Georgia Fishing Guide · by River Through Atlanta
Where to fish in Georgia, from the Hooch to the coast.
Trout in the mountains and right through Atlanta. Stripers on Lanier, shoal bass on the Flint, big largemouth on Eufaula and redfish off Savannah. Where to go, when to go and what you need, all in one place.
No. 1 on our list: Chattahoochee trout
Start here · Trout
The Chattahoochee: Georgia’s trout river runs through Atlanta.
Cold water from the bottom of Lake Lanier turns 48 miles of the Hooch into trout water, from Buford Dam to Peachtree Creek. It fishes every day of the year, and it’s where River Through Atlanta has guided since 1994.
- About 180,000 rainbows stocked each year, plus wild browns
- Georgia’s state-record brown came from here: 20 lb 14 oz, 2014
- New Buford Dam releases add oxygen from mid-July to late November
- Orvis-endorsed guides, drift boats and all the gear
Fly fishing near you: Roswell · Alpharetta · Johns Creek · Duluth · Buford · Cumming
Trout · cold water
More Georgia trout water.
Georgia has about 4,000 miles of trout streams, roughly 2,800 with wild fish and about 150 miles of native brook trout water. Stocking runs late March through October.
Metro Atlanta · Delayed Harvest
Chattahoochee DH section
Sope Creek to US 41 (Cobb Parkway). Access at Cochran Shoals, Whitewater Creek and Paces Mill.
Delayed Harvest guide →
Blue Ridge · Tailwater
Toccoa River tailwater
About 15 cold miles below Blue Ridge Dam, stocked with rainbows and browns. Banks are mostly private, so float it.
Toccoa River fishing guide →
Blue Ridge · Delayed Harvest
Toccoa River DH
The stretch on national forest land above Lake Blue Ridge.
Toccoa River fishing guide →
Dawsonville · Delayed Harvest
Amicalola Creek
Dawson Forest WMA, from Steele Bridge Road to GA 53.
Delayed Harvest guide →
Helen · Delayed Harvest
Smith Creek
The creek below Unicoi Lake, minutes from Helen.
Delayed Harvest guide →
Northeast Georgia · Delayed Harvest
Chattooga River
From GA 28 upstream to Reed Creek, on the Georgia–South Carolina line.
Delayed Harvest guide →
North Georgia · Wild trout
Noontootla Creek
Wild browns and rainbows, with brook trout in the tributaries.
Smithgall Woods · Trophy water
Dukes Creek
Trophy catch-and-release fishing by reservation only.
Fall picks from Georgia DNR
Tallulah & Chattooga
Along with the Toccoa tailwater, the state’s fall recommendations for trout.
Stripers & hybrids
Big fish, long runs.
Georgia’s reservoirs and the Chattahoochee below Morgan Falls hold stripers that can top 20, 30, even 40 pounds.
★ Guided by River Through Atlanta
Chattahoochee · below Morgan Falls
Chattahoochee River stripers
Summer stripers run up from West Point Lake, and some top 40 pounds.
Book a striper trip
North of Atlanta · 38,000 acres
Lake Lanier
Stripers averaged about 8 pounds in 2025 sampling, with fish over 20.
Lake Lanier fishing guide →
Georgia–Alabama line · 25,900 acres
West Point Lake
Plenty of hybrids and stripers up to 30 pounds.
West Point Lake fishing guide →
Georgia–South Carolina · 56,000 acres
Lake Hartwell
Strong hybrid fishing while the striper population rebuilds after 2018 losses.
Lake Hartwell fishing guide →Largemouth & spotted bass
Georgia’s big bass lakes.
GA–AL line · Chattahoochee
Lake Eufaula
Walter F. George Lake, long billed as the “Bass Capital of the World,” still turns out big largemouth.
Lake Eufaula fishing guide →
Southwest Georgia · 37,500 acres
Lake Seminole
Grass-lake largemouth averaging 2 to 3 pounds, with good numbers of 5- and 6-pounders. No. 17 on Bassmaster’s 2026 Southeast list.
Lake Seminole fishing guide →
North of Atlanta
Lake Lanier
Spotted and largemouth bass. No. 11 on Bassmaster’s 2026 Southeast list.
Lake Lanier fishing guide →
Georgia–Alabama line
West Point Lake
Largemouth, with 4.2 million stocked since 2016.
West Point Lake fishing guide →
Georgia–South Carolina
Lake Hartwell
Spotted bass across a 56,000-acre reservoir.
Lake Hartwell fishing guide →River bass
Shoal bass on the Flint and the Hooch.
The shoal bass is Georgia’s official native riverine sportfish. Find them in rocky shoals, best reached by kayak or canoe.
Middle Georgia
Upper Flint River
Shoals such as Sprewell Bluff hold Georgia’s native shoal bass.
Flint River fishing guide →
Metro Atlanta
Chattahoochee below Morgan Falls
Stocked shoal bass hold in the shoals, along with summer stripers.
Catfish & crappie
Whiskers, slabs and panfish.
Southeast Georgia · Catfish
Altamaha River
Georgia’s largest free-flowing river: premier flathead fishing with trophies over 30 pounds, and more blue catfish every year.
Altamaha River fishing guide →
Crappie
Lake Lanier
Lanier’s crappie bite peaks in late winter and early spring.
Lake Lanier fishing guide →
Crappie
Lake Hartwell
A strong crappie fishery on the South Carolina line.
Lake Hartwell fishing guide →
Crappie & catfish
West Point Lake
Crappie and catfish alongside the bass and hybrids.
West Point Lake fishing guide →
Bream
Lake Seminole
Bream and hybrids alongside the lake’s famous grass-bed bass.
Lake Seminole fishing guide →Saltwater
Savannah to the Golden Isles.
Redfish, spotted seatrout, flounder and tarpon in the creeks, marshes and inlets. Anglers 16 and up need Georgia’s free SIP permit, renewed every year.
Savannah
Tybee Island
The Tybee pier and the Lazaretto Creek pier put you on reds, trout and flounder without a boat.
Savannah & Tybee guide →
Golden Isles
St. Simons & Jekyll
Piers at St. Simons, Jekyll and Gascoigne Bluff, plus miles of marsh.
Golden Isles guide →
Seasons & limits
When to go
Seatrout peak September – November. School reds fill the marshes in fall, and big reds stack near inlets in spring and fall.
Golden Isles guide →Family & first casts
Easy ways to start.
★ River Through Atlanta
Fly fishing classes
Casting, reading water and landing a first fish, on the river, for every skill level.
See classes
No license needed
Free fishing days
Georgia residents fish free on June 5, June 12 and Sept. 25, 2027. Kids 15 and under never need a license.
Cumming
Buford Trout Hatchery
See where trout are raised, near Buford Dam. A trail reaches the river at Bowmans Island. Bring a license or Lands Pass.
Beyond Georgia
Southeast trips worth the drive.
Tennessee
South Holston River
Wild browns make up most of the catch, with famous sulphur hatches.
Tennessee
Watauga River
About 16 miles below Wilbur Dam with wild browns and stocked rainbows. Easy to pair with the South Holston.
Tennessee & North Carolina
Great Smoky Mountains
About 2,900 miles of streams with native brook trout and wild rainbows and browns.
North Carolina
Nantahala & Tuckasegee
Delayed Harvest water a few hours from Atlanta.
Alabama · 69,100 acres
Lake Guntersville
Alabama’s largest lake: trophy largemouth in the milfoil and hydrilla. No. 4 on Bassmaster’s 2026 Southeast list.
South Carolina
Santee Cooper Lakes
Bassmaster’s No. 1 Southeast lake for 2026, with giant blue catfish and the birthplace of landlocked stripers.
Florida
Mosquito Lagoon
Sight-fish for redfish on shallow flats, with seatrout and snook too. Florida license required.
Fishing Corner
Tips & tricks from the guides.
How-tos from guides who spend 200+ days a year on the water.
Fly fishing
How to fly fish the Chattahoochee
Water, flies, rigs and rules for Atlanta’s tailwater.
Read the tips →Safety
Reading the Buford Dam release schedule
Where to check releases and how to fish around them.
Read the tips →Licenses
Georgia fishing licenses, explained
Who needs one, what it costs, trout license and SIP.
Read the tips →
First trip
What to bring on a guided trip
A simple checklist for your first day on the river.
Read the tips →
Ask Chris
Not sure where to fish? Ask Chris.
Chris Scalley has fished just about every water in Georgia and the Southeast, and he has guided since 1994. Ask him where to go, what’s biting, or who to fish with. He reads every question himself.
- Where and when to fish
- Which local guide or charter is worth booking
- A trout trip on the Hooch with River Through Atlanta
Fishing calendar
What’s biting, month by month.
- Lake Seminole bass
- Delayed Harvest streams
- Lanier & Hartwell crappie
- Lake Seminole bass
- Hartwell hybrids & stripers
- Trout stocking begins
- Lanier spring spawn
- Mosquito Lagoon reds
- Flint River shoal bass
- Delayed Harvest ends May 14
- Hooch stripers below Morgan Falls
- Free fishing days
- Hooch stripers
- Altamaha flatheads
- West Point bridges at night
- Altamaha flatheads
- Coastal seatrout
- Flint River shoal bass
- Lanier surface action
- Hartwell hybrids return
- Delayed Harvest opens Nov. 1
- School reds on the coast
- Delayed Harvest streams
- Mosquito Lagoon reds
Before you go
Licenses, rules and safety.
Licenses
- Needed at 16 and up; seniors 65+ get discounted licenses
- Trout license to fish for trout
- Residents: $15 fishing, $10 trout a year
- Nonresidents: $50 fishing, $25 trout a year
Hooch rules
- 30 min before sunrise to 30 min after sunset
- One handheld rod; no baitfish in the park
- Artificials only, GA 20 to Medlock Bridge
- Delayed Harvest section Nov. 1 – May 14
Safety
- Releases raise the river fast
- Water stays near 50°F
- Life jackets required, Buford Dam to GA 20
- Schedule: 1-855-DAM-FLOW
Stocking & parking
- Weekly trout stocking report, late March – October
- NPS parking: $5 a day or $40 a year, cashless
Photo credits
Chattahoochee River at Cochran Shoals, Atlanta: Thomson200 (CC0) · Toccoa River, North Georgia: Thomson200 (CC0) · Toccoa River, North Georgia: Thomson M (CC BY 3.0) · Amicalola Creek at Edge of the World, Dawson Forest: Brian McInturff (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Smith Creek near Anna Ruby Falls, Helen, Georgia: Scott Long (CC BY 3.0) · Chattooga River: MJPlante1 (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Noontootla Creek, Fannin County, Georgia: Scott Long (CC BY 3.0) · Dukes Creek Falls: Fredlyfish4 (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Tallulah Gorge: Thomson200 (CC0) · Lake Lanier, Georgia: Thomson200 (CC0) · West Point Dam and Lake: Adrien Lamarre, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (public domain) · Lake Hartwell: Harrison Keely (CC BY 4.0) · Walter F. George Lock and Dam on Lake Eufaula: Wikimedia Commons (public domain) · Lake Seminole, Georgia: Michael Rivera (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Lake Lanier shoreline: Thomson200 (CC0) · Largemouth bass: Totti (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Spotted bass: Dick Biggins, USFWS (public domain) · Flint River shoals: Dsdugan (CC0) · Chattahoochee River at East Palisades: Keizers (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Altamaha River: Bubba73 (Jud McCranie) (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Black crappie: USFWS Mountain Prairie (public domain) · Black crappie: André Giraldi (CC0) · Channel catfish: Cliff from Arlington, Virginia, USA (CC BY 2.0) · Bluegill: Fredlyfish4 (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Tybee Island Pier, Savannah: Mikefairbanks (CC BY-SA 3.0) · St. Simons Island pier: Scott Long (CC BY 3.0) · Salt marsh on St. Simons Island: Greg Glasscock (CC BY 3.0) · Young angler fishing a pond: USFWS Mountain-Prairie (public domain) · Buford Dam and Lake Lanier from the air: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (public domain) · South Holston River, Tennessee: Tennessee Valley Authority (public domain) · Watauga River, Tennessee: Ken Thomas (public domain) · The Sinks on the Little River, Great Smoky Mountains: P. Hughes (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Nantahala River, North Carolina: Nader Moussa (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Lake Guntersville, Alabama: KyleRobles (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Lake Marion, South Carolina: Iempleh (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Mosquito Lagoon, Florida: NPS (public domain). Wikimedia Commons photos are used under their listed licenses; River Through Atlanta photos are our own.
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
_2004.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
Whatever you chase
Start on the Hooch.
Before the road trips and the boat ramps, spend a day on Atlanta’s trout river with a guide who knows it run by run. Book a weekday and you’ll have it almost to yourself.
