Georgia Trout Fishing

As a native to the state of Georgia, I am very familiar with its streams and rivers. Trout fishing is one of my favorite forms of fishing and I have become quite familiar with many of the well known trout streams in the state of Georgia. The majority of trout streams in Georgia are located in the northern part of the state because the temperatures are much cooler.

The Chattahoochee River is one of the most well known trout fishing destinations in the state of Georgia. It is heavily managed by the Georgia Department of Natural resources and is stocked frequently. It begins at Buford Dam and continues throughout the state. I am most familiar with the upper part of the river and will explain what works there. At the beginning, there is about four three hundred yards of easily accessible river for those who do known own any waders. The area is quite popular and therefore has plenty of worn trails. After about three hundred yards, the river splits at Bowman’s Island. Some of the best fishing can be found on the right side of Bowmans Island if you dare to venture that far. Past Bowmans, the river becomes slow and deep all of the way past the highway twenty bridge. There is some good trout fishing past bowmans, but you will need to fish on the bottom for the best results. If you plan on fishing the beginning of the Chattahoochee, then try either a bumble bee pattern rooster tail or a little cleo - these are usually the best trout fishing lures. Gold or silver little cleos work great in the 1/8 ounce form. Little phoebes work great as well. If trout lures and spinners are not your style, then try using some salmon eggs, power bait, or corn to catch trout on the bottom. If you plan on fly fishing, then try a pheasant tailed nymph or a black wooly booger with a strike indicator attached. San Juan worms that are brown work great as well. The average trout caught in this area of the Chattahoochee ranges from six to ten inches. There are a few fifteen to seventeen inch trout, but they are less common. In order to get the big trout, you will have to fish a little further down river where there are less people. As for the types of trout in section of the Chattahoochee – browns and rainbows are the only species of trout stocked in this section of the river. Most will be females, but there are a few males sprinkled in there as well.

Smith creek is a small river located near Unicoi State Park which is just outside Helen Georgia. This river is a delayed harvest program in which trout can only be kept during a certain period in the year. This year -2010 – the delayed harvest started around May 15^th I believe and the fishing was great. I did not see a lot of big one’s caught, but there were plenty of fourteen inchers on the stringers. This year was a blast because the DNR stocked rainbow, brown, and brook trout. The brooks were really cool to catch because they are not as common as the others. Anyways, the river is pretty small and is usually under five feet wide at most parts. During the delayed harvest, Georgia trout fishermen are allowed to use spinners and live bait to catch the trout. Otherwise, they are only allowed to use artificial lures with single, barbless hooks. Anyways, your best bet is to use worms on the specified date. I had two friends with me on the trip and each of us caught our limit. There is plenty of river and fish at Smith Creek in Georgia.

The Soque River is another Georgia trout fishing river located near the Helen area. This river is known for its monster trout. However, most of the river is private and therefore not open to the public. There is only one public trout fishing area that I know of and the fishing is pretty good. Lures work great in this area as well as worms. For the most part, fly fishing would be tough because there is not a bunch of shore area to cast. If you are looking for some big trout, then you have come to the right place. There are many different private areas where people feed the fish and they therefore reach some large sizes. Mark Of The Potter is a great place to go if you want to look at some large trout. It is a pottery store that has a back porch that backs up to the Soque River. Here you can feed the fish for a quarter and gaze at these awesome creatures. If you are in the helen area, then this is a destination that you need to check out.

Coopers creek is a lot like the Soqui River in that most of it is designated as private. However, there are a few public areas that offer some decent fishing. Actually, I know of only one, but there may be others as well. Because of its small size, it is a good idea to use worms instead of spinners. The good news about creeks and rivers that have private sections is that many people feed the trout on a regular basis and they tend to reach large sizes. Every once in a while these fish will travel upstream to public trout fishing areas.