Georgia Trout Opener

Limit catches will be plentiful this weekend in North Georgia. Trout season opens Saturday morning, and you can count on streams being well stocked. Georgia trout fishermen don't have to quit fishing through the winter. Many of the state's trout waters stay open year round. In fact, some of the state's best opportunities occur during the cold months. Many streams are designated as seasonal, though, closing in November and reopening the last Saturday in March.

That's this Saturday, and they officially open 1/2 hour before sunrise.

Many of Georgia's most popular stocked streams are seasonal, so opening day is heavily anticipated by many fishermen. Popular streams will be crowded on Saturday, but it is one day that most folks don't seem to mind the crowds. It's part of the tradition, and many anglers likely share their favorite opening day stream with many of the same fishermen year after year. Tradition often also includes camping or staying in cabin in the mountains and/or cooking up a fresh limit of trout on Saturday night.

Whether trout are kept for dinner or released for someone else to catch, the Georgia Wildlife Resources Division will make sure there are plenty of fish in the rivers. Hatchery workers have been busy all week stocking streams all over the northern third of the state to make certain they are ready for opening day. Of course, fish are still fish, and you still have to get them to bite. They'll be there, though!

Georgia Trout Season -- Opening Without Me

Considering that it's already 4:30, and I have more things that I want to do than hours of daylight left, it seems unlikely that I'll take part in Opening Day of trout season by trying to catch a trout or two. That's OK. One major advantage of being self-employed is that I can hit a creek on a Tuesday or a Wednesday, when fewer other folks are out there.

In truth, many of my favorite streams -- in Georgia, in North Carolina and farther way -- are open year 'round, so I don't give a lot of thought to trout season. I also think Georgia's trout opener has become less of an event than it once was, in part due to the popularity of delayed-harvest streams and other rivers that remain open and continue to offer very good fishing throughout the cool months.

That said, popular seasonal streams throughout the mountains were very well stocked at daylight this morning, when they opened to fishing once again. I'm confident that hundreds of sportsmen spent fun days catching trout, and that many of the same folks will enjoy trout for dinner tonight. Some will fry them at home. Many will cook them over a fire at a campsite near the creek where they will caught.

I have to admit that writing about Georgia trout streams makes me think a little more about grabbing one of my children and heading for the Soque River or Wildcat Creek for a couple of hours, but I'm still guessing that evening will arrive before that will ever happen. More trout for everyone else, I suppose.