The Smallmouth Bass are gone from Lake Chatuge

[FishingLanier]

THE SMALLMOUTH BASS ARE GONE FROM LAKE CHATUGE<br />by Bill Vanderford<br /><br /> To many “old timers”, Spring at Lake Chatuge conjures up memories of clear, crisp mountain mornings with budding trees, and smallmouth bass exploding on tiny topwater lures before tail-walking across the calm, blue-green surface. One can still find most of what attracted those early fishermen to this beautiful Blue Ridge Mountain reservoir, but the smallmouth bass is just that..............a memory! Because of some idiot and his own self-stocking program, spotted bass have taken over in the only trophy smallmouth bass lake that existed in Georgia.<br /> Lake Chatuge is located at Hiawassee, and is distributed almost equally between Towns County, Georgia, and Macon County, North Carolina. The main source of water that feeds this gorgeous mountain lake, however, has its origin in the Peach State. From it’s headwaters, the Hiawassee River flows down the eastern slope of the Blue Ridge from the vicinity of Uncoi Gap, then joins with Soapstone Creek, which plunges downstream from near Georgia’s tallest mountain, Brasstown Bald, before emptying it’s clear waters into Lake Chatuge.<br /> Spotted bass were first detected in Lake Chatuge in 1983. They were apparently introduced by local anglers who brought them from nearby reservoirs. This had a very detrimental effect on the smallmouth bass population, and by 1990, spotted bass had replaced smallmouth bass as the dominant black bass species in Chatuge. The decline in the smallmouth bass fishery can be directly attributed to competition with the much hardier spotted bass.<br /> In an effort to possibly save the smallmouth fishery, 102 smallmouth bass spawning structures (benches) were installed in February 1996 by cooperators in an effort to improve spawning and rearing areas for these declining black bass. The Georgia DNR Fisheries biologists evaluated the black bass use of these spawning benches during May and June of 1997, but despite their hope for saving the smallmouth bass population, eighty-six percent of all bass sighted at benches were spotted bass.<br /> Long before the spotted bass were found in Lake Chatuge, it had about seventy percent smallmouth and thirty percent largemouth black bass. During the 1970’s, the lake became popular for bass fishermen, and seven to ten pound largemouth bass became fairly common. In fact, a 16 pound-11 ounce specimen was landed during that period. Though their numbers have declined along with the smallmouth, a few big largemouth are still caught, but the spotted bass is definitely the most prolific black bass in Lake Chatuge today. <br />Bill Vanderford has won numerous awards for his writing and photography, and has been inducted into the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame as a Legendary Guide. He can be reached at 770-289-1543, JFish51@aol.com, or at his web site: www.fishinglanier.com