Piedmont NWR Fishing

Are you aware that you can fish in nine farm ponds in central Georgia for free? The news is even better when you know that you’re part owner!

Do not worry about the fact that you share ownership with more than 330 million people in the USA, since not many people take advantage of the ponds. The ponds are part of Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge just a few miles north of Macon and are surrounded by 34,000 acres of beautiful woodlands and wildlife. As a bonafide U.S. citizen and taxpayer, you should check out this often-overlooked fishing opportunity. All you need is a fishing license, and you must sign the free fishing/hunting guide Piedmont regulations pamphlet.

I have been deer and turkey hunting on Piedmont for many years, and I often fish Five Points Lake after I finish hunting. I usually catch some small bass or bream, which just adds to my outdoor enjoyment.

Allison Lake and Pond 2A are the largest ponds and have good access and boat ramps, thus they get the most pressure. Most of the other ponds are smaller and require bank fishing or dragging in a kayak or small boat to fish. According to Piedmont’s Deputy Refuge Manager Carolyn Johnson, the ponds have plenty of bass, bream and catfish, and Allison Lake and Pond 2A have crappie.

The rules for fishing the Piedmont lakes are simple. They are open during daylight hours from March 15 until Sept. 30 each year. Fishermen are limited to two poles per person, so do not try spider-rig trolling for crappie with six poles. Gas motors are prohibited to use. If you have one on your boat, make sure it is not run and keep it jacked up out of the water, said Johnson.

Live minnows may not be used on any pond, and anglers may not use any type of feed to attract fish. Anglers may not possess alcoholic beverages on the refuge. The limit for fish is five bass (must be 10 inches), five catfish, 15 bream and 15 crappie.

I was drawn for a recent turkey quota hunt, and my only success was calling in a hen on the south end of the refuge near Five Points Lake. After hunting, I caught some bass and bream from Five Points and decided that on my next trip to Piedmont I would check out some of the other ponds on the refuge.

On a quick return trip, I fished Allison Lake, which lies a short distance behind the refuge headquarters. This scenic 33-acre lake, built in 1959, has a boat ramp, fishing pier and is close to the nature walking trail.

After you launch your boat, you must park at the top of the hill, so be prepared to walk about 200 yards. Although the lake offers good fishing, 60% of the lake is choked with hydrilla.

While I was catching some bream and small bass, I ran across John Harkins, retired military from Macon who fishes Lake Allison regularly with his 12-foot Ozark Trail kayak. He eases around the banks and pockets of open water and fishes with a surface Spro Poppin’ Frog. For deeper water, he likes a Zoom Brush Hog and uses 4- and 6-inch sizes in green pumpkin. He caught a 4-lb., 3-oz. bass on Allison in April and regularly pulls in 1- to 4-pounders.

John Harkins, of Macon, with his best Piedmont bass weighing 8-lb., 2-ozs. caught in pond 2A on a Rapala Skitter Pop.

Carl Schmidt, a forester with Piedmont, says the lake has some good-sized catfish, and he once caught a 20-lb. channel cat on a Mepps spinner.

Below is a summary of the other ponds, which are mostly named for the section of the refuge in which they are located.

Pond 2A, located in the northwest section of Piedmont, is the largest lake at 50 acres and has a roomy fishing pier and boat ramp. Anglers can also fish off the dam and around the banks, but it’s fairly brushy, so bank fishing around the lake is challenging. This is a beautiful lake with almost no surface vegetation. The grass carp are doing a good job, so make sure to give these large, protected fish plenty of room to eat. This is the most popular lake on the Refuge and regularly surrenders lunker bass in the 5- to 10-lb. size.

Eli Lynch, of Griffin, who works at Champion Corporation, pulled in a 9-lb., 7-oz. bass on a cold, windy day in March on a custom crankbait. He released the fish.

Also, John Harkin fishes the 2A often, and his best bass to date is an 8-lb., 2-oz. largemouth caught on a Rapala Skitter Pop. Harkins said to try the bank edges with a surface lure in the early morning and then drag a Zoom Brush Hog during the midday hours. The lake has water 16 feet deep in front of the dam, so a jig ’n pig combo or even a spoon bounced off the bottom might get attacked there. Like Lynch, Harkin practices catch and release, so maybe these bass are just getting bigger.

This lake also has a good crappie population that will hit a Jiffy Jig, Hal-Fly or Beetle Spin in white or yellow colors. The lake also has a good catfish population. Anglers report a senior-aged lady who sits on a bucket near the dam and catches plenty of catfish. A reliable source has it that she uses small pieces of hot dog which have been soaked in pickle juice. Bream fishing on 2A is also good. Try casting a red wiggler or cricket up near the brush along the shoreline.

Eli Lynch caught this 9 1/2-pounder from Pond 2A on a large crankbait.

Pond 6A is 6 acres and was built in 1963. It has a light number of weeds, and access is easy with the road going over the dam, so you can slide in a jonboat or kayak. Bank fishing is limited to the dam since the banks are heavily covered with brush. I caught a bunch of small bream off the dam near the drain pipe and also hooked into a good-sized bass on a Smithwick Rattlin’ Rogue surface crankbait in a silver/blue color. It felt and looked like a 3- to 5-lb. bass, but it got hung up on a limb before I could land it. I judge this to be a good bass and bream pond worthy of your fishing efforts, but plan to bring a boat.

Pond 7A is only 2 acres, and the road crosses over the dam. It was built many years ago, but the dam and drainpipes were replaced in 2020, according to Refuge Manager Andrew Hammond. The pond has not been restocked, so the fishing will probably be poor for a few years until it has time to recuperate.

Pond 9A is 7 acres and was built in 1963. It has a moderate weed infestation but is fishable from the dam and all around the banks, which has mostly mature trees along the edges. I walked all around the pond and caught several small bass and bream. Catfish are also present.

The best bream location on 9A that I found is about 75 yards up the west shoreline from the dam. Look for a beaver hut on the bank with many small limbs in a pile. To the side of the hut, look for a deeper water beaver run where beavers have dug out a small channel. I caught and released about 30 hand-sized bream and a few bass from this location.

Ponds 11A and 11B are located off Sugar Hill Road and offer some of the best fishing to be found on Piedmont. Surface weed vegetation is light, and the ponds are only about 300 yards apart. Both ponds were built in 1963, and you can put in a jonboat or kayak from the dams, so access is easy. Bank fishing is also doable around both ponds with a little bit of care to watch for snakes. The land around both lakes was burned off recently, so the ground is mostly open, but vegetation is now regrowing.

On Pond 11A, which is 5 acres, I caught a lot of bream on red wigglers while walking around the bank and casting to shoreline bushes. Some of the bream I caught were redbreasts. Small bass were plentiful, and I saw a 4-pounder check out my surface lure before swimming off.

Pond 11B is larger at 11 acres and had some good bass-feeding activity when I was there. I saw some fish busting shad on the surface and hooked up with three 1-lb. bass on three successive casts with a Rattlin’ Rogue. I caught numerous small bass and bream. I also ran across Emanuel Jackson and Tracy Jones, who were fishing near the dam, and they reported they were having good luck with the bream, bass and catfish on red wigglers.

Pond 21A is on the Little Rock Wildlife Drive, which is off the Juliette- Round Oak Road near the center of the refuge. This used to be the kid’s catfish pond but is now open to everyone, and it has a fishing pier. Built in 1958, the pond covers 11 acres but is only about half filled due to a leaking drainpipe that will be repaired sometime in the future. The pond is still fishable, and I caught some small bass and bream there.

Also near the main road is Pond 22A, which is a walk-in pond. Built in 1963, it covers 6 acres and is on a small water collection basin and not a stream, thus it is subject to low-water issues. You can walk in from the main road. It is across the road and visible from a home with two wagon wheels and American flags and adjacent to the locked gate trail off Caney Creek Road. I only caught a few small bass and bream here.

Five Points Lake on the south portion of Piedmont is where I normally catch small bass and bream. Built in 1941 and covering 6 acres, it was constructed by the Work Progress Administration (WPA) to put people back to work after the Great Depression. I believe my uncle Hollis Smith, of Pineview, worked on this pond before he was drafted into WWII, thus I think of him every time I visit there.

I also had two Revolutionary era grandfathers, Lewis Lanier and Dickerson Lumpkin, who were awarded land in Jones County for their war service. I sometimes wonder when I walk across Piedmont Refuge if I am trekking across their old farms. Indeed, Piedmont is covered with rockpiles from the chimneys of long-gone pioneer cabins and farm clearing operations. Old forgotten cemeteries dot the landscape with headstone inscriptions that will touch your heart. Here is the tombstone inscription for Capt. HB Ridley, who lived from 1828-1904.

Tis hard to break the tender cord

When love has bound the heart  

Tis hard, so hard to speak the words

We must forever part

Dearest loved one,

We have laid thee in the peaceful graves embrace

But thy memory will be cherished until we see thy heavenly face

Piedmont is a success story of old worn-out farmland that was returned to a wildlife sanctuary for everyone to enjoy, and it has great fishing for you to check out.

The ponds are closed during the fall and winter months to act as a sanctuary for migratory waterfowl, and this is the reason the ponds were originally built. The refuge also has a lot of hunting pressure in the fall, and the ponds being closed helps keep the different user groups safe, says Hammond.

Thanks to Piedmont Manager Andrew Hammond, Deputy Refuge Manager Carolyn Johnson, Public Affairs Specialist Lanier Clegg and the entire staff for their help with this story.

When visiting Piedmont, stop at the kiosk next to the main office and pick up the “Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge Hunting and Fishing Regulations 2020-2021” brochure. Read it, sign it and carry it when fishing. You can also print off a copy at www.fws.gov/southeast/pdf/regulations/piedmont-national-wildlife-refuge-hunt.pdf.