The week ahead can best be described as “slim pickins’ due to the heat repeat.” We are low, slow, and warm up here in northeast Georgia. Yesterday’s rains pretty much bypassed our region, so local streams are running low and clear. The hot, humid nights aren’t helping, either, and our headwaters don’t have a chance to cool off after a long day in the sun. Two high Hooch tribs ran 67 and 69F at 9AM this morning. At least the Hooch at Highway 115 had decent clarity of a few feet (good for bass) and I found gas at Leaf Grocery for $3.50.
Region fishing reports this week were also slim pickins’, as most locals took either a break or a long flight to more hospitable waters. Given these tough weather and water conditions, your best bets are: tailwater trout, fresh stockers in the mornings, bluelines on cooler north slopes or a thousand feet higher in NC, river and pond bass and bream in the shade, river stripers after a rain, and deep lake spotted bass if you have great patience. Of course, you can always do a Rockies road trip and hit those hallowed waters at the height of caddis and PMD season. See Wes’ hot fly list and our light menu of this week’s local reports on our home and Facebook pages (link in bio). At least we have some great stories and pics from our staff and friends who traveled afar!
Wes’ Hot Fly List:
Dries: parachute ant, Hi-vis micro chubby, royal wulff, quick site beetle.
Nymphs & Wets:
Green weenie, drowned ant, hares ear, lightning bug.
Streamers & warm water:
Sparkle minnow, finesse changer, swinging D, baitfish popper, bluegill spider
Headwaters:
Most of our creeks are out: they’re too hot, warm, and low to pursue wild fish. As mentioned, try GA’s north slope headwaters before lunch or drive north of our border for taller mountains. Remember the tips in last week’s report and our “ant candy” suggestions in yesterday’s post if you’re dead-set on bluelining.
Stocker Streams:
Watch today’s GAWRD stocking list for best bets. WRD staffers check water temps before stocking their loads of trout. The fish may be a bit disoriented after their ride and deposit. They’re often in much better moods and hungrier in the mornings. Try lighter line and smaller baits in skinnier, slower water. You may also need your hunting camo and best blueline stalk to sneak up on these nervous fish.
https://georgiawildlife.com/Fishing/Trout
After a few morning hours of worm dunking, try another activity with the kids. The national forest and state parks offer some great opportunities like hiking, boating, swimming, tubing, mini golf, and even an archery range at Unicoi Park. Check out Burton or Chattahoochee Forest trout hatchery on your way home.
https://www.unicoilodge.com/adventures/3-d-archery/
https://www.fws.gov/fish-hatchery/chattahoochee-forest
Tailwaters:
Same as last week: Web reports indicate that the Hooch and Toccoa are still fishing well when dams aren’t discharging and when summer storms haven’t muddied the tributaries, which then muddy the mainstreams. If you’d like to swing for the fences, grab your 7-weight rod and toss some rainbow trout-colored streamers toward bankside cover. Trophy browns don’t get that big by sipping midges.
Warmwater Streams:
I saw that the upper Hooch was clear enough this morning for a decent bass float. UO manager Jake said the river residents have been sluggish in the heat, so have lower expectations for your number boated.
Other river fisheries will just depend on whether local storms have blown them out or not. Watch the USGS gauges and call the closest tackle shops for the most current river intel.
UO staffer Grant reported from Helen: “Monday after work my dad and I went fishing in the pouring rain. The water was stained and up a decent amount. My dad was using an olive swinging D. He cast up into the fast water and was retrieving it with quick short ticks. My dad ended up catching one 8lb striper and then another about 20lb. It was pouring rain the entire time that we were fishing, but we had a great time!”
(See first pic)
Athens Jay said: “River fishing remains good between runoff peaks. Most fish are hanging out near or under submerged rock. Swim a big light-colored streamer over the top and be ready for a fish to come up. But be very patient with the hookset because strikes are somewhat timid. Tie your streamers with a trailer hook and you will land a lot more fish.”
UO buddy Landon: “I helped sample the upper Chestatee for DNR again. Rains the day before had the fishing slow but we caught a few- all Chattahoochee bass in this upper reach.”
Flat Water:
Ponds and small lake bass and bream fishing should still be decent along the banks during low light. During the day, pull offshore and fish deeper, cooler water with a sinking line (or real long leader) and small weighted woolly buggers with soft hackle trailers.
Also remember the thermal refuges. Lake stockers will bunch up at creek mouths to avoid the hot water . And, like sharks on seals, big largemouths will lurk just offshore, waiting to ambush a straying stocker bow. Try these hotspots with a big streamer or stealth bomber at low light.
UO buddy Landon: We worked the “night shift” on Lanier this week. Fishing was good before midnight then died. Big black spinnerbaits, slow rolled over the top of deep brush, got some attention. Larger diameter flurocarbon is the key to keep the bait in the zone longer and to help with recovering our lures from snags!”
Afar:
UO buddy Sautee provided another CO report: “Fished the Upper XXX River one evening this week. Another great hatch and wonderful fishing and catching. All brook trout except one that I swear was an immature cutthroat, but they’re not supposed to be up there, I don’t think. Gotta check on that. Wish I’d taken a pic, but alas, no. Anyway, had a great evening, again!”
Yellowstone: The Unicoi Guru and sidekick Athens Alan have jet lag today after returning from MT. They fished inside and outside the park and had a good time with hosts John and Laine M. Hopefully we’ll get some detailed reports in the days to come, but they do share some pics of nice cutts, browns, bows, and even a few grayling. It was a nice escape to the cooler waters of the Far West.
RonW Returns!
We will end this week’s report with a fine fish story, one you can enjoy from the comfort of your air conditioning.
“Back to the Old Country:
Kurt and I returned last Thursday 7/14 from our epic 16-day adventure to Bosnia &Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia. We flew out to Zagreb, Croatia on 6/29, landing the next day where our brother Moe met us with open arms and even gifts...our very own "Murses". It's a European thing! I must say, we learned to embrace the "murse" as the adventure went on. I no longer had to pat my pockets every 2 minutes wondering if my passport was still there. A quick coffee at the airport and we were on our way. Let the adventure begin!
We drove from Zagreb about 2.5 hours down into Bosnia where we spent the night at Moe's inlaws, leaving the next day on our way to the Ribnik.
We stayed right on the Ribnik River, which is one of the most beautiful and fertile rivers in the world. The Ribnik is absolutely teeming with fish, more fish than I've even seen in any one river and any one time. Wild Adriatic Grayling and brown trout were our quarry. The Grayling are as picky as they come, with #18-22 emergers being their favorite fare. We each fooled plenty of them, with some niceuns to hand as well.
We immersed ourselves into the culture as much as we could in Bosnia. We stayed in someone's home, ate the food grown and harvested from their land and drank plenty of their homemade Slijva (plum brandy). Our host seemed to have a never-ending supply of it.
After 3 days on the Ribnik it was time to move on to Slovenia for the 2nd half of our trip, but not before spending the day driving thru Bosnia and Herzegovina and to the city of Mostar, which dates back to the Ottoman Empire. To see some pretty magnificent structures that were built 800+ years ago was pretty special. The will of man is a pretty powerful thing and something to behold. It will be hard for me to accept the response "I can't do that" from anyone after seeing Mostar.
The 2nd half of the day (4th of July) was spent driving up the Croatian coast to Moe's brother-in-law's place, where we spent the night right on the Adriatic Sea. The whole drive was absolutely breathtaking. It made me think of the song "Thank You" by Led Zeppelin....mountains literally crumbling into the sea. The color of the Adriatic should be the definition of crystal clear in Websters.
Another 6+ hours of windshield time and we were finally at our B&B in Slovenia, only to find out that the local rivers were incredibly low due to virtually no snow melt and no substantial rain in the last 6 months. We had to work to find fishable water. Rivers that were loaded with fish in 2018 seemed barren this time around. Water levels were way down, algae growing everywhere and water that's normally ice cold felt like bathwater. We had to go fish the bigger water to find the fish and cooler water. The 1st few days were tough for me. I hooked plenty of fish but just couldn't seal the deal and get anything to hand.
It all changed on day four at our first stay in Slovenia, when we met our buddy Urôs about an hour away from our B&B on the upper Idrijca River, where we absolutely railed fish all day long. Big rainbows, big Browns and big Idrijca Marbles. It doesn't hurt that Urôs happens to be the best fly fishing guide in Slovenia. We fished till dark and then sat riverside, eating and talking life and fishing with our buddy till midnight.
The next day we packed up and drove to the upper Soča Valley where we would stay for the next 4 nights and finish out our trip. The next 4 days were absolutely amazing fishing the Upper Soča, which happens to be the most beautiful River I've ever laid my eyes on. We hammered fish all day, everyday!
The only exception was on day two when we met up with our buddy Urôs again. He wanted to show us a small stream that feeds into the upper Soča. He let us know that we would not catch a lot of fish, maybe only one or two on the day between four of us, but it would be one of the most beautiful streams we've ever seen in our lives. He didn't have to twist our arms at all as we were game. I happened to land a fish on the third cast in the first run I fished.... an absolute beauty of a wild marble trout touching 15" in length, but nearly a meter in beauty! She ate a Ronko (my pattern) by the way. It was a fantastic day exploring this creek, where we fished nearly a half mile upstream. We saw some very large Marbles and even a monster grayling. Moe got the only other fish to hand on the day which was a gorgeous marble touching 16". Kurt hooked and fought a giant marble in the 22" range, who after a solid minute of fighting, decided to show him who was boss. She ran about 60' upstream, underneath the boulder where she ultimately broke him off. I also tangled with a beast of a marble who spit my RLWB back at me after doubling my rod over.
The last two days we fished the upper Soča and again hammered fish on nymphs and on dries. The last day we drove up and over Triglov National Park, which has a 14% grade. We hiked to the source of the upper Soča, which starts high up in the mountains in a hole. I've seen this before in 2018 but was taken back once again by the sheer beauty and color of this water.
In was an amazing trip with my angling brothers, one that will be hard to top and one I'll certainly never forget. We ate good, drank good, and fished hard. I'm still in awe of the sights that my eyes have seen. I yearn to go back again and as soon as possible.
Dovidenja Slovenia! “
How about that for a fish story? Thanks Ron!!!
Locally, this is the best we can do, given the middle of summer. We’ll always shoot straight with you, given the your precious time off from work and fuel budgets. It’s pretty darn slow right now. At least we’re about halfway toward fall and can start looking forward to that second fishing season. In the meantime, aim carefully now and you can still have some good, short trips to fend off the summer doldrums. Or you can hop a plane to Montana or Slovenia! Stop in or call us if we can be of service. We might need a few extra minutes to read up on marble trout…
Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.
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