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Lake Nottely Fishing Report

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

Nottely Lake: a 4,180-acre TVA reservoir near Blairsville where Georgia DNR rates spotted bass, largemouth, stripers and crappie as the best bets.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~74 F est.
Air / High
70 / 70 F
Wind
S 2 mph

Sources: 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.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Lake Nottely offers the kind of conditions this water was made for. Today brings clear skies, wind S around 2 mph, steady pressure near 1022 hPa and a high of 70. Water sits around 74 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 10:11 AM-12:11 PM and 10:39 PM-12:39 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Striped bassExcellent

Use electronics to find shad schools in open water, and watch for birds working over bait.

Largemouth bassGood

The main feeding season after the spawn: work moving baits along weed edges, points and wood, and follow up with a soft plastic where a fish swirls.

Catfish (blue, channel)Good

Spawning season from late May into summer: Iowa DNR suggests drifting bait under a float along riprap and snags where males guard nests in cavities.

CrappieFair

Early in this band crappie are spawning in protected coves; afterward they move to docks, brush piles and standing timber near deeper water.

Tomorrow: Similar at 70 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

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 β†’

Chasing largemouth bass 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.

No live gauge on this water

Conditions here are modeled from weather, season and the nearest stations. Water readings appear when a USGS gauge is available.

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~74 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp70 F
High / Low70 / 41 F
WindS 2-4 mph
Pressure1021.9 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain1% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:48 / 18:51
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~74 F est.

Bite planner

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

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Lake Nottely this week

The best day on Lake Nottely this week looks like Saturday Oct 24, at 5 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Saturday, Oct 24 β€” excellent at 5/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
10:11 AM-12:11 PM and 10:39 PM-12:39 AM
Minor period
4:33 AM-5:33 AM
Sun
07:48 to 18:51
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Partly cloudy, 6 mph
Rain chance
0%

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

Species guide

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

Largemouth bass illustration

Largemouth bass

Best: the spring pre-spawn and the fall feed

A warm-water sunfish of lakes, reservoirs, ponds and slow river backwaters that holds tight to cover: weeds, logs, rock ledges and docks. In Texas, TPWD surveys rank it "by far" the freshwater fish anglers most want to catch. The main feeding season after the spawn: work moving baits along weed edges, points and wood, and follow up with a soft plastic where a fish swirls.

Catfish (blue, channel) illustration

Catfish (blue, channel)

Year-round, best at dusk and after dark

Three big catfish share most of the country's rivers and reservoirs: the channel catfish, the most widespread; the blue catfish, the largest; and the flathead, which hunts live fish. All feed mostly on or near the bottom. Spawning season from late May into summer: Iowa DNR suggests drifting bait under a float along riprap and snags where males guard nests in cavities.

Crappie illustration

Crappie

Best: the spring spawn; summer around docks, brush and the thermocline

Two slab-sided panfish, the white crappie and the black crappie, that gather around submerged timber, brush piles, docks and bridge pilings in lakes, reservoirs and slow river backwaters. Texas Parks and Wildlife counts crappie as the state's most popular panfish. Early in this band crappie are spawning in protected coves; afterward they move to docks, brush piles and standing timber near deeper water.

Striped bass illustration

Striped bass

Best: spring and fall inland; on the coast, during the seasonal migrations

The largest of the temperate basses, a sea-run fish of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts that now also lives in reservoirs across much of the country after hatchery stocking. Inland, it follows schools of shad and herring through open water. Use electronics to find shad schools in open water, and watch for birds working over bait.

When to come: the Lake Nottely 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
Largemouth bass
Catfish (blue, channel)
Crappie
Striped bass
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 74 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~74 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 Lake Nottely today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Largemouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 71 F, wind to 8 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Largemouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 73 F, wind to 7 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Largemouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 73 F, wind to 7 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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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

Georgia license. Georgia rules (updated August 27, 2026): striped, white and hybrid bass 15 a day combined, only 2 of them 22 inches or longer; black bass 10 a day; largemouth 12-inch minimum; spotted bass no minimum; crappie 30.

Access

Boat ramps Georgia DNR names: Canal Lake, Deavertown and Jacks Creek; shoreline fishing at Meeks Park. TVA: 423-751-2264; Georgia DNR: 770-535-5498.

About this water

4,180-acre TVA reservoir on the Nottely River, Union County, Georgia.

Fishing Lake Nottely: the full guide

A TVA lake in Union County

Georgia DNR describes Lake Nottely as a 4,180-acre Tennessee Valley Authority reservoir in Union County near Blairsville, with relatively fertile water and a diverse fish community. Its best bets are spotted bass, largemouth bass, striped bass and crappie.

Black bass

In DNR's spring 2025 sampling, spotted bass made up about 70% of the black bass, averaging 10 inches, with the largest at 3.5 pounds and 18 inches; Nottely has no minimum size for spotted bass. Largemouth were the other 30% but outweighed the spots, averaging 14 inches and 1.5 pounds. DNR found the most largemouth from the Canal Lake boat ramp north to Coldwell Cove and in the backwaters of Ivy Log and Young Cane creeks.

Stripers and hybrids

DNR stocks striped bass fingerlings every year. Most stripers run 2 to 4 pounds, some reach 6 to 10, and DNR says the best chance at fish over 12 pounds is January to early March. In summer stripers hold 35 to 50 feet deep on the lower lake and gather late in the season along the bubble line of TVA's oxygen injection system near the dam. Hybrids were reintroduced from 2016; the largest DNR sampled in 2025 weighed 7 pounds.

Crappie and the rest

Black crappie average about 10 inches, and DNR finds them most often from Reece Creek to Canal Lake and in the backs of Ivy Log, Youngcane, Jacks Creek and Chastain Branch. Bream, channel and flathead catfish and carp round out the lake, and Meeks Park offers shoreline fishing.

Common questions

How big do Nottely stripers get?

Georgia DNR says most are 2 to 4 pounds, some reach 6 to 10, and fish over 12 pounds are most likely from January to early March.

Is there a size limit on spotted bass?

No. Spotted bass have no minimum length on Nottely; largemouth must be 12 inches.

Where does DNR find the most largemouth?

From the Canal Lake ramp north to Coldwell Cove, and in the backwaters of Ivy Log and Young Cane creeks.

Is fishing good at Lake Nottely right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

Lake Chatuge15 miBlue Ridge Lake15 miChatuge Lake15 miToccoa River17 miLake Burton28 miNantahala River31 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 34.9396, -84.0305 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 8, 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 8, 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.