Any good spots to wade for Shoal Bass in creeks under 2 hours from Atlanta?

[Maxthefisher]

Sorry Mr. Largemouth but I think I am officially addicted to shoal bass. Moved to Georgia 2 years ago and found out about them this summer. Caught a couple little ones in Vickery Creek Park in Roswell and tried for some in the Chestatee but the water was really low and just caught a little spotted bass. Looking for some new spots to try this summer that are north of Atlanta. Would love to know any tips or tricks as well. Also should I bother fishing for them in the winter?

 

[poor retina]

Upper Chattahoochee River Fishing and Public Access Points

Most North Georgia anglers are familiar with the Chattahoochee River, particularly the sections in Metro Atlanta and near the Alpine town of Helen. There is, however, an equally-exciting section i…

georgiawildlife.blog

 

[Alex from GA]

Any bridge on the upper Chattahoochee or Chestatee Rivers has access to Shoal Bass.

 

[little rascal]

Cochran shoals and Paces Mill is good, you'll have lot's of company on the walking trails but not very many fishermen. Here's a good GON article on it below. https://gon.com/fishing/atlanta-shoal-bass-fishing

 

[Maxthefisher]

Thanks!

 

[sprewett]

Not north of Atlanta but the Flint river.

 

[Maxthefisher]

sprewett thank you. Do you prefer any specific parts of the flint river?

 

[sprewett]

sprewett thank you. Do you prefer any specific parts of the flint river?

Below yellow jacket shoals

 

[WPrich]

Got them in Sweetwater Creek itself west of Atlanta in the state park. Buddy of mine caught a few this past summer wading there on the flyrod

 

[Sweetwater]

Got them in Sweetwater Creek itself west of Atlanta in the state park. Buddy of mine caught a few this past summer wading there on the flyrod

Now shush Mr Prich aint no shoalies in sweetwater creek.
Lol...naw j/k. There are some shoalies to be had in sweetwater creek park...in some of the most beautiful scenery to be had in the state. I do well with white buzzbaits and small jigs. Now the average size isnt say comparable to flint footballs....nor are the numbers....but they can be had consistantly.

There are a couple spots upstream of the park Ive caught them at...started out just a couple but over the years those spots are holding more fish.

Fair warning...watch your step the rocks at sweetwater have always had a good snake pop.There are timber ratters mixed in with the copperheads and they mean.Trade off is the snakes are the only thing holding back from a full blown new hollywood takeover of the park.

Used to be rare to see another human in peak season(except when we used to skip school and float down those rapids in innertubes) but now any decent weather has the trails full of woke new hollywood transplants despite my best efforts to scare them away with snake rumors and scary haint masks.

Still plenty of fishing room,it justs detracts from the ambiance cuz they have no "fishing manners". Ive had one dude almost get a mouthfull of rapala cuz he walked right into my back cast even though I had waded to a spot out of view from the trail I thought.

All in all.....its still worth the trip.

 

[WPrich]

Now shush Mr Prich aint no shoalies in sweetwater creek.
Lol...naw j/k. There are some shoalies to be had in sweetwater creek park...in some of the most beautiful scenery to be had in the state. I do well with white buzzbaits and small jigs. Now the average size isnt say comparable to flint footballs....nor are the numbers....but they can be had consistantly.

There are a couple spots upstream of the park Ive caught them at...started out just a couple but over the years those spots are holding more fish.

Fair warning...watch your step the rocks at sweetwater have always had a good snake pop.There are timber ratters mixed in with the copperheads and they mean.Trade off is the snakes are the only thing holding back from a full blown new hollywood takeover of the park.

Used to be rare to see another human in peak season(except when we used to skip school and float down those rapids in innertubes) but now any decent weather has the trails full of woke new hollywood transplants despite my best efforts to scare them away with snake rumors and scary haint masks.

Still plenty of fishing room,it justs detracts from the ambiance cuz they have no "fishing manners". Ive had one dude almost get a mouthfull of rapala cuz he walked right into my back cast even though I had waded to a spot out of view from the trail I thought.

All in all.....its still worth the trip.

Haha the snakes are the reason I personally haven't fished there in years. Do need to take the kayak over there and try the lake for bass at some point.

 

[Ruger#3]

The WMA used to have a road that led to access below yellow jacket falls on the Flint. I’ve fished there many times, I’m not sure sure if that’s still open as it’s been awhile.

 

[Damidgede]

Its still there. The ride into the river is quite the hall, but Ive put in there a few times, they have a rail to push you kayak to the river, but its a steep put in/take out by stairs. Bring a friend. If the water is really low, you can wade up the river, I have seen someone wade further then I took my kayak up the river.

 

[Ruger#3]

Its still there. The ride into the river is quite the hall, but Ive put in there a few times, they have a rail to push you kayak to the river, but its a steep put in/take out by stairs. Bring a friend. If the water is really low, you can wade up the river, I have seen someone wade further then I took my kayak up the river.

I've waded a long way up when the river was down. Wish they had a kayak slide back when I lived down that way.

 

[Bananaslug22]

There are two access points to the river at Big Lazer WMA….the “new” spot with the wooden ramp and then the “old” put-in on Big Lazer Creek.
You’ll have to drag/pull your kayak 200 ft on the wooden ramp Put-in and to me, that’s a better take-out location than a put-in location.

 

[Bananaslug22]

Haha the snakes are the reason I personally haven't fished there in years. Do need to take the kayak over there and try the lake for bass at some point.

The “snake seen per trip” ratio blows my mind there.

 

[basshappy]

Haha the snakes are the reason I personally haven't fished there in years. Do need to take the kayak over there and try the lake for bass at some point.

Hope your luck is better than ours. It was the dead sea. We landed 0 between 2 of us. Nada. Nothing. Zilch. 6 hours. We marked a few fish but nothing doing. The lake. The creek was fun and slippery as already noted.

 

[Robust Redhorse]

There are some things smart fishermen won't tell...

Warm Water – Unicoi Outfitters

www.unicoioutfitters.com

 

[Nuttin Better]

The Yellow River in Porterdale, there is an old cotton mill right downtown and a shoal area just below the dam that has shoal bass. Kinda a little secret that a lot of people don't know about that is 35 miles east of downtown Atlanta.

 

[crackerdave]

The Yellow River in Porterdale, there is an old cotton mill right downtown and a shoal area just below the dam that has shoal bass. Kinda a little secret that a lot of people don't know about that is 35 miles east of downtown Atlanta.

Lotta people know about it now!