By Shawn McNew
Allatoona should be at full pool and fairly clear throughout most of the lake. This is the most exciting time of year for our hybrid and striper! The young of this yearâs shad spawn will be making their way out into the main body of the lake and packs of hungry striped fish will be attacking them daily. Surface activity reaches a crescendo during May and you can literally catch fish with almost anything!
Areas of focus should be the Little River embayment, north of Victoria Marina, Kellogg Creek, from Clear Creek to the dam, Red Top Mountain area to just south of Bethany Bridge, and between Glade Marina and Allatoona Landing. Typically, the strongest surface activity is the hour before sunset, but some days they will feed no matter what. Overcast days are good for surface feeding all day. Use a variety of lures such as Rooster Tail, Mepps or Panther Martin spinners, Spook Jr, Sammy, Pop-R or other similar surface lures. Jigs like smaller bucktails in the 1/8-1/4 oz size tossed out on 8 lb spinning gear can be a lot of fun. Jigs with curl tail grubs, fluke-style baits, spoons like Kastmaster, Johnson Splinter and Little Cleo will also attract strikes from aggressively feeding surface fish. Keep a keen eye on the horizon, constantly scanning for surface spray and fleeing baitfish and cover lots of water.
This is also a good time of year for Allatoonaâs biggest fish. Go for broke with large gizzard shad in the 9-12â range! Itâs always a good idea to have a couple of these big baits out at all times. Likely areas for a 30+ lb Allatoona brute are directly in front of the dam, Bartow Beach, and in the Etowah River towards Canton. A balloon, Redi Rig, or Striper Soup planer board is the best way to present these big baits. Remember to have your gear spooled with 15-25# test and a 6/0 hook because when these fish hit, theyâll make you look silly if youâre not ready!
The river run will be wrapping up, but good fish will be caught from Knox Bridge up to and beyond Boling Park. Primary techniques in the river are drifting with shallow downlines and pitching the bank with fresh shad and also anchoring with bait out on bottom. Use a 1 to 1-1/2 oz sinker with live or cut shad or skipjack herring to draw them in. If you sit in one place for more than 30 minutes without a bite, move to another spot.
HINT: Skipjack herring is so oily that you can catch multiple fish on the same piece. Donât go cut-baiting without some on board!
Shawn McNew
Striper Soup Bait & Tackle