Allatoona blues

[occasionalfisher]

I never thought after fishing I could be this frustrated, but I am. For the fourth time in a row I have hit Allatoona and for the fourth time I have comeback with a gooseegg.
In those trips I have tried senkos, jerkbaits, crankbaits, jigs, a baby paca craw and jig head worms.
On the last trip I lost the pincher on the crawfish once and had the whole thing ripped off the hook another time. I also had a fish bite a creepy crawler bait in half leaving my jig head with only the skirt part left.
I need some help on this lake. I fish with someone when I go, so I do not get to pick the places, but he fishes the lake a lot and I am in areas with fish.
I have no experience with dropshotting so that is probably out.
I have caught some good fish in the past on a crankbait, but even that is gone now.
Any help would be appreciated. I am beginning to think the only way to catch fish on this lake is to use dynomite, but the DNR and homeland security frown on that...lol

[soretoe]

You need to be versitile on this lake and adapt to what ever it takes to catch fish. Next time you go out, leave all the stuff that you have at home and make your self fish with something that works. If you just want to catch fish try a 4" zoom chartreuse pepper lizard on a carolina rig. Just drag it behind the boat with 3/4 ounces of weight on it.

Or just go out and use what you want and try to not catch anuthing. If you cant learn new tricks like the drop shot then you will have a long hot summer. Try a 4" Yamamoto cut worm in just about anu color, rig it weightless (you need light flurocarbon line) on a #6 or #4 drop shot hook. Throw it next to the bank and let it sink, twitching it every now and then. Do that all the way back to the boat. If you cant catch at least one fish on that, take up golf (yuck). Or Book a trip with Mike. He will teach you how to catch em. He has several articles on his web site.

[Mike Bucca]

Hey Occasionalfisher, First off welcome to the board. Make no mistake about it Allatoona is a tough summer lake. It will serve you humble pie and then when you are finished eating that pie she will then serve you more and put some whip cream on top of that. But I love the lake and the challanges that it presents. Once you begin to figure things out it WILL make you a stronger angler.

Just a little bit about fish behavior and why they do what they do this time of year. Fish don't have the luxury of turning on the AC when it is hot or turning on the heater when they are cold to reach their comfort levels, but they can seek thermal refuges. THermal refuges are layers or pockets of water (both hot and cold) that bass seek for comfort depending on the time of the year.

Here are a couple of examples of thermal refuges. Have you ever swam under a dock during the summer when you were a kid? If you haven't I will tell you that the water is alot cooler. Another example and probably the best option for you to take note of in the summer time of year is the thermocline. THe thermocline develops in mid to late summer when cooler water is more denser than the hot surface water so it gradually sinks deeper and deeper as the summer progresses on. Right now it's in the 20-22ft range. That is the key depth right now to fish give or take 3-4ft from that depth range.

The definition of a thermocline is a distinct layer in a large body of water, such as an ocean or lake, in which temperature changes more rapidly with depth than it does in the layers above or below. Now having said that it doesn't mean you can't or won't catch fish deeper or shallower than that depth range. But I will bet you a krispy kreme donut that if you took a submarine ride on Allatoona that is where the vast majority of the bass are holding and I will bet you some sprinkles for that donute that the vast majority of the fish are directly behind you as you are fishing the shoreline. Best way to find the thermocline when it is present is to crank up your sensativity on your graph and when you see a horizontal layer that be the "cline". Concentrate on that depth throughout that range.

HEre is a very cool chart that a buddy of mine did on Lake Wedowee which is about 2 hrs to the West of us. NOtice the yellow and the depth changes as you go down the water column. This yellow area has the best oxygen levels and tempertaure levels for the bass to hold in. Here is the chart. PS disregaurd all the bickering below it. LOL

www.wmi.org/bassfish/bassboard/fishing_tactics/T50337.htm

Now looking at your lure selections cranks, jerks, senkos aren't going to be effective bait choices unless you can hit that 20ft depth barrier. Granted most people don't even work their jigs and jig worms in that depth barrier either. Dropshotting for me is the easiest way to cover the 20ft depth range. Well actually Urigs would be more effective but we won't go there. LOL.

Here is an article that I wrote in the COOL ARTICLES/INFO section of this forum here at www.allatoonabass.com Pretty much every article in that section was written by me with Lake Allatoona in mind. The below article is probably enough to make anyone dangerous with the dropshot.

The dropshot article is here

www.tritonmike.com/flattail.html

Another article that I wrote takes "THERMAL REFUGES" to the next level than what I explained above is "Seeking Thermal Refuges" it can be found here.

www.tritonmike.com/thermalrefuge.html

The whole collection of articles can be found here..

allatoonabass.proboards76.com/index.cgi?board=articles&action=display&thread=1182906223

One little saying that I say at the end of all my seminars that I do and it falls along the lines of what Louii stated about being versatile.

If you do what you've always done; You will catch what you've always caught.

If your happy with what you are catching keep doing what you are doing but always be open to new ideas/techniques/tactics etc etc and never rule anything out. 5 years ago I was laughing at the silly looking dropshot rig. Now in the present I can't imagine being without it.

Hopefully this post will help you find more fish. Afterall catching fish is the easy part, Finding them is the hard part. I hope this post will make the hard part of finding fish a little easier.

Mike

[occasionalfisher]

Thanks guys for the info. I knwo the definition of insanity is doing he same thing over and over and expecting different results.
I threw the carolina rig one trip and it was bad too, but that was probably because like many I hate to throw it.
Thanks for the ideas andthe reading, guess I better get busy.
I am used to Weiss and the two lakes could not be more different.
Over there, dock + Shade + black worm = fish. Thanks again.

[toonafish]

Occasional....I'm right there with ya. I have had 2 of the toughest weeks ever on Allatoona.

I have worked shallow to deep and back again throwing jig and pig, flukes, spoons, spinnerbaits large and very small, texas rigged worms, topwater (skitterwalk and chuggers) spotstickers and yes the almighty dropshot till I was ready to throw the dang rod in the lake. I have covered water from Allatoona creek to the Etowah and everything in between.

I'm like you, I grew up fishing lake Weiss. Boy I wish it were a little closer. Over 30 years fishing one of the best bass lakes in the south and then you get on Allatoona and you have to "tease em" to bite your lure...lol

All I can say is hang in there. The lake will turn on sooner or later and when it does, it can be a whole lot of fun.

[dannyp]

Occasionalfisher,

Soretoe hit on something, Versatility, I was like you I would only throw a Carolina rig. And saw that I was being out fished with a slider head. I went to the lake one day with only a slider head and trained myself to fish with it.
I'm now working that same tactic with the drop shot.

My advice is this "A bad day of fishing is still better than a good day at work". Don't let ole Toona get to you .

Go out there with one rig and learn to use it even if it means getting skunked ten times in a row, there will be a payoff in the end.

[occasionalfisher]

Well I left out that I have used a C-rig and caught fish with it in the winter at Toona. Guess I will have to use it in the summer too.
Thanks for all the replys and hints.
I have used a slider in the past there too and caught fish, but they were always dinky fish.
But right now a dinky fish is better than nothing. Think I will throw the c-rig a lot next time, but when it rains you think the fish would go shallow at least for a bit.
Guess these spots let there BASS subscriptions run out and have not read what they are supposed to be doing when it rains.
Thanks again guys. I will try something new next time too eventually I will find something that works, or I will donate my tackle box and rods and reels to some kids...lol

[dzab]

Occasional,
I agree with all the others. Hang in there. I was used to catching fish in other type lakes. Heck, I was up in the Adirondack Mts last week and patterned northern pike in a New York minute (pun intended) ;D but can't seem to get a bite in Toona. In Feb 2006 (I think) I attended a seminar by Mike and learned dropshotting and refused to try it until one day last July when I had been skunked for the umteenth time, I thought I would give it a try. Well, in the next 2 hours I put fish in the boat. Now, dropshotting is my comfort-style. It is what I would rather do.
Keep at it, we feel your pain brother!
Dzab