North Georgia lakes have a lot to offer. Lakes Burton and Chatuge are great great springtime lakes to spend the morning or afternoon fishing. Both of these Lakes have beautiful mountain drop scenery. There are several different species of fish in these cold water mountain lakes. A few of the popular fish that anglers go after are Brown Trout, Walleye, Black Bass, Hybrid Bass, and Yellow Perch. Here is a current fishing report I have included.
Lake Burton / Chatuge Fishing Report
Water Temp: 62 deg
Clarity: clear
Level: 1 ft below pool
Bass
The Bass bite has been great the last few days. We have caught most of our fish on jerk baits on long points close to the main lake channels. These fish are pulling up shallower every day to feed for a few hours. We are casting in the 5ft depths and working the baits back towards the boat through the 25 ft depth range. We have had good success with a white jerk bait with a chartreuse belly. We have also caught some bigger Spots and Large Mouth on a Ned Rig tipped with a pumpkin seed color worm. Look for these fish to pull up shallow over the next few weeks and begin their spawning ritual.
Trout
We have been trolling with Rapala X-Raps (XR06) Hot Mustard jerk baits and having good success. This bait seems to catch the big trout and the smaller fish as well. Most of the Brown Trout seem to be in the backs of the creeks in the 20 to 30 ft depths. Look for the Herring schools surfacing and the Brown Trout will be close. Try running these jerk baits in the 12 to 18ft depth range at a speed of 3 mph (idle speed). Working in and around the fallen brush around the bank lines can be tricky. This technique has also been effective for catching Walleye. Although the Walleye like a slower speed than trout; try limiting your boat speed to 2 mph for the Walleye. Most of the Walleye have completed their spawning and are hungry. This is a great time of year to catch a wall hanger or dinner.
Look for the Trout to slowly migrate towards the southern portions of the creeks over the next few weeks. The Walleye bite should continue to get better as we head towards the middle to latter part of April/ May.