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Fishing
Latest Fishing Articles
The fly rod made a soft whoosh as it cut the crisp morning air. A graceful arc of line followed its path and unfurled to drop a fly softly on the surface of the fast-moving water. The fine mist, floating above the cool surface, was so thick that the strike indicator was barely visible as…
The forecast called for the hottest day of the year so far — high 90s. This mid-June trip to Lake Sinclair was going to be a test of endurance, but the young man I was to fish with assured me that those Sinclair bass still bite during the heat of the summer. I was to meet my…
It will come as no surprise to the avid trout fisherman of Georgia that a new state-record rainbow has been caught in the Soque River, a stream with miles of private, managed waters that are famous for their trophy rainbow, brown, and even occasional brook trout. On a Friday evening, May 7, Mark Cochran of…
Steve Williams, of Dallas, set a Lake Hartwell and a Georgia state record with a redeye bass he caught April 17, 2004. Steve’s 3-lb., 7-oz., redeye bass surpassed a 3-lb., 5-oz. redeye caught on Lake Hartwell in 1999. The South Carolina state record redeye was caught April 4, 2001 by Randy Dixon, of Westminster, S.C.…
Finally, the sun hits the water. That’s not something you hear often from fishermen… but now Ricky Layton can get down to business. Usually the end of the morning bite is a let-down, maybe even time to — heaven forbid — drag a worm. But it’s April. On Juliette. Each time you slide into a…
Bass Fishing
Lake Worth has a new lake-record largemouth, and it’s one that’s going to be hard to top. The angler, Keaton Smith, 16, of Poulan, caught the bass on March 25 just below Blackshear’s Warwick Dam. “We were actually fishing for shoal bass when he caught the largemouth,” said his dad, Monty. Monty said they have…
Local angler Brandon Wright recently raised the Lake Blue Ridge spotted bass record bar by 4 ounces, with a 6-lb., 8-oz. magnum spot he caught on Monday, April 28. He was fishing with his regular fishing partner, Kenton Kimsey. “With the lake coming up and warmer water temperatures, the fish are moving up shallow to…
Over the last few years, the jig-and-minnow technique has taken the bass fishing world by storm. Coupled with the latest forward-facing sonar (FFS), and this is an incredibly effective technique on just about any body of water. Since the release of FFS, social media has been riddled with conflicting opinions from anglers who either think…
Hybrid Fishing
With a hint of excitement in his voice, Lake Juliette fishing guide Jeff Mooney said, “Watch that pole, it’s going down!” He pointed at the rod next to Bob Turner and, as Jeff predicted, a slight bend in the rod became a deep arc toward the water as the striper pulled out line and the…
From the time I was old enough to crawl into a plywood boat on the Ocmulgee River, there’s one thing I was taught NOT to do: make noise. So why is this striper guide constantly rapping on the floor of his Ranger with the rubber-tipped butt end of a sawed-off walking cane? Because he’s learned…
Live-bait fishing for hybrids and stripers can be crazy good this time of year on Clarks Hill, with limits in minutes when the fish are bunched on points and humps feeding on herring—if you’re there at the right time. If you’d like to see proof, take a look at fishing guide Eddie Mason’s Facebook page…
Striper Fishing
Travis Harrell, of Albany, has just beat the previous Lower Flint River striped bass record with his 52-lb., 0.2-oz. beast caught right below the Albany Power Dam on March 19, 2025. The fish to beat weighed 48-lbs., 5-ozs. caught in 1983 by John Hoffpauir Jr. Harrell and his father Wayne are no strangers to big…
The day of striper fishing on West Point for Mike Steele, of Dallas, was pretty-danged boring until it wasn’t. It ended with him landing a 40-lb. striper that’s a new lake record. He has his buddy Mike Bartlett to thank, and Bartlett wasn’t even the net man. “My buddy and I had fished from daylight…
The Georgia Chapter of Safari Club International (SCI) hosted 31 Purple Heart recipients during its annual Wounded Veterans Fishing Weekend at Lake Lanier July 7-9. Georgia SCI has hosted the event for more than a decade, providing a full weekend of fishing and fun on Lake Lanier for wounded veterans and their guests. The three-day event,…
Catfish Fishing
I’ve always been proud of my nephew, Kennon. Being the son of my twin brother, Corey, he was right between us on many of our outdoor excursions. He has shown to be very active and fearless, hunting everything from ducks to alligators. I remember on one occasion, while I was wading through a chilly swamp…
As most people were driving home from their 9-to-5 jobs the evening of Feb. 17, Aaron Riggins was having the fight of his life on Lake Hartwell. “With whom?” you might ask. None other than a 75-lb. catfish, and it very well could have been the same 74-lb. fish he caught in the area about…
As the sun came up on Feb. 1, Capt. Ken Athon took two brothers out for a casual fishing trip on Goat Rock Lake. The air was cool and a dense fog was set over the water. Despite the conditions, the group was eager to get started, knowing the fish were going to be active.…
Crappie Fishing
It’s too easy to get caught up in it all. Oh, I’ve been there; was snared for a couple of years. A jury of my peers would unanimously have found me guilty: Laboring While Fishing. It’s easy to lay it at the fins of that old largemouth, the species that shook fishing’s foundation and built…
Sitting at my kitchen table staring out the window at a backyard that’s been blanketed by the morning frost, I close my eyes for a split second, and I can almost see the dense spring fog floating slowly off the water, slowly making its way up toward the warm morning sun. Yes sir, a month…
Winter can be a tough time to fish with cold temperatures, strong winds and rainy conditions rolling around every few days. You must catch the weather “just right,” says Joe Partenza, an expert crappie angler and a seasoned crappie tournament competitor, who just won one of the most prestigious and highest cash award crappie tournaments…
Bream Fishing
When Jackie Dyess, of Lyons, set out on a leisurely float trip with fiancé Scott Mulling and some friends on the Ohoopee River, she had no idea that it would soon be a trip for the record books… literally. “We all got down there around 9 or so and started floating and fishing. The plan…
For the second time in less than a month, a state-record spotted sunfish has been certified, this time resulting in a stand-alone, state-record fish. The record was previously shared by two anglers, but Josh Forsythe, of Homerville, is now the sole record holder. His fishing location all came down to a coin flip… “When I got…
May is just about as good as it gets when it comes to river fishing in Georgia. This is the month when all the pieces finally come together, as we transition out of spring and into the warmer weather, but before the flat-out scorching-hot days that lie ahead. The Canoochee River has quickly moved up…
Saltwater Fishing
You never know what you’re going to catch when you head out into the magical waters of the Georgia coast… and apparently you never know how you’re going to catch it either. You’ve heard of fish jumping in the boat, right? Now a big, tasty red snapper would be welcomed, but there are some fish…
A St. Simons Island man is the new state record holder for almaco jack (Seriola rivoliana). James W. Thompson, 21, landed a remarkable 27-lb., 8-oz. almaco jack while fishing offshore near Navy Tower R4 on Sunday, July 28. This impressive catch surpasses the previous record of 23-lbs., 15.04-ozs, established in May 2024 by Jason H.…
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is proud to announce a new women’s state saltwater fish record for jack crevalle (Caranx hippos). Lauren E. Harden, 21, of St. Marys, broke the previous record by landing a 33-lb., 10.72-oz, jack crevalle on May 24, 2024, while fishing on Cumberland Island. The previous record of 30-lbs.,…
Trout Fishing
The largest and possibly most remote wild lands in Georgia lie within the Cohutta Wilderness. Located in the northwest part of the state in Fannin and Murray counties, this designated Wilderness Area on Chattahoochee National Forest property comprises 36,977 acres and is managed as the Cohutta Wildlife Management Area (WMA), which totals 96,583 acres. Cohutta…
Thirty-five years ago, the Chattahoochee River—along its course from the Medlock Bridge access site to the McGinnis Ferry Road Bridge in John’s Creek—is where I was introduced to Georgia trout fishing. With fly- and spin-fishing tackle, my buddies and I float-fished the riverway often and caught dozens of trout trip after trip through the northern…
Springtime in Southern Appalachia is a special time of year, much like it is elsewhere in the United States. However, here it’s a little different. The bleak, blustery clutch of winter is gone and surely forgotten. The mountains turn lush shades of green from the bottom of the hollers, meandering slowly toward the top day…
Other Georgia Fishing
Taylor Cronan, 10, of Pendergrass, is the new Lake Lanier record holder for the common carp. She caught a 22-lb., 0.2-oz. fish on April 26 and had it weighed on certified scales and verified by a WRD biologist. She was fishing from the bank in the Gainesville area with her dad, mom, sister and a…
On Feb. 22, Colt James, of Waycross, managed to wrangle in a 6-lb., 7.68-oz. bowfin while fishing with his dad. The fish measured in at an impressive 26 inches long and was good enough to set the benchmark record for the St Marys River. If Colt’s name sounds familiar, it may be because the 12-year-old…
By Jeffrey James Rowland Lake Cascade in Idaho claims that their lake holds the biggest ones. On Lake Michigan, they catch them in huge numbers off the Navy Pier in Chicago. Thousands are also pulled through the ice every year on Devils Lake in North Dakota. These places and many more across the upper Midwest,…