Trout Fishing with Mom Event Held May 10.

Trout Fishing with Mom Event Held May 10.

Trout Fishing with Mom Event Held May 10.

Trout Fishing with Mom Event Held May 10.

Did you take your mom fishing last weekend for Mother’s Day? If not, be sure to make up for that this weekend! THESE moms got to go fishing at a “Trout Fishing with Mom” event held at Unicoi State Park and organized and run by Georgia DNR Wildlife Resources Division Trout Hatchery staff. Over 150 trout caught! We hope that all these moms enjoyed and that they take the skills they learned and become future trout anglers.

NEWS TO KNOW

This week, we have fishing reports from Southeast and North Georgia. Take your mom, take your dad, take a friend, take a kid – just take someone with you as you Go Fish Georgia!

SOUTHEAST GEORGIA

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

Fishing has been hit-and-miss with the rains scattered unevenly around the different basins. Some of the “hits” were very good catches!

There is a fishing regulations virtual meeting coming up to discuss potential changes in the black bass regulations in Georgia. It will be held May 21 at 7 pm, and you can find out more at georgiawildlife.com/regulations/proposed. The meeting will be live via Georgia Wildlife Resources Division’s Facebook page.

River gages on May 16th were:

  • Clyo on the Savannah River – 11.3 feet and rising
  • Abbeville on the Ocmulgee – 6.8 feet and falling
  • Doctortown on the Altamaha – 9.2 feet and cresting
  • Waycross on the Satilla – 14.3 feet and rising
  • Atkinson on the Satilla – 9.5 feet and rising
  • Statenville on the Alapaha – 12.7 feet and rising
  • Macclenny on the St Marys – 4.2 feet and falling
  • Fargo on the Suwannee – 9.1 feet and rising

Full Moon is May 23rd. To monitor all the Georgia river levels, visit the USGS website HERE. For the latest marine forecast, click HERE.

ALTAMAHA RIVER

Jamie Hodge had a GREAT panfish trip on Wednesday for panfish in the backwaters. He had some big shellcrackers and bluegills on catalpa worms. The lower river backwaters are where I would spend my time this weekend.

OGEECHEE RIVER

Mark Vick and a buddy fished the river Friday after the rains moved through and did well. They caught a bunch of fish and only kept 13 of the biggest redbreasts. They fooled their big fish with poppers and Satilla Spins (crawfish was best for the big fish).

SATILLA RIVER

The annual Satilla Riverkeeper fishing tournament wrapped up this week, and there were some really good fish entered. Ronald Murray caught the biggest redbreast (11.25 inches) and the biggest 3-fish stringer. Gilbert Ellis, Jr. won the panfish category with a 13.5-inch crappie. Craig James entered the longest largemouth bass at 18.37 inches. For additional details, check out the Satilla Riverkeeper Facebook page. The river has gone way up after this last round of rain, so plan to fish elsewhere this week.

OKEFENOKEE SWAMP

Trey Evans of St. Marys fished the Okefenokee Swamp on Wednesday and caught this nice pickerel while trolling a lemon-lime Dura-Spin.

A red/white-silver blade Dura-Spin fooled this 8-lb., 10-oz. bowfin in Okefenokee Swamp for Mickie Smallwood (L) of Senoia.

I had a couple good trips this week on the east side of the swamp. Brent and Mickie Smallwood fished with me Saturday, and we caught 21 fish total. We didn’t catch any pickerel that trip, but had 17 bowfin, including a couple over 5 pounds and Mickie’s largest that weighed 8-lb., 10-oz. We also caught 4 fliers up to 7 inches on pink sallies under a small balsa float. Crawfish-brass blade and red/white-silver blade were the best color Dura-Spins. We saw 3 big owls during the trip. Trey Evans fished with me on Wednesday morning with the goal of learning the ropes of swamp fishing so that he could take his family in the future. We had a blast and started the day listening to gators bellowing all over the place for the first hour. Pitching catalpa-colored sallies worked for four of the little panfish up to 8 inches before we switched to targeting big fish. We ended up with a total of 19 fish, including a 7-lb., 13-oz. bowfin and several pickerel up to 18 inches. Trolling Dura-Spins worked best, but we also caught a couple fish casting the spinners. Lemon-lime, fire tiger-chartreuse blade, and red-white-silver blade were the top producers. Urs Ramel and a buddy fished the east side Sunday and Monday and caught some nice bowfin up to 4 pounds and a few gar. Their biggest bowfin and gar were caught with a crawfish-brass blade Dura-spin. They were soaked to the bone but had a great time. The warmouth bite has not really picked up as fast as I thought it would. Every time it gets about right we get a couple inches of rain that spreads them back out into the prairies. The most recent water level (Folkston side) was 121.22 feet.

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

Ken Burke has had a great couple trips to the area this week. One trip produced 8 bass that weighed just under 20 pounds. His biggest that morning was 4.5 pounds. His best 5 fish weighed about 14 pounds. All of those fish ate crankbaits. His best trip produced 21 bass weighing 45 pounds in 5 hours of fishing. His biggest was 4.5 pounds. All of his fish ate crankbaits, and they ate 3 different models. The fish were shallow (5 feet or less) that morning.

LOCAL PONDS

Brantley Wester fished with me on Friday at a Waycross area pond, and we put it on the bluegills. We ended up catching 78 fish total, including a crappie, bass, shellcracker, and a few redbreasts, with the rest being bluegills. The biggest bluegill was a little over 10 inches. About half the fish ate Satilla Spins (stumpknocker and copperfield were best) and the other half ate white and bumblebee Super Sallies (looks like an Okefenokee Swamp Sally but has rubber legs, as well). Tripp, Charlotte, and Waylon fished a Guyton area pond Saturday with black/chartreuse Bert’s Bugs and whacked the big bluegills, shellcrackers, and small bass. Joshua Barber fished a Waycross area pond on Saturday from his kayak and fooled a dozen crappie, 10 bass, 10 panfish, a few bowfin, and a big jackfish. That jack fought him for several minutes on his ultralight tackle. Live minnows worked best for him. Capt. Cason Kinstle had fun this week watching fish blast Zara Spooks. He and his family caught several species on the topwater lure. Teddy Elrod and a friend fished a Brunswick area pond on Thursday evening and had a good trip for bass. They ended up with 15 bass up to 4 pounds and a few catfish. All of their fish ate mid-depth crankbaits (shad colors). Jimmy Zinker kept up his assault on nighttime bass. Sunday night he had a double-digit double-header. The first one was a giant 10-lb., 6-oz. bass that inhaled his Jitterbug at 1:30 in the morning. Just 15 minutes later he had a bite from a couple-hundred pounder…..of the lizard variety…..and lost his lure. On Wednesday night he had 6 bass between 4 and 5 1/2 pounds on his custom Jitterbug. BJ Hilton sent me a photo of a GIANT bluegill that he caught in a Brunswick area pond. The fish was over 12 inches and probably weighed close to 2 pounds. Bluegill fishing is wide open right now in ponds.

SALTWATER (GA COAST)

Capt. Greg Hildreth (georgiacharterfishing.com) got on a good whiting bite on Monday in the sounds. Shrimp on the bottom was the ticket. Tommy Sweeney and Nick Atwell braved the rain and winds this week and fished the Brunswick area. Nick caught his biggest trout on the east coast during the trip. He fooled a 20-incher with a Vudu shrimp. Capt. Tim Cutting (fishthegeorgiacoast.com) said that on Monday his charter caught 16 keeper trout on Berkley Power Baits rigged on Zombie Eye Jigheads. On Tuesday, his folks caught a mixed bag of 9 trout, 4 reds, and 2 flounder on live shrimp under a Harper Super Striker Float. Wednesday was a tougher bite, but they still had 8 reds, a black drum, a trout and a flounder for their bag. They also had 2 oversized redfish. On Thursday the trout bit well again, as they caught 12 keepers up to 22 inches, 5 slot redfish (including a tagged redfish), and 2 oversized reds. Water temps are around 80 degrees several places, and he said that there are a lot of baitfish around. 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 Kyle Rempe, Fisheries Biologist with the Georgia DNR Wildlife Resources Division, with help from Region Staff and Local Experts) 

Looking for nearby, fun outdoor activities to do with family and friends now that things are beginning to warm up?

There are plenty of fisheries (and wildlife) related events that you can quickly find on the Go Outdoors Georgia Events Calendar. These range from hunter safety courses to community fishing events, providing a broad selection of opportunities depending on your outdoor interests.

A special shoutout goes to the Buck Shoals WMA Family Fishing Event taking place from 8 AM to 12 PM this Saturday, May 18. This event is a great chance to land some filet-sized catfish and sunfish for a weekend fish fry. Find out more about this event and come catch some fish!

RESERVOIR REPORT

LAKE LANIER 

Spotted Bass from Lake Lanier for CJ Goodwin.

Bass (courtesy of Ken Sturdivant, Southern Fishing): Bass fishing on Lake Lanier is good to very good. The lake is currently just slightly over full, and the water temperature is running around seventy-five degrees. Overall, the lake is clear. For the most part the spawn is over, and the bass have moved out to recover. Brush in the fifteen-to-thirty-foot range located on long points or humps has started to hold more fish and will keep increasing. The key element over the last week has been wind. Without it there are a lot of lookers or short strikes but when the wind picks up the bite turns on. Really there have been three main baits over the last week, the Jerk Shad, the Slick Stick and a Spy Bait. For the days with little to no wind the Spy Bait has been effective when you are getting hits and misses on the other baits. It’s important to work this bait on either six- or eight-pound fluorocarbon line since anything larger will hurt the subtle action of the bait. The Slick Stick and the Jerk Shad will work in low wind conditions but really shine with the wind. For the Jerk Shad both the FZNH2O and White have been the main colors. The best colors for the Slick Stick have been either White or Chrome. Normally I would say white with clouds and chrome with sun, but it seems the white has worked on both days. For the Jerk Shad use a quick reel and then let the bait slowly sink in the water column with most of the strikes coming on the pause. While the Slick Stick is usually a steady retrieve don’t be afraid to occasionally let it pause also. As always there is a worm bite around the docks and on rocky points, but we have spent the week targeting the bass with the fun moving baits. It’s a great time to be out so Go Catch ‘Em!

Crappie (courtesy of Buck Cannon, Buck Tales Guide Service (404-510-1778); report via Southern Fishing): Lake Lanier stripers have been caught using blue backs on the sea walls, blue backs are spanning on most. One of my favorite baits is the Whopper Plopper. Cast towards the sea wall and hold on, if they are there, you’ll catch multiple fish before they get nervous. Give them some time and they’ll come back and bite. The other method is the down line blue backs on shallow humps and short coves. Put baits just above the bottom and trolling around.05 to 1 mph, # 4 hooks are working on the blue backs, match the baits so if they are big baits use appropriate size. Remember to wear your life jackets.

Striped Bass from Lake Lanier for Tim Piatty.

Linesides (courtesy of Captain Josh Thornton (770-530-6493); report via Southern Fishing): The water temperatures is in the mid-70s. Crappie are 4 to 10 foot deep under docks they can also be found on open water brush piles. Look for docks with creek channels running under them. Try bright jig color combinations. The gear I recommend for crappie fishing is Acc crappie stix 1-piece rod and reel with a 4- or 6-pound test K9 line, along with Garmin Live Scope and Power Pole.

LAKE ALLATOONA 

Bass (courtesy of Ken Sturdivant, Southern Fishing): Bass are chasing fast moving baits. Look for these fish up near the Little River and down near Clark Creek. Try using a Spit N King by Strike King in the gizzard shad color or pull a Strike King Spence Scout in chartreuse or Fire tiger in color for these bedding fish. Fish are suspending and holding on shad and fry. Fish can still be caught on top early on buzz bait, Spro Hydro Pop and walking type baits. As the sun comes up fish suspend in the 12-to-17-foot range. Watch for bait to stratify and bass to move the same range. Use a Big Bite jerk minnow on a 1/8-ounce jig head and also a Big Bite Shakey squirrel worm fished on a 1/0 drop shot. Fish will be working to the brush. The Texas rigged worm and a 1/4-ounce weight with a Zoom finesse worm in black emerald color cased on or around the sandy points will catch these fish. The Texas rig worm should be fished in the speed worming method by simply casting the bait and reel it a few feet then drop in to the bottom. When it hits the bottom begin to reel it in with a steady retrieve like it was small crank bait. 

Crappie (courtesy of Red Rooster Custom Baits): 5/10/2024 report.

  • Air Temp: High: 84 – Low: 63
  • Wind: Up to 15 Mph
  • Lake Level: 842.75′ (Above Full Pool) and slowly Rising (Click Here For Current Water Level)
  • Water Temp:75-77
  • Water Clarity: Clear to Light Stain
  • Area Fished: North Lake (Little River Area), S Turns To Victoria, Blockhouse (Tanyard/Clark Creek Area) & Kellogg Creek – Target Mid to Back of Creeks.
  • Jigs Used: Splatter Back Dagger, UV Shad Dagger, Watermelon Ghost Dagger, Motor Oil Red and MayFly
  • Technique: Casting & Spider Rigging

We had another great week weatherwise this 2nd full week of May 2024, what a blessing it is to be able to get out and experience God’s great creation! Right now, crappie fishing can be good throughout the day but as air temps rise and the water temperature rises, night fishing and early morning will soon be the preferred fishing times. The late evening can be good as well but as we move into summer, they pop up thunderstorms make the late afternoon/evenings very unpredictable.

The crappie are moving to deeper waters…deep water docks and structure are going to be the pattern for the next few months. As the water temperature rises the crappie will move to brush at 12′-15′, then brush in 18′ – 25′ of water.

Our plan of attack during the month of May is smaller profile baits and a slow retrieve. If you find structure, cast and slowly reel that small jig (Like the Red Rooster Dagger) back to the boat or bank. You would be surprised how far the crappie will chase and observe your jig before committing to a bite. You can always spider rig or use a bobber and minnow over and around structure.

PRO TIP: If you are fishing with a bobber and minnow, your minnow needs to be no less than 8′ – 10′ in the water. The crappie are suspending in 8′ – 12′ of water during the month of May. The BlueGill and ShellCracker are on fire right now! If you want to take a kid fishing, now is the time. Crickets and worms in and around laydowns and logs will produce some fun fishing!

Lord willing the weather will cooperate and we will bring you another report next week!

Mixed Bag (courtesy of Captain Joseph Martinelli, Heron Outdoor Adventures): With a nice mild spring easing into a ‘sure to make you smile’ summer, rest assured that the fishing is some of the very best in the southeast. Naturally, this depends on your desired target species, however, Allatoona has one of the finest hybrid striped bass and white bass fisheries in the state. With just the right information to capitalize on these rascals, you have a chance at a day filled with 3-5 pound hybrids, dozens of white bass and even a shot at a 20 lb.+ Striped Bass that roam the river and reservoir.

With nice steady levels controlled by the ACOE, and a multitude of other factors, we are off to the races with a fresh load of little fry after some ideal spawning circumstances for the white bass, crappie and spotted bass. The reservoir has held fairly steady at full pool, with water temperatures in the mid-70s reservoir wide. As of today’s date, we are a couple of feet above full pool. Getting to fish where there’s often land can have it’s advantages.

The Lineside action has been pretty decent this season to date. There are hotspots on each end of the reservoir and so many points in between. While the majority of the linesides may have made their way up the river and back into the reservoir already, we have seen some recent catches of big egg laden female striped bass still in the reservoir.

Some of them just don’t go up the river, either. They will spawn in the backs of creeks and pockets or wherever they desire. They don’t all run up the river and the many that return stay again until colder water refuges are desired. In the meantime, they love the abundance of bait in the main lake.

With the continued proliferation of freshwater herring as a forage base, we are noting the linesides and spotted bass being found deeper overall through this spring. Even through April and into May we are finding ourselves in 40 to 50 feet of water fishing 2 feet off the bottom for the best bite on some days. Downlining with 1 to 2 ounce weights, a 6 foot leader of fluorocarbon and a number o1 or 2 octopus hook are one of the staple setups for tethering 3-6″ threadfin shad or herring.

These same fish can be enticed into striking a spoon, especially in the deeper depths. We are still finding a good bite both on flats and on long points early in the morning and catching active fish even while casting A rigs and spoons as well as pitching shad. Sometimes where you start fishing may be predicated on which way the wind has been blowing day/days preceding, and some of our best mornings on the water have been facing a 10 to 15 mile an hour northwest wind coming across a flat onto the channel edges. When it’s our day to fish, we fish pretty much regardless of weather conditions but mindful of how those conditions could affect the locations of bait and gamefish.

While the crappie bite is still on, as they do eat year-round, these fish are finished spawning and are back to their both nomadic at times and structure holding routines. We’ve even picked some up while down lining 20 to 25 feet down over deeper water with threadfin or herring and have targeted some specifically on deeper brush piles with 2-3″ swim jigs and small tubes.

The spotted bass fishery is becoming better and better each year the past several years. Notably one of the most benefited species from the high-protein forage base, we might just give it a couple more years to see it rival other close by spotted bass fisheries with respect to both quantity and quality. It’s on it’s way there. We are definitely hoping to see more largemouth bass take root and spawn, particularly with the added efforts of state stocking just this past year.

We hope that you may have a chance to get out of the water soon.  We do hope that some information shared will point you in the right direction, and should you be in the market for a full-service guided instructional trip, we will be happy to help you there as well. Please always feel free to reach out at any time to 404-919-4918. Tight lines, friends!

LAKE HARTWELL 

Bass (courtesy of Ken Sturdivant, Southern Fishing): Bass fishing is fair; Start the day off by throwing spinnerbaits and buzz baits in the coves and pockets. Some of the females are on bed while others are still searching for that perfect spot. The top water bite is still slow, but a few nice bass are being caught while searching the shallower water, three foot or less. Late morning turns the picture around a bit with most of the bites coming on the crank baits in the three-to-eight-foot range. Let’s try some old school lures like the Jitterbugs and a Devils Horse. Start on the points and secondary points and work way to the back of the creeks. Look for any docks, rocks and wood along the way. Spots are biting small plastics but most of them are of the smaller variety. Small flats and secondary points that have rock and wood combined is my favorite for filling the live well this week. The big bite is still far and few between, so I am going with the numbers. 

Catfish (courtesy of Captain Bill Plumley; report via SC-DNR Freshwater Fishing Trends): Captain Bill Plumley reports that by the latter part of May the majority of the blue catfish will be back in deeper timber, but to start the month they can still be found relatively shallow. May should also be an excellent month for catching flathead catfish on live bait around brush. The channel catfish bite should also be wide open at a variety of depths on everything from worms to chicken livers to cut bait. Once the water warms sufficiently processed dip baits will also work. Results so far this year indicate a very healthy catfish population on Hartwell. 

Crappie (courtesy of Guide Rodney Donald; report via SC-DNR Freshwater Fishing Trends): Guide Rodney Donald (864-356-0143) reports that by the end of April the spawn was essentially over on Lake Hartwell, and the best numbers of fish this month will be caught stacked up on mid-depth brush. They will suspend over wood in the middle of the water column, and you can catch them either by casting jigs or fishing minnows under a float.

WEISS LAKE 

Bass (courtesy of Guide Mark Collins, Mark Collins Guide Service; report via Southern Fishing): Bass fishing is fair. The water is continuing to flow, cleaning up the main river some. The water is still cold, and the fish are not in an active mood yet. Slow presentations and repeat presentations are causing strikes. The better fish are reacting to the constant aggravation. Pitching finesse baits and jigs into cover has been working. Some fish are beginning to hit deep cranks on deeper cover. The jigging spoon has been a steady successful pattern on stacked fish on deep cover.

WEST POINT LAKE 

Bass (courtesy of Ken Sturdivant, Southern Fishing): Bass fishing has been good. Numbers are beginning to pick up as fish are winding up their post spawn phase. Just about anything is working right now, but better bites have come from fishing shaky heads and Carolina rigged trick worm. The best colors for both have been a green pumpkin. The fish are in still in their post spawn patterns and they are starting to recover and getting more active. The morning bite has been good with a variety of baits to include the jerk bait, swimbaits, top water and a fluke. The focus with these baits should be fairly shallow on flats and shallower rocky points and humps as well. The fish continue to move deeper each day as they make their way out to the summer brush locations. Some mid-day schooling fish are up in the early mornings over various types of structures such as humps and roadbeds with some of the activity being over deep water. Spend time fishing rocky points and roadbeds. Look closely for water generation schedules as this will position fish for feeding.

Striped Bass from West Point Lake for angler Dustin Pate.

Linesides (courtesy of angler Dustin Pate): The river run is pretty much over for the year so it is time to transition to the big pond for the next couple months. The bite has actually been terrible the last two weeks during the transition. The fish coming back down was timed with the shad spawn/bream spawn and the fish just haven’t been where they should be. I have actually been up in the river catfishing and that bite has been on fire thankfully.

Saturday the fish finally started to act right, and we got on a pretty phenomenal bite for a couple hours. The fish were all sizes with the largest being right around 13 lbs. We were fishing a 30’ish foot bottom off a main lake point. All fish came on small live threadfin/gizzards. This bite should only get better leading into July.

TROUT REPORT

Looking to get your feet wet by fly fishing in North Georgia and want some helpful tips if you’re just starting out? Check out Tad Murdock’s write up over on Georgia Wild Trout!

For more on trout fishing in Georgia, be sure to visit the Trout Fishing page on our website. There you can find links to maps, information, and the weekly trout stocking report.

Trout Tips: (Report courtesy of Jeff Durniak, Angler Management; report via Unicoi Outfitters): Check out Wes’ Hot Fly List:

  • Dries: chubby Chernobyl, yellow simulator, clueless caddis, parachute Adams, para light cahill, deckers yellow sally.
  • Nymphs & Wets: Yellow soft hackle, gold ribbed hares ear, brown girdle bug, CDC pheasant tail, fast water prince, red squirmy worm and peach egg for stockers.
  • Streamers & warm water:(Trout) Squirrely bugger, sparkle yummy, bank robber sculpin, and mini shimmer buggers for stockers. (bass & stripers) Cowens somethin’ else, gray/white clouser minnow, finesse changer, polar changer, crittermite, jiggy craw.

AMICALOLA STATE PARK

Rainbow Trout Catch at Amicalola State Park.

Trout Tips: (courtesy of Trout Stocking Coordinator John Lee Thomson): The stocked trout fishing in North Georgia is still on fire. A traditional location has been added back to our regular routes, Amicalola State Park or aka Little Amicalola on our weekly stocking reports. The recently renovated reflecting pool at the base of Amicalola Falls is now open to the public and receiving regular stockings. This area is ideal for kids or those anglers who struggle with steep banks. Check out this quality stringer recently harvested. Go Trout Fish Georgia!

CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER

Chattahoochee Trout (courtesy of Orvis Atlanta, Orvis): Streamer fishing is a great way to fish and possibly catch a huge brown. Nymphing is always going to be the go-to for those bottom feeding fish, the old Pat’s Rubber legs, worm patterns, midge patterns, attractors such as rainbow warriors and lightning bugs to copper johns, and the classic pheasant tails and hare’s ears in 12-18. If you are throwing streamers, anything from wooly buggers if you’re throwing the smaller rods to large articulated patters like the bottoms up and dungeon patterns by Galloup for larger rods.

CENTRAL GEORGIA

We do not have a Central Georgia fishing report this week, but if you need some tips, we recommend checking out SOUTHERN FISHING WITH KEN STURDIVANT.