Beginners find Callaway to be an excellent starting place to learn how to fly fish. We have on our staff six Federation of Fly Fishers certified casting instructors, and two of us are certified master instructors, of which there are only around a hundred worldwide. You probably don’t want us to fix your brakes or do your income taxes, but we can teach you how to fly fish. Learning to fly fish on still water is also much easier than starting out on a river or stream, where things get much more complicated.

Experienced fly fishers also enjoy the fishing on these private lakes. In fact, more than half our guests are repeat customers, many of whom fish with us several times per year.

Without a doubt, the best time to fly fish for Callaway bass is April to June, especially using top-water flies. March can be fantastic, but rogue cold fronts can abruptly turn the fishing off.

Some of the most effective fly patterns include Clouser Minnows, Whitlock Swimming Frogs, Zuddlers, the Rubber-Legged Dragon, DP Poppers, and Wooly Buggers in black, peacock herl, peach, white, and olive.

September through November is also very good. During the winter months most of the guided trips are spent pursuing trophy trout, which we stock in three of the private lakes, but bass are also caught along with trout at that time as well.

Paul Hudson has been guiding at Callaway since the fly fishing program began. In those 13 years the one thing that has remained constant is how surprised people are when they find out how effective fly-fishing is for catching bass.

“People seem to think that fly fishing is just for trout,” he explained. “When it comes to bass fishing they seem to think they have to crank hardware to catch bass. Actually, fly fishing can be even more effective than bait casting or spin fishing, particularly when fish are feeding in shallow water and are easily spooked.”

FROM THE BOAT
Guided Spin-Fishing
In addition to guided fly-fishing trips, Callaway Gardens began to offer a limited number of guided half-day and full-day spin-fishing trips on the private lakes in 2002. These trips offer a fantastic opportunity for anyone with a limited amount of time that would like to get into fish as quickly as possible.

Some of the lakes available for spin-fishing trips are managed for large bass, while others are allowed to go “bass heavy.” This provides an opportunity for anglers to just catch fish or a chance to catch a true trophy.

On average, between 20 and 30 bass in the 8- to 13-pound range are caught each spring and summer on guided trips. So while it’s not an everyday occurrence, the possibility of a lunker is always real. Bill Conine, one of the guides at Callaway, has caught more bass over 10 pounds in the gardens than most people will hear about in a lifetime. Conine said that guests he guides have a reasonable chance of catching a bass in the 10-pound range.

“Of course nothing is guaranteed,” he added, “and folks are generally going to catch a bunch of small fish before they get that big one, but they have as good a chance of getting a trophy here as they do anywhere in the country.”

Conine prefers to put guests on fish using Senkos, and swears that is the best big-fish bait. Other Callaway guides have found various crankbaits and chatterbaits to be effective, but all agree that a soft plastic is tough to beat.

All fishing is catch-and-release on guided trips; both fly-fishing and spin fishing. No live bait is used during guided trips. The cost of trips is $195 for a half-day and $295 for a full day, for either one or two anglers. Callaway Gardens provides all gear to use during the day, or guests are welcomed to bring their own. For more information on fishing at Callaway, call Kingfisher Outfitters at (706) 663-5142.