Largemouth Sets Chattahoochee River Record

As a native of Stone Mountain, I’ve been fishing many of the local lakes and reservoirs for 50+ years. I am primarily a bass fisherman and fished the larger impoundments from a boat, but since purchasing a sit-on-top fishing kayak a few years ago, a lot of opportunities have opened up that are difficult to access with a bigger boat.

The Chattahoochee River in particular has become my favorite destination as there are nine places I can put in within 10 miles of my home in Sandy Springs. The trout fishing is phenomenal, and there are some nice largemouth, spotted and shoal bass too if you work for them.      

Don Anderson with the new record largemouth bass from the Chattahoochee River stretch between Morgan Falls and Buford dams. Don’s bass weighed 6-lbs., 12-ozs.

On this day, Feb. 28, 2021, I put in at the kayak ramp above Morgan Falls in the Bull Sluice section of the Chattahoochee. From there I went upstream about a half-mile into what is locally referred to as Lawyer’s Lake. The river was at the lowest level I’ve ever been on it in this section, and the water was only a few inches deep in some areas going upstream into the lake. Even my sit-on-top kayak was scrapping the bottom. It was a beautiful warm day for the end of February and the weather had been in the 70s for several days, so I had high hopes.  

When I got up in the lake, I started throwing a jig with a plastic crawfish trailer and a fairly big chartreuse spinnerbait. I fished for about 2 hours without a bite until I caught a nice 3+ pound largemouth on the jig. After releasing that fish, I fished for about another hour without a bite until I got a hit on the spinnerbait. After a short fight, I got the fish in the kayak, and I knew it would break the 5-lb., 9-oz. record for that stretch of the Chattahoochee.

This was almost the big one that got away, as when the fish first hit, my drag was set very loose and the fish dove down into some stick-ups. Over the winter I always back off on the drags of my 40+-year-old Zebco Cardinal spinning reels, and I had forgotten to adjust it when I headed out to go fishing… rookie mistake. Fortunately, I was able to quickly adjust the drag to get her up and into the boat. My digital scale read 6-lbs., 11-ozs., and the fish later weighed 6-lbs., 12-ozs. on the certified scales at Wilkes Meat market. 

I was running an action camera when I caught the fish and posted a copy of the video on YouTube and on the GON Forum in the Freshwater Fishing section.

I would like to thank GON for the time and effort they put into maintaining the Lake and River Records for Georgia. I have taken the time to study the records in the waters I fish and pretty much know off the top of my head the weights that will qualify for a record. The list is also online and you can check it from a smartphone. 

Chattahoochee River Records