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Southerners like their barbeque and NASCAR almost as much as they like their fishing. Luckily, the Georgia and South Carolina region has plenty to keep the locals happy, and vacationers overjoyed; from lakes, rivers, and streams to the deep waters of the Atlantic, many an angler has found paradise here.
If you decide to go for the big catch out on the coastal waters, charters will provide you with everything you need for a full day of informed fishing. Most of the serious offshore fishing takes place between 15 and 50 miles off the coast, and outfitters can usually take up to six people.
What kind of fish you catch will be largely dependent upon how far out to sea you choose to go: less than 15 miles off the coast most anglers are looking for sea bass, at 25-35 miles offshore you're more likely to pick up crimson snapper, triggerfish, and larger sea bass, and at 45-60 miles out, amberjack and red snapper can be reeled in. Generally the best time for angling on Georgia waters is the summer months.
In Georgia there is no required license for those wishing to fish in the Atlantic, but for those looking to go freshwater fishing a license is required. These can be obtained through the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. If you're in South Carolina's Low Country, you will need separate permits for both salt and fresh water fishing, and these can be obtained through the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.
Freshwater Fishing in Atlanta
The city of Atlanta is crisscrossed with rivers and streams, and dotted with lakes. All are to varying extents good places to cast your line. Below are some of the best and most popular places to fish in the city. Keep in mind, however, that trout can only be kept from May 15 to the end of October.
- The Chattahoochee River within the city stretches from around Buford Dam to the north to Peachtree Creek in the south. Aside from supplying 70% of Atlanta's drinking water, the river is a great fishery for trout of the brown and rainbow varieties. Calling these waters home are also chain pickerel, bream, catfish, crappie, yellow perch, and shoal bass, largemouth bass, and striped bass. On the 48-mile span between the dam and the stream, there are 19 locations to cast a line.
- Bull Sluice Lake is just one of these 19 locations on the Chattahoochee, located on the north side of metropolitan Atlanta and with access to the Chattahoochee's great trout fishing waters. The lake stretches from State Road 9 (Roswell Road) down to Morgan Falls Dam. Bull Sluice Lake is known for its bream, but it's not uncommon to hook a largemouth bass as well.
- The George Sparks Reservoir, located within Sweetwater Creek State Park west of the city on I-20, is populated with fish like bluegill, largemouth bass, redear sunfish, and channel catfish. The planners placed brush-type shelters to attract the fish closer to the shore, and you can also rent a boat to take yourself to other areas on the 215-acre lake where they like to feed.
- Allatoona Lake is a bit of a drive from a hotel located near the city center, but for those looking for some excellent angling opportunities, the journey is worth it. I-75 takes you there. The best ramps and piers are located within the adjacent State Park, Red Top Mountain. The catch: striped bass, spotted bass, catfish, sunfish, and crappie.
- Lake Lanier is also a bit off the beaten path, but every bit worth it. At 39,000 acres of fishable waters at its height, you'll always be exploring, finding better and more secluded areas to fish in. There's striped bass and white bass, a number of different kinds of sunfish, several catfishes, and perch. Trout fishing, including rainbows, browns, and brooks, is popular south of Buford Dam.
Freshwater Fishing in Georgia
Aside from Atlanta, the lakes and rivers are numerous throughout this region, and anglers can expect to reel in crappie, channel catfish, hybrid striped bass, bream (bluegill and redear sunfish), and largemouth bass.
- In Covington, about an hour south of Atlanta, lies Lake Varner. This little 850-acre lake has only one public access point on the east side near the dam and only allows for electric motor boats. Anglers should have no problem getting bites from largemouth bass, bluegill, redear sunfish, and crappie.
- Lake Oconee and Lake Sinclair touch each other on State Road 16, about halfway between Eatonton and Sparta, southwest of Atlanta around 90 miles away. The lakes are surrounded by a tranquil mix of forest, golf course, and farmland, and are stocked with striped, and large and small-mouthed bass, for which they are known statewide. You can rent a boat on either one, but between the two, Oconee is the better for fishing. On Oconee, which is an old Creek (Native American) word for “Great Waters,” there are ample opportunities to catch a prized bass. Because of the lake's form, of many little inlets giving the appearance from the air of a strike of lightning, there's room for literally hundreds of docks from which you can fish.
- There is a lake in central Georgia called Lake Jackson, on which bream fishing is supposed to be the best in the state. Bream on this lake includes bluegill, and redbreast and redear sunfish. Catfish, crappie, and large- and small-mouthed bass are also a big catch on Lake Jackson.
- At Houlihan Park in Savannah anglers can make their way down to the Savannah River where there are great opportunities to pick up some white and channel catfish along with striped bass. Salt Creek, also in Savannah, is a kid-friendly place to go fishing or kayaking and the water's full of catfish, striped bass, largemouth bass, and red drum.
Fishing on the Georgia Coast
Georgia's coast is lined with anglers sitting on the dock of a bay waiting for Sunday night dinner to swim by. And swim by it does, yielding an ever-diverse menu, such as sea trout, spots, croaker, whiting, red drum and black drum, weakfish, sheepshead, cobia, grunts, false albacore, mackerel, bluefish, king mackerel, flounder, and bonito.
The best time of year to fish on the piers is the spring, as later in the year it's often just too hot. However, summertime and the fall are the best time for catching a croaker, spot, or whiting. By the way, it's always a good idea to speak to the locals on these piers, as they're the ones who know the area's ins and outs, and they often have a good story or two to tell as well.
While the whole area is filled with them, the most piers in the state are clustered around Jekyll Island, St. Simons Island, and Sapelo Island. The area around Savannah also boasts a good many piers.
Deep-sea fishing and sport-fishing in the Atlantic Ocean is possible from a myriad of outfitters stretching along the entire coast of Georgia, but the most experienced charters are concentrated around St. Simons Island and Jekyll Island to the south and Savannah to the north.
- Charters from the Golden Isles are most likely to pick up grouper, snapper, and bass, but on a good day don't be surprised if a white or blue marlin snags your line.
- Tybee Island, right off the coast of Savannah, provides great year round fishing for both grouper and snapper. Depending on the season barracuda, mahi mahi, Spanish and king mackerel, and flounder can all be reeled in. Charters frequently depart from Tybee's marinas.
Fishing on the South Carolina Coast
South Carolinians do a lot more than just lounge around their beautiful beaches. Many boats and charters are available to take you away for a day of amazing angling. There are piers located all along the coast; does the longest freestanding pier on the East Coast interest you? It can be found on Hunting Island, and it measures an astounding 1,120 feet. You can catch in these waters, between Hunting Island and nearby Fripp Island, bass, trout, spots, shark, whiting, and croaker.
Two other fishing piers in South Carolina are Folly Beach Fishing Pier and Cherry Grove Fishing Pier. The former is just outside Charleston via Folly Road (State Road 171), and from it you can catch a number of fish: spotted sea trout, black drum and red drum, sheepshead, Spanish mackerel and king mackerel, bluefish, whiting, pompano, flounder, and perch. The latter is located in North Myrtle Beach, and you can catch many of the same fish as those at Folly Beach, in addition to bluefish and spadefish.
The South Carolina coast has been systematically planted with an amazing amount of artificial reefs, so it attracts lots of the types of fish you dream of catching.
- Several charters from Myrtle Beach can take you out for half- of full-day adventures. These boats provide you with everything you need and besides sea bass, snapper, triggerfish, and sometimes amberjack are often caught.
- Charleston's best outfitters all conveniently dock around the Charleston Harbor Marina. Some specialize in blue marlin fishing but it's the wahoo, sailfish, and tuna that are the most consistently caught off these waters.
Down in southern South Carolina, around Hilton Head Island and Beaufort, there are still more outfitters to choose from. Offshore fishing here varies little from the waters around Charleston or Myrtle Beach. Amberjack, king mackerel, trout, triggerfish, drum, and cobia are most often caught.
Fishing Spots in Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head, Charleston, South Carolina, Atlanta, Savannah, Georgia
Fishing
South Dunes Beach - Georgia
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