Lake Acworth

EClass

Senior Member
Anyone been out last 3-4 weeks? My son and I spent 5 hours in April out one day. Went around whole lake and only caught (2) spot. Maybe 1.5 lbs. Wanted to know if bite has gotten better. We threw the kitchen sink at them. Seems like past few years lake has stopped producing. Didn't see any shad either....
 

Spinnerbaits

Senior Member
The last two years, it's been very slim pickings after being able to catch a number of quality fish years prior.... Don't know what has happened, but something has.
 

rkreder001

Senior Member
I have been fishing that lake for the last 5 years. It gets worse and worse every year. May make a couple trips just to get some relaxing in with out all the pleasure boats whipping by you on the main lake
 

Fishlipps Revisited

Senior Member
Don't know what has happened, but something has.

the same thing that has happened to Weiss, Allatoona, Neely-Henry, and several other lakes that used to produce quality AND quantity......

pressure.....tons and tons of pressure...probably 10 times more than 20 years ago....and, that might be a conservative estimate...

up until about 10 years ago, Weiss was UNBELIEVABLE......it was INFESTED with fish up to 7 lbs....with occasional 8's, 9's, and once in a while, a 10 popping up....not any more...heck, if you didn't catch a 5 lb'er over there, your boat musta broke down...and, dang near EVERYONE would have one in a tourney..


same with Neely-Henry.....you could fish up the river over there on a holiday weekend, and not see 10 boats....now, 15 miles up the river from Gadsden, there will be 20 boats buzz by you a few minutes after safe light...

Acworth is no different.....it was filthy with 5 lbs plus fish a few years ago....now, they're kinda scarce...

and, for 40 years after it was impounded, Allatoona was a great lake....and, a fantastic winter lake....and, in the winter, unless there was a club tournament, you wouldn't see 10-15 boats on a Saturday....now, you'll likely see at least 50....

if anyone doesn't think that will take a toll on a lake, you're delusional...
 

rkreder001

Senior Member
Years ago I would love to go at Sundown and within a hour you would have at least 5 fish nothing less than 2 pounds. Now you can fish that place all night and not get a bite. Real real sad.
 

russ010

Senior Member
we call Acworth "the mudhole"... but we still seem to do pretty well out there when we fish it - night or day

ok... after looking back at our past results, the weights have been coming down. We do have one group of guys who can fish the snot out of that place and always come in with a good sack... best sack out of there was in 2010 with a little over 25lbs. We haven't seen that there since. Most times it takes around 10-14lbs to win
 

Fishlipps Revisited

Senior Member
we call Acworth "the mudhole"... but we still seem to do pretty well out there when we fish it - night or day

ok... after looking back at our past results, the weights have been coming down. We do have one group of guys who can fish the snot out of that place and always come in with a good sack... best sack out of there was in 2010 with a little over 25lbs. We haven't seen that there since. Most times it takes around 10-14lbs to win

compared to days past, 10-14 lbs for 5 fish is pretty pitiful....it's a shame you guys couldn't have fished these lakes 20-30 years ago....heck...even 10 years ago..
 

EClass

Senior Member
Glad I'm not the only one having trouble....I guess. I am surprised actually since it is an Elec. only lake that it gets that much pressure. When we were out there were 2 other Jon boats. Bunch of paddle boarders and (2) people fishing in a peddle boat. Too bad it wasn't looked after and stocked better.
 

Fishlipps Revisited

Senior Member
it wasn't always an electric only lake....it used to have a 10HP limit....and, you can still put a gasoline powered boat in there as long as you don't crank it....so, any and everybody can go there....

it didn't used to get near the pressure it does now....but, someone wanted his name in print, so they did an article on it in GON a few years back, and brother, that was all it took...

plus, a couple of the jonboat trails hit it a few times a year....

i used to enjoy fishing down there when i didn't have a whole day to fish, but, now, i just avoid it...i went once this year and twice last year....and, i could tell a BIG difference..

i find it sorta ironic that gas motors aren't allowed, but, they have ski and wakeboard comeptitions down there...
 

puddlehunter

Senior Member
We have had two kayak tourneys on that lake with some pretty good catches. I fish with a couple of guys that have caught several of 4 plus fish the last couple of years. Early may yielded 3 over 3...they are still there..oops maybe I shouldn't have spilled the beans and let everyone stop fishing it thinking its barren. I speak for years past but the past couple the lake has been good to me
 

Fishlipps Revisited

Senior Member
if 3 over 3 is your idea of good....then, sure, it's still good...

i was used to a good bit more than that...
 

Alan in GA

Senior Member
hydro races....

remember the caos of the hydroplane races! I think a death or serious accident stopped them[?].
It's a fun lake but I have had poor luck on it the last few years too! Not sure what happened. There is a sewage treatment plant upcreek a ways. Odors in Acworth give it away. My son lives near the feeder creek about a mile from the lake and the sewage odor is strong at times.

I fished it when you could run a gas outboard motor up to 10 hsp. My 12' jon with 9.9 Ted Williams on a jack plate [bring cavitation plate just above water at speed] would get me anywhere on the lake fast. What I wish would happen is to allow gas motor operation at idle speed, but I KNOW this won't happen because some fisherment have different ideas of what "idle speed" is! I would like to be able to IDLE my 4 stroke 40 Merc when the wind kicks up and I wind up down wind late in the day.
 

Fishlipps Revisited

Senior Member
remember the caos of the hydroplane races! I think a death or serious accident stopped them[?].
It's a fun lake but I have had poor luck on it the last few years too! Not sure what happened. There is a sewage treatment plant upcreek a ways. Odors in Acworth give it away. My son lives near the feeder creek about a mile from the lake and the sewage odor is strong at times.

i saw one of those flip one time down there.....that was WILD!
 

puddlehunter

Senior Member
There were about 12 or so more under3
. Not great but by no means the, there is nothing in the lake I hear about Acworth all the time. Great would be another metro pond the size of Acworth that produces 3 over 7 in an hour. That one I won't name. What I have found on Acworth is that there is a pretty good population of LM and Spots and you have to fish for them differently. Throw a green pumpkin worm in the grass with little or no weight you'll get bit for at least a couple of weeks or so if you fish super early and late. Depending on what you are fishing in you might not be able to get as shallow as you need to be to get bit.
 

Fishlipps Revisited

Senior Member
well..i've fished it for 32 years, so i am somewhat familiar with it....

but, this is just a small sample of what i used to expect down there...even on half day trips....
219220Feb281990.jpg


360thru36203-25-98.jpg


April171996-1.jpg


March221995.jpg



but, you won't do that now..
 

Alan in GA

Senior Member
Nice stringers!

I used to enjoy spinnerbaiting or frogging the grass, usually towards the back creeks. Brush piles on the flats often had a 2 to 4 lb LM hanging under or around them. I'm sure there must be some good fish still in Acworth....I hear tales of 10 to 12 lb LMs 'back in the day'.
But if they are there, they are not 'easy' to tempt or at least as easy as they used to be. The lake does get a lot of pressure in recent years.
There are a LOT of crappie, and I've weighed a 3 lb 1oz, and have heard of large crappie being caught.
The LMs have me puzzled. I've had enough 'few or no fish' trips in the last 2 years to make me think something has changed.
I do know that the DNR has taken samples from Acworth the last 2 years. I think they are sampling scales for polution but I'm not sure. The DNR has shocked up some nice fish but still, something in the lake seems to have changed.
 

Randall

Senior Member
I think I started fishing there back in 96 or 97 and it wasn't too hard to get an eight pounder and I could get one on most good days and I caught my first fish from the Atlanta area over ten pounds there before I started fishing lake Varner more. I caught several over ten before it went downhill. Not sure what happened to it over the years but it doesn't produce like that anymore. I still catch fish there and fish it mostly in the winter but what used to be a four pound average went real quick to a two pound average with a big one here and there. Biggest thing I noticed different was the number of giant catfish there seemed to skyrocket when the bass population dropped. I have cleared the beach with moms pulling the kids out of the water a couple times with 40-60 lb cats that I have caught on bass jigs near the beach.
 
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