Our warm spell continues and it’s a mighty fine time to wet a line. Trout streams are really low and clear, but they’re warmer and the past week’s bite reflects that. Add a fresh dose of GA DH stockers and you have the prime ingredients for success this weekend. Carry some dries with you, too, and catch some bonus fish on top before the rains come next week.
Lakes are much slower to respond to rising air temperatures and shallow stripers are still scattered and temperamental. But they’re still worth a shot during our false spring of sixty degree days. And you can always chase spawning walleye while waiting on the stripers to bunch up.
Catch Wes’ weekly update to his hot fly list and the latest fishing reports here:
http://blog.angler.management/
Stop in either UO shop (Helen, Clarkesville) for your February supplies.
Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.
Wes’ Hot Fly List:
Dries: Micro chubby Chernobyl, orange stimulator, parachute Adams, blue wing olive, little black caddis, little black stone.
Nymphs & Wets:
DH streams: Twister egg, Frenchie, Duracell, micro girdle bug, ruby midge, little black stone, RS2, gold ribbed hares ear.
Mountain streams: Pheasant tails, micro girdle bugs, prince nymphs, root beer midge.
Streamers:
Sparkle minnow, Jiggy fry, CDC squirrel leech, muddy buddy.
(Bass & stripers) Somethin’ else, Clouser minnow, micro changer, jerk changer.
Get to know more about Wes here:
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1AuiA1U7Th/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Headwaters:
Low and clear, but warn enough to give you plenty of hope for some dry fly action. Two different speck chasers visited the shop last week and said they had great outings for natives “high in the mountains.” Their fine pics proved their point. Try single, fluffy dries to start. Only add a dropper if it’s a slow morning or a deep pool. For forest road updates, try the Chatt Forest Ranger District offices: Example: Tallulah Falls RD: 706-754-6221.
Delayed Harvest Streams:
They’re low and clear, but also warmer and restocked here in GA. Try some junk flies first (buggers, eggs, and squirmies) and dry/dropper rigs next. Don’t forget to twitch them.
UO buddy and new flyfisher Tanner said: “thanks for the flies and advice before my Smith DH trip. Got one on a dry fly and one on a woolly bugger. I lost the only dry fly I had. I’m gonna have to get a few more because several fish came up and bumped my white indicator.”
Rabunites Nan and Rick gave the Nan DH a try. She said: “Lots of these flying around, but no fish rising to them. Didn’t see a single fish. Didn’t even see any running in terror from our flies. We dredged with several nymphs and I tried dries late in the sunny sections. Water temp 48. My Helios remains unchristened. But it was a gorgeous day and we had a really good time. Very few anglers. I caught a lot of bugs. Bald eagle flew really low right over our heads and perched about 150 feet from us for a long time. I hope he had better fishing luck! But at least we witnessed the first true hint of of trouting spring with the Quill Gordon hatch. Hopefully the fish will figure them out quickly.”
New flyfisher and new UO customer Cale visited with us and then went out and caught his first trout on a fly rod. And a brookie at that! Congrats Cale!
Private Waters:
UO Helen manager Wes: “I guided repeat client Frank on some private water last Tuesday afternoon and wow, the weather was incredible for a February day! We had highs in the mid 70s. We had a great afternoon catching eager fish in pockets and riffles on streamers and soft hackles.”
Tailwaters:
No recent reports. Be on the lookout soon for black caddis squadrons.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9Hq00edl8s
Rivers:
UO buddy RSquared: “In NW Georgia, white bass had begun staging near the mouths of tributaries on the Coosa River. However several days of sub-freezing temperatures the last couple of weeks sent them back to the main channel. I had hoped that the recent warm days would entice the white bass back to the tributaries. However, my former student, Nathan, fished it today with no success. He talked with several other anglers and they also were not finding any white bass and very few crappie. We have several more warm days ahead so my fingers are crossed.”
Lakes:
UO buddy MD: “Got out to enjoy the beautiful weather in Athens the past few days. No luck on hopper/dropper rigs on my go-to local lake, so switched over to a sink-tip line and a black and brown Barr's meat whistle. Caught several nice large mouth bass in the moving water where creeks entered the lake. It was one of those days where I would've been content simply kayaking some of my favorite water. Since then I've been hard at "work" filling my fly boxes with warm water patterns as this false spring continues.”
UO guide Joseph: “ Jimmy and I had a decent outing on Hartwell last week. The main lake was up to 53 degrees and the backs of creeks were 57. We were able to find some good schools of fish but they were being just as picky as they are on Lanier. We tried three different flies on two different lines and even some conventional lures on spinning rods and still couldn’t buy a bite. After putting the long rods up and heading back toward the ramp, we ran into a group of hybrids eating on the surface. They were much more eager than their bigger cousins. Two casts and two fish on an underspin and they never showed themselves again.
If you’d like to book a trip call the shop at (706)-878-3083!”
Learn more about Joseph here:
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/19pR2Xyk72/?
UO buddy AJ: “Lanier has warmed back up into the low 50s and both stripers and bass are moving around. The problem is they are very spread out, moving quickly, and have been very picky. The other problem with this warm weather is all the extra boat traffic, even during the middle of the week. I counted 14 boats out in one small area this AM. Fish are eating a range of threadfin from super tiny up to 2”-3”. Hard to go wrong with a small Clouser, Somethin Else, or Polar Minnow. And definitely play around with your retrieve speed. Hopefully these fish will get grouped back up soon and it’ll be a great spring! Now booking trips for March, so reach out if you want to get out! My website is: www.lanieronthefly.com.”
UO owner Jimmy just called in and said Lanier this morning was frustrating. He saw stripers, but there were scatted singles and just dimpling the surface “like they were sipping blue wing olives.” No fish to hand, but he said it was a fine morning on the lake.
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.
Good luck during this second week of the false spring. Enjoy the “warm” and just tolerate the “wet” with a good raincoat. We need the showers for some stream recharges. Don’t forget a few dark dries, too, for this brief period and for the true spring hatches just on the horizon. Ready for those tailwater caddis flights?
And those stripers will soon be schooling in the shallows again. We are just a few weeks and a few degrees away from their early spring “blooms,” too.
Stop in one of our shops if we can help you out.
Helen:706-878-3083
Clarkesville: 706-754-0203
Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.
