Georgia trout fishermen get a lot more options starting Saturday.
That's the day seasonal trout streams open for the year, joining those that can be fished year-round, and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources' Wildlife Resources Division and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have been doing a lot of stocking already.
"Our goal is to replenish all of our stocked streams before the end of the month," WRD trout stocking coordinator Perry Thompson said in an announcement last week. "Since stream flows are up, we'll have an opportunity to spread our fish out well. Flow can drop quickly, though, and we'll manage accordingly."
Both year-round and seasonal trout streams are plentiful in North Georgia - with every Peach State county in the Chattanooga area included - although stockings vary. Detailed rules, other specifics and maps on fishable sections of the rivers and creeks can be found at www.gofishgeorgia.com.
The seasonal group is open for angling from the last Saturday in March until Oct. 31 every year. Night fishing is not allowed on those streams or on a handful of specified year-rounders, including the Conasauga River in Murray County.
Johns Creek in Floyd County was listed among the "popular" seasonal streams in the March 17 WRD release, and Holly Creek in Murray County and Rock Creek in Fannin are among the "recommended" year-round options.
Anyone wanting to cast their flies in the waters must have a current Georgia fishing license and a trout license, which can be bought at the "gofishgeorgia" website, by phone at 1-800-366-2661 or at some stores that sell fishing gear. The daily limit is eight trout except where special regulations call for a different number.
The WRD reminds anglers to get landowners' permission before fishing on private property.
There are public-access sites for people with disabilities, including a fishing platform on Holly Creek 6.3 miles east of Eton in Murray County on Old CC Camp Road and fishing platforms at the Chattahoochee Forest National Fish Hatchery on Rock Creek and a pier at the USFS Deep Hole Recreation Area on the Toccoa River, both in Fannin County. Holly is stocked twice a month from late March through Labor Day, and the two Fannin sites are stocked weekly.
Another access for the disabled is a platform on Johns Creek off Pocket Road near Villanow.
One of the public sites the WRD says has easy bank access is on the Toccoa at Horseshoe Bend Park, a county park near McCaysville. The Toccoa becomes the Ocoee River when it crosses into Tennessee.