Guide To Excellent Striped Bass & Hybrid Striper Fishing In Georgia

Striped Bass Lakes

While stripers are native to salt water, they naturally migrate into fresh water streams to spawn. Their eggs must remain in motion in order to hatch so the fresh water rivers and streams become the ideal spawning grounds for stripers. Landlocked stripers then populate the lakes.

The major Georgia lakes with a population of stripers include Carters Lake, Chatuge Lake, Clarks Hill Lake, Goat Rock Lake, Lake Allatoona, Lake Blackshear, Lake Chehaw, Lake Eufaula, Lake Harding, Lake Hartwell, Lake Jackson, Lake Juliette, Lake Lanier, Lake Nottely, Lake Oconee, Lake Oliver, Lake Russell, Lake Seminole, Lake Sinclair, Lake Tobesofkee and West Point Lake. Coastal waters and the tributaries leading into the ocean are migration routes for stripers and present an opportunity for good stripes bass fishing.

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Georgia State Record Striped Bass

Two state record striped bass (tie) were caught from Lake Richard B. Russell and the Oconee River.

The state record hybrid striped bass came from Lake Chatuge.

Drew McCarsky shows off a nice striper he nailed in the Carter’s Lake regulation spillway last November. It was 14lb, and hit a white bucktail with a Fin-s fish on the hook, Arkansas shad color. He was using a custom built Lamiglass 9 foot rod and Penn reel loaded with 30 lb power pro braid green colored. Drew says in fall and winter, the big stripers can be had along with 6-8 lb class walleye at night fishing the spillway. There is a lot of snags and rocks to hang on, so bring the heavy duty gear. Leave the little stuff home!

Fishing for Stripers in Georgia

When fishing for stripers concentrate on the deeper waters in the lake. If you can locate schools of shad, stripers are often close by. When the baitfish are shallow over the deep water, you can catch stripers on crankbaits or by swimming spoons at appropriate depths. Check Georgia fishing reports for current striper information. And for the ultimate thrill try large topwater baits if you see any surface feeding action. When the stripers are deep, jigs and jigging spoons work well. Live and cut bait will also take striped bass when they are in medium to deeper water. Fish nearby or in the river channel if it is a defined depth change. Trolling is also an excellent way to fish for stripers. Use flashy lures in bigger sizes.

Striper Video

Learn the basics for catching striped bass.

Striped bass fishing information, by state.