Fly Fishing the Chattooga River
There's a reason they made a movie about this river.
The Chattooga runs wild and free down the seam of three states; Georgia on one bank, South Carolina on the other, North Carolina holding the headwaters. It's about as close to untouched as moving water gets this side of the Mississippi. No highway hums alongside it. You park, you hike in, you wade up, and somewhere around the second bend the rest of the world goes quiet. This is our home water. We'd be honored to show it to you.
What's swimming in it
The Chattooga is a wild trout river at heart, and if you put in the work, it will provide holdover brook, brown, and rainbow trout tucked into the pocket water and the deep green pools. Stocked fish spread through the delayed-harvest water from fall into spring. Then summer rolls in, the trout slide back into the cold seams, and the river offers up something different: Bartram's bass, the scrappy native redeye that's lived in the Savannah drainage a lot longer than any of us. They have the fight of a smallmouth tucked into a smaller fish. They are a true welcome sight and contender, come summer.
When to come
Fall through spring is your trout window with the cooler water, generous stocking through the delayed-harvest sections, and less people. (Those stretches fish catch-and-release with single-hook artificials for part of the year; we'll keep you square with current SCDNR and Georgia regulations so you never have to wonder.) Summer is wet-wading weather and bass season, just about the best way there is to get a new angler on the tug. Honest truth? There's no wrong time to stand in this river.
How we fish it
This is a walk-and-wade trip, the way the Chattooga was meant to be fished. We'll get you geared up, pick our water by the weather and crowds, the flows, and whatever you're hoping for. Maybe easy access down near the delayed-harvest stretches or perhaps a hike toward Burrell's Ford. Rods, reels, flies, and the know-how are on us. You bring a fishing license and a willingness to get your feet wet. First-timers, kids seven and up, and old pros alike will be in awe here.
Come fish with us
Half day or full day — your call. Full days come with lunch and more river under your boots. Book online or give us a holler; we're always happy to talk through what kind of day would suit you. We're just fishing out here. We'd love for you to come along.
