2 hours ago, FryDog62 said:

I remember hearing that.. but can't remember if they were introduced purely for sport fishing, or to offset some other ecological issue?

They were stocked to control the other invasives and to provide recreation. Like the trout in lakes in my area used to “control” blueback herring. To me it was mostly an opportunity to develop a sport fishery where chaos had already made an ecological issue present itself.

I noted your interest in Shoal bass... I'm in Florida now but am a native of Minnesota where we catch a lot of smallmouth bass. I hear down south the Shoalies are on par with smallmouth in many respects. Is the Flint River the primary haven for them? I always thought when I lived in South Carolina, and now Florida - if there is a good place to trailer my motorized kayak, I'd like to try catching them.

19 minutes ago, FryDog62 said:

I noted your interest in Shoal bass... I'm in Florida now but am a native of Minnesota where we catch a lot of smallmouth bass. I hear down south the Shoalies are on par with smallmouth in many respects. Is the Flint River the primary haven for them? I always thought when I lived in South Carolina, and now Florida - if there is a good place to trailer my motorized kayak, I'd like to try catching them.

Flint is the Mecca. I’m above Lanier on the Upper Chattahoochee. We have them up to say 20-22”, Flint has 23-24”. I can help you shuttle or fish with you anytime if you want to give it a try. Unicoi Outfitters runs guide trips. If I were on the Flint I’d track down Allen Ragsdale.

Welcome aboard. I wish you worked in Kentucky. I have a boatload of questions.

Tight lines!

5 hours ago, Lurechucker said:

Probably a good thing since most are invasives but some of the videos show some nice fishes floating.

The FWC planted the invasive peacocks in Florida waters on purpose to provide additional fishing opportunities.

6 hours ago, Lurechucker said:

Flint is the Mecca. I’m above Lanier on the Upper Chattahoochee. We have them up to say 20-22”, Flint has 23-24”. I can help you shuttle or fish with you anytime if you want to give it a try. Unicoi Outfitters runs guide trips. If I were on the Flint I’d track down Allen Ragsdale.

Great to know, I may want to take you up on this. What are the better times of year to go?

I also really enjoyed fishing lake Lanier - probably my favorite body of water between SC/GA.

1 hour ago, FryDog62 said:

Great to know, I may want to take you up on this. What are the better times of year to go?

I also really enjoyed fishing lake Lanier - probably my favorite body of water between SC/GA.

You can catch them all year but my favorite time is late summer just before fall.

Welcome to a great site. Lots of good people here.

On 2/26/2026 at 9:12 PM, Lurechucker said:

You can catch them all year but my favorite time is late summer just before fall.

August is one of my tough times, Steve, but it's cool to learn that August rocks somewhere else.

24 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

August is one of my tough times, Steve, but it's cool to learn that August rocks somewhere else.

I think the key to that time of year is moving water, and there are some good river systems in GA to fish. I need to get there - I fish both north of there in SC and south in Florida… gotta stop somewhere in between one of these days. Maybe August is it!

Yes, most of my area is trout water high up so in the summer the fishes are munching. It’s a great time to be on the river but not so much the lake.

Quetico?

I made 10 trips in my lifetime. Hoping to do more as the kids get a little older.

On 3/1/2026 at 9:18 PM, Lurechucker said:

I made 10 trips in my lifetime. Hoping to do more as the kids get a little older.

I've never fished Quetico, but I've nibbled at its edges, fishing Crown Land lakes on its borders, so I know and love the Canadian Shield.

Welcome

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