Welcome to March! This month kicks off our spring fishing season. We’ll have some great days when it’s warm and some slow ones when icy fronts blow through our region. But there will be more good days than slow ones, especially as we move through the month.
Right now, however, we have a nice warm spell that has boosted trout stream temperatures up to and over the magic fifty-degree mark.
https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?site_no=02330450&legacy=1
Take advantage of this warm spell while it lasts! Streams are low and clear and warm in the afternoons.
Try some dredged nymphs early and some dry/dropper combos after lunch. DH streams are a real good choice, especially if you’re breaking in a new trout angler. Get out there soon and give it a go.
Lakes are much slower to respond to warm air temps, so their fish aren’t as eager as our stream residents. They’re still a bit in winter mode, but will follow bait fish as they move a bit shallower with each passing, warm day.
Catch Wes’ weekly update to his hot fly list and our latest fishing reports here:
http://blog.angler.management/
(Link in bio)
Stop in either UO shop (Helen, Clarkesville) for your March intel and flies. Good luck!
Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.
Wes’ Hot Fly List:
Dries: Micro chubby Chernobyl, quill gordon , parachute Adams, Drymerger blue wing olive, rage cage black caddis, little black stone.
Nymphs & Wets:
DH streams: slush egg, Pink tag jig, Frenchie, Zebra midge, hares ear nymph and soft hackle, micro girdle bugs, chewy caddis,
Mountain streams: Pheasant tails, micro girdle bugs, prince nymphs, ruby midge.
Streamers:
Sparkle minnows, mohair leeches, UV polar jigs, mini shimmer buggers.
(Bass & stripers) Somethin’ else, Clouser minnow, micro changer, jerk changer, crittermite.
Headwaters:
They’re clear and warming. Flows are decent, but dropping due to lack of rain, so stealth is required. The Dukes headwaters ran a warm 52F on Wednesday afternoon.
UO manager Jake took his client to Dukes Creek at Smithgall Woods this week. They landed a nice handful of wild bows up to 11-12 inches, but couldn’t find any lunkers. Best bugs were small dark nymphs and Eurojigs, fished behind one to three size B shot, as dictated by pool depth and velocity.
Delayed Harvest Streams:
Our local DH streams were restocked during the first week of the month. Those fish have smartened up and now require better drifts with smaller, natural colored bugs. Be on the lookout for the March restockings, so have your bright squirmies, eggs, and buggers ready.
NC DH streams will be restocked for their spring fishing season, starting next week.
https://www.ncwildlife.org/fishing/trout-fishing-north-carolina
Note: Interstate 40 reopens tomorrow!
https://www.facebook.com/share/15rgD7sYAf/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Make plans soon for your March road trips north.
Dredger hit Smith DH on Monday afternoon. The parking lot was full, but he found a spot and pulled in.
He hit a few pools and runs in his downstream hike and struck out for the first hour. The fish didn’t want the swing, the strip, or even the real black winter stoneflies fluttering about in the sunshine. The air was 60F and the water, 46.
(Note: Smith DH was 48F yesterday afternoon)
The high sun had fish stuck to the bottom, where Dredger visited them via three split shot. Best bugs were a tiny black bugger, peach egg, and hares ear soft hackle.
His handful of spunky bows came from two prime pools via the dead dredge (drift). They sure were fun on his 7.5-ft, 3-wt blueline rod.
If you’re heading to Smith, go early or late to miss the midday crowds, and bring some small, dark dries with you. They were working for some Smith anglers yesterday afternoon. How many wagging tails can you spot?
Private Waters:
We had very few guided trips last week. Bookings and catches will start picking up as we enter March and enjoy the warmer water ahead of us. Right now use small, natural-colored nymphs to entice experienced residents in low, clear water. Have your bigger and brighter bugs ready for the end of next week, if the predicted storms hit and stain streamflows.
UO buddy CDB:
“I volunteered to guide with Project Healing Waters this week on private waters. With the water temps approaching 50 degrees, the fish are pretty active. Bronze micro jig zonkers or leeches were money when fished along the bottom. Where there were fish holding higher in the water column, the old standby Hares Ear size 16 or 18 consistently did the trick. The water is still pretty clear so you may need to drop down a size on your tippet, and it’s really important to get as clean (drag free) a drift as possible.”
Tailwaters:
Online reports say that the black caddis hatch is “on” for Toccoa Tailwater floaters. Details: try the locals at Cohutta Fishing Co.
NC:
UO buddy Myles: “A friend and I braved through some 10-25° Lows with snow on the ground and camped in North Carolina this past weekend. Luckily the fish were still biting! We caught about 20 fish and some beautiful rainbows. I've never seen a yellow-tipped top fin so I was pleasantly surprised!
In addition, I want to say a reminder to always be aware of your surroundings. Duke Energy had no scheduled water release at the start of the lower Nantahala where it joins the upper Nantahala. We noticed the water start to change color and get murky, so we ran out as quickly as we could. In about 4 minutes the water rose up about 3-4 feet! As it warms up this spring, make sure to check scheduled water releases and to think about unscheduled ones, also, to be safe throughout the recreational season. Though there was nothing on the schedule, our awareness of the situation might literally have saved our lives!”
Warm Rivers:
March is here and the early spawners should start marching up the rivers from their winter hangouts in reservoirs. Be on the lookout for walleye, whites, hybrids, and some stray stripers in the days ahead. Walleyes have started their spring spawning runs.
UO buddy RSquared set aside his trout rig last week and said: “In Northwest Georgia, White Bass are moving up the Coosa River. On our weekday trip, most fish were averaging a pound or better. White streamers were working for me in the muddy river flow.
The best river status report is always the weekly WRD update, with the intel from its electrofishing crews. Those blogs are refreshed every Friday afternoon.
https://georgiawildlife.blog/category/fishing/
Lakes:
Our two striper hunters were off the water last week, so the best intel we’ve got will come from the WRD weekly fishing blog (see above link).
Striper fishing starts to heat up in mid-March. Rain-stained rivers will dump into Lanier, where that stained water will heat up from the sunshine and draw shad and stripers. To book a shallow water striper trip with UO guide Joseph, call our Helen shop at (706)-878-3083.
News and Events:
Ongoing: Dream Trip ticket sales. Win a week of fishing in Yellowstone for just ten bucks, or one of a dozen great runnerup prizes. Drawing on March 22. Details here:
March 22 : Hoot on the Hooch. Georgia Foothills TU’s annual fundraiser on the banks of the Chattahoochee River at the Helendorf Inn in Helen. All Dream Trip raffle winners announced.
A draft GA state wildlife action plan (SWAP) is available for your review and comments. Comment deadline to GAWRD is March 21. Details:
https://georgiawildlife.com/WildGeorgiaSWAP
The weekend and the start of next week look great, before some storms arrive at midweek. Have both your dry/dropper and dredging games ready for trout, and cruise some warming shallows for reservoir shad schools and early season stripers on the prowl. Try a walleye trip, too, up the rivers during the next two weeks of their peak spawn. Stop in either UO shop for the best March bugs and intel. Good luck!
Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.
