Toccoa Bend Fishing Community - Trout Fishing Outside Toccoa Bend
The Toccoa River is Georgia's longest cold-water river and is open for trout fishing year round. From the tiny branches and spring creeks where it rises east of Toccoa Bend in Union County to its eventual renaming as the Ocoee River at the Georgia-Tennessee boundary in McCayesville, the river flows for nearly 50 miles. Many more miles of the Toccoa River's trout water are found upstream from Lake Blue Ridge than downstream from the reservoir's dam, and there are benefits for trout fishing in both sections.
Photos by Bob Borgwat
Public sections of the upper Toccoa River are stocked heavily with rainbow trout from mid-March through early summer. Stocking sites are located along Georgia Highway 60, Doublehead Gap Road, Old Dial Road and Aska Road. Additional trout stockings are made in several tributaries to the upper river including Coopers Creek, Rock Creek and Big Creek, as well as in Rock Creek Lake, located about a mile upstream from the hatchery. Fishing regulations allow all legal methods of fishing along the length of the river and these tributaries, with an 8-fish daily possession limit of trout, all species combined. Here is the complete list of stocked trout waters.
However, fishing regulations change from November 1 until May 15 along a mile-long section of the Toccoa River downstream from the Sandy Bottoms canoe access (map of this area). During this period, this section of the river is classified under the state's "delayed harvest" fishing regulations (for more information). These regulations impose catch-and-release fishing only with single-hook artificial lures and flies. All trout caught in this area during this period must be immediately released unharmed. Fishing licenses and trout permits are required for all Georgia trout waters. These can be purchased locally at Coopers Creek Store and Dixie Depot, both located nearby Toccoa Bend on Highway 60.
The upper Toccoa River watershed also is blessed with numerous small streams that hold wild rainbow, brown and brook trout. These Georgia gems are pristine, remotely located environments that see little fishing pressure. Most anglers who venture on foot into the gorges and above the waterfalls do so with fly rods in hand. Many of these destinations go un-named in the fly-fishing community in efforts to limit fishing pressure that might otherwise befall these valuable headwater trout streams. Find one on a map, locate the closest road, then hit the trail for what can be some of the most memorable trout fishing you'll ever enjoy.
The lower Toccoa River - those 14 miles of water downstream from Blue Ridge Dam - is among the most productive trout-fishing water in Georgia. Public access sites are located at the dam, Tammen Park in Blue Ridge, the Curtis Switch Road bridge crossing near Mineral Bluff, and Horseshoe Bend Park in McCayesville. The river is very popular with fly-fishermen who both wade-fish and float the river in driftboats, canoes and kayaks to access lightly fished areas flanked by private property. Rainbows and browns are successfully spawning in the lower Toccoa; but rainbow, brown and brook trout are stocked in the river by state and federal fisheries agencies. All legal fishing methods are allowed in the lower Toccoa River year round. Daily possession limit is 8 fish, all species combined.