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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
Chatuge: Level: 0.5 over 1925. Temp: 81-83 degrees. Clarity: Clear. Bass: Guide Eric Welch, of Welch’s Guide Service, “Fishing has been good, but we are in need of some rain. The lake temps are getting up, and we still have two more months of hot weather. It’s that time of year when your forward-facing sonar units show how good of an investment they are. I start my mornings out looking for offshore brush and ditches. I’ll drop my trolling motor and scan around a few times, and if I see fish, then I will start using a drop shot with a 6-inch Roboworm or swimbait on a 1/4-oz. jig head. I will also throw a shaky head around these areas, but I’m also going to have a topwater lure tied on, like a Berkley Cane Walker, something I can make a long cast on breaking fish. These areas have been holding a…
Read MoreLake Chatuge Fishing Articles
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 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…
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…
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…
February is a great time to catch some big spots, but where should you go? Lanier, Carters and Allatoona probably come to mind as great spotted bass destinations, but there may be a better choice up on the North Carolina line. Lake Chatuge has a great population of big spots—and largemouth—and now is a good…
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Lake Chatuge Record Fish
| Largemouth Bass | 16-lbs., 11-ozs. | David Presely | 03/27/1976 |
| Smallmouth | 7-lbs., 2-ozs. | Jack Hall | 03/28/1973 |
| Spotted Bass | 6-lbs., 13.8-ozs. | James Dean | 10/11/03 |
| Hybrid Bass | 25-lbs., 8-ozs. | David C. Hobby | 05/01/1995 |
| Walleye | 9-lbs., 4-ozs. | Carol Owenby | 04/07/1991 |
| Black Crappie | 2-lbs., 3-ozs. | Dillon Phillips | 03/31/24 |
| Rainbow Trout | 2-lbs., 8.5-ozs. | Walker Ross | 06/23/2012 |
| Yellow Perch | 1-lb., 2.24-ozs. | Mark McClure | 04/19/2021 |
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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
Allatoona: Level: Full at 840. Temp: 80-85 degrees. Clarity: Clear. Bass: If history serves, July starts the month when bass fishing gets consistent until September. Expect lots of recreational traffic, so get on the water at the crack of day. You can still find a topwater bite first thing. You’ll want to look on high spots with deep-water access nearby. After the first hour, swimbaits and jerkbaits can work in these areas until mid-morning. By this time of day, most of the fish will drop off into deeper water and focus on some sort of structure. Bait in these areas will certainly help. Drop shots with finesse worms will work here. If you find some shallow fish hanging on wood cover, small crankbaits, spinnerbaits and finesse plastics can work on those fish. You’ll have to find areas with lighter boat traffic to find any sort of shallow bite. If you…
Read MoreLake Allatoona Fishing Articles
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.…
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…
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…
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…
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 Bass | 16-lbs., 9-ozs. | Greg Rymer | 08/31/82 |
| Spotted Bass | 7-lbs., 11-ozs. | George Clark | 11/18/74 |
| Hybrid Bass | 13-lbs., 9.5-ozs. | Danny Alsobrook | 02/07/90 |
| Striped Bass | 42-lbs. | Clint Hight | 02/15/02 |
| Black Crappie | 3-lbs., 7.36-ozs. | Corey Harmon | 03/05/22 |
| White Bass | 3-lbs., 2-ozs. | Darrell Baxter | 05/15/94 |
| Flathead Catfish | 35-lbs., 10.88-ozs. | Sandy Sanders | 06/20/08 |
| Blue Catfish | 52-lbs., 1-oz. | Aaron Churchwell | 10/27/20 |
| Tiger Trout | 2-lbs., 12.8-ozs. | Bob Geresti | 02/01/18 |
| Yellow Perch | 1-lb., 1.44-ozs. | David Brewer | 12/02/23 |
| White Crappie | 3-lbs., 4.24-ozs. | Cody Hopkins | 02/10/22 |
| Longnose Gar | 27-lbs., 4-ozs. | Caleb McClure | 06/24/23 |
| Shellcracker | 2-lbs., 5-ozs. | Dan Huizinga | 04/20/24 |