Carters, the re-reg pool and 25 miles to Calhoun
Carters Dam is a pumped-storage project: two 140-megawatt turbines and two 160-megawatt pump-turbines generate into a 1,000-acre re-regulation lake below the main dam, and at night the pump-turbines push that water back up into Carters Lake. What the river gets is whatever the re-regulation dam lets out, which is why the Coosawattee below it is a smoother tailwater than most. From the re-reg dam the river runs 25.2 miles southwest through Murray and Gordon counties to Calhoun, where it meets the Conasauga to form the Oostanaula. Georgia Outdoor News describes it as typically shallow and very clear with shoals that make it a canoe and kayak river more than a motorboat one, and the state's own note is that public access is limited.
What Pine Chapel reads: 290 at rest, 750 on a release
USGS 02383500 near Pine Chapel is the Gordon County gauge the Corps and USGS run together, with its flow regulated by Carters Lake and the re-regulation dam. In September 2026 it held 272 to 340 cfs for most of three weeks, rose to 520 to 780 cfs across the days the re-reg dam released, and dropped back within a day. Those are much gentler numbers than the main dam's 5,400 cfs per unit, because the re-reg pool absorbs the peaks. No shop publishes a wading range for this river, so the 250 to 500 cfs band here is the observed at-rest range with a margin: at 300 the shoals below the dam are ankle to knee deep and clear, and above 500 the release is in the river and the tailrace gets pushy. The Corps' Carters project office is at 706-334-2248 for the schedule.
June through September in the tailrace
The reason to come is the striper. The Coosa system holds one of the few naturally reproducing landlocked striped bass populations in the country, and DNR's 2026 forecast says the fish migrate into the Coosawattee in spring and then stay through summer looking for cold water, congregating immediately below the re-regulation dam where the discharge is coolest. The state's advice is to treat it as a seasonal fishery from summer into early fall and to target the two or three miles below the dam. A private tourism guide to the river puts the best of it from June through September, with a few fish in the tailrace year-round and most leaving once the water cools. The river record is a 30-pound 12.8-ounce striper taken by Jackson Lance on June 12, 2021 between the tailrace and the Highway 411 bridge; the state's forecast says the 2016, 2018 and 2020 year classes are now 10- to 25-pound fish and 30-pounders are possible. DNR recommends live or cut shad, Zara Spooks and Redfins on 20- to 30-pound line, and fly anglers throw shad streamers on eight- and nine-weights with sink tips.
No trout below the dam; the trout water is at Ellijay
Do not come to the tailwater for trout. Georgia's designated trout waters in Gilmer County stop at the Coosawattee downstream from old GA 5, county road 239, near Ellijay, and the 2026 stocking table has no entry for the Coosawattee in Murray or Gordon counties. The upper river in Gilmer County is stocked four times from March through July 4, the Cartecay once a month from March through August, and the Ellijay River four times, all under the eight-trout, no-size, year-round rule with a trout license. Below Carters, DNR's best bets are catfish, Alabama bass, redeye bass and stripers.
Fifteen stripers, ten bass and the sturgeon rule
Striped bass, hybrids and white bass are 15 a day in combination with no more than two 22 inches or longer; there is no Coosawattee exception. Black bass are ten a day with no more than five Alabama, Coosa or redeye bass among them. Catfish have no limit. Lake sturgeon, reintroduced to the Coosa system, must be released unharmed immediately and cannot be kept, and DNR's Calhoun fisheries office at 706-624-1161 wants to hear about any you see. Anyone 16 or older needs a Georgia fishing license; no trout license is needed on this reach.
The rest of the year, and where to get in
March: Carters Lake's own striper run pushes up the flooded river arm above the lake, peaking around the middle of the month, as far as boats can reach at Jake's Landing. April and May: fish arriving from Weiss reach the tailrace as the Oostanaula warms. October and November: stripers dropping back downstream, blue and channel catfish most abundant below Highway 136, and freshwater drum averaging 11 inches with 20-inchers around. December to February: the tailrace holds a few stripers, largemouth are thickest right below the re-reg spillway, and the river is mostly empty. Access is two ramps: a small-boat ramp at the re-regulation tailrace off Old Highway 411 near the powerhouse, with two concrete fishing decks and a day-use area, and the ramp at the Highway 225 bridge near Calhoun at the mouth. Between them it is canoe water. Cohutta Fishing Company in Blue Ridge is the nearest fly shop; Nathan Cooper guides the tailrace stripers.