See every public fishing venue in Georgia on the map, with boat ramps, camping, parking and full rules for each one.
J. Strom Thurmond Reservoir is a public lake in Lincoln County, Columbia County, McDuffie County, Elbert County and Wilkes County, Georgia, managed by Georgia DNR Wildlife Resources Division (public boat ramp). It is public water managed for fishing by the Georgia DNR Wildlife Resources Division. Public access confirmed via marquee water.
Clarks Hill / J. Strom Thurmond Lake (71,000 ac) — the largest Corps lake east of the Mississippi, on the Savannah River at the SC line. Largemouth bass, a massive hybrid and striped-bass fishery, white bass and crappie in the creeks, and trophy blue catfish. GA or SC licence lake-wide.
J. Strom Thurmond Reservoir covers about 67,891 acres in the Piedmont region. Anglers here mostly fish for largemouth bass, striped bass, hybrid striped bass, channel catfish; flathead catfish, black crappie, bluegill, redear sunfish are also on record. The nearest other mapped waters on PiscaMaps are Savannah River and Hawe Creek.
Species from GA DNR fish-management and boat-ramp data.
Night fishing: No statewide night-fishing closure in Georgia. Public Fishing Areas and some Corps day-use parks have posted hours; a few PFAs are closed at night. Bowfishing and jugging at night are legal on most public water. Trout streams on WMAs may be open only 30 min before sunrise to 30 min after sunset in the seasonal-catch reaches.
Boats: The big Corps and Georgia Power reservoirs have no horsepower limit; idle-speed / no-wake zones are marked near ramps, marinas, bridges and dams. Many Public Fishing Area ponds are electric-motor-only or trolling-motor-only, and some are car-top only. Georgia requires a boat-safety course for operators born on or after 1 Jan 1998.
Bank & bivvy camping: Camp at Georgia state parks (GeorgiaStateParks.org), Corps of Engineers lakeside campgrounds, and Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest sites. WMAs allow camping only in designated areas and often only during hunt seasons. The blackwater paddle rivers (Ogeechee, Satilla, Altamaha) have a sandbar-camping tradition on the exposed bars.
Tackle: Statewide black-bass daily limit is 10 in aggregate (only 2 may be shoal bass, and the redeye/Bartram's/Chattahoochee/Altamaha bass have their own protections); 15 crappie on many reservoirs; 8 trout with a Georgia trout licence. Several rivers and reservoirs have their own slot or size limits — check the current Georgia regulations for this water.
Boat ramps: 20 mapped — Boat ramp, Cherokee Boat Ramp, Boat ramp, Boat ramp, Boat ramp, Boat ramp and others nearby.
Camping: 14 sites mapped nearby — Campsite, Campsite, West Dam, Amity Recreation Area, Wildwood Camping Area 1, Camping Municipal and others.
Source: OpenStreetMap contributors.
Anyone 16-64 needs a Georgia fishing licence — resident annual is about $15, non-resident annual about $50, and non-resident 1-day (~$10) and 3-day (~$18) licences are sold. A separate Georgia trout licence (~$10 resident / ~$20 non-resident) is required to fish for or possess trout. Georgia residents 65+ fish free. Buy from GoOutdoorsGeorgia.com. A Georgia fishing licence covers all public water in the state; a separate Georgia trout licence is required to fish for or possess trout. Some reservoirs have their own bass slot limits.
Every water carries species, bank & boat access, current regulations and live water conditions — and members get Swim Mapper, Catch Logger and Trip Planner. It's the only US map with a dedicated carp-water layer.
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