This week's Lake Allatoona crappie fishing report is brought to you by Bayne's Fishing & Outdoors. Bayne's Fishing & Outdoors is conveniently located in Cartersville, Georgia and has everything you and your family need for a great day on the water! Bayne's Fishing & Outdoors has a large live bait selection featuring minnows, shad, worms & crickets as well as all the top name in lures and artificial jigs (including Red Rooster). If you are looking for a kayak or kayak related products they have those as well. They also feature custom rod work, rod repair and rod spooling. Stop by and see Bayne's Fishing & Outdoors and let them know you saw them on Red Rooster's weekly Lake Allatoona crappie fishing report.
Air Temp: High: 75 - Low: 28
Wind: 10-15 (Up to 30 mph gusts) mph
Lake Level: 834' (Click Here For Current Water Level)
Water Surface Temp: 58 - 62
Water Clarity: North & South is Heavy Stained, Mid Lake Light Stain to Clear
Area Fished: Clark, Tanyard, Kellogg/Owl Creek & Little River Area
Jigs Used: Catawba - Slab Dragon, Tre's Gold - Slab Dragon, Black & Blue - Slab Dragon, VooDoo Bloo - Kic'n Chic'n and Lemonade - Kic'n Chic'n
Technique: Trolling
Allatoona Weekly Crappie Fishing Report:
What a difference a week makes in March! This past week was not a great week for crappie on Lake Allatoona. We got hit with heavy rains and a severe cold snap after the rains moved through. We were able to get out for a couple of days but then the cold and wind came blowing in and pretty much shut everything down this week. We will be looking forward to next week in hopes that the weather and water temps cooperate for the final push of long line trolling season before April. As we move into the rest of March into April the crappie will start moving shallow as the water temps rise into the mid to high 60's. There is still a lot of good crappie fishing on the way you just need to keep your eye on the forecast and watch the day/night temps. The water temps will start to rise quickly once the weather warms and stabilizes. If you are reading this we urge everyone to release any crappie over 12" as larger crappie are what keeps Lake Allatoona stocked for generations to come. We practice a self imposed "slot limit", meaning we only keep crappie that measure 10" to 12". Anything smaller or larger go back in the lake for a healthy spawn. If you do catch a big crappie we ask that you practice "CPR", Catch - Photo - Release. We know that most folks are keeping some for the freezer but when you can keep only what you can use. Remember 10 crappie equals 20 filets and is plenty for a meal or two.
Crappie: Even though this past week was not a good weather week we still managed to get on the water a couple of days before the rains, wind and cold snap. We trolled creeks, flats and points looking for schools of pre-spawn crappie. The week before when the water temps were in the mid 60's we found shallow crappie in depths of 4' to 6'. This past week the colder temps lowered the water temps back into the high 50's and the crappie responded by moving out deeper. We found crappie at water depth's of 8' to 10' and suspended in the 6' to 4' range. Key thing to remember is Barometric pressure. General rule of thumb, at least from what we have learned, is that if the Barometric pressure is rising the crappie drop towards the bottom. If the Barometric pressure is dropping, the crappie are suspended and up off of the bottom. This may be common knowledge but from the past few years of chasing crappie and observing electronics this has been the pattern that we have seen. This does make a difference when trolling and matching speeds to where the crappie are situated during Barometric cycles. With that said, we were trolling using a 1/24th oz. jig head at speeds of .7 to .9 mph. The bite was very slow on the cold mornings that we got out as opposed to the fast and furious week prior. Black & Blue, Black & Chartreuse, Sour Grape, Lemonade and Tre's Gold were the most productive colors this past week. We expect that the water will start clearing up soon if we do not experience any downpours so the color selections will change as we move into late March and April.
Our go to colors for heavy stained to stained water are Lemonade, 'Lectric Chicken, Black & Blue, Black & Chartreuse, Flo Pink Pepper & Bubble Gum. Now if the sun pops out on that muddy to stained water we switch to reflective colors like Tre's Gold, Green Glimmer and Mardi Gras. There are other colors that we use during the month of March and you can see our article "The Best Crappie Jig Colors For Lake Allatoona In March" for the complete list. You want to use anything that is bright and will stand out when fishing this type of water during this time of year. We also believe that it helps to use a bright color jig head such as pink, chartreuse, orange and glow white. Red Rooster Custom Baits is your "Long Line Trolling Authority" for all things long line trolling for crappie. If you have questions about when, what and where give us a call or shoot us an email. Red Rooster makes custom jig heads, under spins and we can color match any jig color that you want or need. We love talking about crappie fishing so we are here to help. We also do a Facebook Live most Friday nights unless something comes up.
Verse of the Week: They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. “We are going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.”~ Mark 10:32-34.
As we get closer to Easter it is important to understand that Jesus was not merely a "good man", "great philosopher", "moral teacher" or a "revered prophet". Jesus was and is the Son of God, which means He is "God incarnate" or "God in the flesh". His coming was foretold beginning in Genesis 3:15 and for centuries there were many prophecies written about who, when, where and what to expect when the "Son of God" would appear. Jesus fulfilled all of these prophecies to a tee. There was absolutely no question as to Who He was when he was on earth. However, the very people who should have known and been most excited about Jesus were the ones who questioned him, mocked him, attempted to trick him, assaulted him and ultimately plotted to kill him. The "religious" leaders were more interested in worldly fame and fortune rather than a relationship with the One True God who they claimed to be experts in and claimed to speak for. It is easy to get caught up in our daily lives and forget to spend time with our Lord and Savior...we forget that this life is temporary and that eternity with Jesus is far more important than our status, possessions, and dare I say, hobbies in this life. The important thing in life are our relationships...most importantly our relationship with the Savior of our souls, wives, husbands, kids, family, friends and co-workers. I pray that you are walking with Jesus as He is our closest friend and He cares for you like no other.
Lily showing off a nice slab on a cold windy morning!
It was 31 degrees when we hit the water and the bite was SLOW!!
Brad with a nice Allatoona crappie caught on the Catawba color Slab Dragon
A nice Allatoona Black Crappie caught on the Tre's Gold Kic'n Chic'n
