Jimmy Jacobs outdoors column

5 Dams remaining on the Chattahoochee between West Point Lake and Columbus

170 Years the Eagle and Phenix and City Mills dams impounded the Chattahoochee

Summer traditionally is a time for fishing in rivers. The blazing sun of June through September heats up water in lakes and reservoirs, making fish sluggish and reluctant to bite. The moving water in rivers stays cooler and contains more oxygen, keeping the fish active.

This year in North and Middle Georgia has been different. The large amount of rainfall has kept the reservoirs full and required the release of more water than usual. The Chattahoohee River downstream of Lake Lanier, the Etowah below Allatoona Lake and the Ocmulgee down river of Jackson Lake all have flowed high and muddy, making fishing unproductive.

The middle portion of the Chattahoochee from West Point Dam at LaGrange down river to Columbus has bucked that trend. Having strong current moving below the impoundments is a key to catching bass on the middle portion of the river.

“The best fishing is when water is being released from dams,” fishing guide Kent Edmonds said. “The fish hold in the shoal areas on the river.”

Edmonds targets largemouth, spotted and shoal bass downstream of the dams at West Point and Bartletts Ferry lakes, as well as below the smaller impoundments in Columbus. His clients also hook larger striped bass during these fishing conditions.

Anglers recently have gained some new free-flowing water for fishing at Columbus. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began removing the old Eagle and Phenix Dam from the river in March 2012, followed by the breaching of the upstream City Mills Dam last March.

Stripers and other game fish now are able to move farther up the river. The emptying of those impoundments has exposed long-flooded, rocky shoal areas such as those that Edmonds targets.

More information on when and where to fish on the middle Chattahoochee River is available on Kent Edmonds’ Web site at flyfishga.com.