SPECIAL NOTE TO OUR BLOG READERS! Starting this week, the Georgia Fishing Report will highlight one region of the state each week (North, Central, Southeast or Southwest). This will give our staff better opportunity to showcase that Region and tell you more stories and information that can help you be more successful on the water. We are excited about the new format and hope you will be too!

Fisheries biologists and technicians in Northeast Georgia recently conducted electrofishing surveys, packaged, and processed fish tissue samples of species from Lake Nottely in support of EPD’s ongoing Fish Consumption Guidelines (FCG) program. To be consistent with the recently revised FCG protocol, fish tissue samples will be analyzed on a ten-year rotation for major reservoir and river systems across the state, providing more frequent sampling and comprehensive coverage to better inform anglers about best practices and considerations when consuming fish from public waters. To see the “Guidelines for Eating Fish from Georgia Waters” document, visit epd.georgia.gov/https%3A/epd.georgia.gov/assessment/fish-consumption-guidelines. 

NEWS TO KNOW

• This Weekend – Starting Today! Beat the heat and come to the Georgia Wildlife Federation’s Buckarama (Aug. 14-16). This expo offer plenty of things to get you excited about being in the outdoors. We will see you there!
• Find Fishing Information: Visit GeorgiaWildlife.com/fishing/angler-resources to find tons of fishing information for you to use: fishing forecasts, fish ID, links to angler reward programs and so much more!

We hope your plans include a fun fishing trip, let’s Go Fish Georgia!

NORTH GEORGIA

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

Striped bass catch bringing the smiles! (Photo courtesy of Big Ol’ Fish Guiding Service)

Get You a Striped Bass in a North Georgia Lake! (Report and photo courtesy of Big Ol’ Fish Guiding Service) – Striper and hybrid fishing is crazy insane right now. Lakes Hiwassee, Nottely & Chatuge have been unbelievable awesome! We’ve had several 20-30 plus fish mornings.

RESERVOIR REPORT

LAKE ALLATOONA 

Bass (report courtesy of Ken Sturdivant kensturdivant@att.net via https://www.southernfishing.com/current-fishing-report.html) — LAKE ALLATOONA IS 1 FOOT OVER FULL, 80’S — Bass fishing is fair. Fishing has been early and late with the weather. Many are finding the spots and largemouth being caught shallow at 1 to 12 feet of water. Start the morning with a black buzz bait and this will last for the first hour or so and work the bluff walls in the morning for a buzz bait bite. After the sun comes up it’s hard to beat a 1/8 jig head tipped with a Big Bite squirrel tail worm in green pumpkin and fish on 8 pound test Sunline fluorocarbon. Rocks and blow down trees are the targets to produce fish on soft plastic. We won a tournament this week on this exact pattern. Have fun, and take the kids.

Allatoona Fish Attractors: Find DNR fish attractors at Lake Allatoona by visiting the Fishing Forecasts page at GeorgiaWildlife.com/fishing-forecasts and selecting “Allatoona.”

LAKE LANIER 

Lanier Report (Report courtesy of Southern Fishing by Ken Sturdivant via https://www.southernfishing.com/current-fishing-report.html; this Lake Lanier Bass fishing report is by Phil Johnson. pjohnson15@hotmail.com 770 366 8845) — LAKE LANIER IS DOWN 4.6 FEET, 80’S — Bass fishing on Lake Lanier is fair. The lake is currently four and a half feet below full pool and overall, the lake is clear with some stain in the backs of the feeder creeks. The water temperature is running in the low eighties. It seems we are into the Dog Days of summer which is typical for August on Lanier. There are still good bass to be caught but it takes more moving around and taking what the day gives. Top water is still working but finding the right area for the day is the key. There are bass located over and around the structure in twenty-five to thirty-foot of water on the humps and ledges that will bite the top water and the drop shot. Work over the structure with a Kreg, Riser, Skimmer or Fluke to catch the feeding bass. Use chrome on the top water and chartreuse on the Fluke. If there are no takers on top move in directly over the brush and work the drop shot straight down on the bass and use your electronics to see if they are in the structure or on the edges. It is key to get you bait directly in front of the bass. Morning Dawn, Sweet Rosy and Blue lily have all produced good numbers of bass. For targeting the bigger spots, it takes good knowledge of Forward Facing to locate the bass and the ability to lead the bass with the bait in the direction they are going, Get your three eights Spot Choker loaded with a fluke to a depth just above the bass and steadily bring it above them. If they react, speed up the bait to get them to chase it for the strike. This method involves a lot of covering ground over the deeper structure often in the middle of the creeks to locate the singles or small groups of big spots. It’s not for everyone but it will produce some big spots. You’re going to have to work a little harder right now but there are still good bass to be caught. Go Catch ‘Em!

Lanier Striper Report (Report courtesy of Buck Cannon 404 510 1778) — Stripers are still moving in the bays early in the morning. As the water heats up. Then they move to the cooler and deeper water, temperature was 86.5 at Brown Bridge. Down lines over 100 feet of water and seems like 30 to 40 feet deep using blue backs. Trolling is working with lead core 280 feet back at 3 mph and umbrella rigs at 130 feet back at the same speed. Jigging the big spoon also can produce. Just drop it down to 60 to 70 feet deep and reel up at a speed that get a response from the fish. Remember to wear your life jacket.

Stripers (report courtesy of Captain Ron Mullins via https://thestriperexperience.com/) —

• Lake level:48 feet (4.52 feet below full pool)
• Water temperature:86–88 degrees
• Water clarity: Clear on the main lake
• Current pattern: Deep summer pattern

The stripers have pushed down the lake into their normal summertime areas.You may still find some fish in main-lake pockets in 50–70 feet of water first thing in the morning, but most of the fish are now holding on creek and river channels in 90–120 feet of water from Big Creek down to the Dam.

Downlines are still the best bet. Depending on what you see on your electronics, you may be fishing your baits anywhere from 30 to 80 feet deep. Keep lively bait on the hook and be prepared to change it often because herring will not last long in the less oxygenated water at or below the thermocline.

The power-reeling bite is still a great option. Dropping a spoon, jig or even a dead herring through the school and reeling it back up can help keep the fish fired up under the boat.

The trolling bite is getting good as well.  Scattered singles on  your graph is a great indicator that trolling might be best right then.  You can cover more water at 2.5-3 mph and make a bait presentation to more fish.  Using a 1.5 oz Stripertackle Super Spin Shad in white/white or chartreuse/chartreuse glitter out 7-9 colors will be a go to this week and into September.  The Hawg Spoon on your leadcore setup will work as well. 

Lake Lanier Fish Attractors: Find DNR fish attractors at Lake Lanier by visiting the Fishing Forecasts page at GeorgiaWildlife.com/fishing-forecasts and selecting “Lanier.”

LAKE HARTWELL 

Bass (report courtesy of Ken Sturdivant kensturdivant@att.net via https://www.southernfishing.com/current-fishing-report.html) — LAKE HARTWELL IS DOWN 7.7 FEET, 80’S — Bass fishing is good and the top water bite is improving. Stick with faster moving baits like the Sebile, Zara Spooks, Sammy’s and the pearl Zoom Super flukes. Medium to deep running crank baits and 1/2 ounce spinner baits slow rolled are also catching some bass. Top water baits are working fair, early and late, around deeper sea walls. Look for this pattern to hold for the next month or so, unless we get a lot of rain and really put some oxygen back in the water. Work the main lake and secondary points and work the deeper points for the better fish. If there is a creek channel or river bends close by even better for this action. Use the larger Texas rigged Zoom or Culprit u tail style worms along with the all white buzz baits fished early and late will work for these bass.

WEST POINT LAKE 

Bass (report courtesy of Ken Sturdivant kensturdivant@att.net via https://www.southernfishing.com/current-fishing-report.html) — WEST POINT LAKE IS FULL, 80’S — Bass fishing is slow. For early and late and go to the soft plastics and jigs. With high temperatures fish will move up to feed only for a short am and pm feed. If they generate anglers can a few fish on deep diving crankbaits and most times these will be better fish. If there is no generation expect to work for a bite and slow way down with the soft plastics. The best soft plastics have been Texas and Shaky head worms. Despite the slower bites fish have related to larger baits. Go to the larger Zoom magnum worms and the trick worms. The best colors have been green pumpkin and watermelon. Work these baits slowly in and around cover located on humps and road bed’s lake wide.

West Point Lake Levels: Once again, West Point Lake water levels will be lowered this fall for repair work on the dam. You can find more information about lake levels at West Point at WestPointLake.info/Level/.

West Point Lake Fish Attractors: Find DNR fish attractors at West Point Lake by visiting the Fishing Forecasts page at GeorgiaWildlife.com/fishing-forecasts and selecting “West Point Lake.”

WEISS LAKE 

Bass (report courtesy of Ken Sturdivant kensturdivant@att.net via https://www.southernfishing.com/current-fishing-report.html)-– WEISS LAKE IS FULL, 80’S – Bass fishing is good and a lot of largemouth are starting to show up in the back of the bays and coves in shallow water at 1 to 4 feet and they are following the shad as the water cools. Shallow running Ra OG 8 and pearl and green back are favorites. Rat L Traps and spinner baits are also catching some good fish. Most spotted bass are still out in the main lake on main lake humps, points and river channel ledges in 4 to 10 feet of water a Carolina rigged Senko worm is working well. Have the Sad Pars by Rapala rigged for all day.

Crappie fishing is good. Crappie are being caught on the drop offs of the old Coosa River channel ledges in 8 to 16 feet of water, Spider rigging with live minnows and Jiffy Jigs is the way to catch these fall Crappie. Look for structure on the edges of the old channel with schools of fish suspended around or above it, fish Work baits very slowly at or near the depth they show up on the electronic. Shooting docks with a 1/24th ounce Jiffy Jig in color’s JJ13 and JJ17 is also producing some good Crappie. Docks with 6 to 10 feet of water seem to be the most productive right now.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN PUBLIC FISHING AREA

Visit Rocky Mountain PFA in Northwest Georgia for fishing, beach time, camping, hiking and more! Visit georgiawildlife.com/rocky-mountain-pfa for more information.

RIVERS & STREAMS REPORT 

Stocked Trout: Several streams are too warm to be stocked right now, so plan fishing trips to the usual places that stay cool during the summer. Stocking season is winding down with only a few more weeks of stocking. The last stockings for the regular season will take place the week before Labor Day. In addition to Rainbow Trout stockings, a lot of Brown Trout are being stocked, especially in eastern North GA.  Stay up to date on the latest trout stockings and locations by visiting the Georgia DNR Trout Fishing page at GeorgiaWildlife.com/fishing/trout.

Wild trout sampling (Wild rainbow trout (Photo Courtesy of James Miles)

Wild rainbow trout (Photo Courtesy of James Miles)

Wild Trout: (Report courtesy of James Miles, Wild Trout Biologist GA DNR) – Our team had the opportunity to sample one of our wild Rainbow Trout streams in North Georgia yesterday (Thursday, 8/13). Though the flows were slightly higher than normal due to the recent rains, clarity was excellent, making for some fruitful sampling. Stream temperature that morning was around 63 degrees Fahrenheit. Numbers of fish and fish health looked really good, with the average size of adults being between 5-6 inches, with a not uncommon catch of fish in the 7–9-inch range as well. Most fish were hanging out in undercut banks/woody structures, plunge pools, or runs. Other aquatic life was also plentiful, with crayfish, salamanders, stoneflies, case caddisflies, terrestrials (ants, worms, etc.), and Trico Mayflies being the most common. So, get out there on those cooler mornings and evenings and enjoy some of North Georgia’s great wild trout fishing!

Unicoi Outfitters Report: (Report courtesy of Jeff Durniak, Angler Management; report via Unicoi Outfitters 8.6.26) — Our summer pattern of heat, humidity, and heavy, pop-up storms continues up here.  Freestone stream trouting remains a challenge, but there are still some morning opportunities to be had for early risers.  Some DNR stockings should continue, but they’ll be lighter loads than the spring allotments. Watch for more browns than bows, too.

Pond action is still pretty good for anglers avoiding the midday sun, while reservoirs are slow as expected at this time of the year. River bassin’ should be good, but most streams have been high, muddy messes that have kept our folks off the water.

Catch all the angling intel and event list in our full report at unicoioutfitters.com/fishing-reports. 

Wes’ Hot Fly List: 

• Dries: parachute ant, para Adams, stimulator, chubby Chernobyl for dry dropper fishing.
• Nymphs & Wets: Drowned ant, UV green weenie, root beer midge, pheasant tail, small buggers, squirmy worms in dirty water from afternoon storms.
• Mountain streams: Sparkle minnow, jig mini bugger, bank robber sculpin.
• Reservoir Bass & Stripers: Mop tail changer, bangtail, clouser. Crittermite, stealth bomber, Boogle bug, hairy fodder, coyote.
• Bream & Carp: Hybrid worm, carp it bomb, gill scorpion, amnesia bug, mini jig bugger. 

Headwaters: They’re either low, clear, and hot or high, muddy, and hot. It just depends where the storm pops up.  My 4PM recon today really shows the effect of these localized storms. Dukes at Smithgall and Smith above Unicoi Lake were both low, clear, and a warm 68F. In contrast, the Hooch on the lower end of the WMA, sits between those two watersheds.  It was high, muddy, and a warmer 69F.

You still have some shots at little wild fish, up real high, in the mornings.  Dredger hit the upper Tallulah yesterday morning, in search of little wild bows in the low, clear flows. He had to work for them and covered a lot of ground, but found enough to be happy. Refusals were aplenty, but the consumers preferred his para-Adams over his caddis and stimmy offerings. It was a fun day under the shade with his 7.5 foot, 3-weight outfit.

Former Rabunite Banker, who now resides over Dawson way, filed this report on a north slope stream in our forest: “I fished morning only got off at 11.30 to get home for an important conference call.  Caught a few on the new fly pattern, nothing large.  For some reason it was slow in the dry fly bite early am.  Mainly helped a chapter newbie on his first visit to IDBIS Creek.  He mainly fished an elk hair beetle both alone and with a sinking black ant dropper.  After I left he went downstream to another section I showed him and fished on well until mid-afternoon.  Just got a report from him and he got seven in the afternoon, so a fast learner.   For your report,   Water temp early am was 62 and water level and clarity just about perfect from all the t-storms lately.” 

Stockers: Tomorrow’s list will likely be short as stocking season winds down. Watch for another large allotment of browns. Why? The Walhalla brown eggs are taken in November from the SCDNR partners, about 3 months behind the rainbow eggs that DNR receives from federal broodstock hatcheries in TN and MT.  So those browns reach stockable size later in the season. Go early in the day and high in elevation to have your best shots at willing mountain stockers. Or you can go to a cold tailwater if it isn’t too muddy from tributaries after storms. Web reports show the Hooch fishing well.

As always, find the 2026 stocking master list at georgiawildlife.com/Fishing/Trout to find those creeks that will still get stocked late in the season.

Warm Rivers: Blown out, for the most part. The Hooch was red mud when I checked both Duncan Bridge and Highway 115 around 2PM today.  Highway 115 cleared quite a bit when I crossed it again this evening, but we have more storms in the area. Your chances at fishable waters tomorrow are less than 50/50.

Brand new, wheelchair-accessible, aluminum fishing pier on Moccasin Creek.

Lakes: Still on the slow side due to hot water and surface disturbances by all the other summer lake users. Dredger visited his Burton Trout Hatchery buddies yesterday.  Manager Colt Martin showed off the brand new, wheelchair-accessible, aluminum fishing pier that replaced the two old, wooden ones on the creek, and new aluminum decking on the footbridge to the park. Kids and honorary license holders should really enjoy the upgrades.

Trout Stocking: Check the latest weekly stocking report to see if your favorite creek was stocked. Good luck and Go Trout Fish Georgia! See the stocking report, sign up to get it weekly or find more info about trout fishing at georgiawildlife.com/Fishing/Trout.

Support Trout Fishing! Want to do more to support trout fishing in Georgia? Consider upgrading to a Trout Unlimited license plate this year. See more info at GeorgiaWildlife.com/licenseplates. 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 which can be found at GeorgiaWildlife.com/fishing/trout. Hatcheries and wild trout efforts both benefit from the trout tag.