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Lake Blue Ridge
Lake Blue Ridge is a 3,300-acre TVA reservoir located in Fannin County, in the northern portion of Georgia. The lake is fed primarily by the Toccoa River. Blue Ridge was created by the completion of Blue Ridge Dam in 1930. The lake level fluctuates by about 20 feet from winter drawdown to full pool in a typical year. The Toccoa tailrace below Blue Ridge offers very good trout fishing, although much of the riverbank is private in this stretch.
Lake Blue Ridge Resources
Blue Ridge: Level: 9.2 feet low 1686. Temp: 57-64 degrees. Clarity: From clear to stained. Bass: Eric Welch, of Welch’s Guide Service, reports, “Fishing has been good. Water temps are coming up, along with the water level, and the spawn is just around the corner. This time of year, I will normally start my mornings out fishing the main body of the lake looking for areas where the spotted and smallmouth bass will spawn, focusing on long, rocky points and pebble-rock banklines. I’m looking and fishing depths from 6 to 18 feet deep. My prespawn baits are a 3.5-inch tube, Ned rig, jig and a small Carolina rig with a 5-inch lizard. I will also throw a small jerkbait, swimbait and squarebill crankbait. Once the sun gets up good and you can see good in the water, I will start running pockets where largemouth will spawn. They normally will be in…
Read MoreLake Blue Ridge Fishing Articles
“Let’s pull up here and really fish this hole a minute,” said David Hulsey, manager of Unicoi Outfitters’ Blue Ridge fly shop, while leaning back on the oars to slow the drift boat and drop anchor. The anchor plopped quietly into the water and skidded to a halt as we slid up next to a…
The white bass population has declined rapidly at Lake Blue Ridge since the illegal introduction of blueback herring, but there are still a few left in the lake. A decade ago, there were some trophy white bass in Blue Ridge, including the largest ever recorded from Blue Ridge that was caught in 2008. Jesse Mckeral,…
There is just something special about fishing for walleye on a moon-lit night at Blue Ridge Lake. Ever since I was a child I remember casting a doll fly across the rip-rap rocks at the dam. The moon would rise to my back, and the water would glisten with every ripple of wind. I would cast…
The winds of change are blowing at Blue Ridge Lake, and all it takes to put together a mixed-bag string of hefty smallmouth bass, spots and large- mouths is to let the wind take you to the fish. On an April morning, that’s exactly what north-Georgia angler Heath Pack, of Morganton, and I did, let…
What is faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and is able to leap several feet out of the water with a single bound? If you guessed Superman, thanks for playing. Enjoy your parting gifts. What I’m talking about is a Georgia fishing treasure: the smallmouth bass. A largemouth is a sneak…
Blue Ridge Lake Records
| Largemouth Bass | 11-lbs., 10.7-ozs. | Nathan Lewis | 02/01/05 |
| Smallmouth Bass | 6-lbs., 14-ozs. | Jim Ezell | 05/15/98 |
| Spotted Bass | 6-lbs., 4-ozs. | Kevin Hoek | 03/04/17 |
| White Bass | 3-lbs., 6.72-ozs. | Jesse McKeral | 03/22/08 |
| Flathead Catfish | 44-lbs. | Leon Reavis | 07/06/70 |
| Muskellunge | 38-lbs.* | Rube Golden | 06/57 |
| Walleye | 9-lbs., 4-ozs. | Greg Bergman | 01/07/01 |
| Yellow Perch | 1-lb., 14.4-ozs. | Scott Sliter | 02/13/07 |
| Brown Trout | 9-lbs., 4.8-ozs. | Nathan Lewis | 12/07/16 |
| Rainbow Trout | 5-lbs., 2.08-ozs. | Nathan Stuart | 05/03/07 |