Photo: Harrison Keely, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Lake Nottely is a 4,180-acre Tennessee Valley Authority lake on the Nottely River in Union County, just west of Blairsville. Its fairly fertile water supports a varied mix of fish: lots of spotted bass, big-bodied largemouth, stocked stripers and hybrids, and quality crappie.
- Size4,180 acres
- OperatorTennessee Valley Authority
- Best betsSpotted and largemouth bass, stripers, crappie
- ContactsTVA 423-751-2264; DNR 770-535-5498
Getting on the Water
Public ramps include Canal Lake, Deavertown and Jacks Creek. Meeks Park on the Nottely River offers shore fishing, including for stripers running upriver from late March to mid-May. TVA runs a deepwater oxygen system near the dam, and its “bubble line” draws stripers in late summer. There is no minimum size on spotted bass.
2026 Fishing Outlook
Summarized from Georgia DNR fisheries biologists’ 2026 forecast for Lake Nottely, based on their sampling.
| Species | Outlook | Where and how |
|---|---|---|
| Spotted bass | About 70% of the bass, back near average after a 2018 low. Average 10 inches, but 12- to 16-inch fish were most common, with some 2.5 to 3 pounds. | Dam riprap and rocky points in winter with live herring, crayfish or jigs; downed trees, boathouses and rocky lower-lake banks in April and May; surface feeding at dawn, then brush, attractors and rocky points with drop shots and Carolina rigs in summer and fall. |
| Largemouth bass | Only 30% of bass by number but more by weight. Stable, average 14 inches and 1.5 pounds, with above-average 14 to 20 inches. | Upper-lake coves and pockets; the backwaters of Ivy Log and Young Cane creeks; best from the Canal Lake ramp north to Coldwell Cove and upriver; the dam face on the lower lake. Pig-and-jig in winter afternoons; cranks, jerkbaits and lizards in spring; 20 to 40 feet in summer. |
| Striped bass | Stocked yearly with steady survival. Average numbers, mostly 2 to 4 pounds, some 6 to 10; 12-pound-plus fish best January to early March. | Near the dam and coves in winter; points and flats from Ivy Log and Young Cane creeks back into the creeks, Chastain Branch and the Nottely River, February to May; windblown points between Deavertown and Canal Lake ramps; 35 to 50 feet on the lower lake in summer; surface schools in fall. Live herring or big gizzard shad, flukes, bucktails. |
| Hybrid bass | Reintroduced in 2016 and growing fast; 40% were 16 to 20 inches in 2025, the biggest 7 pounds. | Windblown points in winter, rocky lower-lake shallows in spring, 35 feet or deeper on the lower lake in summer, surface schools near the dam in fall. |
| Crappie | Similar numbers to recent years, averaging 10 inches; more 12- to 13-inch fish than usual. | Reece Creek to Canal Lake, plus coves like Ivy Log, Young Cane, Jacks Creek and Chastain Branch; 15 feet in channels and under boathouses in March, shallow downed trees in April, deep timber and attractors after. Minnows, minnow-tipped and small jigs. |
| Bream, catfish and carp | All present in fishable numbers. | Bream beds on sandy flats near creek mouths in 4 to 10 feet, May to September. Catfish on rocky bottoms up the lake and in river holes in spring; flatheads above Young Cane Creek. Carp near the Jacks Creek, Deavertown and Canal Lake ramps on corn or dough balls. |
Lake Nottely
Lake NottelyContact: Tennessee Valley Authority, 423-751-2264. Georgia DNR fisheries, Gainesville, 770-535-5498.
More nearby: Lake Chatuge, Lake Blue Ridge, Vogel State Park 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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