Photo: JJeffTV, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Lake Burton is a 2,775-acre Georgia Power lake in the mountains near Clayton, known for clear water, steep shorelines and lakefront homes. It holds Georgia’s state-record spotted bass, an 8-pound, 2-ounce fish caught in February 2005, and it is one of the few Georgia reservoirs cold enough to grow big brown trout.
- Size2,775 acres
- OperatorGeorgia Power
- Best betsSpotted bass, largemouth bass, brown trout
- Free rampsMoccasin Creek and Murray Cove
Getting on the Water
Free public ramps: Moccasin Creek, beside the Lake Burton Trout Hatchery and Moccasin Creek State Park on Ga. 197 North, and Georgia Power’s Murray Cove ramp on Murray Cove Road. Two private marinas, LaPrade’s on Ga. 197 and Timpson Cove on Charlie Mountain Road, launch boats for a small fee. Blueback herring are the main forage, so herring-colored lures and live herring are the baits to have.
2026 Fishing Outlook
Summarized from Georgia DNR fisheries biologists’ 2026 forecast for Lake Burton, based on their sampling.
| Species | Outlook | Where and how |
|---|---|---|
| Spotted bass | Stable; lots of 1- to 2-pound fish, topping out around 6 pounds with a few to 8. | February and March for big fish: the dam face on warm winter days, points and humps at the mouth of Murray Cove, downed trees near Jones Bridge. April and May for numbers on rocky main-lake banks and steep-bank docks. Summer: surface schools over points at dawn and dusk, brush in 15 to 30 feet by day. Fall: points in Moccasin, Dicks and Timpson coves. Jigs, drop shots, jerkbaits, floating worms, flukes, live herring. |
| Largemouth bass | Catch rates are average; mostly 8 to 16 inches (1 to 3 pounds), with an occasional trophy like an 8-pounder DNR sampled. | Fallen trees, boathouse pilings, channel edges, points, humps and brush; more common in Murray, Perrin and Cherokee coves near the Murray Cove ramp. Spinnerbaits and jerkbaits around docks in spring; topwater at dawn and dusk in summer, drop shots on 20- to 30-foot brush by day; herring-pattern lures in fall; pig-and-jig in winter. |
| Brown trout | Stocking resumed in 2023 with catchable fish each fall; the lake can grow very big browns. | Near the dam in winter (some up by Jones Bridge); backs of coves, especially Moccasin and Murray, in spring mornings; troll 30 to 60 feet over the river channel from the Moccasin Cove marker toward the dam in summer; inline spinners near the dam and the Murray Cove and Moccasin Creek ramps from October to December. Live herring, trolling spoons, small cranks. |
| Yellow perch and walleye | Perch fishing has improved, with trophy fish in early spring. A few walleye turn up. | Coves and rocky points; small minnows or worm pieces near the bottom. |
Lake Burton
Lake BurtonContact: Georgia Power, 706-746-1450. Georgia DNR fisheries, Gainesville, 770-535-5498.
More nearby: Lake Rabun and Seed Lake, Lake Tugalo, Northeast Georgia fishing lakes and all Georgia lakes.
Sources we checked
Facts in this guide were checked against the agencies and operators that run these places:
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