Lake Allatoona - by Tom Becksted

Lake Allatoona, like most lakes this year has been up and down a bit due to all the rain this spring and early summer.  This has made bass fishing interesting to say the least.  Some people did well in the high water which gave fish more shallow cover.  Water clarity was also an issue at times.  If you were fishing near a part of the lake that had any runoff coming in (which is most of it) you couldn’t see your lure an inch below the surface after the rains.  You definitely had to use something that was high visibility.  Hopefully by now everything is at its usual level and clarity.  With the dog days of summer the early morning and night fishing is still the best.  The spillway from Lake Acworth is still a good place to go for catfish and hybrids.  Striper fishing out in the main lake around Red Top past the dam should be good now as well.  Clarks Creek is not a bad place to try either over on Glade Road.  They have also been catching some nice fish behind Paw Paw’s on the Jetty.  Paw Paw’s Bait, Tackle and Grocery is the place you want to go for the most up to date fishing information.  Paw Paw’s is the best stocked bait and tackle store on the lake.  They carry all kinds of tackle and rods, reels combos, live bait, groceries, Lotto, etc.  They have the best selection of live bait in the area, including gold fish.  Paw Paw’s now fills propane tanks and sells live bait fish by the pound if needed.  Next door to Paw Paw’s you can get some delicious old hickory BBQ, hamburgers, hot dogs and wings.  Paw Paw’s Bait, Tackle and Grocery is open early 7 days a week.  For information and directions call 770-529-9383.

I’m sure most of you have read over the last couple of years about Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD).  Test results show Georgia tests negative for Chronic Wasting Disease in the first year of the study.  Hunters and landowners in several states realize that the threat of CWD is all too real.  Twelve states, including Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin in the east and two Canadian provinces have detected CWD (a fatal neurological disease) in captive and wild deer and elk.  While no evidence currently exists to indicate that CWD has infected Georgia’s quality deer herd, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division initiated a proactive five year survey during the 2002-2003 deer hunting season in an ongoing effort to monitor the white-tailed deer herd for CWD.  I thought you might find this information interesting with deer hunting season just around the corner.  With no drought and plenty of rain this year there is plenty of green stuff out there for the deer to eat.  This means there should be some big ones for the freezer this season.  Keeping with hunting season in mind, a lot of you will be loading and unloading those ATVs a few times this fall.  Why not make things a little easier this season with a new easy to use ramp from The Ramp Connection in Acworth, Georgia.  The Ramp Connection offers a complete line of easy to use, sharp looking ramps for ATVs and wheelchair ramps also.  The Ramp Connection is also the home of the Cargorail tie down system.  Why have things bouncing and rolling around in the back of your pickup when you can tie everything down quickly and easily with the affordable Cargorail system from the Ramp Connection.  The Ramp Connection is now offering handicap scooters and they are pretty sharp.  They have some more exciting new products coming soon.  Keep check on their web sites at www.rampconnection.com and www.cargorail.com or call 770-529-8107 or 678-592-5150 or toll free at 1-877-744-2565. 

Up in northwest Georgia the place I recommend for all your fall fishing and hunting needs is Lamar’s Sports Center in Rockmart, Georgia.  Lamar’s has 16,000 square feet of hunting and fishing gear including indoor archery and gun ranges to sharpen your skill.  For the fall fishermen, they offer a great selection of live bait, tackle, lures, rods and reels.  For the fall hunter, they offer firearms, ammo, clothing, tree stands, calls, scents, and more.  They offer a complete pro bow shop featuring Mathews bows, bow repair, custom arrow making and all the accessories.  Lamar’s Sports Center is open early 7 days a week.  Lamar tells me the fishing at Brushy Branch is good for big bluegills and also at Lake Marvin.  The photos of all the big catfish in this section show cats that were snagged on an outing at Lake Weiss.  For more information or directions to Lamar’s Sports Center call 770-684-9147.  To all you sportsmen and women out there, good luck, stay safe and I’ll talk to ya next month!