Chattahoochee River

The Chattahoochee is a designated trout stream from Buford Dam all the way to the mouth of Peachtree Creek, and the National Park Service says the river rarely gets warmer than 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Inside the national recreation area there is no closed trout season and fishing hours run from 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset. Only artificial lures are allowed from GA Highway 20 down to the Medlock Bridge boat ramp. From Sope Creek down to US Highway 41 (Cobb Parkway), Delayed Harvest rules apply November 1 to May 14: release every trout and fish only single-hook artificials, with droppers allowed if each carries a single hook.

Tad Murdock, a north Georgia trout guide, told the Fly Fishing Insider Podcast on March 27, 2025 that the Chattahoochee breaks one of his own rules. He usually fishes a single point fly, but on this river a midge on the upper tag outfishes the bottom fly. He added that the big browns tend to feed at night or when dam releases move water.

Toccoa River

Above Lake Blue Ridge, on U.S. Forest Service land in Fannin County, Georgia DNR runs a Delayed Harvest section from 0.4 miles above Shallowford Bridge to 450 feet above the Sandy Bottom Canoe Access, catch and release with single-hook artificials from November 1 to May 14. Below the Tennessee Valley Authority's Blue Ridge Dam the Toccoa is a cold, clear tailwater that flows north into Tennessee, where it becomes the Ocoee. Georgia DNR warns that water rises quickly during releases, so check the TVA schedule before you wade.

Jackson Oaks, an early member of the University of Mississippi fly fishing club, told the podcast on August 17, 2021 about fishing the Toccoa from a friend's place near Blue Ridge. His take: you work for north Georgia trout, climbing down steep banks and working pool after pool until something eats.

Georgia Coast

Georgia DNR's Coastal Resources Division counts more than 100 miles of coastline, barrier islands and estuaries, with redfish, spotted seatrout, flounder and tarpon among the prized species. You need a Georgia fishing license plus the free Saltwater Information Program (SIP) permit. Check red drum rules before every trip: in 2026 the division proposed cutting the daily creel from five fish to three and moving the slot from 14-23 inches to 15-24 inches.

Georgia photographer David Cannon, who wrote a fly fishing guidebook to his home state, told the podcast on July 28, 2020 that Georgia's tidal grass flats, where you can catch tailing redfish up in the grass on the fly, are one of the coolest things you can do in fly fishing.

Lake Lanier Stripers

Lake Sidney Lanier sits behind Buford Dam, fed by the Chattahoochee and the Chestatee. On Episode 107 Henry Cowen called his season September to May. In September and October the stripers come up from the deep summer water and hold on humps in 20 to 25 feet, then the topwater bite starts in October. When he arrived in the late 1990s he knew of one other fly angler on the lake; by 2021 he and a friend counted more than 90 fly boats.

North Georgia Mountain Streams

Georgia DNR counts about 4,000 miles of trout streams, and brook trout are the state's only native trout, found in about 150 miles of streams. Noontootla Creek is artificial lures only with a 16-inch minimum. Dukes Creek at Smithgall Woods is a trophy stream by reservation only, catch and release with artificial lures on barbless hooks. The Chattooga on the South Carolina line has Delayed Harvest water above GA Highway 28. David Cannon said on his episode that a bedroom-wide creek near Blue Ridge, unstocked for decades by his account, gave him the biggest wild rainbow he had landed in Georgia.

Also worth the drive

• Flint River: Georgia DNR calls the upper Flint the most suitable habitat anywhere for the shoal bass, and its shoals suit canoe and kayak floats.
• Amicalola Creek: Delayed Harvest on the Dawson Forest WMA, from Steele Bridge Road down to GA Highway 53.