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Fishing

Latest Fishing Articles

Georgia Trout Hatchery Receives 222,000 Eggs From Montana

Despite losing more than 17,000 trout in a Labor Day Weekend flood at its Summerville Trout Hatchery, WRD is making good on its promise that it will not let the near disaster affect trout stockings in 2023. The hatchery just received 220,000 rainbow trout eggs from Ennis, Montana. It is the first of four egg…

Lake Lanier Receives New Fish Habitat

Limestone Creek has a new look thanks to WRD’s Gainesville and Burton Fisheries’ staff. Crews planted 775 maidencane plants and 10 bald cypress trees that will prevent bank erosion, provide areas for spawning, hiding places for juvenile fish and foraging habitat. The new additions are also expected to provide nutrients to the water. “With the…

Georgia Kingfish In October

As cool air begins to blow and temperatures drop this month, the majority of Peach State fishermen hang their poles up in the shed, grab their favorite rifle or bow and head to the woods hoping to knock down a big whitetail. Not Don Driggers. Don fishes the salt year-round, but he says that it’s…

Bull Red Takes Angler Chest Deep and Down To The Knot…

Late summer into early fall is a great time to catch a bull redfish from the Georgia beaches. T.J. Tyner., of Comer, was visiting his grandparents on St. Simons on Sept. 17 when he found himself chest deep in saltwater and all the way down to the knot on his reel. “Surf fishing has been…

Lake Russell Bass Mapped For Fall

Lake Russell spotted bass are feeding up as the water cools down, and you can catch a bunch from topwater down to deep brush—and everything in between. Choosing the right places to fish in October will increase your numbers and size.  Russell is a 26,650-acre U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reservoir on the Savannah River…

Bass Fishing

Lake Allatoona Spawn Season Bass

Spotted bass, largemouth and shad are all spawning this month on Allatoona, and anglers can catch bass by keying on the different spawning areas for each species. If you want to have fun and catch a bunch of fish, target spots. If quality fish are your goal, look for bedding largemouth. And when the shad…

The author with a shoal bass caught from a tributary of the Flint River.

Beginner’s Guide To Georgia Shoal Bass Fishing

Shoal bass fishing is a popular pastime among Georgia anglers. What these bass lack in size compared to their largemouth cousins, they make up for in attitude and fight. Not to mention, they are often found in some of the prettiest stretches of rivers and streams in the state. In this article, we’ll take a…

Georgia Considers New Shoal Bass Regs

Fisheries managers with Georgia DNR are considering new regulations for shoal bass fishing. “Recent fisheries research, sampling efforts, and angler success have suggested Georgia’s rivers may benefit from updated regulations,” according to Georgia DNR’s Wildlife Resources Division (WRD). To measure public interest and gather input, the WRD Fisheries Management Section developed a Shoal Bass Survey.…

Hybrid Fishing

Juliette Stripers & Hybrids Go Deep In Summertime

With a hint of excitement in his voice, Lake Juliette fishing guide Jeff Mooney said, “Watch that pole, it’s going down!” He pointed at the rod next to Bob Turner and, as Jeff predicted, a slight bend in the rod became a deep arc toward the water as the striper pulled out line and the…

Clarks Hill Lake Live-Bait Linesides In December

Live-bait fishing for hybrids and stripers can be crazy good this time of year on Clarks Hill, with limits in minutes when the fish are bunched on points and humps feeding on herring—if you’re there at the right time. If you’d like to see proof, take a look at fishing guide Eddie Mason’s Facebook page…

Ocmulgee River Hybrid Record Established

Josh McDonald, of Americus, caught a hybrid bass on April 4 that weighed 7-lbs., 11.84-ozs. that sets a benchmark for a brand-new river record on GON’s Georgia Lake and River Records list. He was spending the day with his older brother Jason and his twin brother Justin. “We are all baseball coaches, so we never…

Striper Fishing

Georgia SCI Hosts Wounded Warriors For Annual Fishing Weekend

The Georgia Chapter of Safari Club International (SCI) hosted 31 Purple Heart recipients during its annual Wounded Veterans Fishing Weekend at Lake Lanier July 7-9.  Georgia SCI has hosted the event for more than a decade, providing a full weekend of fishing and fun on Lake Lanier for wounded veterans and their guests. The three-day event,…

Juliette Stripers & Hybrids Go Deep In Summertime

With a hint of excitement in his voice, Lake Juliette fishing guide Jeff Mooney said, “Watch that pole, it’s going down!” He pointed at the rod next to Bob Turner and, as Jeff predicted, a slight bend in the rod became a deep arc toward the water as the striper pulled out line and the…

Clarks Hill Lake Live-Bait Linesides In December

Live-bait fishing for hybrids and stripers can be crazy good this time of year on Clarks Hill, with limits in minutes when the fish are bunched on points and humps feeding on herring—if you’re there at the right time. If you’d like to see proof, take a look at fishing guide Eddie Mason’s Facebook page…

Catfish Fishing

73 3/4 Pound Catfish Sets Lake Sinclair Record Then Released

On the afternoon of Jan. 26, long-time buddies Brandon Pitts and Kenny Scott set out on Lake Sinclair in hopes of wrangling some big stripers. Finding gizzard shad of a suitable size for bait proved to be difficult, forcing the anglers to alter their game plan. Unbeknownst to them, it put them on a path…

Altamaha River Limb-Line Cats

The world moved slower a hundred years ago in south Georgia. Life was simpler; but, truly, times were hard. There was little industry. No “town” jobs to speak of in a spot as sparse as Soperton. Willie T. Barwick was struggling just to get by in the year 1920, at wit’s end. That’s when he…

Report Tagged Catfish On Satilla River

A blue catfish tagging project on the Satilla River is underway, and Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division (WRD) researchers need your help. Discovered in this waterway a few years ago, fisheries managers hope to use this study to learn more about this non-native species and better assess its impact. “As a large…

Crappie Fishing

Lake Russell Black Crappie Sets New Record

Aaron Jenkins calls Canton, N.C. home now, but his heart will forever be in east Georgia. He makes the three-hour trip home to crappie fish with his dad, Keith, whenever he can. As far as Aaron is concerned, there’s only one Georgia lake in which to fish for crappie. The 31-year-old grew up fishing on…

Satilla Gets Another New Black Crappie Record

Just days after releasing the annual edition of the Georgia Lake and River Records, another river record has already fallen. On Feb. 6, Steven Todd, of Saint George, managed to reel in a 2-lb., 1-oz. black crappie that raised the river-record bar for the species for the second time in the past 13 months. “I…

Eufaula Crappie Bite Even On “Slow Days”

We met at the Cool Branch Park boat ramp just south of Georgetown on a recent cold, clear morning. Captain Ryan Nix was waiting and ready to go as my friend Diz and I pulled up. Ryan has made a living on the water, retiring from the U.S Coast Guard after 20 years of honorable…

Bream Fishing

Canoochee River Offers Redbreast Quality & Numbers

If anywhere is blessed with river fishing opportunities like that of south Georgia, I haven’t heard of the place, and if it does exist, I’m looking to buy property there. It’s true, no matter where you are in the southern portion of the state, some great river fishing is never far away. Altamaha, Ogeechee, Flint,…

Ogeechee River Redbreast Light Up In July

Born and raised on the banks of the Satilla River, I will admit that I’m more than a little biased when it comes to my favorite river. Heck, a week ago I’d tell you another river couldn’t come close to the Satilla in terms of a redbreast fishery. All that changed last month on my…

Chasing Giant Redbreasts Way Up the Satilla River

By Craig James The Satilla River is and will forever be my favorite body of water to fish. I got my start fishing its white sand bars and towering bluff walls decades ago, and it’s just as magical a place to me now as it was the very first time I stepped into its tannic…

Saltwater Fishing

Midway Man Shatters Georgia Almaco Jack Record

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) today announced a new state record for almaco jack. Hayden W. Mundy, 24, of Midway, reeled in an almaco jack weighing 19-lbs., 10.53-ozs., while fishing offshore on March 14, 2024, shattering the previous record by nearly 180 percent. Mundy’s record-breaking catch surpasses the previous record of 7-lbs., 0.7-ozs., set…

IGFA Awards New Junior World Record Redfish To Brunswick Boy

Graham Lewis, a 10-year-old from Brunswick, recently caught a youth-division,world-record redfish from the surf on Saint Simons Island. The catch took place Sept. 24 and was just processed by the International Game Fish Association. The fished measured 105 cm (41.3 inches) to the fork. “A bunch of people at school have been asking me if I…

Hunting Crooked River Redfish & Trout

With deer season in full swing this month, many anglers trade rods for rifles in hopes of killing a big-horned buck… maybe even one that might end up getting them in the GON Truck-Buck Shoot-Out. However, when the crisp November fog clears each morning, you won’t find Tyler Bean in a deer stand. As a…

Trout Fishing

Larger Trout As 2024 Stocking Begins

  As the end of March draws near, trout stocking trucks are loading up high-quality trout to head to your favorite north Georgia waterways. Over 200,000 trout are ready for stocking. Thanks to the long-standing partnership between the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resource Division (GADNR WRD) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service…

Small Stream Magic For Wild Georgia Trout

“Bigger is better!” It’s a common phrase in many circles, and that turn of words might be heard most where fishing takes place… but maybe not in the circles of Georgia fly-fishermen who target trout on Peach State waters. When you join the fold of fly-fishermen who chase trout in Georgia, more often than not,…

Delayed Harvest Trout Regs Begin Nov. 1

If you were looking for a reason to go trout fishing, we have just the ticket. Beginning Nov. 1, trout fishing on Georgia’s delayed harvest trout streams will be in full swing, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division (WRD). While trout fishing can be found year-round in Georgia, there are…

Other Georgia Fishing

High School Senior Breaks Lanier Carp Record

One of the keys to being a good fisherman is being observant. North Hall High School senior Charlie White was fishing for bass off his grandparent’s dock on Lake Lanier when he noticed a change. “My grandparents have one of those green lights in the water off their pier, and I noticed that the bass…

Lake Burton Yellow Perch Ties Georgia State Record

Emerson Mulhall, of Cumming, caught a yellow perch that has tied the state record. He was fishing Lake Burton on Feb. 18 when caught the 2-lb., 9-oz. fish. “I was not pursuing perch when I caught her,” said Emerson. “I am mainly a spotted bass and largemouth fisherman, and my friend Jake Maddux and I…

Lady Angler Establishes West Point Gar Record On Video

Now that April Waldrop has been bitten by the record fish bug, the Hogansville woman has set her sights on something even bigger. April was fishing for gar with her husband, Larry, and her two sons on West Point Lake recently when she landed a lake-record longnose gar that weighed 23 pounds. The 52 1/2-inch…