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Lake Chatuge

Lake Chatuge is a TVA reservoir on the Hiwassee River that was created by the construction of Chatuge Dam, which was completed in 1942. The dam is located in western North Carolina, and the lake extends southeast into Georgia around the city of Hiawassee.

Lake Chatuge Resources

Lake Chatuge Fishing Report – April 2025

By GON Staff | March 27, 2025

Chatuge: Level: 5.1 feet below 1925. Temp: 48-51 degrees. Clarity: Clear. Bass: Eric Welch, of Welch’s Guide Service, reports, “Fishing has been good. The lake level is coming up, and on these sunny days, the baitfish are getting active, which means we’re starting to see some bass breaking on top, so you want to make sure you keep an Ima Stix and a Berkley Cane Walker on the front deck of the boat. We’ve still been catching fish on a jig-head minnow. I will watch their reaction, and if they don’t act like they want it, I will switch to a drop shot. As the weeks go on, I will target spawning banks and flats for spotted bass with a 3.5-inch tube and a Ned rig. They can not resist this coming through their bedding areas. Just take your time in these areas and work it over pretty well. Spotted bass…

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Lake Chatuge Fishing Articles

Lake Chatuge Bass Tournament To Benefit Veterans

Fishermen can honor our veterans and those on active duty while enjoying a day fishing on Lake Chatuge for big money and prizes. The Lake Chatuge ‘Reelin’ It In For Vets’ fishing tournament will be held Nov. 2. The team event entry fee is $200 per team, which includes tournament entry, Big Fish pot and…

Lake Chatuge Hybrids Are Back

There is a secret in the north Georgia mountains. Few anglers are aware that Lake Chatuge is full of 6- to 8-lb. hybrid bass. They are hungry, they are in tight schools under baitfish right now, and you can catch 30 to 50 of them in a few hours all summer long. Filled in 1942,…

Mitchell Grimsley: Chatuge Bass Tourney

Mitchell Grimsley is a 15-year-old sophomore at Towns County High School where he competes on the high school fishing team. Mitchell’s GON Blog centers around his fishing outings and tournament experiences in north Georgia. Georgia Bass Nation Trail held a tournament on Lake Chatuge in Hiawassee on Nov. 24.  The main target for most tournament…

Top BASS Pros Fish Chatuge

If you read Caz Anderson’s recent Lake Chatuge Map-of-the-Month article and also followed the BASS Angler of the Year tournament on-line or in person on Sept. 20-23, you saw Caz was spot-on for patterns and baits. The pros put their own special talents to finding bass and catching them, but they used the types of…

Lake Chatuge Bass Mapped For September

The same reasons Lake Chatuge is a good choice for the prestigious BASS Angler of the Year Championship this month makes it a good choice for Georgia anglers in September. The deep, clear lake is ringed with mountains and is very scenic. Even better, its shallows have a good population of quality largemouth, while big…

Lake Chatuge Record Fish

Largemouth Bass16-lbs., 11-ozs.David Presely03/27/1976
Smallmouth7-lbs., 2-ozs.Jack Hall03/28/1973
Spotted Bass6-lbs., 13.8-ozs.James Dean10/11/03
Hybrid Bass25-lbs., 8-ozs.David C. Hobby05/01/1995
Walleye9-lbs., 4-ozs.Carol Owenby04/07/1991
Black Crappie2-lbs., 3-ozs.Dillon Phillips03/31/24
Rainbow Trout2-lbs., 8.5-ozs.Walker Ross06/23/2012
Yellow Perch1-lb., 2.24-ozs.Mark McClure04/19/2021

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Lake Allatoona

Lake Allatoona is a 12,010-acre reservoir in the north Atlanta suburbs located primarily in Bartow and Cherokee counties. The major tributaries are the Etowah and Little rivers and Allatoona and Stamp creeks, although numerous other creeks flow into the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers impoundment. Allatoona is known as a good lake for catching numbers of spotted bass, and it's also known for good striped bass and hybrid bass. Allatoona is a very busy lake for recreational boaters during the summer, when many bass anglers opt to fish at night.

Allatoona Links

Lake Allatoona Fishing Report – April 2025

By GON Staff | March 26, 2025

Allatoona: Level: 4.5 feet below 840. Temp: 58-61 degrees. Clarity: Stained. Bass: Tournament angler Matt Driver reports, “Allatoona is on fire this month. The month of April is when bass are in all phases of the spawn. Most of the largemouth will spawn this month. Some spotted bass began to spawn at the end of March. Red clay and pea-gravel banks have been the best areas to target for large spots. The majority of largemouth have moved shallow and are either close to spawning or staging nearby. The jerkbait, ChatterBait and squarebilled crankbait have been very productive. It’s hard to beat a shaky-head worm or Carolina-rigged lizard. There have been some phenomenal fish caught recently. This is the month you fish the way you like to fish. Pretty much all patterns will be successful. Make sure to take a kid fishing and enjoy the warm spring weather.” Linesides: Guide Robert…

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Lake Allatoona Fishing Articles

12 Pound Lake Allatoona Bass Likely From WRD Stocking Program

Jonathan Ray considers Lake Lanier his home lake, but the Ball Ground resident likes to venture to Lake Allatoona several times each year. He plans to go to the Stamp Creek section of the lake a lot more in the future. All Jonathan did was what all bass fishermen dream of but what few accomplish.…

Lake Allatoona Spawn Season Bass

Spotted bass, largemouth and shad are all spawning this month on Allatoona, and anglers can catch bass by keying on the different spawning areas for each species. If you want to have fun and catch a bunch of fish, target spots. If quality fish are your goal, look for bedding largemouth. And when the shad…

Lake Allatoona Water Safety Efforts Lead To National Award

An estimated 4,000 people drown to death each year in the United States. Of those deaths, more than 50% could have been prevented if those victims had been wearing a life jacket. That’s where Travis England steps in. England, a public affairs specialist at Lake Lanier and a former park ranger at Lake Allatoona, coordinated…

Popular Country DJ, James “Moby” Carney, Dies

James “Moby” Carney, a popular country music radio DJ with strong ties to the Georgia outdoor community, died Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023, at age 69. Moby had battled stage 4 stomach cancer. The GON Community got to know Moby not just from his morning show on Kicks 101.5 from 1991 to 2012, but also through…

5-Foot Allatoona Gar Almost Breaks State Record

The record for longnose gar on Lake Allatoona was smashed last week by angler Caleb McClure. The huge fish was just shy of 5 feet long and weighed 27.25 pounds. Caleb caught the gar while fishing with his friend Trent Hall. “We were fishing right next to Sweetwater Campground in an area that we knew…

Allatoona Lake Records

Largemouth Bass16-lbs., 9-ozs.Greg Rymer08/31/82
Spotted Bass7-lbs., 11-ozs.George Clark11/18/74
Hybrid Bass13-lbs., 9.5-ozs.Danny Alsobrook02/07/90
Striped Bass42-lbs.Clint Hight02/15/02
Black Crappie3-lbs., 7.36-ozs.Corey Harmon03/05/22
White Bass3-lbs., 2-ozs.Darrell Baxter05/15/94
Flathead Catfish35-lbs., 10.88-ozs.Sandy Sanders06/20/08
Blue Catfish52-lbs., 1-oz.Aaron Churchwell10/27/20
Tiger Trout2-lbs., 12.8-ozs.Bob Geresti02/01/18
Yellow Perch1-lb., 1.44-ozs.David Brewer12/02/23
White Crappie3-lbs., 4.24-ozs.Cody Hopkins02/10/22
Longnose Gar27-lbs., 4-ozs.Caleb McClure06/24/23
Shellcracker2-lbs., 5-ozs.Dan Huizinga04/20/24
Redbreast10-ozs.Dan Huizinga08/03/24