Warren, If there were any smallmouth, I would not be chasing trout. Roughly 40 miles from the dam at Lake Lanier is another smaller dam at a location called Morgans Falls. Before that dam there are shoal bass and part of the year there are striped bass (the saltwater natives) This section is a delayed harvest that offers good trout fishing this time of year, in the summer the stripers and warm weather do in many of the trout that don't get caught. I didn't say there weren't any bass, just I never heard of anyone catching them. Suwanee Creek empties into the river about a mile further downstream. I am sure some bass and bream enter the river or hang out around there. During the summer it probably heats up the water quite a bit after a rain, it certainly muddies it up.