MAY 11, 2007 Lake Nottely Fishing Report by Reggie Weaver, Wildlife Resources Division (WRD) Fisheries Biologist - A WRD electrofishing crew sampled lake and Flat Creek on Tuesday, May 8.  Lake water temperature was 64 degrees F. Spotted bass and crappie were plentiful along the shoreline in water less than 10 feet deep. The fish samples included an abundance of ½ to ¾ pound largemouths. These bass indicated good survival and recruitment of stocked and natural reproduction in 2005.  About 50% of adult bass collected had already spawned. Fish were concentrated in brush piles and downed trees.  Large schools of blueback herring were observed spawning along the shoreline.  

Right now, Nottely anglers have the opportunity to catch lots of fish on a variety of shallow water lures and live baits. Excellent choices for bass are soft and hard jerk baits, plastic worms, topwaters, night crawlers, minnows, and plastic jigs. Small curly tailed grubs, jigs, and minnows fished under a float or slow trolled are proven crappie techniques.   

Oct. 26, 2006 - FYI from WRD fisheries biologist Reggie Weaver, who enjoyed one final round of fall sampling on these lakes prior to his retirement next year. Fall is a great time to go fishing at lakes Chatuge and Nottely. The fall leaf colors and warm days are a recipe for an enjoyable fishing outing for adults to share this fishing season with a son, daughter, or grandchildren.

These two mountain reservoirs support healthy and thriving spotted bass populations that have benefited from ample supplies of blueback herring and shad. Based on WRD gill net samples collected Tuesday and Wednesday (October 24-25), spotted bass are scattered throughout both lakes in 10 to 25 feet of water. Some prime locations are main channel mud-rocky points on both lakes. The most common size spotted bass to catch this fall weighs in at 1 ½ pounds. On Lake Nottely, our nets yielded above average numbers of young striped bass, indicating good survival of fingerlings (one inch long) stocked in 2005 and 2006. Three to 6 pound stripers were captured along the shoreline in water less than 10 feet deep.  A number of larger (20 pound) stripers were netted and released.

Casting Long A Bombers and other shallow running crankbaits is an effective fall method for taking stripers in shallow water.  Best fall striper spots are Ivy Log Creek, Conley Creek, and the main channel areas from the dam upstream to Jacks Creek.

Lake Chatuge's white bass population has rebounded due to improved spawning success in recent years. Jim Wentworth, US Forest Service biologist, is pictured (at top of page) holding several average size (one pound) white bass we collected on our October 25 sampling trip.  White bass were concentrated on main channel points in water less than 20 feet deep.

Good luck. For more information on fishing these mountain reservoirs, call the GA Wildlife Resources Division at 770-535-5498 or visit www.gofishgeorgia.com.

Oct. 11, 2006 Report by Christopher Looney - Fisheries Technician III GA Department of Natural Resources - Wildlife Resources Division - Fisheries Management Section - Fisheries Biologist Reggie Weaver and I conducted our fall electrofishing on Lake Nottely yesterday (Wednesday, October 11). Largmouth bass were found around large woody structures and fish attractors. The crappie were also found in woody structure, with the larger one being found at 10-12 foot deep. The better areas were in the backs of Ivy Log Creek and Young Cane Creek. Look for downed trees and the Christmas tree fish attractors at Jack's Creek and Deavertown boat ramps and also at Eagle Bend.