Lake Chatuge Mountain Bass In February

Mitchell Grimsley grew up fishing the reservoirs in the north Georgia mountains, and he’s now guiding on Chatuge and Burton while pursuing and continuing success on the bass tournament circuits.

It seems counterintuitive to go north in the winter to catch bass, but Lake Chatuge largemouth and spots are moving from winter holes to prespawn structure and cover, and they offer great catching opportunities. February is a good month to land your personal best largemouth or spot on Chatuge.

Chatuge is a 7,000-acre, 13-mile-long TVA lake with about 132 miles of shoreline. The North Carolina state line cuts the lake in half, but your Georgia fishing license is good all over the lake.

Surrounded by the Blue Ridge mountains, Lake Chatuge is deep and rocky. But there are many shallow flats back in creeks and coves that offer good spawning places for largemouth. Spotted bass spawn on the flats and also on humps and points that have gravel bottoms.

There are several good launching ramps on the lake, but the most-used one is in Hiawassee at the Georgia Mountains Fairgrounds. Cabins and houses with docks line much of the shoreline.  There are also miles of natural banks with cover like blowdowns and rockpiles.

The rocky structure, clear water and illegal introduction of blueback herring made the spotted bass population explode, both in numbers and size, in the late 1990s.

Those things helped decimate the smallmouth population. Although the Georgia record smallmouth, a 7-lb., 2-oz. monster caught by Jack Hall in 1972, came from Chatuge, you are unlikely to catch a smallmouth of any size now.

There is still a decent population of largemouth, as an early January pot tournament showed. Weighed in were three largemouth over 6 pounds and eight over 4 pounds. And 3- to 4-lb. spots are common. The lake-record spotted bass is a 6-lb., 13.8-oz. fish.

Mitchell Grimsley grew up 10 minutes from the lake and got into bass fishing in high school. He and Will Harkins then teamed up on the Young Harris College fishing team and did well. Now Mitchell guides on both Chatuge and Lake Burton, and he fishes local tournaments and the ABA trail. He plans on fishing the BASS Opens next year with a goal of qualifying for the Elite Series.

“I keep my bait choices simple and look for feeding fish in February,” Mitchell said.

A crankbait, A-rig, jig and shaky head cover most of his fishing scenarios for Lake Chatuge in February. When he wants to LiveScope for suspended fish, which is always a good tactic on deep, clear lakes like Chatuge, Mitchell rigs a soft minnow imitation on a jig head.

We fished the following 10 locations in early January and caught bass on several of them. The best locations on that cold, clear, calm day a few weeks ago will be best in early February, and the others will get better later in the month as the water warms.

No. 1: N 34º 56.410 – W 83º 47.633 — Go into Long Bullet Creek, and go to the left into the big bay on that side. As you turn into the bay, you will see a danger marker off the bank. A small point comes out between two docks, and then the point rises up to a rockpile that is well off the bank.

Stop a long cast off the danger marker and fish all around the marker and the rocks there. This is the kind of place where some bass feed all winter, and it will also attract others as they go to spawning areas in the cove to the left and right. It is good all month.

Mitchell starts with a crankbait, bumping the rocks to draw a bite from an active fish. He likes a dark-brown Rock Crawler, but he will switch colors based on how bass hit it. If they are lip-hooked or if he feels bumps and does not hook up, he will go to a brighter color. And he usually reels it steadily, but he will change speeds and action based on conditions.

Start on the left side of the marker and fish to the right. Keep your boat in about 15 feet of water. The rocks run to the right from the marker, so cover the entire area. A little breeze blowing in on the rocks helps the bass bite better.

If the fish are active and you are seeing swirls and movement, try your A-rig. If the fish do not seem to be chasing bait, slow down with a shaky head.

No. 2: N 34º 58.346 – W 83º 46.385 — Go across the mouth of Long Bullet Creek to the ramp in the Chatuge Woods campground. Stop out in 10 feet of water to the left of the ramp, and you will be on a small ledge that parallels the bank. Bass hold on the small drop and feed as they move into the creek to spawn.

Cast parallel to the bank, fishing to the right. Run a crankbait along the drop. Mitchell likes to fish along it rather than across it. Bump the bottom with your crankbait, and then follow up with a shaky head. Concentrate on any rocks you find on the drop.

No. 3: N 34º 58.982 – W 83º 48.197 — There is a small cove on the end of the big campground point between Long Bullet and Woods Creeks. The point on the upstream side of the cove is shallow and runs way out. There are patches of gravel and brushpiles on this point where the bass feed.

Start on the upstream side and fish all the way around the point, keeping your boat in about 15 feet of water and casting to 5 feet deep or so. Drag a shaky head or jig on the bottom. Probe for cover like rocks and brushpiles that might hold a fish. When you find a brushpile, make repeated casts to it.

Mitchell pours his own shaky heads and uses a 3/16-oz. head most of the time. He puts a green-pumpkin Senko on it and drags and hops it along the bottom.

No. 4: N 34º 58.707 – W 83º 46.673 — Going into Bell Creek, a big island separates it from Sneaking Creek. Past the island, the first point on your left is one of the best holes on the lake. It is a flat point with a good drop into the creek channel, and it has rocks on it.

Stop on the downstream side in about 18 feet of water.  Cast a crankbait, shaky head or jig up into about 5 feet of water and fish them back to the boat. Keep the jig and shaky head on the bottom down to 15 feet deep.

Stay on the downstream side and work the point from right on the bank out to the 15-foot depth where it drops into deeper water. This point is worth several visits during the day since it is one of the first stops bass use moving into the creek to spawn.

No. 5: N 34º 58.511 – W 83º 46.463 — Going upstream around the point from hole 4, there is a pole with an arrow pointer on top that sits on a shallow point. It has gravel patches on it where spotted bass spawn, and both species feed here. There are big boulders on the point out in deeper water where bass hold when moving into the pocket behind it.

Fish all over the shallow point with your crankbait and bottom-bumping baits. Watch your electronics for the big boulders, and drag your jig and shaky head on them. Mitchell likes a locally made jig from C&J Mountain Outfitters. He prefers a brown 3/16-oz. to 1/4-oz. jig paired with a matching brown Zoom Speed Craw on it.

Both species of bass love crawfish this time of year, and the boulders are a good place for them to feed. A jig will match the crawfish they are eating, so fish your jig with drags and hops.

No 6: N 34º 58.586 – W 83º 46.292 — If you want to look for suspended fish to target, the ditch running out between the island and the shallow point is a good one. Bass move up it to the spawning areas back around the docks in the cove to the left and upstream into Reed Branch.

Mitchell looks for suspended fish on his forward-facing sonar and casts a tungsten head 1/4-oz. Dirty Jig with a Zoom Super Fluke Jr on it. He says if he sees a fish down 15 feet or deeper, he will cast past the fish and let his jig sink to about 10 feet above it. He works the bait back over the fish, twitching it constantly. He said spots in the clear water will come up at least 10 feet to eat a jig, and I watched several, including a spot pushing 3 pounds, do just that.

If you don’t want to scope, fish the blowdowns on the island—bass will run in to them to feed. Work them with crankbait, shaky head and jig.

No. 7: N 34º 57.995 – W 83º 45.247 — Go up Bell Creek until it opens up and you see the Highway 75 bridge to your right. To your left, all the way across the big bay a small island sits just off the bank and there are two danger markers on a rockpile on the creek side of it.

Stop out in 20 feet of water and ease in, casting your crankbait ahead toward the marker until you start bumping the rocks. The water level is usually down this month, and if that’s the case, you can see the rocks. Bump the rocks that are 5 to 10 feet deep with your crankbait. Cast all around the outside of the rockpile, and then fish all sides of the one closest to the island.

Follow up with your shaky head and jig. Work the bottom, bumping rocks with both baits. Sunny days may make the bass move up more shallow, and some wind blowing on the rocks makes the bite much better. Fish the rocks and any wood you find.

No. 8: N 34º 52.112 – W 83º 44.969 — Go around the island, and another rockpile is on the upstream side. There is another pole with an arrow on it. Fish all around it like the ones in hole 7. Like the rocks on the other side of the island, spots and largemouth feed here as they move to the flats in the back of the creek to spawn.

Watch your crankbait as it approaches the boat for following bass, and also watch for other bass going after one you are reeling in.

Paying attention helped Mitchell catch several fish here. He hooked a keeper largemouth on the back side of the rockpile and saw a 4-lb. spot trying to take the crankbait away from it.

The way the largemouth ate his crankbait and seeing the spot told him the fish were active, so he picked up his A-rig and caught several spots and largemouth. Mitchell likes the Georgia Blade Yumbrella A-rig and puts a variety of sizes and colors of soft baits on it. Knowing when to speed up and when to slow down in critical this month when fishing an A-rig.

No. 9: N 34º 58.236 – W 83º 44.798 — Upper Bell Creek goes past the island, and an old roadbed comes off the left bank, running out very shallow across the shallow flat. Bass feed and spawn on rocks all over the flat. Go up until you see a danger marker in the middle of the creek. It is on big rocks surrounded by smaller rocks that you should see if the water is still down a few feet.

Stay out in 10 feet of water and fan cast this flat with your crankbait and A-rig. Spots and largemouth roam this flat feeding until it is time to spawn.  Big rocks can concentrate and hold bass, but fish can be anywhere on the flat, so cover water with moving baits.

Mitchell caught his personal best spot here, a 6-lb. monster. This huge flat can take a long time to cover, so plan on spending some time here. And always watch for active fish—swirls in the water and schools of baitfish moving on the flat.

No. 10: N 34º 58.025 – W 83º 45.798 — Go back out of Bell Creek until it starts to narrow. To your right, the last dock on that bank is on the upstream side of a ditch that runs way out to the channel. The ditch does not show much on the bank, but a good map or GPS will show it.

This is a place to throw your jig and fluke to find suspended bass. They follow baitfish up and down this ditch feeding on them all day. Watch for bass with FFS, and cast past them and work your jig over them.

These holes are good right now and will get better as the water warms. Check them out to see how Mitchell finds February Chatuge spots and largemouth.

You can contact Mitchell for a guide trip to see exactly how he fishes by calling or texting him at 706.970.0971 or at https://yourlakechatugefishingguide.com.

Mitchell will also do electronics instruction, and he posts how-to videos on his Instagram at mitchellgrimsley-fishing.

An A-rig can be very effective on Lake Chatuge in February, especially if you see swirls or other signs of feeding bass.