Photo: Michael Rivera, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Lake Seminole is a 37,500-acre U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lake in Georgia’s southwest corner, where the Flint and Chattahoochee rivers meet above Jim Woodruff Dam on the Florida line. Shallow, stumpy and full of aquatic plants, it is one of the South’s best-known largemouth lakes and can deliver spectacular shellcracker fishing.
- Size37,500 acres
- OperatorU.S. Army Corps of Engineers
- Best betsLargemouth, redear, black crappie, channel and blue catfish
- ContactsCorps 229-662-2001; DNR 229-430-4256
Getting on the Water
Corps parks and county landings ring the lake, including Faceville Landing on the Flint arm and Desser Landing on the Chattahoochee arm, and Seminole State Park sits on the Spring Creek side. Standing trees and stumps are everywhere, so run carefully, especially at night.
Hydrilla is widespread in drought years. The Corps uses grass carp behind electric fish barriers in some areas; use caution around them and report any damage at 229-662-2001. To protect striped bass, fishing is closed in five springs in the lake from May through October; see the current Georgia fishing regulations for the locations.
2026 Fishing Outlook
Summarized from Georgia DNR fisheries biologists’ 2026 forecast for Lake Seminole, based on their sampling.
| Species | Outlook | Where and how |
|---|---|---|
| Largemouth bass | Better over the last decade, with more and bigger tournament fish. Average 2 to 3 pounds with good numbers of 5- and 6-pounders. Best January to May. | Backwaters in the Spring Creek and Flint arms in late winter and early spring; beds in cove pockets and sandy flats in March and April; grass lines May to September; ledges and points by the river channels in December and January. Lipless cranks, worms, frogs, spinnerbaits and topwater along the plants. |
| Redear and bluegill | At times spectacular shellcracker fishing; most under 8 inches, but 1-pounders are not unusual and bedding fish average half a pound. Bluegill can be excellent but rarely top 8 inches. | Spawning beds on shallow flats in 1 to 4 feet in spring and early summer, and the backwaters off the Chattahoochee arm; weed edges, pockets and sandy flats in summer. Red wigglers for redear, crickets for bluegill. |
| Crappie | Not famous for crappie, but recent springs and falls have produced good numbers of 1- to 2-pound fish. | Shallow, sheltered backwaters during the February and March spawn; the old Flint and Chattahoochee river channels, grass lines and cover in 8 to 20 feet the rest of the year. Minnows and jigs. |
| Catfish | Channels average 2 to 3 pounds with some 10-pounders; blue catfish are expanding, and blues and flatheads reach 10 to 20 pounds. | Channels on flats and ledges next to river and creek channels; blues and flatheads up the Chattahoochee arm to Columbia Dam and the Flint arm to the Albany dam. Blood-and-cheese baits on small worms; cut shad or bream for big blues. |
| Hybrid and striped bass | Hybrids stocked yearly, 2 to 4 pounds, some over 5; few stripers, but some 10 to 20 pounds. | Main-lake areas on the lower lake between Faceville and Desser landings; schooling fish in deeper water in warm months; drift or troll live shad below 70°F. March to May, many run upriver below the Albany, Andrews and Walter F. George dams. |
Lake Seminole
Lake SeminoleContact: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Lake Seminole, 229-662-2001. Georgia DNR fisheries, Albany, 229-430-4256.
More nearby: Lake Seminole recreation, Lake Andrews, Plantation Trace 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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