Jimmy Jacobs’ outdoors column

43 State parks and historic sites offering lake or stream fishing

65 Total Georgia state parks and historic sites

The July 4 holiday falling on Thursday this year offers many families the chance for an extremely long weekend. A slow economy and high gas prices can make staying close to home during this period appealing.

Those factors also make metro Atlanta’s state parks and historic sites good destinations for day trips that include some fishing options.

Area state parks that offer lake or river fishing are Red Top Mountain near Cartersville, Fort Yargo in Winder, Sweetwater Creek in Lithia Springs, Hard Labor Creek in Rutledge and Chattahoochee Bend in Coweta County.

Bass, bream and catfish are found in the waters at each of these parks. Large striped bass also are possible catches at Red Top Mountain or Chattahoochee Bend.

The Fishing Tackle Loaner Program at Red Top Mountain and at Chattahoochee Bend provides an easy way to add fishing to the family outing as well.

The program is a joint effort between the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ State Parks and Historic Sites and its Wildlife Resources Division. The goal of the project is to give beginning anglers the opportunity to sample the fun of fishing in state-park waters, but without the expense of buying a lot of gear.

The WRD provides the offices at a number of parks with rods, reels and tackle boxes that visitors can check out for the day. The tackle boxes contain hooks, weights, bobbers and other accessories needed for some fishing action.

The program is funded through the federal Sportfish Restoration Program, with money generated by excise taxes on fishing tackle and motor-boat fuels. The taxes are collected by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and allotted back to the states based on the number of anglers in each state.

Visit georgiawildlife.com/fishing and click the link for Tackle Loaner Program to find a complete list of participating parks and historic sites.