# Fishing for Eel in GA



## Youngp (Sep 4, 2011)

Hey. I love to eat those eels. I'm looking for a spot to fish them. Does anybody know a good spot near Atlanta? I heard that anywhere on Savannah river but I'd like to know a specific spot I can catch eels and do all night fishing legally. I'd appreciate any tips. Thanks in advance.


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## Twenty five ought six (Sep 4, 2011)

You need to fish below the dams on the major rivers.  There may be a few eels above the dams, but not enough to target.

The Altamaha has a good population. It used to have a commercial fishery for them.


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## flatheadfisherman (Sep 4, 2011)

I have never fished the Savannah River but I catch eels in the Altamaha River. I usually fish two kind of spots. First, is a fish cleaning station. Eels will hang out downstream of an area like this especially close to cover. Second, I like to fish very close to shaded banks. Water with lots of cover, snags, etc with some good depth(over 10 feet). 
Also, in the St. Johns river(Florida where I live), I fish close to a long bridge that spans 3 miles. I fish under the bridge in 10-14 foot of water close to cover. Just dropping small cut bait or worms down on the bottom. 

I guess good cover is the number one thing I look for. Good luck in where you are fishing.


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## Youngp (Sep 4, 2011)

Twenty five ought six said:


> You need to fish below the dams on the major rivers.  There may be a few eels above the dams, but not enough to target.
> 
> The Altamaha has a good population. It used to have a commercial fishery for them.



wow. Thanks for quick responses from everybody. I have never been at Altamaha river but I don't mind driving for try. Can u give me a specific location (name of park etc.)? Is there any dam I can go fish below? I need some clues. Thanks again


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## dadsbuckshot (Sep 4, 2011)

If you catch some  - post up the pictures. I have never caught and eel and would like to know how and see the results.


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## bpoulin (Sep 4, 2011)

I bet the Ocmulgee and Oconee river have them, but how far up is the question, I don't know how many dams are along the rivers, I've only fished portions of them.


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## Backlasher82 (Sep 4, 2011)

We used to pick up a few on the Oconee when we were catfishing around Barnett Shoals but that was quite a few years ago, don't know if they're still there or not.


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## Twenty five ought six (Sep 5, 2011)

Youngp said:


> wow. Thanks for quick responses from everybody. I have never been at Altamaha river but I don't mind driving for try. Can u give me a specific location (name of park etc.)? Is there any dam I can go fish below? I need some clues. Thanks again



I may have been misleading about the dams.  The dams cut off the eels up river migration. I don't know of any dam that has good eel fishing below it.  I used to catch eels in slack water, and I doubt that there are very many right below dams.

Flatheadfisherman pretty well describes it.  We used to catch them (not intentionally for sure) with red wigglers fished on the bottom in slack water (Altamaha) behind sandbars, or where the eddy water opened into the river. I don't ever remember catching one where there was much current.  They were definitely a by catch, and so I don't have any hot spots to recommend.

I guess if I was going to target them, I'd go to Altamaha Park or Two Way Fish Camp (especially) and ask around.  If anyone is still trapping them, you probably can get some good info.


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## bpoulin (Sep 5, 2011)

This was an interesting read, maybe it'll be helpful. Catching Eel


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## OneCrazyGeek (Sep 5, 2011)

Back when all I could do was eat, drink and think fishing. I was a hardcore GON reader and if my feeble memory serves me correctly there were a couple articles about eels.

I think there was one about eels in lake Seminole, something about an under ground spring creek which came into Seminole. It seems it was marked on the lake where it came in. If you leave Wingates going down stream it was on the left. There was something about people catching eels and using them as stripper bait.

The other article was something about an exotic/asian type eel, which were great breeders. I "think" they could survice out of the water for a period of time. So in theory a dam would not stop them from migrating upstream.
Again from weak memory, they had made it above Morgan Falls dam, into Bull Sluice(?) and into the small ponds at the Chattahoochee Nature center. Some of those big bass in the ponds took care of some of them but not all. 

Have not seen anything written on them in a while, but have not followed nature stuff as I did in the past.

Sorry for rambling, but this might stir some ones memory.


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## Backlasher82 (Sep 5, 2011)

OneCrazyGeek said:


> There was something about people catching eels and using them as stripper bait.



Don't believe all those stories.

There is only one surefire stripper bait. It is green and has $$$ signs on it.


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## zappaddles (Sep 5, 2011)

*Altamaha dams???*

There are no dams on the Altamaha River. It's the 2nd or 3rd largest undamed river on the east coast and is wild and beautiful.
Zap


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## crokseti (Sep 6, 2011)

Saw em tryin to migrate up the spillway at Jackson  a few years back. Never seen so many.


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## BradMyers (Sep 6, 2011)

Youngp said:


> Hey. I love to eat those eels. I'm looking for a spot to fish them. Does anybody know a good spot near Atlanta? I heard that anywhere on Savannah river but I'd like to know a specific spot I can catch eels and do all night fishing legally. I'd appreciate any tips. Thanks in advance.


You heard right, Augusta is the place to be that I know I can always score on them line twisters. If you go to the boat house down at river watch and fish off the docks you can catch all you want. I've caught quite a few fishing for cats. 

I remember one year the drag boats were running there & the TV crew was taping the event when a big storm blew up. The winds knocked a 6 figure camrea off the dock and the dive team had to go recover it, but that didn't go well. Seems a eel the size of a Conger had taken up to the electronic device  and wasn't gonna give it up to no Texas boy, a Georgia boy had to do the recovery.


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## fishndinty (Sep 6, 2011)

flatheadfisherman said:


> I have never fished the Savannah River but I catch eels in the Altamaha River. I usually fish two kind of spots. First, is a fish cleaning station. Eels will hang out downstream of an area like this especially close to cover. Second, I like to fish very close to shaded banks. Water with lots of cover, snags, etc with some good depth(over 10 feet).
> Also, in the St. Johns river(Florida where I live), I fish close to a long bridge that spans 3 miles. I fish under the bridge in 10-14 foot of water close to cover. Just dropping small cut bait or worms down on the bottom.
> 
> I guess good cover is the number one thing I look for. Good luck in where you are fishing.




The Buckman bridge!  I remember fishing there when I was a little kid...you never knew WHAT you might catch...Caught bass, redfish, snook, catfish, crappie, bluegill, and a baby shark once!!


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## jmfauver (Sep 7, 2011)

BradMyers said:


> You heard right, Augusta is the place to be that I know I can always score on them line twisters. If you go to the boat house down at river watch and fish off the docks you can catch all you want. I've caught quite a few fishing for cats.



I fish the Savannah all the time.I fish right below the Lock and Dam behind the airport.we find that when the water is muddy we catch a ton of eel's...We catch them on everything from liver to cut bait to worms,makes no difference to them...Only issue is the park is not open at night.....


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## Youngp (Sep 7, 2011)

*Augusta eels*



BradMyers said:


> You heard right, Augusta is the place to be that I know I can always score on them line twisters. If you go to the boat house down at river watch and fish off the docks you can catch all you want. I've caught quite a few fishing for cats.
> 
> I remember one year the drag boats were running there & the TV crew was taping the event when a big storm blew up. The winds knocked a 6 figure camrea off the dock and the dive team had to go recover it, but that didn't go well. Seems a eel the size of a Conger had taken up to the electronic device  and wasn't gonna give it up to no Texas boy, a Georgia boy had to do the recovery.



Hey. Thanks for Info. Can u give me more details about the location? Where is the boat house you mentioned? If you talking about one on Augusta Levee rd., I tried the place 2 weeks ago and didn't catch anything. only 2 babies I had to let go. Was it just bad luck? Can u just tell me the location? Probably it's a different one. Thanks again.


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## BradMyers (Sep 8, 2011)

Youngp said:


> Hey. Thanks for Info. Can u give me more details about the location? Where is the boat house you mentioned? If you talking about one on Augusta Levee rd., I tried the place 2 weeks ago and didn't catch anything. only 2 babies I had to let go. Was it just bad luck? Can u just tell me the location? Probably it's a different one. Thanks again.



That would be the right place. Trust me there are plenty there, just put some time into it.


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## flatheadfisherman (Sep 8, 2011)

fishndinty said:


> The Buckman bridge!  I remember fishing there when I was a little kid...you never knew WHAT you might catch...Caught bass, redfish, snook, catfish, crappie, bluegill, and a baby shark once!!



That's correct! During the summer when the river gets a little salty, I catch reds, flounder, trout. During the winter, I wear out the catfish. Cool about you catching a shark. Bet there is more in there than most people realize.


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## Eugene Stinson (Sep 8, 2011)

I have caught quite a few in lake Juliette right at the plant.


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