Big Ol’ Fish Guiding Service is North Georgia and Western North Carolina’s #1 rated fishing guide service, based in Murphy, North Carolina, with more than 30 years of experience as the area’s original striped bass and hybrid bass guide service. Serving Lake Chatuge, Lake Hiwassee, Lake Blue Ridge, and Lake Nottely, the business also covers Blairsville, Blue Ridge, and Hiawassee, Georgia, along with Hayesville, North Carolina.
The business operates three 26-foot Carolina Skiff Center Console boats equipped with modern gear, specializing in striped bass, hybrid bass, smallmouth bass, and walleye fishing across four distinct mountain lakes. Lake Nottely, a 4,500-acre TVA reservoir in Blairsville, GA, has produced stripers over 50 pounds and fishes well year-round. Lake Hiwassee near Murphy, NC offers some of the best striper and smallmouth bass fishing around, a short drive from Asheville, Atlanta, and Chattanooga. Lake Chatuge, spanning Hayesville, NC and Hiawassee, GA, boasts excellent spotted and hybrid bass fishing, while Lake Blue Ridge in the North Georgia mountains hosts strong smallmouth and spotted bass action.
Half-day trips run $500, with spring (April-May) and summer trophy striper seasons producing genuinely massive fish — a long-time client landed a 61-pound striper in April 2024. The business has been featured nationally in Coastal Angler Magazine and maintains an active fishing report blog covering seasonal patterns across all four lakes.
For anglers in the North Georgia/Western North Carolina mountains looking for a deeply experienced striped bass, hybrid bass, or smallmouth guide, Big Ol’ Fish Guiding Service offers a well-established, multi-lake operation with more than 30 years in business.
