BY THE NUMBERS
10 Number of hybrid bass stocked per acre annually in lakes Allatoona and Oconee
12,010 Surface acres of water in Allatoona Lake at full pool
19,050 Surface acres of water in Lake Oconee
The fall season is a transition time for most fish in Georgia. They abandon their summer habitats and feeding regimens, as they prepare for the coming winter months. The fish feed heavily ahead of that lean season to come.
Hybrid bass are no different. These fish move up from the depths where they spent the summer and begin chasing schools of threadfin and gizzard shad. The hybrids often attack the baitfish near the top, creating an area of thrashing bait and predators on the surface.
Tossing topwater lures, small crankbaits or lead-head jigs with plastic trailers into the feeding frenzy can produce some vicious strikes. Lures in shad-imitating hues of grey or silver are most productive.
Hybrid bass are crosses between male striped bass and female white bass. The fish is a man-made species, engineered in hatcheries.
Fisheries managers like them because they are sterile. When a lake is overrun with baitfish, hybrids can be stocked to restore a balance in those populations, knowing that the hybrids eventually all will be caught or die off.
Anglers like the hybrids because they are rugged fighters that commonly grow to weights of 6 to 12 pounds.
Lake Allatoona offers the best action close to Atlanta for hybrid bass. The lake is deep and offers good fishing for hybrids year-round. The hybrids are in 20 to 25 feet of water and bite well in the summer months. In the fall they move to the surface.
The area around Galts Ferry Landing in the middle portion of the reservoir is particularly good for hybrids.
Lake Oconee also has a hybrid bass fishery. This more shallow impoundment provides the best action beginning in October and on through the winter months.
More information on hybrid bass in both lakes is available at georgiawildlife.com. Follow the links for Fishing, Angler Resources and Reservoirs.
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