This weeks report is brought to you by CrappieMan - Allatoona Guide Service! If you are looking to catch and learn more about Allatoona Crappie, Give Jeff a Call @ (678) 229-8110. Tell him you saw him on Red Rooster's weekly Lake Allatoona Crappie Fishing Report!
Air Temp: High: 79 - Low: 50
Wind: 5-10 mph
Lake Level: Approx. 834' and dropping (Click Here For Current Water Level)
Water Surface Temp: 74-76
Water Clarity: Clear Green, Murky Green in places
Area Fished: Kellogg Creek, Victoria Area & S-Turns
Jigs Used: Watermelon Red - Dagger & Cajun Chicken - Dagger
Technique: Casting & Trolling
Allatoona Weekly Crappie, Shellcracker & Bluegill Fishing Report:
It's October and there is "smoke on the water" on Lake Allatoona! Cooler nights means that water temp will be coming down QUICKLY. It is already around 75 degrees, maybe cooler in certain areas. The lake is in fall drawdown which will start moving crappie around the lake. We are seeing some schooling activity around the river channels and mouths of creeks as we start to approach cooler water. Mid October thru November the crappie, bass and striper will be on the move. This is a great time to get on the lake for just about any species of fish.
Crappie: We are starting to see crappie move around a little bit but even though they are moving the bite is not aggressive. We were throwing to schools that we saw on forward facing sonar and out of a hundred crappie maybe only 3 would commit! They would bump the jig but most would not commit. We were seeing crappie suspended at 12' in depths of 28' to 30'. The spotted bass and crappie were in the same school so we caught a couple of spots as well. We moved on to brush piles...since the water is 5' down, the crappie are in brush from 15' to 20' suspended in 10' to 12' of water above or in the brush. We managed a few crappie on a Red Rooster Dagger in Watermelon Red and Cajun Chicken. We tried some larger baits like the Small Fry but they would not commit to the larger jigs just yet. They are still keying in on the smaller jigs. We are not quire ready for trolling just yet...but it's coming.
Bluegill: To be honest we haven't targeted Bluegill this month due to time and scheduling BUT...anywhere there is shallow laydowns, stumps or logs you should be able to find Bluegill! The tried and true method is to use a #4 - #6 gold Aberdeen hook with 4 - 6 lb. test fishing line and a bobber set about 8" - 12" above your cricket or worm in the morning and then changing the bobber depth as it gets later in the day to pick up some deeper bluegill.
Shellcracker (Redear sunfish): Same for Shellcracker, we haven't fished for shellcracker this month due to time and schedules. Since that the water is cooling down and the lake level is dropping we will start looking around at shallow brush soon to try our luck. The rig we use for shellcracker is a #2 hook on 4 - 6 lb. test fishing line and a #5 clam shell split shot pinched on the line about 12" - 18" above the hook. We are primarily using either a red wiggler or nightcrawler.
Lord willing we will have a better report for you in the coming weeks! We are ready for fall weather and cooler water temps!
If you don't know what colors to choose check out our Combo Packs, this will save you a lot of time with proven stained and clear water colors. Lord willing we will have another report for you next week. Be sure to check out the archives for October 2024 and see what we were doing this time last year!
Make sure to download the Red Rooster Long Line Trolling Guide for tips on how to troll for Allatoona Crappie.
Verse of the Week: Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. ~ Psalms 136:1.
