Allatoona Lake

Located only 30 miles from Atlanta, Georgia, Allatoona Lake is situated on the Etowah River, a tributary of the Coosa River. The serene lake and peaceful surroundings offer a respite from the rush of city living.

Allatoona Lake is one of the most frequently visited Corps of Engineers lakes in the nation. More than 6 million visitors each year enjoy picnicking and swimming at our parks, camping, hunting, fishing, boating, and observing wildlife along the beautiful shoreline.

Allatoona Dam impounds run-off water from 1,110 square miles into the Lake. For an unequalled view of the dam, we recommend a visit to the Project Management Office and Visitor's Center which is open Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM except holidays.

There are numerous COE facilities and a Georgia State Park located around the lake to provide anglers with ramps, parking, and camping areas. The lake receives heavy use by boaters, skiers, and anglers due to its close proximity to Atlanta. Fishing early and late daylight hours, and at night, are effective ways to avoid the crowds and catch wary fish.The area offers fishermen numerous opportunities in terms of locations to fish and fish species. Convenient boat ramps, day use areas and campgrounds are situated around Allatoona. The Georgia Department of Natural Resources annually restock the lake through their fish stocking program. Along with native fish found in the lake, this provides a wide variety for anglers. Fish species include bass (largemouth, hybrid, stripped, spotted, and white), crappie, bream (bluegill, redbreast and redear sunfish), gar and catfish.

There are boat launching ramps located in 27 public recreation areas around the lake. Ramps charge a $3 boat launch fee, day use areas charge a $4 facility use fee, or you may purchase a Corps of Engineers Annual Day Use Pass for $30.

In addition, eight privately operated marinas provide fuel, storage, boat repairs, rentals, supplies, and other boater's needs.

Rocky banks, Dam, coves, log jams, shallow docks, and blow down trees.

When it comes to black bass, angler catch rates in Allatoona are better than most Georgia reservoirs, yet average bass size tends to be smaller on average. One reason is that spotted bass, which attain smaller adult size than largemouth bass, dominate the black bass fishery, making-up approximately 80-90% of the black bass population. The average spot will be 10-12 inches in 2007, while older fish will measure out in the high teens and low twenties. The less abundant largemouth bass will typically weigh in at around 1 ¼ lbs. and few largemouth bass over 6 lbs. will be caught in 2007. Target largemouth in the Little River and Etowah arms of the reservoir, as this is where the best largemouth habitat exists. Any type of woody debris, especially that found in the backs of coves, will hold largemouth bass. Spotted bass tend to hold in deeper habitats than largemouth. Drop shot and spooning are both good ways to target these deeper fish. Anglers should try both techniques around the 36+ locations the WRD and COE has placed fish attractors. These locations are typically in 25-30 feet of water at full pool and best fished from fall through spring.

Most crappie anglers focus their efforts during the spring spawn, when the fish concentrate in shallow water. Early spring is an excellent time to catch a trophy "slab" as the females will be laden with eggs and in excellent condition prior to the spawn. Besides jigging or live bait fishing over structure, anglers should try slow trolling small artificials in these same areas. Trolling is a good way to cover a lot of water and locate schools of feeding fish. Popular areas to catch spring spawn crappie include the Kellogg, Illinois and Stamp Creek areas of the lake. During the summer months, crappie will concentrate in deeper waters, where anglers can catch them by targeting brush piles and other fish attractors located on humps and channel ledges. Night fishing with the use of lights and light tackle around docks and bridges will likely be an anglers best chance at consistently boating finicky summer crappie.

Hybrids can be caught year-round, but summer is best for boating large numbers. Regardless of season, anglers seeking these hard fighters must locate their primary food source& shad. Locate schools of shad using depth finders, while keeping a sharp eye open for schooling hybrids boiling the waters surface as they feed on shad in the morning and early evening. White spinners, spoons and crankbaits will produce summer fish, but serious hybrid fisherman will slow troll with 3-5 inch live shad on free-line or down-line rigs. In the winter months live shad will continue to be an effective bait, but anglers wishing to use artificials can try umbrella rig trolling too. In terms of location, the mile of lake above and below the popular Galts Ferry boat ramp is a year-round hotspot for Allatoona hybrids.

Spawning runs of white bass will be up somewhat from recent years, as the population begins recovering from several years of drought believed to have weakened the population. Target these spawn-run fish from March-April in the Etowah and Little River arms of the lake. The rest of the year whites can be caught on small baits in amongst the numerous striper and hybrid schools.

Bluegill, redbreast sunfish and redear sunfish are all present in Allatoona. Bluegill are the dominant sunfish species. However, they typically average 5 inches in length and few individuals over 7 inches are present.

Channel and flathead catfish also are available. While channel catfish are more abundant, flatheads tend to grow to a much larger size. Pursue channels and flatheads on the rocky bedrock banks in the Etowah River arm using chicken livers and live bait fished on the bottom. The numerous rip-rapped shoreline banks are also good areas to locate big Allatoona catfish.

Carp are numerous, widely distributed, and grow to moderately large sizes. Most carp fishing is concentrated in the Acworth Dam area. Carp are strong fighters and will give a worthwhile battle to those who pursue them. Gar also are numerous in Allatoona. Though not generally considered good eating, these toothy fish are strong fighters and can be great fun to catch. Gar can be caught using a number of techniques ranging from live shad or minnows fished below a bobber to sight fishing with minnow type lures made from frayed rope. Such lures rely on the gars numerous teeth to become entangled in the frayed strands of rope during the strike.