Summary:
That cool spell sure was fun while it lasted! Did you catch some cool air and cooperative fish? But it’s over now, so deal with the heat by reverting back to your mid-summer techniques. Headwater trouting will be good at real high elevations and on north slopes. Streams are clearing and dropping from Wednesday’s 3 inches of rain, so dry flies will work well, as Syd says.
Stockers are still good thru the day on attractor flies and bait. Check today’s brand new WRD stocking list in our report. Tailwaters are still icy and resident bows and browns are cooperating. Pond and lake bass and bream are still cooperating, while river bass are waiting for the water to clear before turning back on. That action should pick up over the weekend. Again this week, we have some great reports from friends in distant lands, from NC north to MI and west to the Great Basin. Enjoy those tales and pics! Fishy reports and advice are in our blog. It’s new every Friday and will help you boost your own catch rates.
http://blog.angler.management/
(Link in bio)
Stop in either UO shop for intel, supplies, air conditioning, and story-swapping.
Helen: 706-878-3083. Open 8-5 daily.
Clarkesville: 706-754-0203. Open 8-5 from Monday thru Saturday.
Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.
Wes’ Hot Fly List:
Dries: purple haze, tan elk hair caddis, parachute ant, foam ant, micro chubby Chernobyl, royal humpy, Drymerger.
Nymphs & Wets:
Stockers: red squirmy worm, peach egg, micro girdle bug, black woolly bugger, tan and olive mops, pink tag jig.
Mountain streams: hares ear, drowned ant, pheasant tail nymph and soft hackle, UV green weenie, prince nymph.
Streamers:
small black and olive buggers, bank robber sculpin, micro dungeon.
(Bass & stripers) two tone stealth bomber (the olive/tan color has been deadly lately for river bass) Supernatural peanut, sparkle minnow, stealth jig.
(Panfish) mini stealth bomber, Boogle popper #8, brim reaper, girdle bug.
(Carp) squirmy hybrid, carp bitters, identity crisis.
Headwaters:
They’ve got decent flows and were still slightly stained yesterday after the midweek rain. They’ll drop and clear quickly. Water temps are rising, however, with the return of these steamy August days, so early morning trips to high elevations and north slopes are again in order. On Thursday upper Smith was already 67F at 830 AM
and a high Hooch trib was 66F at 10AM. Go early and go high!
UO guide Sydney: “This past week I did some headwaters fishing, some stocker fishing, and then played on the lake with some boogle bugs.
The wild rainbows fell for parachute adams, parachute ants and 409 Yeager dry flies.
The Hooch WMA stockers preferred cdc flies, ant patterns and hothead pheasant tails.
And the lake bream can’t resist a boogle bug or stealth bomber for bigger fish and a parachute ant for smaller ones.
Stockers:
Stocker fishing is still good in streams still receiving fish. I watched folks having success at the Hooch WMA yesterday despite 72 degree water at 6PM. GAWRD provided a fresh list today. Remember to take those summer stockers home for dinner, as the double whammy of warm water and angling stress will do most of them in.
https://georgiawildlife.com/Fishing/Trout
Private Waters:
“Broken record:” We remain shut down for summer. Feel free to call our shop ASAP to reserve those prime fall weekend dates after October 15, when we reopen those cooled-off streams for business.
Reminder:
We are still offering flyfishing-only striper trips at Nacoochee Bend. Call the Helen shop at 706-878-3083 for details and to make your reservation. Aim for the day after a forecast for significant rain. You need stained water to fool them with feathers.
UO guide Joseph: “I didn’t get any pictures but river striper fishing Wednesday night at the Bend was okay. The off color and better flow offered good fishing. We got a decent amount of bites from mostly smaller fish and a few better ones. The ticket for us was a white game changer fished on an intermediate line in the faster whitewater. As fall creeps closer the fish will make their way back down to reservoirs so, time is limited for linesiders in the rivers.”
Tailwaters:
They’re rockin’ along.
UO buddy Myles: “It's been a steady morning today (15th) on the Lanier tailwater. Fish are eating small nymphs on small tippet! My friend and I are close to 30 fish in about 2.5 hours so far. Once the fog cleared up, we could see better and the fishing turned on!”
Warm Rivers:
Flows are receding from the three inches of midweek rain, but rivers are still stained. The Hooch at Highway 115 was still too muddy this morning for a decent shot at river bass. It may clear enough for some opportunities tomorrow if you use big and/or flashy streamers and plugs.
7PM UPDATE: Hooch bassin’ is out for this weekend. It’s ripping red mud at Highway 115 tonite due to a strong storm at 6PM.
UO buddy Ryan: “I figured that the flathead catfish river run only lasted through the spring, but we’ve found a few late fish. This spot has been hit or miss, and last year I didn't land any flatheads. This year we've caught 3, making that 5 total in 3 years. This is the largest landed for the year from our crew. The thought of a 20+lb fish has me coming back to sit on the river bank!”
Ponds:
They’re still a good bet, especially at first and last light. Paddle a canoe or yak around the perimeter and toss poppers under the bankside tree limbs.
UO buddy CDB: “When the rain stopped and the sun came out , we headed out to one of the local neighborhood lakes. The water was muddy, but there was still plenty of action. We used a damselfly nymph imitation - rubber legged dragon - stripped slow in little one or two-inch increments. The sunfish were all over it as well as a couple of hungry blue cats.
Fun afternoon on the water, but I sure am looking forward to the weather cooling down.”
Lakes:
UO guide Joseph: “Fishing on Lanier remains steady. With the “lower” water temps last week the bite has picked back up slightly.
Most of the schooling fish I’ve seen have been on main lake humps, points, and over open water. For flies game changers, clousers and various other baitfish patterns on intermediate lines should be good options. For conventional tackle topwater walking baits, sebilles, and flukes will work. Fishing should be picking up on the pond as cool fall weather approaches. I also still have a few prime fall and winter dates available for striper fishing however, they are going quickly. If you’re interested on getting out there give the Helen shop a call at (706)-878-3083 or check my website out at www.josephclarkflyfishing.com”
Afar:
Once again we have some fine fish tales from friends all over the country.
UO’s own Dredger took advantage of the tail end of the cool spell and jumped north of the border last Monday. His favorite park stream was a nice 62F at 8AM and rose to only 64F at his 4PM departure. After a slow morning start, he did well Euronymphing a bunch of cookie-cutter bows all thru the afternoon. Two-thirds hit his sexy Walts anchor fly and the rest fell for his sunken black ant dropper. Some brief wildlife watching added to a fun day in the Smokies.
He left early in hopes of finding a few river smallies “on top” before dark. Luckily, the river had cleared enough and a few small fish were chasing blue dragonflies. He topped off his marathon Monday with a handful of fish, all but one falling for his floating Mr Wiggly. The two best were 14 and 15 inches and a fair fight on his 6-weight outfit.
UO Helen manager Wes: “Atticus and I took a road trip up to the Mitt AKA Michigan last week. We had a couple of great days of river fishing for smallmouth bass. All of our river bass got caught on plopped and drifted stealth bombers. The flows were low and clear so a long cast out in front of the boat and drifting the bombers (not popping them) was the key to getting bites. Most of the fish came up and sipped our foam bugs.
We also did a Great Lakes flats sight fishing trip with guide Dave Hurley. It was an incredible experience fishing to a variety of different species in clear blue water. We fished for Smallmouth, carp, bowfin, and freshwater drum. What a unique and beautiful fishery Dave has dialed in up there. If you like sight fishing this trip is worth putting on your bucket list!”
UO buddy Will returned home from FL for a brief vacation. He had a productive lake boat ride and a fun river float this week on his home waters in Michigan. Enjoy his pics.
UGA Five Rivers grad Matt: “Hey Jeff, Greetings from Great Basin National Park! Been able to catch a few western trout this summer. My first ever tiger trout, Snake River cutthroat and bonnneville cutthroat. The fishing is great out here! “
Kudos:
The Athens TU chapter hosts a very popular monthly fly tying session. Our buddy Jay said: “Oconee River TU had a full house for our monthly fly tying night at Athentic Brewing Company.
This event brings together a wide range of folks - from teenagers to guys that make me feel young! Athentic has been a great supporter of our conservation efforts. If you’re ever in Athens on the 2nd Monday of the month, please join us!”
https://www.facebook.com/share/1GwjjTpKiD/?mibextid=wwXIfr
We are inching closer to fall. Tough out these last few weeks in the August oven and things should really pick up. When you see our nighttime temps dropping back into the 60’s, grab that bass or trout rod and drive up with lotsa hope. In the meantime, hit these waters when the hot sun isn’t on them and you’ll still have fun. Stop in either shop and we’ll prepare you for success on any day you visit!
Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.
