Soft Hackles Rule!

It's always interesting to have well-known fly anglers fish with us.  We are either looking to see their surprise when they discover how much fun it is or to see how well their personal technique performs on "our" water.  Yesterday we were privileged to have author Allen McGee of soft hackle fly fame fishing at Nacoochee Bend.  Those of you who follow my own writings know that I think the soft hackle is the perfect fly and I love to fish them.  Having an accomplished soft hackle expert validate my thoughts just makes me want to get on the water right now and swing a few.  By the way, Allen is one of the presenters at the upcoming Southeastern Fly Fishing Festival at Unicoi State Park on June 2nd, 3rd & 4th.  Some of his presentations will be on-stream at Nacoochee Bend.  Here is what Allen had to say about his trip:

"I had a great day up there today! I probably caught 
25 - 30 fish, seriously. Most of the day I fished down at Yaz Crossing and just above there. It is good water for swimming and swinging soft-hackled nymphs. It's really nice in that section. I caught most of my fish on #14 black soft-hackled nymphs with silver bead heads. Also I caught some on Orange Hare Thorax Nymphs #12. I want to thank you very much for letting me fish there today. I think my presentation for the Southern Conclave FFF will be great on that water.  Thanks again, and here are a few pics."

Best,
Allen

Take a Kid Fishing

This could be your kids or grand kids with these great smiles on their faces if you take them fishing. We have 2 upcoming events that will allow you to do just that. On Sat. April 30, the US Forest Service, along with the Ga DNR and Foothills Chapter of TU will sponsor the Nancytown Lake Kids Fishing Rodeo at Mt. Airy.This event is for kids aged 2-15 years old and will start at 8:00 AM and last til 11:30. Volunteers will be there to help the kids. Refreshments will be provided and prizes will be given out. For directions, go to www.gofishgeorgia.com and check the calender of events for April 30. Looking forward to a big turn out of Foothills TU volunteers for this event.

On Sat., May 7, Center Baptist Church will sponsor the "Fishers of Men" Trout Tournament.This event is open to everyone and it's a great place to take kids and have fun. It will be in Helen at the "Cool River Tubing" location. It starts at 7 AM and ends at 11 Am--lunch will be provided and trophies and great door prizes will be awarded including a fishing trip with Unicoi Outfitters. For info, contact Mark Pourbaix at 706-754-6663 or the church at www.centerbaptist.com. The church always does a great job with this event. Take a kid fishing--you will enjoy it as much as they do.

Thanks,

Ron

Man oh Man, What a Fish!

I think I'll just let this video of Chad Peters' guests Monday on the Toccoa River tailwater speak for itself:

Thanks to our long time friend Tuck Tucker for the video. And, of course, a huge thanks to Tuck's son Kent who actually caught the fish.

Nuff said!

"Sweet Ride" on the Toccoa River

We had to share with you our Unicoi Guide Duane Miller's new ride on the water. Duane has to have one of the sweetest rides ever to float on the Toccoa River. We are fortunate to have Duane guiding for us. He is native of the Blue Ridge area and has logged many hours on the Toccoa River as well other streams in the Southern Appalachians. Duane shares his passion for fly fishing with his son Tristen. Duane is not only an exceptional guide but he is very active in the conservation of the Toccoa River. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Toccoa River Watershed Coalition.

Great Time of the Year

Thanks Jimmy for the blog, I really enjoy what I do. And I probably am already paying Unicoi for guiding if you count all the "stuff" I have purchased at the shops.

As a guide or fisherman, I just don't think you can beat spring and especially the month of April for the best fishing of all the year. The water temp is just right, the rivers and streams have plenty of water, and the fish are aggressive and crazy--you can actually catch them on a fly larger than a size #20 midge.

I fished with Bo & Wendy Perry from Macon on Friday at NCF and had a great time. Neither had ever caught a trout on a fly rod--but that quickly changed when we started fishing. Bo hooked a nice fish on his 1st cast and landed several fish before we left the 1st hole. Wendy worked on her casting and presentation and before long she was hooking fish also.

She was very happy when she finally landed this nice rainbow, as you can see from the big smile on her face. We landed several fish and hooked many more. The fish were really acrobatic, just making jump after jump after jump.

I couldn't ask for a day to be much better--we had hook-ups on the very 1st cast and the last cast 0f the day--with many in between.

Thanks to Wendy & Bo for allowing me to fish with them--I believe they enjoyed it almost as much as me.

So leave work early, or do whatever necessary to get on the water, because this is a great time of the year to fish.

Thanks,

Ron

Oh yea, almost forgot--Pat's rubber leg stonefly!!

A day in the Life of Ron Thomas

Ron Thomas loves being a flyfishing guide.  I think if we worked this thing just right, he would pay us to take clients out fishing.  His mission in life, since he retired from the U.S. Postal Service, is to put as many smiles on anglers' faces as possible.  And in that quest, he has created a lot of new friends and turned a lot of them on to trout fishing with the fly.  This week he had a trip with Kerry Teel from Canton.  Kerry is one of Ron's repeat clients (one of Ron's adopted family members now) who has now fished River North on the Soque and Nacoochee Bend with plans to hit Frog Hollow with Ron later in the month.

These fish were caught at Nacoochee Bend on Monday.  We think the Bend the best trophy stream in north Georgia right now.  We're having more success hooking big fish and more numbers of fish here than any other stream we guide on.  I think you can tell from the look on Kerry's face that he's satisfied with the results.  According to Ron, they "caught a bunch of fish on a lot of different flies" but these two fatties both took a big Zonker.

Ron also leads a monthly fly tying class on the first Tuesday evening of each month at our Helen shop.  It's picked up the name of "Tie One On" but we assure you the only thing folks there are high on is life and laughter.  It's open to anyone, even if you don't own any tying gear.  We'll provide it for you.

Tie 1 On

I just wanted to remind everyone that we will meet Tues., April 5th at Unicoi Outfitters in Helen for our monthly fly tying session. The time is 6:00 PM and anyone interested in learning to tie their own flies or tie better flies is welcome--we tie basic flies that catch fish and we have a good time doing it. This is a good group and if you attend I believe you will enjoy it.

Hope to see you there.

Thanks,

Ron

It's on like Donkey Kong!

From UO guide Rex Gudgel:

Oh Yea! It's on like Donkey Kong! In between the rains when the water levels drop and warm up a little, the fish are showing their appreciation! David Chamers took just a half day trip to hook twenty to twenty five nice fish (and missed several takes) at Frog Hollow! Applying the Roland Martin techniques for hook setting and fish fighting, he said, "my landing ratio was left to be desired just a little bit".  He did improve through out the morning and we put fish in the net! In an email that David sent thanking me for the great trip he said, "I heard all of your advice about how to cast, mend, hook set, and fight these fish, but sometimes with me it sinks in a little slow!" 

Come see me at Unicoi Outfitters and I'll help you get into fish by improving your fishing techniques and your understanding of what, where when and how!  

                                

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Rex Gudgel

Federation Of Fly Fishers Master Certified Casting Instructor