Hot Fishing on The Hootch

“Way down yonder on the Chattahoochie, it can get hotter than a hoochie coochie.”

We’ve heard this line in the Alan Jackson song, but truth is, few people know that he might actually be talking the fishing! I tell people all the time that The Hootch is my favorite place to fish, and most say, “I didn’t even know there we’re bass in there.” (You’d be surprised how many times I have ACTUALLY heard that.) Well, I’m here to tell you, that place is full of bass. It’s got some nice largemouth and the population of spotted bass is getting better, year in and year out. And the best part is, you can usually find a way to catch em doing whatever you want to do! I’ve had days where I’d spend the morning catching ‘em good shallow, then pull up over 30’ of water and start tearing apart a school on a drop shot. I talked to Jeff Hankins a couple days ago, and he backed me up on this while telling me about his last outing in the Gordon area.

 

“Man, we caught a ton of bass. The best five would have went 18 pounds, and we were catching them on near about everything in the boat.”

He told me they threw square bills, Scrounger heads rigged with Cane Thumpers, flipped Yo Mamas, and had a lot of fun catching them on topwaters like a medium sized Spook and Pop’R’s all throughout the day.

And, what about big bass?

“We put in at Franklin a couple weeks ago and went to one of my favorite holes. When they started pumping water, they started eating a Pop’R. I actually lost one over 10 pounds!” said Hankins.

But, his one that got away ain’t just another fish tale. I have seen numerous 8-10 pound bass pulled out of the river. Some over 10 on occasion. Although, usually it takes a bass in the 5 to 6 pound range to take big bass honors in a tournament.

Scott Armstrong with a nice Chattahoochee Largemouth.

I also got a chance to have a conversation with, Scott Armstrong of Scott's Rod Sleeves, about how much fun this river can be. He has been bass fishing seriously on the Chattahoochee with his partner, Sidney Goocher, for around 20 years.

“We like to fish shallow and fish can always be caught shallow on the river during the summer. Most of the fish I catch are in less than 6 feet of water and sometimes as little as 6 inches of water, even in the middle of the day,” says Armstrong.

He points out, the best time to fish during the summer is in the late afternoon with topwaters, such as a buzzbait or walking baits. And, like in most cases, current makes it even better.

 

When I asked Scott what size bass The Hootch has to offer, he said, “The past few years the tournament weights have been down, which I believe is due to the clear water we’ve had. Lately, you’re looking at 14 pounds to win.” Which ain’t too shabby, but heavier weights are definitely possible on the river. It’s known to turn out a few 20+ pound bags throughout the year.

“The biggest bag we have weighed in on the river was in July 2004, which went 21 pounds.” said Scott.

That goes to show you, there IS bass way down yonder on the Chattahoochee, and they can be a blast to catch! If you’ve never wet a line here, there’s no better time than now. And, our parting advice from Scott:

 
“Always keep an open mind when fishing the river and don't focus on just one technique. I normally have 10 different rods on the deck and am constantly alternating and covering water quickly until I find something that is working.”