Unicoi Outfitters is north Georgia's premier guide service and fly fishing outfitter, located on the Chattahoochee River near alpine Helen. Look for fishing reports, gear and book reviews, and general musings here from our staff and guides.

Friday, March 31, 2023

UO Fishing Report 3/31/23



Welcome to April! All jokes aside, invert your plans for tomorrow. Make your usual Plan B your Saturday Plan A: hit the tributaries and ponds after this storm front passes. If we get less than the expected half- to one-inch of rain, you might see a pleasant surprise in fishable rivers, but I would not count on it.


Also be ready for wind!  You might avoid it by getting down into a gorge where the stream runs perpendicular to the wind. Better yet, wait til Sunday or the sunnier days next week.


Stripers are big but scattered. They should soon pack up on river spawning runs, so watch those reservoir headwaters as they drop and clear. Bass are turning on. Once again, Henry has some great intel.


We have more pics and timely tips in our full report, here:

http://blog.angler.management/


Good luck. Stop in either UO store for more great advice and the supplies you’ll need to welcome April with some wins. Just like our Braves, hopefully!


Wes’ Hot Fly List:  

(Notice the increase in dries!)


Dries: elk hair caddis (#16 tan, #18 black or gray) parachute BWO, March Brown, dark Hendrickson, quill Gordon, parachute Adams (#14-18), Stimulator (#12-16).


Nymphs & Wets:

Jiggy pats rubber leg, trip saver, rainbow warrior, soft hackle partridge, Ice pupa, chartreuse egg, twisted mayfly.


Streamers & warm water:

Complex twist bugger, Jiggy fat minnow, hot cone bugger, polar changer, finesse changer, small black bugger for stockers.


Headwaters:

Our headwaters are running a bit low, clear, and cool (mid-50’s). 



They should drop and fish well soon after the storm. Smokies Park streams show average flows for this time of year and some cool temps due to the last few chilly nights.  The Luftee near the park boundary was 54F at 4PM yesterday, with no risers and only a few stray, tiny caddis adults spotted. 





By the way, the new park pass system was easy. Just be ready with your vehicle license number to enter on the keypad and a credit card to swipe. And drive slow in the park! The elk came out to feed around 5PM yesterday and several enjoyed the green grass in the highway median and along the shoulders. 






These higher elevation streams should take off with next week’s warm weather. You’ll just have to work around some rain and storm flows. Watch Byron’s daily park fishing report here:


https://littleriveroutfitters.com/pages/fishing/report.htm


Delayed Harvest:

Most DH streams are in good shape today, ahead of tomorrow’s storm. Smith was 56F at 3PM Wednesday, and today’s DNR stocking list says it was redosed on the 27th.

https://georgiawildlife.com/Fishing/Trout



Chattooga DH is running a little low, so the rain will help its flow. Nan DH had normal flow and ran a cool 52F at 3PM yesterday. Few bugs or rises were observed, probably due to the prior cold nights.






Try dredging or streamer stripping in the mornings and when the water is muddy. On warm afternoons, switch to dry/dropper rigs and keep your eyes open for risers. Also stock up on tan bugs for this month. Soon tan caddis and light Cahills will start popping, so have some cahill emergers and duns and Caddis pupae and adults ready when the monthly hatch color switches from gray to tan. For more hatch info, go to RabunTU.org and click on Tightlines. Monthly hatch charts are in each newsletter.


https://rabuntu.org/about/


UO buddy CDB: “Sometimes patience is a virtue I fished DH water early in the week, and from 8:30 until 1:30 only had one fish. Everyone I spoke to on the stream had similar luck.  About 1:30 some clouds rolled in, and wow, something turned on! From 1:30 to 3:30 we caught over 20 fish. Black rubber legs size 8 was the most productive offering. Three out of every four fish were caught on the top fly, by the way. Remember, the fish are very active right now and are looking up. If you’re dragging your bottom fly against the stream bed, you’re underneath the fish. This little fella was displeased with the whole event!



Private water fished similarly. The action was slow but steady and good drifts were rewarded with good fish.  Once again, the most productive offering was a dark rubberlegs in size 8 or 10. An occasional fish was also picked up on either a green or a white mop. “


Tailwaters:

UO buddy RonW is working too much, but relayed this: “I don't fish but my friend does.  Kurt fished the Dam yesterday afternoon 3/29 and absolutely put a smackdown on them. Everytime he caught a fish, I'd get a ding on my phone, and it was dinging all afternoon.   After a dozen plus "dings",  he was just rubbing it in. I'm guessing he caught north of a few dozen, mostly rainbows with some nice wild browns mixed in.  Hot fly was some sort of BHPT variation he ties.   I'm glad he got out and got on them after a tough few weeks working and traveling.  Now it's my turn for some hydrotherapy!”




Private Waters:

UO guide Caleb: “I had another great trip at Soque Camp last week. The cold morning had the trout thrown off a bit but the warmer afternoon really ramped up the action. We brought in some large rainbows and one big brown. The most effective strategy was a double nymph rig using stonefly nymphs and an egg pattern. Sorry, no pics this week, as all the pics were on my clients’ phones. I was too busy rigging rods and netting fish!”


UO guide Devin said his client had a real good Sunday at Nacoochee Bend throwing streamers to energetic rainbows.



Rivers:

The white bass run is on and stripers should be right behind them. Check out today’s WRD blog for white bass intel. Have a six-weight rig and a handful of white or chartreuse Clousers at hand and you’ll have a lot of fun whenever our rivers (Hooch, Chestatee, Etowah, Little, Coosa) aren’t blown out.


https://georgiawildlife.blog/2023/03/31/georgia-fishing-report-march-31-2023/


Lakes:

Athens Jay: “Went old school with a simple Clouser minnow and got lots of action on a local pond, including this lovely warmouth and several hungry bass. Lesson: you don’t need fancy new flies, the classics still catch fish! “



Reservoirs:

We offer two tips for you striper fans. First, aim for the reservoir headwaters and, if not too muddy, the rivers during the next two weeks.  Stripers head upstream during the first 2-3 weeks of April every year as they try to spawn.


Second, hit the lake “mudlines.”They’re the tea-colored transition zones between chocolate milk and clear lake water.  Shad will pack into muddy water, which catches sunlight and warms up. Stripers will be in slightly clearer water just outside the mud, where they are hidden by the stain and can ambush shad. In a prior life, my cohorts and I had great “shocking” success in those mudlines.


HenryC:  “Striper fishing is still tough BUT quality fish abound if you find the right places to cast. Loons and gulls can still help you find fish. Spotted bass are starting to cooperate since the weather is warming up some again. Last weekend’s rain blew out the backs of the creeks as well as some of the rivers, but that should all settle back in the next couple of days. The striper tourney by Alpharetta Outfitters to benefit PHWFF was a success with regard to size. Even 4th and 5th place landed fish nearing 30" in length! Lanier is clearly back to showing it is a trophy-like fishery for stripers on the fly, as shown here by Dr Edward Pham and his fat silver zebra that was caught and released earlier this week. The numbers are still not up to par but the size surely makes up for it.”

www.henrycowenflyfishing.com



Afar:

UO buddy RSquared: “Barracuda saved our fishing vacation week down in the Keys. Cold front & winds blowing at 25-35 knots sent most fish off the flats & to the warmer waters of the reef, where the seas were too rough for my 18ft center console.”






Just like we did last week, let’s check tomorrow morning’s storm effects first and then head toward fishable waters. That will be small streams and ponds early in the day, and the bigger waters tomorrow afternoon and on Sunday. A week of warm weather will really get things going, too, so take a day off to fish next week. Stop by either UO store for some friendly advice and the hot bugs of the day. Stock up on “tan” for April’s evening hatches.


And maybe even book a trip with one of our awesome guides. You might really enjoy this sport!


(Pic courtesy of Ryan Forbus)

https://www.ryanforbusphoto.com/


Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.

www.unicoioutfitters.com



Wednesday, March 29, 2023

A Big Time in Patagonia!


Jimmy and Kathy just returned from hosting a trip to northern Patagonia.  Needless to say, the week was fantastic from the fishing to the scenery to the world-class chef who prepared their meals.  A great time was had by all! 


Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.

www.unicoioutfitters.com

Friday, March 24, 2023

UO Fishing Report 3/24/23



As the locals say, “it’s fixin’ to break loose!”  The warmer weather has the flowers and the stream bugs blooming, and the rising water temperatures will have stream and lake fish ready to eat.  The action had picked up with the last few days of sunshine and should only get better. 



We do have some storms you’ll need to work around. Hopefully tomorrow morning’s front will blow through quickly. If it dumps a half-inch of rain or less, our streams should still be in decent shape. In fact, that small, turbid storm crest might provide the best fishing of the day, especially on smaller streams. If streams get muddy, they should clear quickly, so don’t give up on this weekend’s action. Just carry a raincoat and check stream gauges on your smart phone.



GAWRD posted a 2-page stocking list today, so grab the kids, some spincast outfits, and a jar of Powerbait and go catch some supper. If you’re a new flyrodder, twitch a small black woolly bugger in a pool full of stockers and get hooked on the sport.


https://georgiawildlife.com/Fishing/Trout



Henry says lake bass are already shallow, and the stripers should soon follow. Many of them should start their river spawning migrations, also, so keep the Lanier headwaters in mind.


We have more pics and a ton of intel in our full report, here:


http://blog.angler.management/


Folks who mine that data should do really well this week. Good luck. Stop in either UO store for more great advice and the supplies you’ll need to score big-time.



Wes’ Hot Fly List:  

Dries: elk hair caddis (#16 tan, #18 black or gray) parachute BWO, March Brown, dark Hendrickson, quill Gordon, parachute Adams (#14-18).


Nymphs & Wets:

Jiggy pats, sexy Walt’s, slush egg, hares ear nymph, twisted mayfly, Duracell, Frenchie, soft hackle pheasant tail.


Streamers & warm water:

Complex twist bugger, Jiggy fat minnow, hot cone bugger, polar changer, finesse changer, small black bugger for stockers.



Headwaters:

They are clear, warming, and running at their normal spring flows. They will get some flow bumps from the coming storms, but always drop quickly after each front. Spoilcane ran a warm 60F today at 3PM. When they’re clear, try your favorite bushy dries.  If they’re colored, drop a silver beaded Frenchie a foot off the back of the dry and hi-stick the soft pockets and bank eddies.



The Smokies are stirring, too.  Check out Ian’s latest blog:


https://randrflyfishing.com/the-fishing-report/


And Byron’s daily fishing report:


https://littleriveroutfitters.com/pages/fishing/report.htm


Warming water will “spawn” bug hatches and bring all those eager park trout to the surface. If rains boost flows and stain the waters, try dredging some tan mops or big (#12) sexy Walts worms in the flood refuges.


Delayed Harvest:

Smith DH ran 54F at 3pm today, as the lake is still full of last week’s cold water. DH fish have been picky in the clear flows. Shrink your bugs and tippet, and also try swinging some soft hackles way downstream below you, where the fish haven’t spooked yet.



Bigger DH waters like Nan and Tooga should fish well. Remember your gray and brown March bugs 


https://www.ncwildlife.org/Portals/0/Fishing/documents/2019FishingDocuments/NC-Hatch-Chart.pdf


and some streamers to strip.  Just check stream gauges first and make sure the storm peaks aren’t too high.  Enjoy this great screen shot from the Tuck.



Tailwaters:

UO buddy Ryan: “ I scored a half dozen fish on a half-day Hooch tailwater session before the water releases came in.  Natural patterns like a hares ear jig, tightlined on 5x in deeper pockets, found some feeding rainbows.”



Private Waters:

UO guide Isreal: “My client did well at Rainbow Point on the Soque yesterday. Some smaller mayflies were coming off. There was the occasional rise but not much surface activity. Our best results were from stripping a streamer under the cloud cover.”



UO guide Caleb: “A cold day at Soque camp had the fish a bit lethargic, but we were able to bring in a couple of nice rainbows on soft hackles including Carson’s first ever trout on a fly rod!”



UO guide Devin said his clients had a very good day at Rainbow Pointby dredging “tiny and shiny nymphs” of his own personal concoctions..





I ran into Andrew from Athens while doing my stream recon this afternoon. He spent the morning cashing in his Black Friday gift certificate at Nacoochee Bend, and then finished his vacation day at Smith DH. He just shared this report:


 “ Hey Dredger! This is Andrew from Smith Creek. Was great running into you earlier! Here are some pics of that rainbow that I caught this morning. It was 23-24 inches long as is my personal best bow, to date. It took a tungsten nymph that Wes recommended to me when I checked in this morning.



I had a nice afternoon At Smith DH.  The pool fish were picky in the high sun and clear water.  I ended up catching two fish on the swing, so thank you for that tip!”


Rivers:

UO buddy Landon:  “A sunny Tuesday afternoon had some river bass chomping.  They were tight to cover against bankside structure in slowest water I could find.”



Lakes:

Athens Jay: “The time is now for big bass in rivers and lakes. Cold temperatures and windy conditions last weekend did not prevent fish from eating. I used a sink tip on a 7-weight rod to swim articulated shad-colored streamers in 3-4 feet of water in late afternoon. Gradually warming temperatures this week should really kick things off.”




UO buddy Athens MD: “On Sunday I received a text from a friend that said "cold and windy today, so I guess you're not fishing?" I replied with a nice crappie selfie while being blown all over tarnation in my kayak. Jigs and streamers were on the menu in the stained water, and bluegill and redbreast decided to join in, too. I managed some river crappie as well on small streamers one evening after work.”




Reservoirs:

HenryC:  “Fishing took a slight setback due to the cold weather north GA experienced over the past week. Water temps dropped 4-5 degrees and our zebra fish (stripers) have gone deeper. The good news is this is short-lived and the fish should bounce back by the time you read this report or shortly thereafter. On another note, the LMB and spotted bass are positively committed to the spring spawn and are active and starting feed shallow. It's a great time to just get out and let the fish that are feeding dictate what your catch will consist of. Slow sinking intermediates for shallow up in the dirt fishing and fast sinking for the fish that are schooling 20-30' deep. It's all good. This weekend is the Southern Striper Open fly tournament and our own Jimmy Harris and David Dockery will be competing to bring the trophy back to Helen GA. Vegas has put their odds as 6-1 to bring home the gold. Good luck fellas! All proceeds for this tourney sponsored by Alpharetta Outfitters will go to Project Healing Waters. We are taking out the vets to fly fish Friday morning before the tournament...”




www.henrycowenflyfishing.com


That’s the latest from our gang. It hit 77 degrees up here today, so spring is here. Take full advantage of it and cash in on the two best months of fishing in our little corner of the world.  Stop in if we can lend a hand. Andrew was sure glad he came by!


Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.

www.unicoioutfitters.com

Thursday, March 23, 2023

Sweeping, Strip-setting, and Hooting!




What’s your weekend looking like? Ours is jam-packed.  We’ll be sweeping, strip-setting, and hooting!


First, Jake will lead a platoon of local volunteers to “sweep the Hooch” through Helen. Learn more about the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper’s annual river cleanup program, and consider getting involved in future sweeps.





https://chattahoochee.org/sweep-the-hooch/


Next, past champs Jimmy and David will work to bring home the trophy once again.




The Southern Striper Open, sponsored by our friends at Alpharetta Outfitters, benefits our fine vets via the Project Healing Waters program.

Learn more about the event and the vets here:



https://southernstriperopen.com/


Last, we will celebrate the weekend by hootin’ and hollerin’ at the GA Foothills TU chapter’s annual banquet in Helen. Food, music, raffles, auctions, and a hundred-plus liars telling fish stories: what more could you want?  C’mon up to Helen on Saturday evening and join the party!



https://georgiatu.org/find-your-georgia-tu-chapter-here/georgia-foothills-chapter-629/


That’s where half our gang will be, while the other half staffs our shops and guides our clients. Where are y’all going?  Stop by either UO shop for some hot flies, breaking intel, and a little bit of fish story-swapping. It will be a hoot!  We hope to see you soon.


Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.

www.unicoioutfitters.com

Tuesday, March 21, 2023

Help Catch the Bad Guys


800-241-4113

Memorize that number!



Enjoy the  warmer days ahead, like my buddy Sarah will.  As spring finally arrives and state and federal hatchery stocking trucks roll, we’ll have more company on region waters.  While most of our fellow anglers will be kind, considerate, and compliant, some will not. Here’s a reminder of how to deal effectively with lawbreakers.

Add this phone number to your contacts list and use it:

800-241-4113


That’s the GADNR 24-hour ranger hotline. The program details are here:

https://gadnrle.org/ranger-hotline

Per DNR-LE:

“If you see or learn of a violation, try to write down: a description of the violator; a description of their vehicle; the location of the violation; and the type of violation.”

Your info will be passed along to the appropriate game wardens near your incident, who will follow up.

All of us anglers can help conserve GA’s fish and wildlife resources. Our extra sets of eyes on the woods and waters are a huge help to county game wardens, who have a lot of ground to cover. Let’s do our part to protect our natural resources and report violations to DNR-Law Enforcement.

For more info on dealing with violators, feel free to revisit my past column in The Angler magazine. 

https://issuu.com/coastalanglermagazine/docs/atl_d8b58987219ed4


Good luck this spring! Got that number memorized yet?

800-241-4113


Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.

www.unicoioutfitters.com