Summary:
Georgia headwater trout streams are still very low and clear due to a lack of rain. Temps are slowly rebounding after a snowy nose-dive to start the week. Stealth and a dry/dropper combo should score, especially after the sun warms the water.
Delayed Harvest streams are also real low and clear. They’ve had heavy fishing pressure and stockers have smartened up. Light lines and smaller flies, bumped along the bottom, are recommended. Take advantage of low water by hitting bigger streams that are typically tough to wade under normal flows.
Our private waters have fished real well, despite low water. Our guides have the experience to put our clients on fish despite the challenging conditions. Enjoy this week’s videos!
Ponds south of us have produced decently, while Lanier has still been a yo-yo, according to Joseph.
The annual Rabun Rendezvous will be held on February 7th at the Rabun County Civic Center in Clayton.
Catch our great fishing pics, vids, and intel here:
http://blog.angler.management/
(Link in bio)
Stop in either UO shop if we can help you out. Good luck this warm week!
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: Orange Stimulator, chubby Chernobyl, small parachute Adams, blue wing olive, various midges.
Nymphs & Wets:
DH Stockers: twister egg, tungsten pheasant tail, Duracell, frenchie, root beer midge, ruby midge, micro girdle bug, pheasant tail soft hackle.
Mountain streams: small versions of hares ear, zebra midge, soft hackles, frenchie, sexy Walts.
Streamers:
Black or olive woolly buggers, mini shimmer buggers, sparkle minnow, mini leech.
Reservoir Bass & Stripers:
clouser minnow, wiggle minnow, somethin else.
River bass:
Thrasher, polar changer, crittermite, crawfish jambalaya, dead ned.
Headwaters:
They’re low and clear and thawing out after Monday’s arctic blast.
A few of us helped some friends on a headwater stream on Monday afternoon, of all times. We were snowed upon and our guides iced up, but we still managed to hook a few fish by dredging nymphs and buggers. Headwaters should fish well this week, especially after 10AM, as sunny, warm days are forecast.
Throw dry/dropper rigs and hope to cut the dropper off after lunch if the fish rise for you. A tiny pheasant tail or Frenchie is a good dropper. Customers stopping by this afternoon reported midday success on dries!
Delayed Harvest:
The Georgia fish have been hammered and are extra spooky in the low flows. Stealth and small, dark bugs rolled along the bottom should work. Try stripping a small streamer, too, when afternoon water temps rise into the upper 40’s or higher. Don’t forget your stream thermometer!
The Feds just reopened for business and I doubt if the Chattooga bird has flown yet, so the middle of its DH section will be slim pickins til the bird flies and/or a big flood scatters the 11/1 SCDNR stockers. High and low will be best spots on the DH til then.
I always liked wade-fishing the Toccoa DH at low flows. Anything under 400 cfs on its river gauge allowed for some good access over there. Give it a try while the river is low. Best wading spots are low (islands), high (canoe launch), and middle (power line).
https://gon.com/fishing/new-toccoa-river-delayed-harvest
NCWRC recently redosed its DH streams, so they can be well-worth a road trip. The best news is that NC streamflows are higher than GA’s, thanks to more frequent rains up there. There’s more fishable habitat in those creeks right now.
UO guide Sydney: “Despite snow on the ground and temps dropping significantly, my clients got on a good bit of fish at Smith DH on Tuesday. We saw some fish rising for some bugs; I assume they were midges since I couldn’t see them. We caught some on dries, the smallest parachutes in my box. But most trout fell for our tiny droppers: zebra midges , wd-40s , black beautys, and redneck gasoline perdigons on 6.5x - 7x tippet.”
UO buddy Mo: “Kurt and I fished the Tooga DH last Sat. We had perfect weather and water conditions. Worked our way up the trail on GA side and fished every good looking spot along the way. Fish were few and far between and spread out wide and far (some holes devoid of fish) but we found most of the eaters. We had well over a dozen fish to hand each; all cookie-cutter bows and a few skinny browns. No brookies.
These fish had no appetite for junk flies as we only managed to fool a few, but put on a small olive RBL stonefly or gasolina perdigon and they turned on. We also had some streamer action. It was a good day on the water. The river gave up some bounty and offered some beautiful scenery on a warm, sunny day in November. Can’t ask for more than that.”
UO buddy Ryan: “Last week I made it up to my favorite slice of NC with a friend. I got to test out my new 10' 7" - 1wt and had a blast. While some holes seemed beat to death already by angling pressure, some smaller spots in between held some nice stocked fish and a majority of wild rainbows. Fish were hammering sz 18-20 hares ear and France flys tied on jig hooks. I threw 6.5x tippet and practiced using lighter flies to allow for a more sensitive tight lining presentation. These wild fish can eat very subtly and it definitely helped me recognize more strikes. Natural colors like grey and brown did well. I caught 40 and my friend caught over a dozen on his first trip up there!”
Stockers:
There are still a few fall stockers around in the bigger streams. You can also fish downstream from DH boundaries to catch DH wash-downs after flood events. We had a decent report from a Lumpkin stream and this one from Rabun TUer Nanette:
“Hooked six yesterday in my favorite county stocker stream. They were lively. Used small natural nymph imitations under an indicator. Water very, very low and clear, and the fish were parked on the bottom in the narrow, deeper seams. It was pretty crowded, even later in the afternoon.”
Private Waters:
UO guide Joseph: “The Soque fished well for my guest yesterday. Langston told me before the trip that his personal best trout was only around 12 inches. Throughout the day we broke his PB four times and ended up with a nice 24-incher. Early in the morning small bugs like pat’s rubber legs and root beer midges were the ticket. Throughout the afternoon we also fished a streamer, swinging it slowly through deeper runs.”
UO buddy Megan brought six of her tennis teammates up to Nacoochee Bend this afternoon for their first shot at flyfishing. UO guides Wes and Sydney joined Megan to mentor the team.
All the ladies had a blast and caught fish.
Syd said the hot flies for hefty Bend bows were small flashback nymphs, micro girdle bugs, perdigons, and soft hackle droppers.
Tailwaters:
No recent reports.
Warm Rivers:
No recent reports. They’re not very warm up here any more.
Ponds:
UO buddy Athens Jay: “I recently purchased a “hybrid” replacement for my very old kayak and my cheap inflatable paddle board that had developed a leak I couldn’t patch.
I had a feeling that piedmont pond fishing would be good ahead of the arctic blast that hit earlier this week. So I hit a local pond and had excellent results. I started fishing at noon and by 1:00pm I had landed 12 bass and missed a few more. Conditions were bright sunshine, strong wind, and clear water. I had tied some jig-style streamers with articulated tails and the chartreuse over white was the only fly I used all day. I fished a clear sink-tip line and slow retrieve. Most fish ate the fly in 3 to 4 feet of water. It was a good day of pond fishing for November!”
Lakes:
UO guide Joseph: “Fishing on Lanier has been tough at times and great at others. Over the past week we’ve seen a large amount of fish in groups of 3-10, feeding sporadically over open water and in the mouths of creeks. Most of these fish have been eating super-small threadfin shad, however a few have been on herring. It can be pretty difficult to feed them at first until you find the right pattern. For us the ticket was around a 1-inch long Cowen’s somethin else on an intermediate line.
I just had two cancellations for prime moon dates on 11/28 and 11/29. If you’re wanting to give it a try, call the Helen store at (706)-878-3083 or visit www.josephclarkflyfishing.com soon to grab those openings.”
There is a bonus helping of excellent reservoir and trout intel in this week’s GAWRD fishing report:
Fishing – Georgia Wildlife Blog
Afar:
UO buddy Athens Jay and an accomplice trekked north yesterday. On Wednesday night they checked online gauges and saw streamflows much better in NC.
Jay hadn’t been north in a while and decide to hit the park. They first watched a few midge sippers in the clear, icy water (42F) at noon,
and decided to leave them for faster water upstream. They scouted for “rainbow water” (as described in last week’s report) and hi-sticked dry/long dropper rigs through those spots.
Cooler water had the fish less active than past weeks, but they managed a nice handful of bows. Size compensated for numbers.
None came up to the dry, but it served well as a distant, stealthy strike indicator. All liked the #16 frenchie, dropped 3 feet under the micro chubby dry. Both silver and copper beads worked. They quit at 4pm as the sun set (water temp 46F). The abundant elk on the drive out were icing on the cake.
Fishing Report | R and R Fly Fishing
Events:
From the Rabunites: ”Mark your calendars for Saturday, February 7th. It’s our annual shindig, the Rabun Rendezvous! We’ll have it once again at the Rabun County Civic Center in downtown Clayton. Barbecue, live bluegrass, fish tales, raffle and auction prizes- don’t miss this annual event celebrating clean, cold trout waters!”
The Rabun Rendezvous – The Rabun Chapter of Trout Unlimited
Get outside soon and enjoy this bonus week of warmth. You might even find some rising trout on sunny afternoons or breaking stripers in the dawn shadows. Take advantage of this unexpected mild weather before December’s chill drives fish deep and sends us fishing for warm winter coats. Stop by either UO store for your fall and winter fishing supplies and holiday gifts. Have a flippin’ great week!
Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.
