The sound of rushing water blended with the sound of Interstate 75 traffic as John Dalton walked carefully through a shallow section of water along the bank of South Chickamauga Creek in Ringgold, Georgia.
“I like to keep moving,” Dalton said, equipped with a fishing pole and small gear bag.
With a practiced flick of the wrist, he sank a colorful fishing lure into a shady spot along the bank of the creek. Though he was not filming, that day’s session resembles what he does full-time: fishing and making videos of his adventures for YouTube.
Dalton said he’s fished nearly all the waterways in the area and spends more time studying online maps looking for new places to fish rather than actually fishing. Along the way, he said he’s found all kinds of beautiful spots rarely seen by the public in Northwest Georgia and beyond.
Dalton’s fishing adventures highlight the resiliency of fish and freshwater ecosystems — and the restoration investments made to help wildlife thrive.
“Fish anywhere fish everywhere” is the slogan of his channel, Creek Fishing Adventures, and Dalton said he often stops at bridges to scout new fishing spots. Some spots require having to hike or wade in, while others are best accessed by kayak.
“That’s the point of exploring, you come across all kinds of things,” Dalton said. “You see things that nobody else is going to see — especially when you’re kayaking a river. I’ll come across caves and all kinds of things that the majority of people will never see. And you’re fishing for fish that don’t get fished for.”
Though he lives in Cleveland, Tennessee, he said he wants to keep learning about all the waterways in the area. Dalton said he likes city greenways, like the Chief Richard Taylor Nature Trail beside South Chickamauga Creek, because they are easy to access and contain more fish than people would think.
“This creek is really cool because it has a huge diversity of fish,” Dalton said, including giant rock bass, small mouth bass, spotted bass, large mouth bass, Coosa bass and several varieties of sunfish.
A basic pole and lures can be bought for about $50, he said, and then all that’s required is the skill to find where the fish are.
A fishing license is also needed and can be purchased by Georgia residents for $15 per year. Nonresidents pay $50 per year for a license. A Tennessee fishing license for residents is $34 annually and $50 for nonresidents.
Fishing from the bank of the Chickamauga Creek, Dalton said earlier that day a 6-inch bass slammed his lure from its hiding place under the bank. He said he prefers creeks with rocky bottoms rather than muddy bottoms, because more insects breed and live among the rocks.
Dalton said he wants to fish all the region’s waterways but hasn’t been able to access Lookout Creek because of private property restrictions. People still kayak the creek, but he said he’d rather not trespass.
In 2022, Dade County purchased a piece of property near state Route 136 and Lookout Creek for $500,000, according to Ted Rumley, county executive and chairman of the Dade County Board of Commissioners. A reservoir is planned for the property if needed by the county.
“It’s there for everybody to enjoy,” Rumley said of the property.
The owners of the property adjacent to the county’s land have kept people off their part of the river for years, he said.
Georgia had one of the stricter laws regarding river rights of way, Dalton said, because land owners used to own half of the river next to their land. He said he’s been yelled at while kayak fishing in Georgia by landowners who didn’t want him fishing their half of the river.
But earlier this year, legislation was passed and signed into law allowing fishing and travel in most of Georgia’s navigable streams.
(READ MORE: Dade County looks to future growth with Lookout Creek reservoir)
Fish are a good sign of water quality, according to Stephen Bontekoe, executive director of the Limestone Valley Resource Conservation and Development Council, and aquatic health is a priority for state funding in the northern part of Georgia.
The Tennessee and Coosa-Tallapoosa river basins of Northwest Georgia contain several of the state’s high priority watersheds, he said, and much of his organization’s work involves projects restoring and protecting those water systems.
“Better water quality also is often synonymous with better habitat for species,” Bontako said in a phone call.
It’s great to see fish in unusual places, he said, but other groups like to monitor how fish and species like crayfish and mussels recover due to improved habitat.
Bontekoe said his organization is conducting bank and habitat restoration and green infrastructure work throughout North Georgia. For example, he said the group just finished in Jenkins Park in Trenton a permeable pavement parking lot and rain garden to allow stormwater to soak into the asphalt rather than simply run off.
On South Chickamauga Creek upstream from where Dalton was fishing, Bontako said Limestone has completed projects that reduced runoff by improving nearby septic tanks and agricultural practices. Another project on that same stretch of South Chickamauga Creek project helped reduce runoff from impervious surfaces, he said.
Dalton said he thinks he hasn’t fished long enough — just three years in Georgia — to see any streams recover due to restoration work.
He said he started making videos about seven years ago and has been a full-time YouTuber for about 3 1/2 years. He said he earns money when people watch ads placed by YouTube in his videos and through sponsorships by fishing lure companies.
Occasionally, he eats the fish he catches, but he said most of the time he is too lazy to clean and cook what he catches. Dalton said he’s not concerned about pollution affecting fish except for bigger rivers where signs are posted.
He said he often sees tires, mattresses and other trash in remote places where he fishes. A lot of the garbage isn’t worth removing in his opinion, he said, because often fish use it for habitat.
“I know people don’t want to hear that,” but Dalton said fish are more resilient and survive in more places than most people think.
A recent popular video showed Dalton fishing in a ditch behind his mechanic in Cleveland, he said. Finding unusual places to fish is part of the adventure, he said, and Dalton has earned 139,000 subscribers following his channel and adventures.
People drive on bridges over creeks and ditches all the time and have no idea what’s living in the waters beneath them, but Dalton said he enjoys showing them.
Contact Andrew Wilkins at awilkins@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6659.