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Okefenokee Swamp

The Okefenokee is a shallow, 438,000-acre swamp along the Georgia–Florida line that offers a unique fishing experience in the largest blackwater swamp in the United States. The mystical black water of the swamp harbors excellent populations of chain pickerel, bowfin, flier, warmouth and bullhead catfish. Much of the Okefenokee, 402,000 acres, is managed as the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. The Okefenokee Swamp was named after the Choctaw phrase, "Land of the Trembling Earth." The Okefenokee was created by the natural accumulation of peat moss in a shallow basin. The St. Marys River and the Suwannee River both originate in the swamp, with the Suwannee River amounting to the flow of about 90% of the swamp's watershed southwest toward the Gulf of Mexico. The waters of the swamp's southeast corner flow out of the St. Marys River to the Atlantic Ocean.

Okefenokee Swamp Resources

Okefenokee Swamp Articles

Frying Okefenokee Swamp Mudfish

It’s been said when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Well the same can be said for mudfish. When the Swamp gives you mudfish, make mudfish nuggets. Despite what many say,  mudfish meat is very mild tasting and doesn’t require a bunch of exotic seasonings or cooking methods to make it edible. Try this, and…

Thank You Lord For Mudfish

Based on the title of this story, I’m surprised and grateful for those who have stopped in to read it. Give me three minutes and it will come full circle… I promise. There is not a more hated and despised fish in Georgia’s waters to my knowledge than a bowfin. Ugly, nasty, slimy, are some…

Mudfish Mayhem In The Okefenokee Swamp

“I got one!” Oh yeah, my favorite words to hear on the water. I wheeled around to see George’s rod bent over double. Seconds later, a dark fish rocketed out the water and did a 5-foot tailwalk across the top of the black glass.  I was hollering, “Reel, reel, reel! Keep him tight!” I coached…

Talkin’ Okefenokeeese

Chaos. Imagine being surrounded by a dozen different languages, all at the top of each screamer’s voice. They meld into an echoing cacophany that renders making sense of what’s going on nearly impossible. Nearly. It has taken half a lifetime to scrape together a pidgin which is workable quite possibly in my mind only. I…

Okefenokee Bear Hunt, Missing Jackie Carter

In the nightmare, terror is just behind and gaining. Big, eight-ball black and much too close, the roaring mass with teeth and jaws popping and claws swiping, steadily closes the distance. There’s seemingly no escape: attempting to run—even for your life—as if in deep water is a dire, daunting, even hopeless task. The only hope…

Southeast Georgia Fishing Reports With Capt. Bert Deener – April 26, 2024

The annual Satilla Riverkeeper fishing tournament will be held May 3-12. Get the details on the Satilla River Facebook page. Rivers are dropping out but are still high. Okefenokee Swamp is high, but the flier, bowfin and pickerel bites are…

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Okefenokee Swamp Record Fish

Spotted Sunfish5.85-ozs.Bert Deener4-27-2023
Flier7.92-ozs.Tim Cutting02/28/24
Chain Pickerel2-lbs., 15-ozs.Silas Kight03/02/24