Chattooga River
The rule for this water, with the receipt.
Special regulations for Chattooga River, as the state words them
Oconee County · River · SC
The rules for this water, verbatimOfficial text
Straight from SC's official regulations. Rules in force today lead; out-of-season rows are dimmed. Nothing is paraphrased. Not legal advice: verify the posted rules at the water.
- All fishMay 15 - Oct. 31Daily limit May 15 - Oct. 31: 5Size Any lengthBait None
- All fishNov. 1 - May 14 - does not apply todayDaily limit Nov. 1 - May 14: Catch and Release onlySize Any lengthBait Unlawful to use or possess any lure or bait except single hook artificial lures.
Statewide base layerParsed
These defaults apply where the rules above do not modify them.
- Season
- No closed freshwater game fish season except in the following areasStatewide
- Gear
- Game fish may be caught with only hook and line, pole, artificial pole, or rod and reel.Statewide
- Bait
- Not captured yet - consult the statewide regulations
- Poles
- Not more than 4 of these devices may be used by any fishermen at the same time, except when fishing in a boat.Statewide
Where the verbatim rules above name a species, season, or limit, they replace the rows below. Each row is tagged with the layer it comes from.
| Species | Daily limit | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|
American Shad | 10 shad per person per day except in Santee River and Rediversion Canal (20 per person per day) | - | Statewide |
Herring | 1 US bushel of herring per person per day | - | Statewide |
Striped Bass | Possession prohibited: June 16 - Sept. 30; 3 fish per person per day: Oct. 1 - June 15 | min. 26 inch TL | Statewide |
bream | lawful creel limit of bream | - | Statewide |
blue catfish | 2 per person per day, possession limit of 25 per person per day | min. over 32 inches | Statewide |
American shad and herring | 10 shad per person per day or 1 US bushel of herring per person per day, except in the Santee River and Rediversion Canal (which is 20 shad per person per day) | - | Statewide |
crayfish | A commercial fisherman may fish up to fifty crayfish traps. A recreational fisherman may fish up to five crayfish traps. | - | Statewide |
minnow | A minnow trap may be fished with a recreational license only, with a limit of 5 for each person, and must not be fished for commercial purposes. | - | Statewide |
Shad | Ten per person per day | - | Statewide |
How this answer was assembled
- StatewideStatewide river rules are the base layer: default season, gear, bait, and limits.
- This waterSpecial rules written for this exact water replace the statewide defaults where they speak.
- Emergency orderEmergency orders in effect today override everything else. They sync quietly when the phone has coverage and never lock you out of the app.
Where this section begins and ends
The drawn shape is the named water, matched from the official list against OpenStreetMap and accepted only because the name resolved to a single feature in this water's county.
Different sections of this water can have different rules. The exact section boundaries are not marked on the map yet; each rule above describes in plain words where it starts and ends, and that written description is the authoritative boundary. Map boundaries come water by water, never as a guess.
Season at a glanceDerived
Sampled mid-month from the dated rows; short windows can slip between samples. The rows above are authoritative.
At the water nowContext
Streamflow: 87.8 cfs at chattooga river at burrells ford, nr pine mtn, ga (2026-10-13 10:45)
Forecast: National Weather Service. Flow: nearest active USGS gauge in this water's area, which may sit on a different reach. Conditions are context, not rules.
What are you fishing for here?Advice
Pick from the species named in Chattooga River's rules. Setups are checked against the gear rules in force today, and your picks are remembered on this device only. These are rule-aware suggestions, not a claim about what is biting; advice, not law, and the rules above govern.
You also need (South Carolina)
- Georgia reciprocal border waters. A Georgia OR a South Carolina freshwater license is valid on the shared Savannah River system, so you do not need both. It covers all channels of the Savannah River from its mouth up to where the Tugaloo and Seneca meet, the Chattooga River to the Georgia/North Carolina line, and the impoundments Thurmond, Russell, Hartwell, Yonah, Tugaloo, Stevens Creek and New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam. It does NOT cover tributary streams to those impoundments or to the Savannah, Tugaloo and Chattooga rivers - on a tributary you need the license of the state you are in. Size and catch limits still follow the state whose rules apply, so check Georgia's separately.
Checked against South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) - SC Recreational Fishing and Hunting License on Aug. 4, 2026.
Receipts
Local services near Chattooga River
Tackle shops, guides, and boat launches that serve this water will appear here - a separate lane below the rules, so a local business can reach you without ever getting between you and the regulation.
Run a shop or guide service on Chattooga River? Get listed.