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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: 7.2 feet below 1925. Temp: 53-55 degrees. Clarity: Clear. Bass: Eric Welch, of Welch’s Guide Service, reports, “Fishing is good. The lake is at winter pool, and the water temps are just right. The spotted bass on Chatuge love a Z-man Ned rig in the winter. On sunny days, these bass will pull up on long points and also red clay banks. I continued to fish a drop shot in the winter. I just downsize to a 4.5-inch worm and change my colors to red crawler and ayu. When using my forward-facing sonar, I will look for fish off points and ditches and will target them with an A-rig and jerkbait. If you have a sunny day and a little wind, try a crankbait, like a Bandit 200 or a Deep Wee R, in a crawfish or shad pattern around the clay banklines. When the lake is down…
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Lake Chatuge spotted bass are moving from spring spawning areas toward their summer holes. Also in late May and throughout June, the herring are finishing up spawning. The presence of these baitfish can stimulate feeding frenzies. You can intercept the spotted bass as they move out and have great catches if you hit it right.…
A high-school senior from Ellijay drowned when he tumbled overboard while duck hunting on Lake Chatuge just across the Georgia-North Carolina border on Nov. 18. Authorities said 18-year-old Trenton Daniel Johnson, a student at Gilmer High School, was attempting to retrieve a downed duck when he toppled headfirst into the water. His hunting partner, Carson…
A black crappie that weighed 2 pounds on the dot has set a new record for Lake Chatuge. Howard Stimis, of Hiwassee, was fishing on Chatuge April 6 when the big slab bit a 2-inch Hot Grub made by Crappie County Bait & Tackle that Howard purchased at Hammond’s Fishing Center near Lake Lanier. “I…
Lake Chatuge spotted bass are feeding heavily in January, eating shad and herring. They follow the same wintertime patterns as Lanier spots, and you can catch them on ditches and rocks. There is also a good largemouth bite at Chatuge after a heavy rain stains the rivers and creeks. Chatuge is a good choice…
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 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: 10.8 feet below 840. Temp: 50 degrees. Clarity: Slight stain. Bass: Tournament angler Matt Driver reports, “Fishing in January can be tough. If we have a return of cold weather in January, we could see the water temperature dropping into the low 40s, and we will see a shad kill. The bite will definitely be affected if that happens. A shad kill is not necessarily a bad thing. It just helps regulate the amount of baitfish that we have in the lake. The best bite for the month of January is definitely an open-water, forward facing sonar (FFS) bite using jig-head minnows and jerkbaits. This is the best way to locate large, free-roaming spotted bass this time of year. We are catching occasional largemouth doing this, as well. If you don’t fish FFS, there is a good jig bite on bluff walls for most of the day. You…
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Over the years, Craig Miller, of Canton, has taken an annual trip to fish Dale Hollow Reservoir in Tennessee. Craig and his family meet there to go after the big smallmouth bass. Most years he’d head up in early spring, but about eight years ago, he made the trip in the dead of winter. On…
Hunting down a good string of bass can be a frustrating proposition in the heat of summer. It takes knowledge, patience and a good deal of luck to locate bass. However, persistence generally pays off if you have the knowledge to locate fish and know what to offer them. On Lake Allatoona, experts agree your…
Keri Schieber of Cumming is a dedicated and proficient angler. She has spent the last few years competing in tournaments at both the local and national level, and her results speak for themselves. Keri has won the Georgia Peaches Bass Club championship for two years running, and in 2007 she took home the co-angler title…
The Savannah River near Augusta continues to churn out new river-record fish — the latest a whopper 3-lb. shellcracker. New records have also been recently established for flathead catfish on Allatoona, rainbow trout at Lake Burton and brown trout on the new Toccoa River listing. For information on GON’s lake and river records, call (800)…
Sandy Sanders, of Canton, caught this 44-inch-long flathead catfish from Lake Allatoona on June 20, 2008. The catfish, weighed on certified scales at Bart’s Bait & Tackle, weighed 35-lbs., 10.88-ozs., and fills a vacant lake-record slot for Allatoona.
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 | ||
| Redbreast | 10-ozs. | Dan Huizinga | 08/03/24 |