Welcome to the Toccoa Bend Fishing Community (TBFC)

Compiled by Bob Borgwat (08-26-09)

Trout fishing in Toccoa Bend turns up trophy-sized rainbow trout. But it's no accident that your neighbor, Brian Stanford, caught that fish. The Toccoa Bend Fishing Community has long protected the remarkable trout fishery that provides added value to the quality of life in Toccoa Bend.
Photo by Carl Riggs.
As informal a group as we are, the so-called Toccoa Bend Fishing Community is a group of responsible neighbors who take particularly strong interest in the trout fishing and the quality of the trout fishery of the Toccoa River where it wraps itself around the Toccoa Bend subdivision.

The primary focus of the TBFC is protection of the trout fishery in Toccoa Bend that has been in continual development for 12 years. Way back in 1997, a small group of your neighbors who are also dedicated trout fishermen and river watch-keepers stocked the river under state permit within the boundaries of the subdivision in hopes for building the trout population well beyond what Mother Nature may accomplish through limited productive spawning of the native fish. Back then, as it is today, the Toccoa River also was stocked at the Rock Creek Road bridge by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources working in conjunction with the federal trout hatchery located about 5 miles south of Toccoa Bend on Rock Creek Road. The common size of state-stocked trout is 9 to 12 inches.

State and federal trout stockings aside (many of these fish find their way into our waters), the active neighbors who comprise the Toccoa Bend Fishing Community have voluntarily funded the stocking of the Toccoa River in Toccoa Bend twice a year since the initial stocking in 97. We invite non-active members of the Toccoa Bend community to join this effort. Our collective intent continues under state permit and includes improving fish numbers and protection of the fishery; but, of course, we want to enjoy the fishing too! That's why our group has informally worked out trespass rights with the riverside property owners in Toccoa Bend in exchange for our stocking dollars and our continual vigilance for the security of their properties. The result is a strong and enviable privately accessed trophy-trout fishery that is protected from outside trespassers, poaching and unauthorized fishing.

What a joy and privilege it is to fish for trout in Toccoa Bend! The drought years of 2006 and 2007 impacted the success of our stockings, but we had great carryover from the 2008 stocking. In 2009 rainbow trout are abundant in the river and average in length well more than they do in most trout fishing waters in Fannin County and, indeed, the rest of the north Georgia mountains. Rainbows in the 14- to 18-inch class are common. Individual fish easily top 5 pounds in weight, and our anglers even tie into bows that push upward of 10 pounds. It's a remarkable fishery that adds great value to the quality of life in Toccoa Bend.