B.A.S.S. Tournament Creel: Annual Georgia Tournament Reports

Since 1976, catch data for fishing tournaments held on 14 Georgia reservoirs and two rivers have been compiled and summarized. Water bodies monitored include: Allatoona, Bartlett's Ferry, Blackshear, Carters, Clarks Hill (Thurmond), Hartwell, Jackson, Lanier, Oconee, R. B. Russell, Seminole, Sinclair, W.F. George, West Point, Altamaha River and Savannah River.

The popularity and prevalence of fishing tournaments, both professional and amateur, has heightened the public profile of these events and prompted organizers to provide specialized vessels for the 'live-release' of fish after tournament weigh-in.

Because Georgia regulations do not permit possession of fish over an angler’s daily limit without written permission from the director of the Wildlife Resources Division, it has become necessary to require tournament event organizers to obtain this approval for their live-release vessels. Permit applications should be received by WRD at least 30 days prior to the start of the proposed tournament. See "Permit Application Procedures" included with the permit application download for additional instructions.

Download a PDF version of the Live Release Boat Permit Application.

ENTER BASS TOURNAMENT REPORTS

The following variables were tracked and analyzed for each water body:

• Bass caught per angler hour
• Weight of bass caught per angler hour (in pounds)
• Average weight of bass caught (in pounds)
• Average largest bass for tournament
• Percent of anglers with limit catch
• Percent of anglers with zero bass
• Percent of bass that were largemouth (as opposed to spotted bass)
• Number of angler hours
• Number of tournaments included in each analysis
• Number of bass caught that were 5 lbs or larger (from 2004 forward)

Below are reports for some of the most recent years. The files are in PDF format.

For more information on these summaries, please contact Fisheries Management.