The weather and water conditions are lining up to give y’all a great fishing week ahead. Just remember to bring your raincoat. Dust off your dry fly boxes and put them back in your vest, in case you stumble on to an early hatch or two, like caddis on the tailwaters.
Stripers are finally starting to show in the reservoir shallows, according to HenryC. Pond bream and bass are also sliding up to the warmer shallows of mid-Georgia ponds.
You have a lot to choose from, so take your pick for the week ahead. The angler reports on this report’s long version, posted on our Facebook page and home page can help your decision process. Good luck!
Wes’ Hot Fly List
Dries: Parchute Adams, stimulator, elk hair caddis.
Nymphs:
Mighty may sloan baetis, Skwala stone, micro egg, depth charge caddis, micro mayfly.
Streamers & warm water:
Sparkle minnow, triple double rainbow, finesse changer. Sweet baby cray
Public Waters:
DH Streams:
No recent reports received on our Delayed Harvest waters. They should fish well after their early Feb restocking and scattering of those stocker pods by recent high flows. Try an attractor fly (egg, squirmy, pats rubberlegs) as your first fly and drop a small dark wet or nymph off the back for the smarter residents. With more moderate air temps, you can try fishing early or late to avoid the weekend crowds on popular streams.
Dukes:
Landon hit Smithgall Woods on Wednesday, right after the rain, and scored well:
“I put 26 in the net in 5 hrs. The Water cleared up quickly and I had to change flies a bunch to keep up with conditions. I started with a big pats/ big pink san juan when it was up and ripping. Then I changed to a Leech/ small shell pink San Juan combo as it started clearing. Finally, I switched to a Small san juan/ soft hackle hares ear combo once it cleared.”
Tailwaters:
Toccoa:
Remember the Toccoa Tailwater caddis hatch. We shared Joe’s video on our social media sites this week. Maybe you can catch a break in TVA dam discharges this week and catch some early spring surface action.
https://www.tva.com/environment/lake-levels/tva-lake-info-app
Hooch:
UO friend RonW: “ Kurt, Moe and. I fished below Buford Dam Sunday for about 4 hours. I committed to throwing streamers all day again. The 6wt with sinktip gave me a workout in that 7-10mph+ wind. I managed 2 nice browns to hand, one on a white bait fish pattern and one on an olive sex dungeon. All in all, I'd consider a couple wild browns and some time on the water with some great friends a win. I definitely got some much needed hydrotherapy today.”
Private Waters:
UO client Tyler: “ I had a great time getting to fish the Bend yesterday! Thank you for having me.”
UO client Zack: “Hey y’all just wanted to let you know that Sunday’s bite was on fire. Our trio caught quite a bit of fish and managed to land some absolute studs. I mainly used a peach egg, France fly, sexy walts, Duracell, and squirmmy worm in a glow mint green color. I think Tyler used a cheese egg pattern with sexy walts worm with CDC as a dropper. Hugh used the same with a perdigon dropper.”
UO client Brad: “Here are some pics from Monday. Great day on the water with UO guides Chuck and George!”
UO guide Coach Mac:
“My father-son client duo had a great Tuesday at the Bend. Most fish caught on small eggs and nymphs fished deep.”
UO manager Jake:
“I hosted two great trips this week. My clients fished at Nacoochee Bend on Saturday as the high water was receding, and absolutely hammered them. During our half day, we stuck about 50 fish between the two angers, with numerous doubles and some really quality fish. Most of our fish came on small eggs, trailed with flashy nymphs and blow torches. Once again, the key to success was getting the flies down to the fish, often times needing three BB shot.
At Noontootla Creek Farms on Monday, the water was still up in flow, but was back to running clear. We had a great day catching rainbows of all sizes, and even had a kicker brown to the net. Most of our success came on similar bugs to Nacoochee, but the key was dropping down in tippet size to 6x to get the bite with the clear water.”
Flat Water:
Henry C: “Striper fishing on Lake Lanier is finally turning the corner. The past 3 weeks we are starting to see fish moving up into the water column. We aren't anywhere where we want to be but we are far better off then we were 4 weeks ago. You must pick your days and weather patterns to be successful. Fish are both deep and shallow but are moving quick. Windows of opportunity are often short lived but going out and catching a few is becoming a more regular occurrence. This should only improve and by mid March we should be in full spring mode. Somethin else, game-changers Clousers and Coyotes are your best flies. Had a 10 fish day last week when it all came together with winds, moon phase and weather pattern...”
www.henrycowenflyfishing.com
Athens Jay: “My local pond bream are moving into shallow water and eating Pat’s Rubberlegs.”
Bassin’ fans might enjoy the upcoming Bassmaster Classic on Lake Hartwell. This “super bowl of bass fishing” on March 4-6 hosts the country’s top professionals. More info here:
https://m.bassmaster.com/news/lake-hartwell-host-2022-bassmaster-classic
Afar:
UO guide Israel took some time off to fish warm, salty seas with friends. He checked in:
“The fishing has been tough. Been getting only 1 maybe 2 shots at Permit each day. But we’ve done really well on the Bonefish. A Spawning Shrimp fly on the reef flats has been the ticket.”
That’s the latest intel from our UO clan and fans. The week ahead looks good for wetting a line on lake or stream. Your biggest challenge will be choosing your destination from the long menu at hand. Keep our clothing sales at both UO stores in mind, too. Good luck!
Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.
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