Share your catch
US

Chattooga River Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

A National Wild and Scenic River on the Georgia–South Carolina line, with wild brown trout in its headwaters and a delayed-harvest reach above the GA/SC 28 bridge.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Flow
172 cfs
Air / High
62 / 64 F
Wind
ESE 5 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 02177000, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

2/5Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Chattooga River fishes cold and honest: earn your bites in the deep stuff. The river is running 172 cfs, dropping and clearing. Today brings clear skies, wind ESE around 5 mph, rising pressure near 1023 hPa and a high of 64. Water sits around 47 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 10:08 AM-12:08 PM and 10:36 PM-12:36 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Rainbow troutExcellent

In cold water rainbows use the deepest pools in rivers (Vermont), so slow, deep drifts there are the usual approach; Michigan DNR notes lake rainbows are also taken with bait or by jigging through the ice.

Brown troutExcellent

Below 50°F, fish slowly through the deeper pools; in early spring on the Great Lakes, Michigan DNR notes browns are often caught inshore before other species start biting.

Tomorrow: Similar at 62 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Before you go

Georgia requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $15.00 for residents. What a Georgia licence costs and where to buy it →

Chasing rainbow trout here? Check the size and bag limits with GA DNR before you keep anything. The season dates for Georgia, read off the agency, are on the Georgia seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings from Chattooga near Clayton.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 02177000.

304586868172 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 87 years of October 23

At 172 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 02177000 (Chattooga near Clayton) is at the 17th percentile for the date: below normal. In half of the 87 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 316 cfs; the highest was 2,350 cfs and the lowest 90 cfs.

p10 149median 316p90 819

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 02177000; today’s reading is the latest instantaneous value. Classes follow the ones the USGS used on its WaterWatch maps (retired at the end of 2025): below 10th, much below normal; 10th–24th, below; 25th–75th, normal; 76th–90th, above; over 90th, much above.

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp62 F
High / Low64 / 50 F
WindESE 5-7 mph
Pressure1022.5 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:46 / 18:48
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~47 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunset

Which day to fish Chattooga River this week

The best day on Chattooga River this week looks like Saturday Oct 24, at 4 out of 5, against 2 today.

Best day this week: Saturday, Oct 24 — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 — Tough

Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Solunar majors
10:08 AM-12:08 PM and 10:36 PM-12:36 AM
Minor period
4:30 AM-5:30 AM
Sun
07:46 to 18:48
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Clear, 9 mph
Rain chance
0%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Chattooga River: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Rainbow trout illustration

Rainbow trout

Spring and fall in most lakes; rivers fish year-round while the water stays cool

A cold-water trout native to Pacific drainages from Alaska to Baja California, now stocked in most states and fished in rivers, tailwaters and lakes. In cold water rainbows use the deepest pools in rivers (Vermont), so slow, deep drifts there are the usual approach; Michigan DNR notes lake rainbows are also taken with bait or by jigging through the ice.

Brown trout illustration

Brown trout

Spring along Great Lakes shorelines; low light and overcast days in rivers; fall spawning runs

A European trout first stocked in the US in 1883 and now fished in rivers and lakes nationwide; it tolerates warmer water than other trout, and mature stream fish feed mostly at night. Below 50°F, fish slowly through the deeper pools; in early spring on the Great Lakes, Michigan DNR notes browns are often caught inshore before other species start biting.

When to come: the Chattooga River calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Rainbow trout
Brown trout
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 47 F (estimated, not a reading).

30405060JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~47 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Chattooga River today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 70 F, wind to 13 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 69 F, wind to 13 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 69 F, wind to 8 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used if we need to ask you about your report. No mailing list, no spam.

Before you go

License

Georgia requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Either a Georgia or a South Carolina freshwater license is valid on the Chattooga up to the North Carolina line under the two states' reciprocal agreement; tributaries are not covered. Delayed harvest from the GA 28 bridge to Reed Creek: catch-and-release, single-hook artificial lures only, Nov 1–May 14. Border-waters trout limit: 5, no size limit (Georgia eRegulations, updated Aug 27, 2026).

Access

Burrells Ford Road, GA/SC 28 (Russell Bottoms canoe launch), Earls Ford Road and US 76 crossings; trail access to the Ellicott Rock Wilderness from Burrells Ford Bridge and the Walhalla State Fish Hatchery (SCDNR).

About this water

A National Wild and Scenic River (1974) that forms 40 miles of the Georgia–South Carolina line between Rabun County, Georgia, and Oconee County, South Carolina.

Fishing Chattooga River: the full guide

The river and its protection

SCDNR describes the Chattooga as a powerful, fast-flowing river that drops an average of 49 feet per mile. It rises near Whitesides Mountain in North Carolina, runs about 10 miles in that state and then forms the Georgia–South Carolina line for 40 miles. Congress designated it a National Wild and Scenic River in 1974.

Wild and stocked trout, reach by reach

SCDNR reports a healthy population of wild brown trout in the headwaters from the North Carolina line down to the vicinity of Big Bend Falls, much of it inside the Ellicott Rock Wilderness. The water around Burrells Ford Bridge and campground is stocked with catchable trout from March through November, and the reach from Burrells Ford down to the mouth of Reed Creek gets one helicopter stocking of sub-adult brown and rainbow trout a year. Below GA/SC 28, SCDNR stocks catchable brown, brook and rainbow trout down to Long Bottom Ford, where redeye bass and redbreast sunfish also turn up.

The delayed-harvest section

From the GA 28 bridge upstream to the mouth of Reed Creek, both states manage the river as delayed harvest. From November 1 to May 14 every trout must be released at once and anglers may use or possess only artificial lures with a single hook each; droppers are allowed if each carries one single hook. From May 15 to October 31 those restrictions lift and the shared border-waters trout limit of five applies.

Getting to the water

SCDNR lists four road crossings: Burrells Ford Road north of Walhalla, GA/SC 28, Earls Ford Road near Clayton and US 76. The wild-trout water is reached on foot, by trail from the Walhalla State Fish Hatchery or Burrells Ford Bridge, and from parking at the SC 28 bridge, Thrift Lake Access/Nicholson Ford and Big Bend Road. The USGS gauge on this page, 02177000 near Clayton, sits at the US 76 crossing, well downstream of the trout reaches.

Common questions

Do I need both licenses on the Chattooga?

No. Anyone who meets either state's freshwater license requirements may fish the Chattooga main stem, from the bank or the water, up to the North Carolina line. Tributary streams are outside the agreement and follow the rules of the state they flow through.

Where are the wild trout?

SCDNR places them in the headwaters from the state line down to around Big Bend Falls, mostly inside the Ellicott Rock Wilderness, which you reach on foot.

When can I keep trout in the delayed-harvest section?

From May 15 through October 31, under the border-waters limit of five trout. The rest of the year the section between GA 28 and Reed Creek is catch-and-release with single-hook artificial lures.

Is fishing good at Chattooga River right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Nearby waters

Lake Burton15 miLake Jocassee21 miLake Keowee23 miLake Chatuge26 miChatuge Lake27 miLake Hartwell28 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 02177000 — Chattooga near Clayton
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 17:00 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 34.9170, -83.3000 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 5, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 5, 2026; anything that could not be verified was taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.