Cartecay River trout fishing: stocking, licenses and where to fish

The Cartecay River in Gilmer County, Georgia, is stocked trout water. Georgia DNR’s 2026 stocking list puts it in the Table 3 group, “stocked once each month from March-August” (GA DNR WRD). It has no special regulations, the season is open all year, and the daily limit is 8 trout. The hard part is finding somewhere to stand, because most of the banks are private.

2026 stocking on the Cartecay and its creeks

All three rows come from the same DNR list, checked October 18, 2026. DNR says its program as a whole runs from March through October, and that each water’s frequency depends on the area available, fishing pressure and summer water temperatures (GA DNR WRD). It doesn’t publish the exact stocking spots on the Cartecay. We could verify one 2026 date: the weekly report for April 20 to 24 lists the Cartecay as stocked on April 23, 2026, along with Tickanetley Creek, Owl Town Creek, the Ellijay River and the Coosawattee in Gilmer County (GA DNR WRD (archived)).

Statewide, DNR says 160 streams can be stocked with rainbow, brown and brook trout, grown at three state hatcheries and one federal hatchery (GA DNR WRD). It doesn’t say which species go into the Cartecay.

Regulations

The Cartecay is not a special-regulation or delayed-harvest stream. DNR’s trout stream map data lists it with no special regulations (GA DNR WRD map), and it is not on Georgia’s 2026-27 list of special-regulation trout waters (GA eRegulations). The statewide rules apply, and the current set runs from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027 (GA eRegulations).

• Designated trout waters are open to fishing year-round (GA eRegulations).
• The daily limit is 8 trout (brook, rainbow, brown and their hybrids) (GA eRegulations).
• Fish with one handheld pole and line. Live fish can’t be used as bait, and baitfish can’t be seined or trapped on trout streams.

Licenses

Anglers 16 and older need a Georgia fishing license plus a trout license to fish designated trout waters or to fish for or keep trout (GA eRegulations). Gilmer County’s designated trout waters take in nearly every stream in the county, and the Cartecay isn’t among the few exceptions (GA eRegulations). Our reading is that the trout license applies on the Cartecay even when you are fishing for bass; confirm with DNR. DNR sells both licenses at GoOutdoorsGeorgia.com (GA DNR WRD).

License fees from GA eRegulations, checked October 18, 2026.

Where you can legally fish

DNR warns that many trout streams are on private property. Anglers are responsible for knowing when they cross a property line, and they need landowner permission before entering or fishing private land (GA DNR WRD). On the Cartecay that describes most of the river.

The clearest public option is the Rich Mountain WMA Cartecay Tract, a 2,142-acre Georgia DNR property that lists river fishing among its activities (Georgia DNR WRD). Your fishing license covers entry; a hunting license or a Lands Pass does too. Directions to the launch at the end of Canoe Launch Road are on our access page.

Bridges are another matter. Georgia Wild Trout, a guide service, writes that Cartecay trout are stocked along the river’s bridges but that wading access is very limited (Georgia Wild Trout), and that above Highway 52 the river runs entirely through private land (Georgia Wild Trout). No official source names any Cartecay bridge as public access, so a bridge is not permission to wade. The same guide says Clear Creek is stocked at the Blackberry Mountain Bridge, which isn’t confirmed as public access either.

Reel ‘Em In Guide Service runs guided, catch-and-release fly fishing on a private, trophy-managed half mile of the Cartecay on a 200-acre farm about 15 minutes from Ellijay (Reel 'Em In Guide Service). This is private, paid water. Its “Farm on the Cartecay” half day is listed at $375 for one angler or $525 for two, plus a 3% credit card fee (Reel 'Em In Guide Service). Phone (706) 502-8341.

The places below come up in angler reports and guide listings. Only the guide service’s farm is open to anglers, and only on a paid trip.

• Bridge

  Blackberry Mountain Road bridge over Clear Creek

  Georgia Wild Trout says Clear Creek is stocked at the Blackberry Mountain Bridge; American Whitewater uses it as the Clear Creek put-in. Not confirmed as public access by an official source.

  Source: Georgia Wild Trout; American Whitewater; OpenStreetMap, checked Oct 18, 2026

• Bridge

  Highway 52 East bridge over the Cartecay (near Cartecay community)

  State highway bridge over the upper Cartecay; Georgia Wild Trout says trout are stocked along the river's bridges, but no official source names this bridge as a stocking point or public access.

  Source: OpenStreetMap, checked Oct 18, 2026

• Outfitter

  Reel 'Em In Guide Service (Farm on the Cartecay private water)

  Fly-fishing guide service with a private, trophy-managed, catch-and-release half mile of the Cartecay on a 200-acre farm about 15 minutes from Ellijay; guided trips only, Georgia fishing license with trout required.

  • Farm on the Cartecay half day $375 (1 angler) / $525 (2 anglers); +3% for credit cards; gratuity not included
  • Burnt Mountain Road, Ellijay, GA 30536
  • (706) 502-8341

  Source: Reel 'Em In Guide Service – Wade Trips and Private Waters pages, checked Oct 18, 2026

Bass and stripers on the lower river

In a 2018 blog post, Georgia DNR said redeye bass, also called Coosa bass, are found in the Coosawattee, Conasauga and Etowah rivers, and USGS places the Cartecay in the Coosawattee subbasin (GA DNR WRD blog). Georgia Wild Trout says the warmer lower river near Ellijay holds more redeye bass, seasonal striped bass and other warmwater fish than trout in summer (Georgia Wild Trout). It also says Carters Lake stripers run up the Coosawattee to the Cartecay each spring on a false spawning run. Georgia’s black bass limit is 10 a day, and only 5 of those may be species such as Coosa or shoal bass (GA eRegulations).

For more, read trout fishing the Cartecay: stocking, licenses and private water and who owns the banks of the Cartecay. The river map shows the WMA tract and the bridges, and before a spring trip check the water level: March and April carry the highest typical flows.

Questions people ask