Fishing Spots in Cobb, Douglas, or Pauling County

[RazzArchery]

Hey y’all. Just moved down here from New Jersey to the Mableton area and trying to find a new spot to do some shore fishing. Any lake, creek, or stream will do. I was going to fish Sweetwater State Park but not big on paying for parking every time I want to fish. Anyone have some good recommendations? Not looking to fish anything in particular just want to have somewhere to go on the weekends and unwind. Thanks!

 

[Timbercrasher]

Sweetwater creek at the state park is good fishing when the creek isn't flooding. Seems like Sweetwater is flooding almost constantly this year. Check water flow data before going out. Shoal bass live in the rapids. Sweetwater lake isn't worth fishing. The paulding wma is the largest local public land. 20,000+ acres of exploration to be had. Raccoon creek is stocked with trout march - july 4th. Any sizable creek is worth exploring on the wma, red eye bass are everywhere. Rather hard access anywhere on the paulding wma. Large lakes like alatoona and Lanier are best with a boat. The Chattahoochee has a tailwater trout fishery. Your best bet for easy shore fishing will be any local public or private ponds. Really hit or miss sometimes for largemouth. 2 hour drive north to chase the trout stocking truck in the mountains. Can be fun and some easy areas to trout fish are rock creek and cooper's creek. Our trout fishing is ok at the best on public land. Go here for a weekly report by the GA DNR https://georgiawildlife.com/Fishing/Trout

 

[RazzArchery]

Thanks! I’ve been meaning to check out one of the WMAs nearby. Might have to do that this weekend.

 

[Timbercrasher]

Thanks! I’ve been meaning to check out one of the WMAs nearby. Might have to do that this weekend.

If your planning on going to target trout, make sure you go north enough. Paulding wma might let you down. It gets far to hot for them that South right now. They're in there from march to late july. That being said there's plenty of native fish still swimming about waiting to be caught. Red eye bass are a small bass species that have beautiful markings and are as aggressive as brookies. Go to the blue ridge wma and try some headwaters if your capable of hiking of trail through thick rhododendron and dangerous terrain. Or look for the stocking report to find easier areas. If there is a road along a creek and it's stocked, typically means its easy access. PM me if you need more help, just don't want to go into detail for the masses to see.

 

[Fletch_W]

Look into the cost of an annual state parks pass, it pays for itself pretty quickly if you go often, and it's good for every state park in Georgia.

Lake Allatoona has a ton of public fishing areas too, including Red Top Mountain State Park where your parks pass will come in handy.

 

[OwlRNothing]

I always thought our trout fishing was pretty darn good. A trip out west to the "famed waters of Yellowstone" proved it to me. Yep. Pretty good. But then, it depends on what you're looking for and what you consider "good" I guess. I'd rather catch 30 small trout a day than 4 or 5 larger ones and a day of casting.

On a more related note: Why is the fishing so lousy in Sweetwater SP lake? I've never caught anything there other than tiny little bream and equally tiny bass. Over fished? I'm familiar with fishing really clear water, but I gave up on that lake years ago. I got all excited one day recently when I saw a video that said "Great day fishing at Sweetwater State Park!"

It was literally a 25 minute video of two guys catching 7 inch bream. Fishing is always fun, but I'm too old to waste time on tiny bream. I've got a reputation to uphold dang it and I need them to be at least 8.75 inches!

 

[jav]

Sweetwater park lake is actually a good lake if you find the small amount of structure in the lake. Good electronics will go a long ways in success. If you only fish the bank target the spring time and late fall, rest of the year you need to spend time on offshore structure.

 

[Yankee in GA]

I Don’t consider myself a great fisherman but I’ve always managed to catch a few at Sloppy Floyd state park. You do have to pay to park but the lake is easy to access and they even rent boats and canoes.

 

[OwlRNothing]

How much are state park passes now? That used to be the way to go...

 

[Toasty]

How much are state park passes now? That used to be the way to go...

$50 and it’s a good deal. I believe mine came with some little discount coupons for things like overnight stays at the parks. Some of the parks have cabins and yurts, they are really cool.

 

[Dialer]

I’ve vowed to never go back to Sweetwater creek State Park. The last time I was there (last spring) the big boned park ranger (female) harassed me and threatened me about launching my kayak there..Was very rude and not anything near what you would expect from a DNR officer.. Don’t waste your time there OR Dog river reservoir. They BOTH are not worth your time....

 

[OwlRNothing]

What was her deal? Were you launching it full of Bud Lite or something???

 

[RatherbeFishing]

I've only been a couple times, but White Oak Park in Paulding has a couple small ponds that are easily accessible. I haven't had much luck there, but I only had 30 min or so to fish each time and it was a casual trip just to get out of the house. Seems to be a pretty quiet place and is always worth a try. Welcome to Georgia!

 

[westcobbdog]

Havent been but I see Goldmine Lake in west Paulding on aerials.
You could do a combo deer hunt bas trip.

 

[hambone76]

There are a few lakes on Paulding Forest WMA, off of Goldmine Rd.
I don’t know the names of two of them and the third is Goldmine Lake. They’re on the WMA map. Plan visits accordingly and be prepared for a walk.