It was 9 a.m. Monday on Lake Allatoona with a southerly wind gently pushing Fred Duncan's boat over a creek channel filled with hybrid bass chasing shad.

The breeze provided an opportunity.

"Wind out of the South, fish open their mouth," the fishing guide said, recounting an old fisherman's saying. "I'm taking off my jacket. It's time to plow the field."

Almost on cue, the unnatural wonders known as hybrids began bouncing rod tips up and down as they struck downlined hooks baited with live shad. It started an hour of hooks-ups and near hook-ups —- you can't catch 'em all when three rods are engaged at once —- with hybrids in the 5-pound class.

The sleek, hard-fighting fish are crossbred (striped and white bass) in hatcheries and stocked in many Georgia lakes. They are abundant in Allatoona.

"If I ever meet the person who created the hybrid, I owe him a good drink," Duncan said. "It's the perfect fish."

Duncan, operator of Allatoona Guide Service, says the spring, and into the summer, is high time for fishing on the lake. On Monday, Duncan's hooked offerings resulted in about 12 hybrids, three spotted bass, a couple of white bass and a crappie in a morning on the 15,000-acre lake, which has recovered well from the drought that has plagued North Georgia.

Allatoona's lake level —- 633.84 feet as of Thursday, less than seven feet below the summer full pool —- is already above what the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers maintains this time of year. The lake is up around 15 feet since its low in November.

The fishing has been good even through the drought, says fisheries biologist Jim Hakala, who works the lake for the DNR. The only downside seems to be the lack of bigger stripers, which might not have survived August's 100-degree temperatures and the lack of rain.

"We're just not seeing or hearing of the big catches [20 and sometimes 30 pounds] we normally see," Hakala said. "The bigger they are, the less tolerant they are in warm water."

That might be a short-term problem, thanks to the number of striper fingerlings stocked in the lake. Normally, 30,000 are stocked in Allatoona, but the number was 110,000 in 2007. Hakala said the normal number of 178,000 hybrid fingerlings also were stocked.

It's all good, as far as Duncan is concerned.

"When it gets May, June, July, it's 20 or 30 [hybrids and stripers] a morning," Duncan said. "I kid you not."

DEAD SEA DEBUNKED

For years, Lake Allatoona has been carried the notorious moniker of "Dead Sea," for its difficult fishing for anglers with little experience on the lake. But the DNR is hoping to change that with a couple of new habitat-improvement projects.

Tree cuttings: With the help of volunteers, the Army Corps of Engineers and DNR started cutting some shoreline trees to create more structure for fish. Trees with roots exposed are cut, leaving the trees to fall into the lake. The roots stay intact and decompose later, reducing sediment that would normally happen if the trees naturally fall into the lake.

Fishing jetties: Structures made of PVC pipe have been placed in the lake a number of years, but a new concept uses concrete, cables and Christmas trees. The trees are attached to the cables, which are anchored in the concrete. When the trees degrade they are replaced by new ones.

"Any structure at a lake is going to concentrate fish," fisheries biologist Jim Hakala said. "For the person who's new [to Allatoona], there's a good chance he can be skunked, but by creating these kinds of structures ... hopefully that'll increase their odds."