Written by Atlas Editorial · Last updated
Lake Harding, also called Bartletts Ferry, is a 5,860-acre Chattahoochee River lake on the Alabama-Georgia line east of Opelika. Alabama and Georgia licenses both work lake-wide, three public ramps serve the Alabama side, and seven fish attractor sites are GPS-mapped.
Measured readings, not a bite prediction. Where each number comes from · All Alabama lakes today
Numbers = fishing hotspots · R = boat ramp · C = campground · P = fishing pier · B = bait shop · M = marina. Tap a pin.
Lake Harding is the lake between the famous ones. It sits on the Chattahoochee River right on the Alabama-Georgia line east of Opelika, below West Point Lake and above Goat Rock, and Alabama's fisheries biologists say plainly that it is not as well known or as heavily fished as its neighbors. Georgia Power runs it, and most maps call it Bartletts Ferry. The state line follows the old river channel down the west side, so the Alabama water is the Lee County bank and the long Halawakee Creek arm. You do not have to think about the line: both states' licenses are recognized on all of it. Largemouth are the main bass, with spotted bass common wherever water is moving. Alabama calls the crappie fishing a fine fishery, especially in spring. Stripers, hybrids, white bass and catfish fill out the list. Docks and piers line the banks, and Georgia has sunk fish attractors at seven GPS-marked sites.
“Lake Harding holds fish in patterns you can set your watch to. The bite isn't a secret — it's what most fishermen don't know about where the grass thins onto a hard ledge.”
Alabama Fishing Atlas Editorial
Major and minor solunar windows shift daily with the moon’s transit. Fish the windows above, or check the Seasonal Playbook below for Lake Harding’s current pattern.
Spring is the best season on Lake Harding, and both states say so. Georgia DNR puts the peak largemouth fishing from early March through May, while the water is in the 60s, and names the baits: shallow crankbaits, plastic worms, buzzbaits, chatterbaits and spinners around boat docks, rocky points and underwater humps. Spotted bass are on rocky points in deeper water. Crappie come first, though. From early February through April they are on structure in the upper end of the lake below Riverview Dam, and Alabama's biologists call spring the best of a fine crappie fishery. The same stretch, known as Crow Hop, is the early spring spot for hybrids at normal flows and for stripers on their spawning run. Watch the marker buoys up there, because low flows make the upper lake hazardous. Bream start bedding in protected coves and tributaries in the middle of May, and red wigglers or crickets will fill a cooler.
Summer pushes fish to shade and depth. Georgia DNR's advice for largemouth is to switch to deeper crankbaits and dark-colored worms, and for spotted bass to fish the boat docks, which are thickest on the lower lake. Spots usually hold deeper than largemouth on the same cover. This is when the seven fish attractor sites earn a look with your depth finder; each one holds root wads, trophy trees and reefs. Catfishing is at its best: fish under shady docks, try the mouths of tributaries after a big rain when muddy water runs in, and fish at night in the hot months with stink bait, chicken livers or cut bait on the bottom. Stripers and hybrids roam the whole lake in summer, chasing young shad near the surface. Trolling live shad where the Halawakee Creek arm meets the main lake is the state's suggestion. Bluegill and shellcracker stay around docks, piers and brush.
Fall moves the bass fishing up the lake. Georgia DNR says to fish above Blanton Creek Park in fall, and notes that largemouth generally outnumber spotted bass in that upper stretch. Lower down, the split is close to even; recent sampling showed an equal chance of catching either. Stripers keep schooling on shad lake-wide through fall. On a windy day, fish or troll the banks the wind is blowing into, because the wind pushes baitfish against the shore and the stripers follow. Crappie have shifted by now to the lower end of the lake, around the dam and along the main channel at the mouth of the Halawakee arm, and trolling bright jigs at different depths is the quickest way to find them. Catfish stay good all year, and the Chattahoochee Valley, Halawakee Creek and dam-area ramps on the Alabama side put you close to all of it.
Winter fishing on Lake Harding is deep and slow, and it can be very good. Georgia DNR recommends deep-running plugs, jigs and shaky-head worms in dark colors for largemouth. For spotted bass, a shad-pattern crankbait or a bass jig crawled slowly over a rocky bank is the cold-water standard. Stripers stage near Bartletts Ferry Dam in winter ahead of their spring run, and hybrids hold in the same deep water; live shad, cut bait, spoons and light-colored bucktail jigs all catch them. Fish attractor site 7 sits on the Alabama bank beside the dam, a short idle from Po'Boy Landing. Catfish bite through the winter, and a water release at the dam often turns them on. Bream go deep and are hard to catch. One note for planning: Georgia Power's Blanton Creek Park ramp on the Georgia side is seasonal and closed in winter, so launch from the Alabama side.
ADCNR says largemouth 'exhibit good growth and many fish reach large size because bass anglers harvest few fish'. Georgia DNR's 2026 forecast expects mostly 12 to 15 inch fish.
Common in flowing water (ADCNR). Georgia DNR calls the fishery under-used: over half are 7 to 12 inches, and there is no minimum size.
Georgia DNR's 2025 sampling found fewer black crappie than average but fish 16% longer than the long-term mean, with 76% between 10 and 15 inches.
Most run about 18 inches and 3 to 4 pounds; a few exceed 20 pounds. Hybrids, stocked four straight years through 2025, average about 18 inches and 2 to 3 pounds.
Georgia DNR rates catfishing good to excellent year-round: channel cats of 3 to 4 pounds, plus blues and flatheads of 10 pounds or more.
Tournament pros have been decoding Lake Harding for five decades. Every tip on this card is cited to the original weigh-in recap or angler interview — no paraphrased fluff, no invented quotes.
Try trolling live shad where Halawakee Creek arm flows into the main lake.
The pattern: The mouth of the Halawakee arm is the named spot for hybrids, and for crappie later in the year.
In fall, fish further up the lake, above Georgia Power's Blanton Creek Park.
The pattern: Largemouth outnumber spots in the upper lake. Go up in fall and stay down by the docks for spots.
Largemouth bass exhibit good growth and many fish reach large size because bass anglers harvest few fish.
The pattern: A lightly fished lake with room for big largemouth. The state says it is not as heavily fished as West Point or Eufaula.
Halawakee Creek arm at Long Bridge, beside the Halawakee Creek ramp (Google Maps listing: Long bridge Fishing pier, Valley, AL)
Sandy Point Recreation Area, off Lee County Road 334 (bank fishing below the dam, on Goat Rock Lake)
private · Hamilton, Georgia
Georgia Power campground and boat ramp on the Georgia side. Seasonal: closed in the winter months.
Salem
The Alabama-side public ramp near Bartletts Ferry Dam, on Lee County Road 334. Closest launch to the dam, the lower lake and fish attractor site 7. County Road 334 also leads to Sandy Point Recreation Area, which has boat access to Goat Rock Lake and bank access to the dam tailrace.
DirectionsSalem
The public ramp on the Halawakee Creek arm, which the state lists on Lee County Road 379. Google Maps lists it as Long Bridge boat ramp, with a fishing pier beside it. Fish attractor site 5 is at the bridge.
DirectionsValley
The public ramp at Chattahoochee Valley Recreation Park, off Lee County Road 380. The upper of the three Alabama ramps and the closest to the fall bass water above Blanton Creek.
DirectionsHamilton, GA
Georgia Power park on the Georgia side with a boat ramp and a seasonal campground, 6111 Lickskillet Road, 706-643-7737. GPS and directions are on the Lake Harding ramp map.
DirectionsHarris County, GA
Georgia Power boat ramp on the Georgia side of the lower lake. GPS and directions are on the Lake Harding ramp map.
Directions➤ Map of all 7 boat ramps on Lake Harding
➤ Camping on Lake Harding: 3 campgrounds and RV parks
➤ Lake Harding fishing piers and bank spots
45 Bonnie Drive, Fortson, GA 31808
Reciprocal water with Georgia under Alabama Regulation 220-2-.122. Shoal bass are protected from harvest in Alabama. Georgia Power generating schedules and lake levels: 888-472-5253.
An Alabama or a Georgia fishing license is recognized on all waters of Lake Harding. Alabama requires a license for anglers 16 and older.. Always verify current rules before your trip.
Full Alabama fishing regulations ›Fishing regulations, water conditions, and seasonal patterns change. Alabama Fishing Atlas provides informational content only. Verify all regulations with the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources before fishing, keeping any fish, or launching watercraft. We are not liable for decisions made based on information published here. Full disclaimer →
Data last reviewed: 2026-11-12
