BY THE NUMBERS
8 Harvest limit per angler per day for trout in Georgia
4,000 Miles of trout water in North Georgia
100,000 Number of trout fishermen in Georgia
Georgia’s seasonal trout streams open to fishing Saturday. Roughly half of the state’s trout waters fall in this category. These streams and rivers may be fished from the last Saturday in March to the last day of October.
Most of these creeks are stocked waters, in which the Georgia Department of Natural Resources releases large numbers of rainbow and brown trout. Many consider angling on opening day to be a rite of spring, even though the streams are more crowded than at any other time of year.
The outlook for opening day this year is good. Mild temperatures in the upper 50s and low 60s are predicted under sunny skies throughout the North Georgia mountains. The DNR will have the streams ready as well.
“Hatchery conditions have been good this winter, and we have great quality trout to help us meet our goal of replenishing stocked streams for opening day,” DNR trout-stocking coordinator John Lee Thomson said. “Recent rains are contributing to good stream flows and will give us the opportunity to spread fish out, making way for another excellent opening week of the Georgia trout season.”
He also said that some of the fish released are brook trout from state and federal hatcheries. Brook trout are Georgia’s only native trout species.
Wildcat Creek in Rabun County is one of the state’s more popular stocked streams. The creek will be open for fishing and camping for opening weekend. Road work along its course had caused a closure in recent seasons.
Boggs Creek in Lumpkin County is another popular stream and will be open for day-use fishing. Camping will not be permitted because of continuing cleanup from tornado damage in that area.
For regulations and a complete list of Georgia’s stocked, seasonal trout streams by county, visit georgiawildlife.com/fishing and click the link for Trout.
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