I've recently moved to a new area (Atlanta) and am not very familiar with the place so I'm trying to find some new locations to fish.  There are many times when I only have a couple hours so rather than load my kayak and all my gear I'm trying to find some ponds/small lakes to bank fish.  However, my approach doesn't seem to work well for me here.  Every body of water I locate and research on google maps, but when I get there 99% of them have been private or gated off or posted.  Any advice on locating some good ponds that are fishable, but not so private?

Thanks!

In Vermont our Department of Fish and Wildlife has a website that lists many public access locations on various bodies of waters throughout the state as well as the types of fish you might catch there.  You might see if Georgia has something similiar.

 

mikeg

I would agree about checking with the game and fish authority, in Florida I can check county or city parks on their web sites.

Sometimes using the street view feature on google maps can indicate if there is shore access.

good advice, thanks guys!  i will check the GA DNR site now!

Check your local DNR. The Wisconsin DNR is a great resource for finding lakes around the area. It has lakes listed per county and includes topographic maps, bottom composition percentages, fish specie present and more. It also includes whether or not there are public access points, so you don't have to wonder about that until you get there! 

 

Check it out, you may be surprised what you find!