Not much has changed from last week: our trout waters are still low, clear, and cold. Headwaters are real cold and slow, while Delayed Harvest streams are a few degrees warmer and giving experienced folks a decent chance at a few fish, while rookies are still struggling. Same goes for private trout waters, where our guides have helped clients to get on some nice fish.
Reservoir stripers are still on the prowl while water temps are encouraging some surface action. Joseph updates us again.
As always, our recipes for this week’s success are detailed in our weekly fishing report, right here:
http://blog.angler.management/
(Link in bio)
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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, Drymerger, tan elk hair caddis, tiny tan chubby, RS2, parachute Adams.
Nymphs & Wets:
DH Stockers: twister egg, ruby midge, diamond midge, lightning bug, Duracell, micro girdle bug.
Mountain streams: zebra midge, soft hackles, micro mayfly, prince nymph, hares ear.
Streamers:
Black and olive woolly buggers, Sparkle minnow, barely legal, UV polar Jig, mini gulp sculp.
Reservoir Bass & Stripers:
clouser minnow, low fat minnow, Cowen’s somethin else.
River bass:
Dead Ned, sweet baby Cray, crittermite, crawfish jambalaya, Clouser minnow.
(Low and slow presentation is key in cool north Georgia bass rivers right now)
Headwaters:
They remain drought-low, super-clear, and icy cold in the mornings. Spoilcane ran 42F at 10AM today.
Head out at lunchtime, hike to some of the few deep pools left in those bluelines and dredge a small bead head nymph a foot or two below your fluffy dry, which will just serve as your strike indicator. Make sure your dropper runs deep, since the frozen fish likely won’t chase your bugs very far.
UO guide Sydney spent some personal time bluelining. She said: “For high streams I’ve tossed #16-18 elk hair caddis with a midge dropper. As water temps dropped, fewer rose to the dry. Look for a warm afternoon for your best chance at little wild risers.”
Delayed Harvest:
Still low, clear, and cold. Catching has been a bit slow due to slow currents, transparent water, and spooky, sluggish fish.
Smith DH ran 48F at 10AM today, thanks to the warming effects of Unicoi Lake. Eight cars were already parked in the lot. The stream was skinny!
Trout schools were easily spooked by bankside anglers and lost their appetites quickly.
Try Smith early, late, and in any shade that you can find at midday. Shadows and lack of crowds keep fish more comfortable. Light lines and small nymphs are your best bets. Don’t forget to swing a small soft hackle on 6X or 7X, deep through the pools if the fish aren’t impressed with your dead drift.
UO buddy Athens Alan hit Chattooga DH yesterday. He said: “Finally had a "Day Off" from my retirement work schedule yesterday and headed up to the river.
It was 42 degrees on my truck when I pulled into the SC parking lot with 5 other vehicles there. Bright sunny conditions with a slight breeze had me hoping that it was going to warm up through the afternoon, but it didn't seem to warm up much (left my wading jacket in the truck, mistake).
Fished a double nymph rig with indicator most of the day, used a size 12 black bead head stone fly with rubber legs as my top fly and a small size 18 lighting bug as my bottom fly. One split shot above my 5X tippet had me consistently ticking the bottom. Saw quite a few fish in the deep pools. Unfortunately, I think many of them saw me first and were not inclined to take either fly.
Was grateful for the 11" brown that graced me by taking the stone and avoiding being skunked for the day. Was a beautiful day for a walk, only saw two other anglers all day. Had an army helicopter buzz through the valley twice, recon mission?
I did see a couple of rises around 4:30, guessing they may have come up to some midges as I did not see any bugs on the water (yes I tied on a tiny bwo in about 60 seconds after chucking and ducking all day).
Got out of the river at 4:50 and headed back to the parking lot, pulled out at 5:45 with truck temp. showing 39 degrees. No one left in either SC or GA parking lots, I turned the lights off…. Feet thawed out by the time I got to Athens.”
Looks like the Hooch DH got a fresh helping of stockers this week. Today’s GAWRD weekly fishing report has more hot intel on trout and reservoir fishing, along with an invitation to help stock the Hooch DH on 12/22.
Stockers:
There may still a few stray stockers left in the bigger GA streams, especially the two tailwaters. You can also fish downstream from DH boundaries to catch the DH wash-downs after flood events.
Private Waters:
Private streams have actually fished fairly well for our guided clients and for a few experienced anglers who booked unguided trips to Nacoochee Bend. Our guides tell you how, below.
UO guide Sydney: Private water- has still been fun, despite the cold.
Fish are sitting right on the bottom
and I’ve had to use several split shot to get down fast in deep runs! I’m still using light tippet and small bugs for the most part. Micro eggs and perdigons produced the most fish. The strikes have been very subtle and slow, but we have grabbed some bigguns!!!!
UO-Helen manager Wes:
“I did a trip on the Soque yesterday with Robert & John. We had a very productive day despite the cool temps. The fish were happy to eat flies early in the morning. The key was getting down deep as the fish were tucked right against the bottom. Hands-down the two best patterns for us were Root Beer midges and twister eggs.
When it comes to fishing, use small flies and make sure to pay close attention for very subtle strikes. Over half of our takes barely registered on my yarn indicators. Often times the indicator would just briefly stop in the current and that was our indication of a strike. “
Tailwaters:
Nothing recent.
Warm Rivers:
UO buddy Athens Jay: “ Cold day on a Piedmont River: Windy conditions, but we managed to get a few river bass to eat. Low flows meant we could use a floating line. I had the best luck on a black articulated fly made of mostly rabbit dubbing loops and marabou. The fly is tied using a jig hook, tungsten football bead.”
Ponds:
No reports.
Lakes:
UO guide Joseph; “Fishing has been pretty good on Lanier lately.
Last week we had some dreamy conditions for several days and it did not disappoint! We’re seeing lots of fish eating teeny threadfin shad near the surface. Most of the fish we’ve caught have been on intermediate lines with a somethin else, but they are still a bit picky. As another cold front blows through you can expect the first half of next week to be a little slow. On a side note, we’ve been catching some giant spots mixed in with stripers!
I still have some availability left for December however my January and February dates are going fast!
To book a trip with me, call UO Helen at (706)-878-3083 or visit www.josephclarkflyfishing.com
Athens Jay: “Another cold day today! This time on a Piedmont reservoir. Found a few line sides suspended in about 15 feet of water. Convinced a few to eat a 2” long threadfin shad imitation fished on a full-sink line. Pretty fun on a 7-wt rod, especially on a breezy winter day.”
All of these clouds made the last two weeks a bit slow. Today’s sunshine is welcomed and we hope it holds out over the weekend. Give your favorite stream or lake a shot before the next Arctic blast shuts fish down again on Monday . Stop in either UO shop for supplies, intel, gifts, and the always popular UO gift certificates. Good luck!
Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.
www.unicoioutfitters.com
