Advertisement
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
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 |
Advertisement
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
Little more than a month after Seth Shoults, of Cartersville, set two Etowah River catfish records in one night, he guided his nephew into the Lake Allatoona waterbody record books. On the evening of April 21, Seth established the new blue catfish and channel catfish waterbody records on the Etowah River. He caught a 7-lb.…
On Feb. 4, fishing club members of the E3 Bassmasters, the Marietta Bassmasters, Lake Allatoona USACE volunteers, the Lake Allatoona Association and the Georgia DNR conducted another planting as part of an ongoing habitat enhancement project on Allatoona Lake. The fishing club members belong to the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society, as well as the local…
It is now legal to possess and use blueback herring as bait on Lake Allatoona. The new regulation went into effect earlier last month. DNR approved the change after a public comment period in which some fishermen expressed wishes for the change and others expressed concern, Lake Allatoona WRD Fisheries Biologist Jackson Sibley said. Blueback…
A bass fishing tournament this Saturday, Oct. 29 at Lake Allatoona will provide proceeds and donations to benefit the families of two Cobb County deputies shot and killed while serving an arrest warrant on Sept. 8. The tournament will fish out of the Blockhouse Ramp and will begin at safe light until 3 p.m. The…
When it comes to crappie, lakes have up cycles and down cycles. Lake Allatoona, the 12,000-acre U.S. Corps of Engineers reservoir located just 30 miles north of Atlanta, is definitely on an up cycle. For the second time in less than a month, an angler has broken an Allatoona lake record for crappie. On Feb.…
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 |