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Home › Waters › Georgia › Altamaha River
River · Southeast Georgia, the state's largest river, formed by the Oconee and Ocmulgee and running southeast through the coastal plain to Darien · Georgia

Altamaha River Fishing Guides

Georgia's largest river, draining a quarter of the state through undeveloped swamp forest, guided for bass, bream, catfish and a spring shad run.

Still water and rock ledges on a forested Appalachian river

Map of the Altamaha River

20 numbered points: 18 access points, 1 park or conservation area, 1 USGS gauge. Tap a marker for details. Reviewed Sep 28, 2026.

Printable version →
  • Access / boat ramp (18)
  • Park / conservation area (1)
  • USGS gauge (1)
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Points are curated from OpenStreetMap and state agency sources; confirm access and hours before you go.

Print it. Bag it. Bring it.Phones die, screens crack, and most of this water has no signal. Print this map, fold it into a zip-top bag or dry bag with your license, and you have a backup your electronics can’t give you. Every marker is numbered so you can say exactly where you are.

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All 20 points on this map
#PointTypeLat, LonNotes
1State Highway 135 Landing
GA-DOT ramp, Montgomery County, river km 3		Access / boat ramp31.95848, -82.51718Paved ramp at the GA 135 bridge, the first public put-in below the Oconee-Ocmulgee confluence. Twin of Town Bluff on the opposite bank.
2Town Bluff (SR 135)
GA-DOT ramp, Jeff Davis County, river km 5		Access / boat ramp31.95056, -82.50721Paved ramp on the south bank at the GA 135 crossing, 1.5 km below the Montgomery County landing.
3McNatt Falls
Toombs County, river km 13		Access / boat ramp31.96846, -82.46823Paved landing on the Toombs bank. The shoal it is named for is the only real drop in the upper river.
4Grays Landing
Toombs County, river km 17		Access / boat ramp31.96645, -82.42894Paved ramp, the usual take-out for a short float down from the GA 135 bridges.
5Deen's Landing
Appling County, river km 24		Access / boat ramp31.94104, -82.37384Paved ramp on the Appling bank, 333 m off the mapped centreline down an access cut.
6US Highway 1 Landing
GA-DOT ramp, Toombs County, river km 27		Access / boat ramp31.94011, -82.35496Paved ramp at the US 1 crossing. The bridge is the main landmark on the upper river.
7Morris Landing
Appling County, river km 36		Access / boat ramp31.93830, -82.28093Paved ramp, the next public access below US 1.
8Eason Bluff
Appling County, river km 49		Access / boat ramp31.90049, -82.19342Paved ramp under a cut bank on the Appling side.
9Big Hammock WMA
Georgia DNR, Tattnall County, river km 61		Park / conservation area31.89746, -82.10929State wildlife management area on the Tattnall bank; the Big Hammock Natural Area sandhill sits inside it. Boat access is at the Stanfield ramp.
10J.E. Stanfield Landing
Big Hammock WMA, Tattnall County, river km 61		Access / boat ramp31.88570, -82.10690Paved ramp inside Big Hammock WMA and the access point for that stretch.
11Carter Bight
Appling County, river km 64		Access / boat ramp31.86195, -82.11485Paved ramp opposite the Big Hammock bend.
12Upper Wayne County Landing
Wayne County, river km 84		Access / boat ramp31.78478, -81.98426Paved ramp, the first public access in Wayne County and a long 20 km run down from Carter Bight.
13Oglethorpe Bluff Landing
Wayne County, river km 99		Access / boat ramp31.72085, -81.89966Paved ramp on a bluff bank, 338 m off the centreline down its approach.
14Jaycee Landing
Wayne County, river km 109		Access / boat ramp31.66679, -81.84485Paved ramp just above the US 301 corridor at Doctortown - the busiest access on the middle river.
15Johnston Station
Long County, river km 110		Access / boat ramp31.66711, -81.83738Paved ramp on the Long County bank, 800 m below Jaycee Landing and the usual pair with it.
16Williamsburg Landing
Sansavilla WMA, Wayne County, river km 155		Access / boat ramp31.50847, -81.65898Paved ramp inside Sansavilla WMA, the last public access before the river opens into its delta.
17Barrington Park
McIntosh County, river km 162		Access / boat ramp31.47151, -81.60694County park and paved ramp at the old Barrington Ferry crossing, 592 m off the centreline.
18Altamaha Regional Park
Glynn County, river km 169		Access / boat ramp31.42678, -81.60615Regional park with a paved ramp, campground and fishing pier on the lower river.
19Two-Way Fish Camp
Glynn County, delta reach		Access / boat ramp31.32693, -81.44565Hoist and marina on the South Altamaha in the delta, about 1.7 km off the mapped main channel because the river braids below Altamaha Park. The standard saltwater-side launch.
20USGS gauge - Altamaha River
Roster gauge coordinate		USGS gauge31.95786, -82.51703River stage for the upper Altamaha at the GA 135 crossing. The river is big and slow; stage decides which sandbars are campable.

Guides on the Altamaha River

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About the Altamaha River

The Altamaha is Georgia’s biggest river and one of the largest undammed rivers on the Atlantic coast. It begins where the Oconee and the Ocmulgee join near Lumber City and runs about a hundred and forty miles southeast through the coastal plain to the sea at Darien, draining better than a quarter of the state on the way. There is no dam on the mainstem, which is the fact that shapes everything else: the river rises and falls on rainfall across an enormous basin, and the floodplain beside it is a continuous corridor of cypress, tupelo and bottomland hardwood, much of it in conservation ownership and almost none of it developed.

The fishery is as broad as the river. Largemouth bass hold on the cypress, the laydowns and the mouths of the countless oxbows and sloughs that peel off the main channel. Redbreast sunfish and bluegill fill the same cover and are the summer staple for local anglers. The catfishing is genuinely serious, with channel, blue and flathead catfish all present and flatheads reaching large sizes in the deep bends. American shad run up from the sound in late winter and early spring and are a real seasonal fishery, and striped bass and hybrids use the lower river. Guiding runs out of Jesup, Darien and the Baxley area, mostly in jon boats, and a guide earns their fee here purely on knowing which sloughs are worth entering at a given stage.

The gauge at the US 221 crossing near Charlotteville reads the upper mainstem and is the number to plan against. Because the Altamaha is undammed and its basin is huge, rain far upstream in the Oconee or Ocmulgee arrives here days later, so the trace can be climbing under a clear local sky. High water pushes fish out into the flooded timber and makes them very hard to find; a falling stage pulling fish back to the channel edge is the condition to look for. No temperature sensor publishes at this site.

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Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

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  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Flow alert

Tell me when the Altamaha River cfs

Now: 2,170 cfs, read 7:45 am CST, Mon Nov 2, 2026 (USGS 02224940, ALTAMAHA RIVER AT US 221, NR CHARLOTTEVILLE, GA).

We never use this address for anything else and never share it. See the privacy policy.

Access

US 221 crossing near Charlotteville - the closest public access to the gauge.
Altamaha Regional Park near Baxley - a developed ramp on the upper river.
Jesup area landings - the main mid-river boat access.
Morgan Lake landing - access to the lower river and its oxbows.
US 301 crossing near Jesup - a bridge access with parking.
Altamaha Wildlife Management Area near Darien - lower river and delta access.
Paradise Park in Darien - tidal reach access near the mouth.

Seasons

Spring: the shad run in the lower river and strong bass fishing as the water warms and drops.
Summer: low, clear and the best bream fishing of the year on the sandbars and cypress.
Fall: excellent all-round fishing with light traffic and comfortable weather.
Winter: high and cold, with catfish and crappie the most dependable targets.

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Questions

What is the current flow on the Altamaha River?

As of Nov 2, 7:45 am, the USGS gauge ALTAMAHA RIVER AT US 221, NR CHARLOTTEVILLE, GA reads 2,170 cfs. Conditions update every 15 minutes.

What species can you catch on the Altamaha River?

Anglers target American Shad, Black Crappie, Blue Catfish, Bluegill, Bowfin, Channel Catfish, Flathead Catfish, Hybrid Striped Bass, Largemouth Bass, Longnose Gar, Redbreast Sunfish, Striped Bass, White Crappie on the Altamaha River in Georgia.

Where can you access the Altamaha River?

US 221 crossing near Charlotteville - the closest public access to the gauge. Altamaha Regional Park near Baxley - a developed ramp on the upper river. Jesup area landings - the main mid-river boat access. Morgan Lake landing - access to the lower river and its oxbows. US 301 crossing near Jesup - a bridge access with parking. Altamaha Wildlife Management Area near Darien - lower river and delta access. Paradise Park in Darien - tidal reach access near the mouth.

When is the best time to fish the Altamaha River?

Spring: the shad run in the lower river and strong bass fishing as the water warms and drops. Summer: low, clear and the best bream fishing of the year on the sandbars and cypress. Fall: excellent all-round fishing with light traffic and comfortable weather. Winter: high and cold, with catfish and crappie the most dependable targets.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Altamaha River?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Georgia agency site: https://georgiawildlife.com/fishing-regulations