Georgia Bass Slam & 2026 Fish Species Tally

spotted bass

Spotted bass/Alabama bass almost feel like freebies for Georgia Bass Slam. These highly similar species, which are treated as one for the Slam, are ultra plentiful in waterways through much of the state, including many places where they aren’t supposed to be and mess up a lot of stuff with native black bass species.

Nevertheless, I had not caught a spot from Georgia waters yet in 2026, so I was delighted to land a pretty 14-inch fish on Monday and to get it properly measured and photographed to meet Georgia Bass Slam requirements.

Today, while filming a different North Georgia stream, I was delighted to see the tail of a Coosa redeye bass cross the 8-inch line in my measuring board. The spot and Coosa were species three and four toward this year’s Slam for me. The minimum for earning the Slam is five of ten possible qualifying black bass species caught during a calendar year. 

Something nice for me is that largemouth bass remain on the list of species that could get me to five. If can’t catch am 8-inch-plus largemouth bass from Georgia waters before the end of the year, I should just give up my fishing license. I also haven’t yet tallied a Chattahoochee bass, and those live in waters close to me. I hadn’t targeted these bass prior to last year, but I feel like I should be able to accomplish that one if I’m intentional about it.

Unrelated to the Georgia Bass Slam, I am keeping a running tally of fish species I catch this year, and I was able to grow that year’s list this week. 

Coosa bass, which I actually caught a few of from a couple of streams this week, were additions. I was also able to add redear sunfish and rock bass. I need to go back and look at a few things and do some documenting, but I think that brings this tally to 20 species caught.

I might have written this blog prematurely. I’m fishing again today and could add another species to the Slam and/or my 2025 species list!

Coosa redeye bass

Favorite 2016 Fishing Accomplishment: Crawfish Bass Slam

Guadalupe bass, Guadalupe River, Texas, Teeny Wee-Crawfish

2016 provided many amazing fishing opportunities, including chances to fish in a few states where I had never fished before and a few new species catches. I'll have to think more about specific favorite destinations and specific catches, but my favorite fishing accomplishment of the year is easy, and the story began in February with the bass pictured above. It's a Guadalupe bass, a black bass species found only in select Texas waters, and I caught it from the Guadalupe River in a state park of the same name. I only caught one and it wasn't very large, but I was thrilled because it was a species I'd never before had the opportunity to catch.

Suwannee bass, Santa Fe River, Florida, Deep Wee-Crawfish

In March, I got the chance to fish for Suwannee bass in Florida's Santa Fe River and to catch a few on Deep Wee-Crawfish. Having then caught two black bass species I'd never caught before by March and having caught both on Rebel Crawfish, I wondered how far I could carry that in a year. To shorten the story, I ended up catching seven species, which at one time would have been considered  true black bass slam, all on the Rebel Crawfish. Biologists have fairly recently defined a couple of other bass that are very similar to spotted bass a distinctive species in select watersheds, but the seven I caught represent what traditionally has been seen as a slam.

Interestingly, the last one I caught, which came late in the summer, was a shoal bass, and it came from the section of the Chattahoochee River that is less than 1/2 hour from my house. See photos below for species three through seven, each with a caption telling the species, location and kind of Rebel Crawfish.

Largemouth bass, Ouachita River, Arkansas, Middle Wee-Crawfish

Smallmouth bass, Ouachita River, Arkansas, Middle Wee-Crawfish

Spotted bass, Ouachita River, Arkansas, Middle Wee-Crawfish

Coosa redeye bass, Chattooga River, South Carolina, Deep Teeny Wee-Crawfish

Shoal bass, Chattahoochee River, Georgia, Wee-Crawfish

Surprise Carp

While bass fishing in a small Alabama lake last week, I was certainly surprised to catch a big carp on a crankbait, with the fish hooked in its rubbery lips. Adding even greater surprise, I caught another carp, the very next day, in a totally different lake, with a Pop-R. The second carp, with probably weighed 5 or 6 pounds, absolutely annihilated my little popper on the surface, hitting it with as much vigor as any striper or redfish I've ever caught.

I've only caught a few carp in my life, so to catch two on back to back days in different waters, and both on artificial lures, was pretty odd. In both cases, I was astounded by the fish's strength, speed and stamina. Considering that carp live fairly slow-moving lifestyles (from my understanding anyway), not doing any hunting, they seem to be amazingly fit. I actually don't know when or if I would have gained enough control of the bigger first-day carp to unhook it without "gripper" help from another angler.

Carp was species 13 on my 2015 species list. The first of a couple of spotted bass I caught the next day on the Coosa River was No. 15. To be more specific about the carp listing, I'm guessing grass carp, simply based on the fish having been stocked in small private lakes for grass control. However, if you know the carp species, based on the photo, please let me know (jeff.samsel.fishing@gmail.com).

Cool Kayak Float

 



After two productive days of bass fishing in a small lakes (more on that in a later post), the folks from Hobie-Fishing changed things up yesterday with a cool float down the Coosa River through a section of river that's far wilder and prettier than I would have expected so close to Montgomery, Alabama. I know from pictures I'd seen that the river contained some formidable rapids, but the whole character of the river had a sense of being much farther from city life than was the truth.

 

I was also impressed by how the Hobies handled the rapids. The MirageDrive petal system and rudder hang down, so you can't engage them over shallow shoals. They're quick and easy to lift, though, so it's simple to switch to a kayak paddle when needed. The kayaks are also light enough to portage when necessary, so we carried those over feistiest part of the biggest rapid.

 

The fish weren't overly cooperative yesterday. I caught two spots and no one in the group caught many. That was fine, though. The float would have been cool with no fishing rods. Apparently, with the right water levels and approaches and the bite on, the spotted bass fishing can be quite extraordinary where we were. In fact, some local anglers who know the river well believe the next world record will come from that stretch of river.

 

Despite good intentions, very long days got the best of me, and I failed to keep blog posts flowing while I was on the road. I'll write more about other aspects of the trip in the next day or two, and then it's on to the White River for trout!

Midday Rally

The Chickamauga bass bite was tough. No way around that. An occasional chunky largemouths would blast a frog or take a flipped Biffle Bug, but the fishing was generally slow. So when I learned that Don Lamb, a tournament angler from nearby Ringold, Georgia, had found a mixed school of black and white bass, I was eager to get in on the action.

The white bass were small, Lamb warned, but he noted that schools of largemouth were in the same area and feeding on the same shad. Largemouths or white bass suited me, and I didn't really care if they were small. I just like catching fish, and when you're around eating fish, you never know when a good one might surprise you.

Lamb was working the schooling fish with a Little George, which he'd let sink to the bottom and work with lifts and drops. I caught a couple of white bass on one of his baits, but then I got thinking about the Gene Larew Rally Grubs I had in my bag. They have a great swimming action, and I figured they probably were about the right size to match the shad. The Bobby Garland Mo' Glo heads I had were a little light to cast with my baitcaster, a 7-2 medium heavy Lew's Custom Speed Stick, so I tied a tandem Rally Grub rig, spacing thing jigs about 15 inches apart. Beyond doubling the casting weight, a tandem rig suggests shad swimming together.

The white bass schools weren't as thick as when Lamb had been in the same area that morning, but the fish we found definitely liked the double Rally Grub rig, and I ended up catching several white bass and largemouths, plus one spotted bass in only a couple of hours of fishing.

The Rally Grub's name stemmed from the fact that it was designed to produce a rally when you need a burst of action, and it sure lived up to it's name last week.