Any opinions on Etowah River or other small water near Acworth?

[jam]

I normally fish out of my canoe and prefer to stay out of Allatoona (even though it's 10 mins. away), looking for idle-only lakes. Just looking for experiences in any of the rivers, ponds, or lakes around the Acworth area. I tried Rocky Mountain PFA last year with no results due to bad conditions (windy, cold). However, I plan to go up there again this year.

[Hooker]

JAM,
Have you fished at Lake Acworth? It's a 90 acre lake with no fees and trolling motors only. The only other small Lake I've ever fished near year you is Salacoa Creek Park about 12 miles east of Calhoun on hwy 156. It's 100+ acres, but I don't think it opens until March. You can call them at 706 629 3490.
Another one you might try is Sweetwater Creek State Park. It's 245 acres,open year around, and I've always caught fish there.
It's about 2 miles south of Austell off Mount Vernon Road.

Hooker

[jam]

No, I never tried Lake Acworth due to the bad press (high levels of PCB?) Last year (I think), it was given the green light again. Maybe it's time to give it a try...

I've heard/read that the Etowah River (area below Allatoona dam) has a good white b****run, but have never tried to get in on the action.

[Hooker]

JAM,
I've heard that the area below the Allatoona dam is great for both stripers and white b****in the spring. I've never fished it, because I couldn't launch my boat. However, people regularly carry small boats to the river and do very well.
I wish someone would elaborate a little on this program, and bring us all up to date.

Hooker

[jam]

There's a boat ramp inside a day-use park (Riverside?, off of 41). I put my canoe in there and saw other boats doing the same. However, we were warned by the attendant at the booth of some falls, a couple or so miles down, with a steep drop. Supposedly, people have been killed there not knowing of the falls.

[Danny Leigh]

JAM,
You need to give Lake Acworth a try. They finally opened the beach last year because of the improvements in the water quality. I have fished there for years and even though I never catch that many fish there are quite a few quality fish. I lost a b****that would go 10# a couple of years ago, and every year a buddy and I usually catch a couple in the 5-6# range. We usually use spinnerbaits and plastic worms and usually have our best luck on the bank across from the ramp along the golf course. The best fishing seems to be in March.

As for the Etowah, there is a sub-dam about 3 miles below Allatoona dam and it is below this dam that the stripers and whites are caught. I do not know of any access points to this stretch of the river, but every year some stripers in the 25-30# range are caught. I have heard of people motoring up from the nearest bridge (no ramp) and then waiting for them to start generating. It seems that's when the stripers really turn on. The land adjacent to the sub-dam is all private with no tresspassing signs everywhere so unfortunately, you cannot fish from the bank.

There is a ramp below Allatoona dam with good access to the 3 miles of fishing, but I have only fished it once from a boat so I can not tell you much about the stretch. I did manage to catch either a spot or red-eye(hard to tell the difference) that was around 4# on a plastic worm. The water was super clear at the time, and you could see the b****10 ft down on the line. Man, what a sight.

While motoring up in the super clear water we saw a catfish swim across the bottom up under a log. I think that strech is loaded with catfish. Once while visiting the dam in August we saw a guy snagging (illegal of course) catfish that were stacked-up along the side of a creek. I think the water coming out of the dam was low in oxygen and the fish were starving for it.

You may want to give the Oostanuala (sp?) around Calhoun or the Coosa around Rome a look for the whites in the spring. There was a good article in GON last year about the whites (and a few stripers) around Calhoun and most people know about the Mayo lock and dam below Rome.

Good luck!

[Hooker]

Good to hear from you Danny!
How ya been?
Thanks for the info.
I heard somewhere, that those shoals can be accessed from the Etowah Indian Mound Park, but you have to slide the boat down the bank to launch it.

Hooker

[Drifter]

If you all will post to the newsgroup -rec.boat.paddle, there are a lot of whitewater enthusiasts there who can tell you the ins and outs of a lot of the rivers here. They typically know the put-ins, and take-outs, phone numbers and locations of shuttle operators. They can also point out any whitewater you may encounter.

I posted there a number of times when I needed info on the Flint and Hooch.

The Drifter

[Hooker]

Thanks Drifter,
I'll check it out and see what they say.
BTW, I think they are going to be able to weld my motor back together, which will save me big bucks, and put me back in the water this month.
Thanks again!

Hooker

[The Ole Man]

jam

Had some email about $2 lake I mentioned in Lorens post about crappie. The $2 lake is a possibility for you too. Take I75 north to exit 126(hwy 411).Go down ramp and turn right. Almost immediately on the left you see gas stn. and motel. Motel probably still boarded up from fire. Turn in at gas station go towards motel, go on by motel around curve. Road turns to dirt road. Go over RR tracks. Continue on couple thousand feet. At end of road is Aubrey lake(no motors-xcept electric troll). See the mobile home on hill. See sign on tree- "put money in money box on front porch of mobile home".Put money ($2 per person)in envelope write name on it-(take envelope with you this time of year). Mobile home is caretakers house. Lake owned by the Neal family that put 14000 acres into Pine Log WMA. Boat ramp is in front of you. Rough, gravel,mud, downhill. People use it. Walk your canoe down and hop in. Lake is about 25 acres -just guessing. About 75 yrs old. Side near 411 is shallow. Creek bed runs to far side. Has a spillway dam. Don't go over it- hard to see on waters surface. Lake has crappie, bass,bluegill,catfish,hornyheads and lord knows what else. Typ. Ga red clay creek fed lake. Muddies easily from a rain. Pretty and clear in summer. They may be surprised to see a fisherman in the winter. Mostly fairweather fishermen(like me) frequent the lake. Persons of foreign origin sneek in over the hill(the Budweiser plant side) and fish with no pay. Never seen them run them off. Too much trouble. Fat crappie(little ones too), big cats. Like minnows. These were conditions as I last noted them, spring of 98. The Ole Man -^<>^-

[Danny Leigh]

Hooker,
Been doing fine. Haven't been fishing since October from the distractions of hunting.

The Ole Man,
Thanks for info on Aubrey lake. There used to be a sign at 411 saying pay lake, but then it was gone and I did not know if they still let people fish the lake. I look at it every time I go to Pine Log WMA and wonder what the fishing would be like. I may to give a try some day.

[BT]

JAM, I have some friends that fish the Etowah for white b****and stripers, they put in at the bridge on hwy 411 (between Cartersville and Rome) and go downstream a little ways to some old indian fish traps.

[BT]

Hooker, the nearest boat ramp that I know about on that part of the Etowah is in down town Rome.

[jam]

Thanks all, for all the great information. Makes me want to pack up the Explorer and go!