Four so far in 2024. Two freshwater AND two saltwater state record fish have already been caught in 2024. Have you got your fishing license yet? It’s time to get out there!

Jeffrey Forester reeled in a new rock bass freshwater state record fish on April 6 and Ryan Simons landed a new Queen Triggerfish saltwater state record fish on April 7. They join two other recent record holders, Emerson Mulhall with a yellow perch freshwater fish state record tie, and Hayden Mundy with a almaco jack saltwater fish state record. Congrats to these anglers.

NEWS TO KNOW

This week, we have fishing reports from Central, Southeast and North Georgia. Whether you are seeking a new state record or just the next catch, we are glad that you Go Fish Georgia!

CENTRAL GEORGIA

(Fishing report courtesy of Steve Schleiger, Region Supervisor and fisheries biologist with Georgia DNR Wildlife Resources Division, with help from Region Staff and Local Experts)

RESERVOIR FISHING REPORTS BELOW COURTESY OF SOUTHERN FISHING WITH KEN STURDIVANT.

LAKE RUSSELL IS FULL, 60’S

Bass fishing is good.  Blue bird skies brought on warmer temperatures and there is a good bite during the afternoon heat.  Good quality bass are still coming out of Beaver Dam Creek and up the Savannah River.  The top water bite is good early in the morning.  Use a Skitter Walk and Chug Bugs in the shallow water.  Use the plastics early concentrating on lay down trees and stumps.  Be careful not to fish the plastic baits too early.  Bass are being caught on Glass Shad Raps and DT baits.  Use these baits on windblown points and the Rip Rap until about 10:30 a.m.  Carolina Rigged Tubes and lizards are catching nice Spotted Bass all during the day.  Small chunk rock is what you are looking for while fishing the Carolina Rig.  Use a Gambler Biffle Bug in green pumpkin around rock and wood.  Start off with the faster moving crank baits in the morning and then move to the slower moving plastics as the day heats up.

CLARKS HILL IS FULL

Bass fishing is good.  The lake has plenty of water and bass are shallow lake wide.  The pattern of fishing will change during the day and everything from top water baits like Chug bugs and Skitter Walks to suspending baits like the Husky Jerks are catching bass.  Grass lines are still producing quality bass using the Husky Jerks and plastic worms rigged with no weight.  The early morning bite is good until about 9:30 a.m.  The winds have been picking up after lunchtime and the DT6’s in the Crawdad color is a good bass catching bait to use on windblown points.  Try changing the standard black nickel VMC hooks with the same size red VMC hooks.  This little trick of changing the hooks seems to be getting a few extra bites on roaming bass.  The lighter ten- and twelve-pound test line is catching most of the fish.  The lighter line is allowing the baits to move freely and have better action.  Main lake points, grass lines and wood are the key this week to catching a limit of quality bass.  Learn how to use the Lowrance Structure Scan and Down Scan technology with Southern Fishing on the Water fishing schools.

LAKE OCONEE IS FULL

Bass fishing is fair to good.  The lake is clearing with a light stain in the creeks.  Start the day with a white spinner bait on the sea walls and bridge rip rap.  As the sun gets up move to docks in the middle of the major creeks with structure under and around them.  Use a shaky head worm with green in it.  Small crank baits fished around the docks will also produce.  The bass are moving into the middle and back of the coves and creeks as the water warms.  Small crank baits have been the ticket over the past week.  In the cleaner water a 6-inch Zoom green pumpkin lizard fished on a Texas rig in brush around and under docks has been a very good producer over the past week.  The shad have started to spawn and a white spinner bait at first light around sea walls and rip rap will produce if the spawn last.

LAKE SINCLAIR IS DOWN 1.4 FEET, 60’S

Bass fishing is good but a little slower as weather keeps changing weekly.  Top water lures and spinner baits are producing during early morning from shallow cover such as blow downs, docks, rip rap, grass, and shallow points.  Anglers should experiment with varying types of baits because the best lure today may not produce tomorrow.  Some excellent choices are: Super Spook Jr., Pop R, Chug Bug, Bang A Lure, buzz baits, and Baby Torpedo.  Spinner baits and weightless Flukes and Trick worms can also be the best on some mornings.  Try bulging the surface with a 3/8 or ½ ounce spinner bait with double Colorado blades.  A weightless yellow Trick worm worked well on one recent morning.  When using spinning tackle, make sure to use a swivel about 8 to 10 inches above the worm to control line twist.  The shad are spawning in a few scattered areas.  If shad are seen spawning, try the top water baits plus a small white spinner bait.  Although some bass are still around shallow docks, more are now on deeper docks, especially those that have brush under or around them.  Catches from docks have come mostly on soft plastics; with jigs, crank baits, and spinner baits fooling a few fish.  Try a Carolina rig Finesse worm along the sides and end of docks.  A Texas rigged Dead Ringer or Trick worm can be worked along the bottom, through any brush, and dropped vertically along each post.  Small groups of bass can be found on slow to medium tapering points at 5 to 10 feet deep.  The Carolina rig is normally best, but crank baits like a Rapala DT10 or ½ ounce Fat Free Shad are worth a try.

LAKE JACKSON IS FULL

Bass fishing is fair on worms and crank baits.  The lake is full, and the bass are on docks and any blowdown.  The lake is clear main lake with a slight stain in the rivers and creeks.  Crank baits are fair, and a Shad Rap is a good all-day bait.  A red shad Culprit worm on a brass and glass Texas rig is the best bet on the docks.  For a big fish, head up the rivers and flip a dark jig and pig or a worm in the larger sizes on the downstream current pockets.  Never overlook a jig even for shallow bass on this lake up the rivers.  Blacks, blues, and greens are good choices and add a Zoom salt trailer in matching colors.

SOUTHEAST GEORGIA

(Fishing report courtesy of Capt. Bert Deener, Retired Georgia WRD Region Supervisor, with help from Region Staff and Local Experts)

Rain was the story mid-week, and all our rivers are likely going to rise into the floodplain again. The annual Satilla Riverkeeper fishing tournament has been moved to May 3rd through the 12th.

River gages on April 11th were:

  • Clyo on the Savannah River – 11.3 feet and rising
  • Abbeville on the Ocmulgee – 10.6 feet and cresting
  • Doctortown on the Altamaha – 10.4 feet and rising
  • Waycross on the Satilla – 14.6 feet and rising fast
  • Atkinson on the Satilla – 13.3 feet and rising
  • Statenville on the Alapaha – 20.5 feet and rising fast
  • Macclenny on the St Marys – 7.5 feet and rising
  • Fargo on the Suwannee – 11.6 feet and rising

First quarter moon is April 15th. To monitor all the Georgia river levels, visit the USGS website HERE. For the latest marine forecast, click HERE.

OCONEE RIVER

Eli Carey from Lyons caught a river record blue catfish this week while using a bream for bait. The 50-lb, 6-oz monster broke the old river record by more than 7 pounds.

SATILLA RIVER

Because of today’s significant rains and the fast-rising river, the annual Satilla Riverkeeper fishing tournament has been moved to May 3rd through the 12th. Get the details on the Satilla River Facebook page.

Brentz McGhin of Blackshear broke the warmouth and white catfish river records on the St. Marys River on Friday. The warmouth weighed 1.09 pounds, and the white catfish was 1 lb, 8 oz.

ST. MARYS RIVER

Brentz McGhin set two river records this past Friday and had them certified at the Waycross Fisheries Office. His 1.09-pound, 10 1/2-inch warmouth was fooled with a plastic crawfish. His record white catfish weighed 1.5 pounds and was 14 1/2 inches long. He had a total of 8 keeper warmouth, 2 redbreasts, a couple bluegill, and the record white catfish during the trip. Plastic crawfish and crickets worked best.

OKEFENOKEE SWAMP

I had some good trips on the east side this week even with the high water. Rusty, Billy, and Emma (3 generations of anglers) fished with me on Saturday, and we caught about a dozen fish by trolling Dura-Spins. The best colors were lemon-lime, crawfish-brass blade, jackfish, and fire tiger-chartreuse blade. They had two 5-pound bowfin, and their biggest pickerel was 18 inches. I checked out a new area with my wife Teresa on Monday, and we learned that it wasn’t worth fishing that area on my guide trip Tuesday! We only had one flier (it was a big one….) on a prototype Dura-Spin. On Tuesday, Wade (from Atlanta) and Alan (from North Carolina) fished with me. Wade works for the Fish Hawk fly shop in downtown Atlanta and loves fly fishing. He tried it a good bit, but the fish were too spread out for the long rod to be effective. He did fool a really nice 18-inch pickerel with a Game Changer fly. I believe he said that was his first pickerel on a fly. As the morning progressed, Alan switched to a Dura-Spin and then Wade did also when we all realized that covering water was going to be the ticket. We caught a couple really nice fliers by pitching chartreuse sallies and then locked in to chasing the larger fish. About a third of the fish ate the in-line spinner cast to shoreline cover, while two thirds ate it trolled down the middle of the canal. We had several 4 to 5-pound bowfin (biggest was 5-lb., 15-oz., and the biggest pickerel was 21 inches. The most recent water level (Folkston side) was 121.60 feet Thursday after the hard rains on Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

DODGE COUNTY PUBLIC FISHING AREA (near Eastman, more info HERE)

An angler reported catching 4 bass in 5 hours of fishing during a trip this week. His biggest two were 4.5 and 5.5 pounds. A crankbait was his top lure.

LOCAL PONDS

The biggest bass I heard of being caught this week was a 10-lb., 1-oz. monster caught by Jimmy Zinker while throwing a “Squeaker” Trophy Bass Buzzbait (designed by Pat Cullen). He caught an 8 1/2-pounder on a topwater this week, also. Larry Hobbs caught a really fat largemouth bass on a plastic worm in a pond near Brunswick this week. It pulled the scales down to 5 pounds. Chad Lee and Daniel Johnson had a great week bass fishing. They fished several different trips to Alma-area ponds and caught almost 60 bass – most right around 2 pounds – and several dozen crappie. Christie Craws worked great for the bass, while white tube jigs fooled the crappie. Joshua Barber fished a Manor area pond on Saturday and caught 7 crappie, a bass, 3 bluegills, and a bowfin. The fish in our area are in trouble now – he is now a licensed driver! A Blackshear angler and a friend fished a Tifton area pond on Saturday and caught 54 bass up to 7.38 pounds. Their best 5 fish weighed 28.5 pounds. The majority of their fish were caught on plastic worms, but they had a few on swimbaits and live bait. I missed a report last week. Wyatt Crews caught 20 bass up to 4 pounds by Texas-rigging a gold flake Keitech Mad Wag worm in a Waycross area pond.

SALTWATER (GA COAST)

The Monnig family from Missouri had a blast catching sheepshead on nearshore reefs with Capt. Greg Hildreth on Monday. (Photo courtesy of Capt. Greg Hildreth)

The big tides, wind, and rain kept most anglers out of the brine, but some did well. Capt. Greg Hildreth (georgiacharterfishing.com) got to the nearshore reefs with the Monnig family from Missouri on Monday, and they caught some nice sheepshead on fiddler crabs. A couple Waycross and Brunswick anglers went offshore of Brunswick on Sunday and jigged Capt. Bert’s bucktail jigs and flutter spoons. They used a few prototype colors and caught red snapper, black sea bass, amberjack and a couple other jacks, and a gag grouper. They released the fish that aren’t in season or undersized. They said it was rough seas. Capt. Tim Cutting (fishthegeorgiacoast.com) said that his charter on Saturday had 6 trout and 6 redfish, but he didn’t fish much this week. The giant tides kept him from forcing an inshore trip this week. Wat-a-melon Bait and Tackle in Brunswick is open Friday through Sunday from 6am to 4pm each week. They have plenty of lively shrimp and fiddler crabs and also have live worms and crickets for freshwater. They’re on Hwy 303 just north of Hwy 82. For the latest information, contact them at 912-223-1379.

Blog Contributer Capt. Bert Deener guides fishing trips in southeast Georgia and makes a variety of both fresh and saltwater fishing lures. Check his lures out at Bert’s Jigs and Things on Facebook. For a copy of his latest catalog, call or text him at 912-288-3022 or e-mail him (bertdeener@yahoo.com).

NORTH GEORGIA

(Fishing report courtesy of Jim Hakala, Fisheries Biologist and Region Supervisor with the Georgia DNR Wildlife Resources Division, with help from Region Staff and Local Experts) 

RESERVOIR REPORT

It’s a Great time to fish for magnum yellow perch right now on Chatuge!

Dillon Phillips with a 2 lb, 3 oz crappie catch from Chatuge.

Lake Chatuge Yellow Perch (Report courtesy of Region Fisheries Supervisor Anthony Rabern): A friend was fishing Lake Chatuge over the weekend and caught/released more than 20 trophy perch ranging from 1 ½ to 2 pounds.  My friend was hooking up with fish at a depth of 60-feet.  Their bellies were packed with roe, which indicates that perch will soon be moving to the creek runs and shallow ledges to spawn.  This is a great time of year to fish for magnum yellow perch.  To locate a school of perch, first try slowly trolling a nightcrawler over hard bottoms.  This pattern works just about any time of the year.  An in-line spinner in chartreuse can be attached just ahead of the bait to make it more attention-getting.  If the hard bottoms are not producing, look for perch along creek channels, especially those with a little vegetation and/or vertical relief.  If you catch one perch, then start vertically jigging over the area.

Lake Chatuge Slab (Report courtesy of Trout Stocking Coordinator John Lee Thomson): Hiawassee, Georgia angler Dillon Phillips recently caught this 2-pound 3-ounce crappie while fishing Lake Chatuge.  The 15.5-inch slab hit a live minnow.  Dillon had the fish weighed on a certified scale at Burton State Fish Hatchery and it was large enough to land him a Georgia Angler Award. Congrats Dillon on a fine catch!

Chatuge Fish Attractors: You can find existing DNR fish attractors at Lake Chatuge HERE.

Allatoona Bass Report: (This report courtesy of Ken Sturdivant via www.southernfishing.com): Bass fishing is good. The fishing started off good as the water began to come up and slowed when water stabilized. The water releases should set up a good bite for the spots. Baits like a Kacy’s Kustom jig and a jig head finesse worm is working well. Points where current is present around rock is key. There is also a good bite on soft jerk baits like the big bite jerk minnow. Use the weighted Gama katsu EWG hook. The bite is best with the bait about three to four feet under the surface. Cranks and spinnerbaits are also working. With the water up, the lake fishes bigger. Use baits that cover water, and when you find a concentration of fish slow down with jigs. The morning has been great due to the shad spawn. Some top water action will start soon from just before daylight until mid-day. Rocky and riprap banks or the best areas currently. A Zara spook or Rico popper should be on the ready. Jerk baits and spy baits have been good follow up baits. Later in the day the jig head soft swim bait and Ned rig work best. Long points in 12-to-15-foot range are where the late afternoon fish are holding.

Allatoona Fish Attractors: You can find existing DNR fish attractors at Lake Allatoona HERE.

Jeremy Parks of Ellijay with a great walleye catch from a night time fishing session.

Carters Walleye and Stripers (Report courtesy of Lake and Stream Guide Service): Spring has sprung on Carters.  The weather has been great, and the fish are biting. The walleye bite continues to impress, with some really nice fish being caught. Pictured is Jeremy Parks of Ellijay with a great Carters Lake walleye caught night fishing.  Right now, there are fish scattered from the river to the dam. While there’s still some fish moving upriver above Ridgeway, these fish are suspended over deeper water in the river bends over timber. Post spawn fish are feeding in the creeks on smaller points all over the lake in the 30 to 50ft range, as well as on the main lake points in the same depth range.  Find areas holding schools of bait and walleye will be nearby. Trolling, vertical jigging spoons, or fishing live baits can all have their place this time of year depending on conditions.  The walleye are feeding on schools of alewives, as these baitfish are gearing up for their own spawn. The bait will start to gather in large schools offshore moving up shallow at night. The walleye will follow them feeding periodically eventually ending up in quite shallow water at times. Throwing jerk baits and swimbaits at night can really pay off this month for both walleye and stripers. During the day, the stripers are chasing bait. Starting in the backs of the creeks at dawn they will be cruising looking for an easy meal. That favorite easy meal is a big fresh caught Alewife on a planer board cruising the bank. I run my baits back about 50 ft and connect the bait with a 1/0 circle hook via 14lb fluorocarbon leader. Any change in shoreline, down trees, or shallow rocky points are great places for these big fish to ambush prey.  Another great technique, as we move into April, is fishing over Hydroglow lights. As the bait really gets schooled up and the water temps crack 60 the green light bite really start to shine on this lake. This is a slower paced way to fish but can be productive for all species. Deploy the lights, catch fresh bait and continue to fish with the lights out. Watch your sonar for fish moving under the boat.

Carters Lake Fish Attractors: You can find existing DNR fish attractors at Carters Lake HERE.

Lake Hartwell Bass Report: (This report courtesy of Ken Sturdivant, www.southernfishing.com): Bass fishing is good. The lake is finally full, and the bigger, more active bass have begun to move shallow with some bigger bass on the primary lake points and the secondary points in the larger coves. Use the #5 Jointed Shad Rap. The Rapala DT6 is fair and use the Rattlin’ Twin Tail Grubs by Storm and fish any wood and rocks all day. Super Flukes in pearl skipped under the docks lake wide will get bit. Boat docks are great during the midday period when the sun is out, and the sky is blue. A slow presentation seems to be working the best during these hard to fish periods. Expect a good early morning bite and it will slow down as the sun comes over the treetops. Top water is catching some good largemouth as well as the Senko in pearl or green pumpkin rigged weightless. Small crank baits have been the ticket over the past week. In the cleaner water a Zoom black Trick worm fished on a Texas rig in brush around and under docks has been a very good producer over the past week. The shad have started to spawn a white spinner bait at first light around sea walls and rip rap will produce as long as the spawn last.

Lake Lanier Bass Report: (This report courtesy of Phil Johnson, 770-366-8845 via www.southernfishing.com): Bass fishing on Lake Lanier is good to very good. The lake is currently slightly above full pool, and the water temperature is running from the high fifties to the low sixties. Overall, the lake is clear. If you have checked the TAA tournament that is currently running on Lanier, you know that there are a lot of techniques working right now. The cool thing about this tournament is that it doesn’t allow forward facing but the weights are still great, so it is possible to catch them “old style”. The most consistent bite for most folks is still the shakey head bite with a green pumpkin or watermelon red worm worked on secondary points and around boat docks in less than fifteen feet of water. The jerk bait bite has been happening on the reef poles and rocky points especially with the wind blowing. One old technique that has shown up this week has been the Carolina rig worked off the sandy areas in the fifteen-foot range and on the shallower humps. A mini zoom lizard or a senko type worm seems to be the best bait to use on the rig with a slow drag and stop retrieve. A Wacky rig worked down the sides of the pockets and around shallow docks has also produced some good fish over the last week. There is a little top water action very early in the day, but it seems to end fairly quickly. Look for this bite to pick up over the next few weeks. A lot of largemouth bass were caught this week by bed fishing and many more should show up on bed over the next week or so. If you chose to target these fish, please release them as quickly as possible so they can return to their beds and help our largemouth population grow. Lots of things are working and it’s definitely spring fishing at its best so get out and enjoy it. Go Catch ‘Em!

Lake Lanier Fish Attractors: You can find existing DNR fish attractors at Lake Lanier HERE.

Lanier Linesides (This report courtesy of Buck Cannon, 404-510-1778):  Downlines using blueback herring are working well, however the fish aren’t picky, so a variety of baits could be helpful. Down lines should be adjusted once they start biting. This technique along with others will be catching the spring action. Don’t forget to be prepared if they pop-up nearby. Don’t stay longer than twenty minutes if they don’t cooperate – move on to another location. The bird action will also be helpful for locating them (loons and gulls). From Vann’s to Laurel Park, and up the Chestatee from River fork north. Remember to wear your life jacket.

Lanier Crappie (This report courtesy of Captain Josh Thornton, 770 530 6493): The water temperature is 62. Crappie are still on the banks but are starting to move back to shallow docks. Look for coves with a main creek bed running through it. Look for docks that the creek bed goes under. Roaming fish are shallow in 4 to 6 feet of water cast to them or troll for them. Minnows are working well. Use jig colors in blue on grey or green and black and green and chartreuse. The gear I recommend for crappie fishing is Acc crappie stix 1-piece rod and reel with a 6-pound test K9 line, along with Garmin Live Scope and Power Pole.

Lake Weiss Mixed Bag Report: (This report courtesy of Mark Collins Guide Service and www.southernfishing.com):

Bass: Bass fishing is fair, and they are moving into the spawning bays on secondary points and docks. Shallow water baits are the ticket.

Crappie: Crappie fishing is fair, and they are showing up in the bays and creeks 8 to14 feet deep longline trolling with Jiffy Jigs is catching fish

Striped Bass: Striper fishing is poor and no reports this past week.

Catfish: Catfish are biting well in the bays and creeks in 8 to 15 feet of water. Cut bait is working best.

Dustin Pate said this past week has been the best week so far this year on West Point!

West Point / Chattahoochee River Linesides (This report courtesy of angler Dustin Pate): This past week has been the best fishing of the year, so far. Last Tuesday was probably the cleanest the water had been, and we found a pile of white bass and big hybrids eating before the storms moved in. The end of the week and weekend the water was still dirty but cleaned up better by Sunday. The live/cut bait bite was very good. The fish are spread out and I’ve caught them good from Snake Creek all the way up to the shoals.

West Point Mixed Bag Report (This report courtesy of Ken Sturdivant, www.southernfishing.com): Bass is good. This year has certainly thrown anglers more curve balls than in years past. Nevertheless, fishing has been good, but adjusting is key with the warmer spring and lower water levels. Fish are in multiple patterns right now. Fish are both in pre spawn, spawn, and post spawn. First thing in the morning shad have begun spawning, making for some great early top water action. Look for some of the remaining lay downs for shad spawning before the sun is above the trees. Use top water Pop R’s and spinnerbaits in a shad pattern. Once the shad spawn has ended switch over to focus on fish both spawning and post spawn with most being post spawn. Use Carolina rigged lizard with a Zoom green pumpkin six inch lizard. Using the Carolina rig make long casts over pea gravel banks at the mouth of spawning flats. You will catch both spotted bass and largemouth with this pattern.

West Point Lake Fish Attractors: You can find existing DNR fish attractors at West Point Lake HERE.

TROUT REPORT

Trout and More (This report courtesy of Unicoi Outfitters): Check out Unicoi Outfitter’s regular “Angler Management” fishing reports HERE.

Trout Fishing Opportunities for Those With Disabilities: These sites are open to the public and offer specific amenities for anglers with disabilities.

Loading up the Trout to get them stocked for anglers!

Trout Stocking at Amicalola.

Trout Stocking (This report courtesy of trout stocking coordinator John Lee Thomson): The rain this week did not stop the trout stocking trucks. Despite the occasional downpour and slippery dirt roads, 40,000 trout were stocked across north Georgia. Higher stream flows will help trout disperse and anglers should explore holes further away from the traditional stocking points. Weather for the weekend looks perfect and stained creeks can help anglers sneak up on stockers. Anglers may try adding an extra split shot to their set up to get baits down to the trout faster. Check the latest weekly stocking report to see if your favorite creek was stocked. Good luck and Go Trout Fish Georgia!

Parting Trout Note: Want to do more to support trout fishing in Georgia?  Consider upgrading to a Trout Unlimited license plate this year. Aside from being a great looking tag, each purchase or renewal of a Trout Unlimited license plate directly supports Georgia’s trout conservation and management programs. Hatcheries and wild trout efforts both benefit from the trout tag.