Rick_Shoup
Senior Member
Hello guys & gals,
This is my first post on the Freshwater Fishing Forum. Many of you may not know me, but I'm Rick Shoup, I live in Woodstock and my home lake is Allatoona. I have been friends with Louie Bartenfield for several years and I'm honored to be working with him as of last summer.
Just wanted to give y'all a quick report on Carters Lake and Lake Allatoona. After this last snow/ice storm the water level has been rising rapidly on both lakes. Be careful of the debris - it is thick in certain places! If you've been fishing on any lake in Georgia this past week you have seen a dramatic increase in air/surface temperature - feels good!
Carters Lake - The water clarity is 5+ft with surface temps averaging 45-48 although I did run across some pockets holding 50 degree surface temps.
Stripers fishing is slow. Down lines seem to be working best in the 30-40ft. range over 75-100ft. of water using trout, gizzard and theadfin shad. We appreciate Shawn at Striper Soup for supplying us with healthy lively shad and Buddy at Bart's Bait & Tackle for strong reliable trout. If you're around the Allatoona area stop in and talk to Craig at the The Dugout - He has been a tremendous help with live bait and all of our tackle needs.
Spotted Bass fishing is good averaging 8-10 per day using Spotsticker Crawlers w/unpainted ball head tipped with Big Bite skirted twin tails and Shaking Squirrels in green pumpkin color. We've also had some success with the drop shot. Sight fishing with the electronics is key.
Lake Allatoona - Water clarity approx. 3ft. with surface temps averaging 43-44 degrees main lake and warming. I have seen surface temps 50+ degrees in the upper end.
Striper/hybrid fishing is tough although I'm graphing A LOT of fish. Free lining trout is your best bet. You may see fish schooling in main lake pockets eating tiny threadfin shad and when you do - make sure you have a fluke ready!
Also, I've been following the shad kill since early January and saw some coves loaded with dead shad UNDER THE ICE! The fishing may be tough now, but I expect a good Spring and Summer bite with big numbers of all species being caught.
Spotted bass - break out the jerkbait especially if the wind is blowing on rocky and red clay points. Pausing 4-5 seconds between twitches will entice bites. Jigs and crankbaits have been working in the same areas.
Crappie fishing is really good! We've been breaking in some new St. Croix Ultra-light spinning rods which are the perfect crappie rod. We've been catching limits of crappie on a regular basis. Fish are staging. Crappie are being caught in the mouths of creeks to half-way back. I've heard reports of fish being caught in the back of creeks in as little as 7-8ft. of water.
Be safe out there and if you see Louie or me on the water please say hello.
Rick
This is my first post on the Freshwater Fishing Forum. Many of you may not know me, but I'm Rick Shoup, I live in Woodstock and my home lake is Allatoona. I have been friends with Louie Bartenfield for several years and I'm honored to be working with him as of last summer.
Just wanted to give y'all a quick report on Carters Lake and Lake Allatoona. After this last snow/ice storm the water level has been rising rapidly on both lakes. Be careful of the debris - it is thick in certain places! If you've been fishing on any lake in Georgia this past week you have seen a dramatic increase in air/surface temperature - feels good!
Carters Lake - The water clarity is 5+ft with surface temps averaging 45-48 although I did run across some pockets holding 50 degree surface temps.
Stripers fishing is slow. Down lines seem to be working best in the 30-40ft. range over 75-100ft. of water using trout, gizzard and theadfin shad. We appreciate Shawn at Striper Soup for supplying us with healthy lively shad and Buddy at Bart's Bait & Tackle for strong reliable trout. If you're around the Allatoona area stop in and talk to Craig at the The Dugout - He has been a tremendous help with live bait and all of our tackle needs.
Spotted Bass fishing is good averaging 8-10 per day using Spotsticker Crawlers w/unpainted ball head tipped with Big Bite skirted twin tails and Shaking Squirrels in green pumpkin color. We've also had some success with the drop shot. Sight fishing with the electronics is key.
Lake Allatoona - Water clarity approx. 3ft. with surface temps averaging 43-44 degrees main lake and warming. I have seen surface temps 50+ degrees in the upper end.
Striper/hybrid fishing is tough although I'm graphing A LOT of fish. Free lining trout is your best bet. You may see fish schooling in main lake pockets eating tiny threadfin shad and when you do - make sure you have a fluke ready!
Also, I've been following the shad kill since early January and saw some coves loaded with dead shad UNDER THE ICE! The fishing may be tough now, but I expect a good Spring and Summer bite with big numbers of all species being caught.
Spotted bass - break out the jerkbait especially if the wind is blowing on rocky and red clay points. Pausing 4-5 seconds between twitches will entice bites. Jigs and crankbaits have been working in the same areas.
Crappie fishing is really good! We've been breaking in some new St. Croix Ultra-light spinning rods which are the perfect crappie rod. We've been catching limits of crappie on a regular basis. Fish are staging. Crappie are being caught in the mouths of creeks to half-way back. I've heard reports of fish being caught in the back of creeks in as little as 7-8ft. of water.
Be safe out there and if you see Louie or me on the water please say hello.
Rick
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