May 2014

Wow...is it nice out, or what?

April, has been a good month. By the end of April, the spotted bass have started to spawn, I'm seeing fish cruising the banks all over the lake, and have seen a ton of fish on beds too. The Alewife herring have also been spawning throughout the month, bringing gamefish to the shallows at night for great night fishing. Striper, hybrid, walleye, and spotted bass have all been feeding heavily at night.

The Best Part of April...

During April, I was fortunate enough to get in a few rare trips with my family. My wife Valarie and I have been together since high school and have done a lot of fishing together over the years. So it was very special for me to see her catch a couple of her personal best fish. She boated her new personal best striper at 16lbs, and her personal best hybrid at a whopping 12lbs (pictured). Both were caught on artificial lures too, which make it even more impressive!

Junk Fishing this Month

May is one of the best months in the year to fish. I've always looked at May as a fisherman's dream month. You'll find fish in all 3 stages of the spawn, and you can fish shallow, mid-depth, or deep and catch fish in all three each day. A broad variety of fishing techniques will catch them. Basically, you can catch them how you want to catch them and not worry about key patterns. Because you might use 10 techniques in a day, we often call it "junk fishing" --throw whatever junk you want and you'll catch em!

Scheduling & Booking

Our schedule is filling fast, but we do have dates available in May and June on both Carter's and Allatoona. Right now we have mostly weekdays available, which are great for fishing because there is less boat traffic than on the weekend. Also, summer trips are primarily easy fishing techniques, great for families and big groups. Book soon and plan your trip before we're all filled up! Click here to book.

Threadfin Shad Power Snacks

Also in spawning in May is the threadfin shad. This particular baitfish plays an essential role in helping spotted bass recover after spawning. Spawning is an exhaustive event, and when post-spawn spotted bass move offshore into cool water to recover, they find exhausted post-spawn threadfin moving out as well; providing easy forage when bass need it most. Threadfin typically spawn around a new moon and ~68 degree water, and we will be fishing these patterns early in the month.

Please remember to practice catch and release this month as many fish are still spawning!

Newsworthy Spots

Last month we ran a bit about newsworthy spots, and it seems another spot made the news recently. Back in February, Chris Coleman boated a big 6 lbs spotted bass on Lake Chickamauga. Knowing that most spots in Chickamauga are northern species spotted bass, rather than the Alabama (Coosa) spotted bass, Chris submitted the fish for genetic testing. Turns out, he was right, and now Tennessee now has two new spotted bass records in 2014: Shane McKee's 7lb Alabama spotted caught on Parksville Lake, and Chris Coleman's 6lb 1oz northern spotted bass caught on Lake Chickamauga. Full story here.

CLGS @ Academy Sports

Academy Outdoors Dalton, Ga---Meet/Greet Saturday June 7th 11AM till 4pm. Come by and see us, we'll have some free gear to give-away and also be selling our popular Beat the Heat Summer trips for July/August

Allatoooooona!

Rick and his clients have been having a ball on Allatoona. Crappie continue to be strong, but now they have moved into the shallows to spawn. Soon they will be moving into the creek and river channels where they can be caught on jigs trolled along break lines. For bass, the topwater bite will be strong ALL DAY! Buzz baits, dogs/spooks, and shallow running swim baits will be top choices on main lake points, reef markers and rock walls. Striper and hybrids will be pulling out of "false spawn" spawning areas, such as the Etowa and Little River arms. Topwater baits around clay flats and humps will be strong in the morning, then as the sun gets up, try down-lining live bait.

Check out Rick's Allatoona Fishing Gallery here.

Click here to book an Allatoona trip today!

Are You Getting Our Newsletter?

Get first chance at discounts, hot fishing tips, area fishing news, and more by signing up for the CLGS Newsletter.CLICK HERE to sign up online.

Gearing up in May

If I had to choose 2 baits for May I would chose:

A 3/16oz Spotsticker jighead tipped with a 6 inch Big Bite Shaking Squirrel Bold Gill worm and...
A Strike King Caffeine Shad rigged on a 4/0 Gamakatsu weighted 1/32oz hook.

You'll need a good spinning outfit for either of these rigs, and both can be fished on St Croix 7ft Legend Tournament Spinning Rod. I like a 2500 Series Reel and 30lb Sunline FX Braid with a 8lb Sniper Fluorocarbon leader. Both baits are simple to fish, and this time of year are, they are hard to beat.

Good luck out there,

Latest Fishing Report