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Fishing
Latest Fishing Articles
Glenn Settles knew the process quite well when he boated a big channel catfish. He would have to get this fish to a set of registered scales, contact the WRD for species confirmation and have two unrelated witnesses who would agree to testify to what they saw. And, if at all possible, he wanted to…
You never know if the next bite on the line is going to be a three-finger crappie or a wall-hanging trophy. Just ask James King, of Rome, who recently entered the first black crappie for GON’s Lake & River records from the northwest Georgia river. On March 19, he was fishing the Coosa near Rome when…
Michael Mooney has some huge bass to his credit over the years, including a 12-lb., 6-oz. largemouth that still holds the record as the biggest ever caught from McDuffie Public Fishing Area, and his biggest bass was another 12-plus pounder from a private pond. But Michael still had a goal he’s been pursuing for three…
Spring snuck up on us a little early this year. We were all excited to see unseasonably warm weather in the latter part of February and into early March. And then, as is often the case here in the Southeast, we retreated right back into the abyss of winter for a few weeks. But those…
A Richmond Hill angler has set a new state saltwater game fish record for pinfish, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced today. Spencer N. Schutte, 28, caught a pinfish (Lagodon rhombiodes) weighing 2-lbs., 3.2-ozs. and measuring 14 1/2 inches total length. The angler was fishing in Kilkenny Creek in Bryan County on March…
Bass Fishing
Sitting in a boat on Lake Nottely, it is easy to get lost in the natural beauty surrounding you. That bass slashing and slamming your topwater lure on a hump or point will make you ignore the pretty scenic mountains. Although many tourists flock to the mountains of north Georgia for the views, the fishing…
Georgia is blessed to have a smorgasbord of state parks littered across the state in just about every possible direction. Little Ocmulgee State Park is such a place, located in south Georgia just outside of McRae-Helena. It has about everything you could expect from a top-notch weekend destination. Originally founded in the 1930s, this property…
Big baits catch big bass. That’s a fairly simple statement, but as true a one as you’ll come across. And we figure our readers would like to know how to catch big bass. After all, who wouldn’t? So we sat down with Mike Bucca, Georgia native, creator of the Bull Shad and longtime big-bait enthusiast…
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…
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…
Josh McDonald, of Americus, caught a hybrid bass on April 4 that weighed 7-lbs., 11.84-ozs. that sets a benchmark for a brand-new river record on GON’s Georgia Lake and River Records list. He was spending the day with his older brother Jason and his twin brother Justin. “We are all baseball coaches, so we never…
Striper 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…
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…
The Georgia Chapter of Safari Club International (SCI) was honored to host 25 Purple Heart recipients during its annual Wounded Veterans Fishing Weekend at Lake Lanier July 9-11. The event, which has been hosted for more than a decade by Georgia SCI, provides a full weekend of fishing and fun on Lake Lanier for wounded…
Catfish Fishing
One evening, Seth Shoults headed out to the Etowah River specifically to set a new waterbody catfish record. He didn’t just break a record. In fact, he established two new records in less than an hour of each other with two different species. The angler from Cartersville regularly fishes the Etowah River in northwestern Georgia.…
Rachel Harrison is a serious angler who has years of fishing under his belt. She laughs when she says she may have trouble getting family and friends to accompany her on future fishing trips. She recently broke the Oostanaula River record for flathead catfish with a fish that was officially weighed by WRD at 40-lbs., 13-ozs.…
A new lake record flathead catfish was caught during a tournament at Lake Seminole last weekend. Tim Trone was fishing with his son Chase when he hooked up with a big flathead that ended up taking big-fish honors weighing 53.70 pounds (53-lbs., 11.2-ozs.). Tim is no stranger to massive, record-breaking catfish. He is the Georgia…
Crappie Fishing
You can catch more than 200 crappie a day at West Point shooting docks in June. That may seem like an unachievable dream, but Payton Caldwell does it almost every trip. In the June 2003 issue, GON published an article on shooting docks at West Point with Payton’s grandfather, Joel Chambers (gon.com/fishing/run-run-and-gun-for-west-points-deep-shade-crappie). During the fishing…
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…
You never know if the next bite on the line is going to be a three-finger crappie or a wall-hanging trophy. Just ask James King, of Rome, who recently entered the first black crappie for GON’s Lake & River records from the northwest Georgia river. On March 19, he was fishing the Coosa near Rome when…
Bream Fishing
By Craig James The Satilla River is and will forever be my favorite body of water to fish. I got my start fishing its white sand bars and towering bluff walls decades ago, and it’s just as magical a place to me now as it was the very first time I stepped into its tannic…
When Gunner Thrift, of Raybon, made a trip to the Satilla River days before his 18th birthday, he had no idea what early birthday surprise the south Georgia river had in store for him. “On April 7, I was fishing with my dad and his friend on the Satilla down at Flat Woods Bluff. It’s…
Whether your bread-and-butter is wigglers and crickets or Beetle Spins and bugs, May is a prime month to have some fishing fun while slinging baits to bream beds. GON reached out to the WRD Fisheries experts and asked these biologists what their top picks were for their areas. Below is what they had to say.…
Saltwater Fishing
By Tom Lewis The Kids Can Fish Foundation is a nonprofit charity based on Brunswick that was created in 2020 by a youth angler named Caroline. What was intended to be a small family based charity has blossomed into a nationally recognized entity with corporate and local sponsors contributing with the vested interest of getting…
Miles Zachary was not surprised this time. He had already done it once, not even a year before, but now, on Sunday, April 30, 2023, he looked at his rare catch with amusement and awe. The Baxley native had just caught his second flounder around the confluence of the Oconee and Ocmulgee rivers where the…
A new Georgia state record has been set for the heaviest vermilion snapper caught by a woman angler. The record-setting fish was caught by Stacey T. Pope, of Brunswick, on April 7, 2023. The fish weighed 5-lbs., 5.56-ozs., breaking the previous record of 3-lbs., 14.4-ozs. set in 2018 by Alli DeYoung, of Savannah. Pope caught…
Trout Fishing
“Bigger is better!” It’s a common phrase in many circles, and that turn of words might be heard most where fishing takes place… but maybe not in the circles of Georgia fly-fishermen who target trout on Peach State waters. When you join the fold of fly-fishermen who chase trout in Georgia, more often than not,…
If you were looking for a reason to go trout fishing, we have just the ticket. Beginning Nov. 1, trout fishing on Georgia’s delayed harvest trout streams will be in full swing, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division (WRD). While trout fishing can be found year-round in Georgia, there are…
Despite losing more than 17,000 trout in a Labor Day Weekend flood at its Summerville Trout Hatchery, WRD is making good on its promise that it will not let the near disaster affect trout stockings in 2023. The hatchery just received 220,000 rainbow trout eggs from Ennis, Montana. It is the first of four egg…
Other Georgia Fishing
Zach Chadwick wasn’t sure what had just slammed his black-and-blue worm threaded on a jig head, but he knew it was long and had a mouth full of teeth. Turns out he was hooked up with a chain pickerel, and we was about to set a new record for Lake Seed. “I’ve never even heard…
On April 1, Brandon Corbitt, of Homerville, along with his son Levi, decided to make a late-morning trip to the Satilla River to try their luck at bass fishing. After making the drive to the Atkinson boat ramp and launching their boat, the pair of anglers headed down river with the midday sun directly overhead.…
It is said most people will have 15 minutes of fame at some point in their lives. For 4-year old Scott James (Jay) Franklin III, the afternoon of March 16, 2023 led directly to the fulfillment of that adage. More importantly, history will remember Jay’s name fondly. Fishing with his father Jake in a cove…