during a heavy rain event. All of this inflow has the Etowah River side of the lake and much of the Allatoona Creek side destroyed with mud. Fish can still be caught in the turbid stuff, but better results are being had in water with some clarity. Last month we saw some PIG striper up to 30 lbs caught on some larger baits up to 10”. This month we expect more of the same, but the bait size should be a good bit smaller. Artificials are producing some fish, but mostly trolling. We should be firmly into the shad kill by now and fish will be fat and healthy. On warmer days, look for some sporadic surface feeding. Diving seagulls will aid in finding this action.
Downlines are the primary method during this time of year. As you downsize your bait, downsize your leader and hook. A 3-6” bait will be best fished on 8-10 lb leader with a #2 or #4 hook. There’s still lots of bait in the lake, and most of it has been holding deep in the 40 foot range over 60+ feet of water. The fish have been on TOP of the bait rather than underneath, gulping mouthfuls of the sluggish shad. We’ve had quite a bit of nautical weather with high LAKE ALLATOONA STRIPER/HY BRID Acworth, GA www.stripersoup.com 770-529-9601 winds and bitter temps. Use this to your advantage. It will concentrate fish and bait in certain downwind areas. Fishing planers in high winds is just a bad idea, unless you happen to find a sheltered location holding fish! A lightly weighted flatline using one split shot will be another key method. The split shot forces your bait to act differently as it struggles against it. This causes a response from feeding gamefish.
Urigs remain a staple in many fishermen’s repertoire. There are times when this seems to be the only method that will work on these winter fish. Vary your depth from 10-20 feet (60-120 feet on your line counter), and maintain 3.2 mph. Pulling rigs and covering water will let you see what’s going on with bait and fish. You might run across something good that you can put some fresh baits down on. As with every winter, jigging will become a very effective technique. Spoons, bucktails, and jigs with plastic fluke-style lures can all be very effective on slower fish. Choose white and chartreuse patterns for Allatoona.
Like us on Facebook and be on the lookout for new products and bait updates on our website www.stripersoup.com. Come join the forum and get in the striper KNOW! HINT: Hook your gizzard shad in the TOP lip only vertically between the nostrils. There’s a bony plate that keeps the hook in solid, prevents hook-back, and keeps the bait on until the fish gets SERIOUS!
Shawn McNew
Striper Soup Bait & Tackle