I am in the process of discussing a transfer to Atlanta with my boss and was wondering if there was any trout fishing down there. I expect there would be a lot of warmwater fishing.
Kev.
Yes, there are tailwater fisheries in the area and the Southern App. range offers many good streams within easy driving distance in northern GA, and southern TN. There was just an article on the area in last months Fly Fisherman magazine. I’ll check it out when I get home and let you know some of the rivers it mentions, unless someone beats me to it. One of the tailwaters flows through downtown Atlanta.
Fish more, work less!
The Chattahoochee runs through Atlanta and is loaded with trout. A friend of mine is a guide there. Here’s his website:
[url=http://www.riverthroughatlanta.com:54a77]www.riverthroughatlanta.com[/url:54a77]
North Georgia has some good streams as well.
Here’s another good site to check out:
[url=http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/ngto/:516bd]http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/ngto/[/url:516bd]
I lived in Atlanta for 17 years, so I know what I’m telling you is true.
A lot of issues living in Atlanta is where in the area you live. From the North side of the area, it’s a good drive to a lot of good fishing. From the South side, it TAKES FOREVER to find some good water.
Like it’s been said, the 'Hooch runs through Atlanta and, at times, it can be great fishing. Just remember that it is a BIG tailwater. Most springs and falls, it’s unfishable because of high and muddy water. I never fished it without a float tube. If the river comes up, it comes up FAST. It can be very dangerous. BE CAREFULL!!
There are also Stripers that run up from West Point Lake in the spring. If the water is clear and you have a boat, the fishing can be unreal.
There are lots of places to fish in North Georgia. There is a book out that is a great resource. I think it’s called “Fly Fishing North Georgia” or something like that. It’s small, green cover with an old time fisherman on the cover.
Feel free to email me if you want more info.
Ken
Get a copy of the current Fly Fishing magazine It has an article on the Chatahoochee Tailwater.
The record Rainbow trout for Georgia was caught there only a couple of years ago something about 18Lbs.
an hour north of Atlanta your in the N Georgia Mountains lot of small mountain trout opportunities. Places like Dukes Creek in Smithgall Woods State park Catch and release only trophy fishing. 11 fishermen only twice daily, free fishing for a $2 parking fee. Toccoa River in Blueridge area. Another Great Tailwater.
And another hour north of there puts you into the Great Smokey Mountain National Park. With More trout opportunities and all public land access.
I’d say if you’ve got the desire to fly fish for trout in the Atlanta area It’s for sure here.
[This message has been edited by mmarkey (edited 17 June 2005).]
One thing about Dukes Creek in Smithgall Woods, they feed the trout up there. I fished it a couple of times when I lived there. You see these MASSIVE trout laying in the pools, but unless you catch it just right, they will be loaded down with trout chow. Not my idea of real fishing.
Noontoola (sp) creek is really great. It’s a wild trout stream and has some nice fish in it.
I caught the GA state record brookie up there a few years ago. I did not have a camera and no way to prove what I’d done. So, that fish may still be swimming around!!!
Enjoy!!!
Ken
I used to fish the top end of the Chattahoochee River at the public Helen WMA Federal Park in the Chattahoochee National Forest. Stockers there mostly. I also fished the public Wildcat Creek in Wildcat State Park (eastern Towns County) and also Ruby Falls State Park (near Helen). Stockers at these public parks also. Fodder Creek has some portions that are public and some private(check before fishing that creek). Some wild trout and some stockers on Fodder Creek depending on where you go. I would suggest fishing this creek around Bald Mountain Park (the upper end near the Chattahoochee National Forest was great when I was there). I had to get permission to fish wild trout streams as water is owned in Georgia unless it was a public park or other public area. Most of the streams/creeks I am familiar with are in Towns County near Hiawassee north of Atlanta. I never fished a trophy trout stream up there. Most were too expensive for my taste. Have fun. Great fishing up there 
.
I heard when I was up there that there is some pretty good fishing on Lake Barton near Wildcat State Park. Worth a look . I wouldn’t think the fishing on Lake Chattuge (if I spelled it right, biggest lake in Towns County) is very good as they used to change the water levels on it too often.
Robert B. McCorquodale
Sebring, FL
“Flip a fly”
[This message has been edited by dixieangler (edited 17 June 2005).]
We shut down and secured all borders in Georgia. Sorry, no more yankee transplants.
California, now that’s a place for troutfishing yankees! Ever seen those beautiful mountains and the size of those fish? That’s why Jed Clampett really moved there.
Trout fishing here is modest at best. The streams in Georgia are not particularly fertile, we do not have the right minerals, and hatches are modest when you find them. There are a few big fish in the state that are not pellet fed, mostly in the hooch and in lakes (there will be the occasional exception), they are feeding on small fish, crawdads, and acquatic sources other than insects. Fish are not as tuned in on insects and ahtch cycles here as they are in western streams because we don’t have the insects and hatches here like out there. Attractors are more successful than other flies. NC streams are relatively more fertile. The streams in AR, such as the White, are much more fertile, have huge insect populations such as sowbugs that feed a higher population density, and produce more big fish per stream mile than any stream in GA is capable of producing. The hollow representations of “more miles of trout stream” etc. are meaningless when they are stocked and the fish are fed.
I traveled extensivley and then lived out west for a while, and it significanlty quelled my enthusiasm/interest in the streams of the SE. It ain’t the western US.
Someone will prolly come along and post a picture of a big fish from Georgia, but catching pellet fed fish from a pay to play place isn’t my thing.
When you are told things on the net, you need to know the foundation fo the knowledge. I am a multigenerational, native, Georgian and have fished it statewide, and have friends and relatives in N. GA with private water. I’ve fished far and wide outside GA and the US too.
[This message has been edited by Rawthumb (edited 18 June 2005).]
[This message has been edited by Rawthumb (edited 18 June 2005).]
Thanks for all the great comments and links. I will work through them in the next few days, but it does allay my fears of having to give up fishing!
(Rawthumb: Although I am living in the NE, I don’t really consider myself a Yankee. I orinally come from a lot further South than Georgia - South Africa.)
In addition to trout, there are also lots of South Africans in Atlanta! I work with two of them.
Apparently, Atlanta (and Dallas) are the favorite cities of transplanted South Africans.
You may also want to check out both this months and last months Fly Fisherman magazine. They both have articles on fishing the Atlanta, NC, TN areas.
There’s also this place:
[url=http://www.blackhawkflyfishing.com/:2036b]http://www.blackhawkflyfishing.com/[/url:2036b]
Wow, some serious fish there! Thanks for the info.
Those fish on the Soque are hand fed. There are several places up there that do that.
There is no way a “river” like that can support fish like they have in thier photos.
I don’t agree with it, but if it’s your thing, have at it.
Ken
Absolutely, those fish as pellet fed. As stated above, for the most part, GA streams are not fertile enough to support fish like that. And the Soquee is not very big.
There is a stretch of the Chattahoochee in Helen and another stream with fed fish too. Bragging about the fish caught there is kind of like someone going to a brothel and then bragging about being a lady’s man.
NOW THAT’S FUNNY!!!
There is a stretch of the Chattahoochee in Helen and another stream with fed fish too. Bragging about the fish caught there is kind of like someone going to a brothel and then bragging about being a lady’s man.
I am certainly not bragging about it. Just letting folks know what’s there. Little fish in little streams (most public streams are stocked unless they are private wild trout streams). Consider the source when catching fish there . When I first started to fish up there I thought the local folks were joking. Fish that small are used for bait down in Florida . I still had fun . Some fishing is better than no fishing.
I used to fish the top end of the Chattahoochee River at the public Helen WMA Federal Park in the Chattahoochee National Forest. Stockers there mostly.
[img]http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/biggrin.gif[/img]
Robert B. McCorquodale
Sebring, FL
“Flip a fly”
[This message has been edited by dixieangler (edited 22 June 2005).]
I’m talking about catching big pellet-fed fish in small streams and then bragging about it as if it is some great fishing accomplishment.
As I stated before, it is like going to a brothel and then bragging. Totally superficial.