Briefly, stay home and weather the storm. Enjoy our fresh trout and striper stories, but most of this intel will be obsolete when the weather changes drastically by the beginning of the week. Hopefully our roads will clear and we can revisit our favorite waters by the end of next week. Note sone great events happening as early as Tuesday, so make sure you read the Events section of our full report. As always, that full report is here:
http://blog.angler.management/
(Link in bio)
For now, get ready to hunker down and ride out the impending ice storm. We’ll see you on the other side.
Helen: 706-878-3083. Open 8-5 daily.
Clarkesville: 706-754-0203. Open 8-5 from Monday thru Saturday.
Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.
www.unicoioutfitters.com
Wes’ Hot Fly List:
Dries: parachute blue wing olive, griffiths gnat, little black stone (or #18 gray elk hair caddis, and a small tan chubby or elk hair caddis as the lead fly (a strike indicator for your tiny dry dropper)
Nymphs & Wets:
DH Stockers: twister egg, pheasant tail or Frenchie, sexy Walts worm, rainbow warrior, zebra midge, Duracell, micro girdle bug.
Mountain streams: zebra midge, soft hackles, prince nymph, frenchie or pheasant tail.
Streamers:
Black and olive woolly buggers, jig leech, UV polar Jig.
Reservoir Bass & Stripers:
Cowen’s somethin else. Gray over white clouser minnow, low fat minnow.
Headwaters:
They’re low and clear and warmed up slightly over the last few days. Flows are skinny once again. These conditions will change with the coming storm, so wait for next week’s intel for accurate conditions. Stay away for a while. Between icy roads and fallen trees, give the national forest roads time to recover from the storm. You don’t want to get stuck up here.
Delayed Harvest:
They fished well this past week, thanks primarily to better flows. A few extra degrees of water temperature helped, too.
Flyfishing rookies Christopher and wife Eliza gave Smith DH a try last Saturday. They were adopted by a creek regular, who gave them brief lessons on roll casting and the drag free drift. And they both scored their first trout on a tan squirmy worm.
UO guide Sydney hit Smith DH yesterday (22nd) and had a good time. She said: “Yesterday the hot flies were egg patterns, midges, and pats rubber legs. Despite the cool water temps, fish were fairly active and I even saw a few fish rising!”
Dredger hit the Chattooga DH on Monday afternoon. Flows were good and, despite chilly 42F water, he found a nice handful of bows and browns. About two-thirds hit his frenchie dropper, while the rest preferred his heavier, Sexy Walts anchor fly.
Trip highlight was meeting two Clemson 5 Rivers clubbers, Evan and Rhett. They got a handful of bugs and a quick instream lesson on the drag-free drift. Both scored, also.
Rabunite Bluejay hit Chattooga DH last Wednesday and had a big time, with over three dozen fish fondled. He shared a pic of his hot bug.
Caution: Rabun County roads are steep and curvy. Add some ice and we will all slide off the side of the mountain. Wait until those roads warm up, even in the shady spots, before venturing back to that county’s creeks.
Athens Jay and a SC buddy hit the Chauga DH and did decently by deep drifting nymphs and eggs in the 45F water. He said: “Cold water, sluggish fish but an egg and a small jig style Frenchie worked well. “
Stockers:
Stockers are slim. Your best bets are the two tailwaters for summer/fall holdovers and just outside the DH stream boundaries to find the wash-downs after last Saturday’s floods.
Private Waters:
No recent reports.
Tailwaters:
UO buddy Ryan: “Last weekend I made it the Hooch with just an hour before both darkness and the dam release would run me out. I netted 2 fish and bounced 2 browns in very shallow water. I was tight line nymphing size 20 hares ears with 6.5x tippet. The nice rainbow ate my fly as I patiently let it swing and rise at the end of my drift. Looking forward to getting out there with more time soon!”
Warm Bass Rivers:
No news, other than they aren’t very warm and those fish probably aren’t very hungry.
Ponds:
No news.
Lakes:
The Book on the Boat!
The Unicoi Guru and Dredger had a distinct advantage this morning (23rd). We had an audio-book guiding us! Inland striper book author Henry Cowen hopped aboard and steered skipper Jimmy to some promised waters on the upper half of Lanier. Hank landed a real chunky striper and Dredger connected with a brute that tried to tow the boat. Both tossed Henry’s Somethin Else streamer on full sink lines while Jimmy followed the birds to success.
The author is also a great videographer! Hop aboard Jimmy’s boat and take today’s trip with us, courtesy of Hank:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DT3RboyEcrU/?img_index=5&igsh=ZG4wcG5pOHhrNGFp
PS: BUY HENRY’S BOOK!
You won’t get fooled again.
https://shoponline.unicoioutfitters.com/fly-fishing-for-freshwater-striped-bass-henry-cowe.html
UO guide Joseph is on the lake this afternoon. No report yet. His reminder: “Although January can be tricky with cold fronts, it is usually one of the best months on the pond. I still have some availability for trips towards the latter half of the month. To book or inquire call UO Helen at (706)878-3083 or visit www.josephclarkflyfishing.com”
Events:
Wes’ “Unicoi Undercurrents” continues each Tuesday night. If you missed Bert’s talk on the Okeefenokee, catch his recorded interview on our Instagram page.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTwUtfKkdUV/?igsh=NGZydnNpZHh5d2hs
Next up is middle Georgia river guide and fly designer extraordinaire Fletcher Sams. If you want to learn how to tie big stream for big shoalies and stripers, tune in. Set your phone alarms for Tuesdays at 645PM to click on the UO Instagram page by 7.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DTxnsMtALzB/?igsh=YjZyajBwYTk4bGo4
UO staffers Sydney and Dredger will staff the UO booth at next weekend’s (30,31st) Fish Hawk Fly Fishing Show. Stop by that Buckhead store and enjoy Gabe and Kelly’s festivities. We appreciate the invitation!
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17haopo8eJ/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Reminder: the Rabun Rendezvous is on the horizon. That annual bluegrass and BBQ banquet is on February 7th at the Rabun County Civic Center in downtown Clayton. Save a few bucks by purchasing your banquet tickets online now.
The first batch of prize photos are now online:
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1SbCAPpwdH/?mibextid=wwXIfr
There you go: a few fine, fresh fish stories to read while you’re huddled up at home during this ice storm. We sure hope everyone stays safe, warm, and dry while our EMC’s and GA Power folks work hard to restore and maintain our power. We will likely close our stores for a day or two while our roads are bad, so call us before coming up -when it’s safe again, so take your time next week!
Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.
www.unicoioutfitters.com
