Winter is knocking on our door up here but the fishing is still pretty good. Streams are low and clear and cooling, but not icy-cold yet. Trout waters, from bluelines down to private rivers, are all fishing well, especially in the afternoons. Fresh Delayed Harvest stockers are boosting catch rates of new fly fishers. Reservoir striper seekers are now being aided by Lanier’s seasonal strike indicators: gulls and loons. Give your favorite waters a shot during this long holiday weekend. And don’t forget our Black Friday weekend sales at both UO stores.
Study Wes’ hot fly list and enjoy a warm helping of fresh intel at our Friday fishing report, here:
http://blog.angler.management/
Good luck working off those extra calories you found at the family table yesterday. A good hike and wade will do wonders for y’all!
Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.
www.unicoioutfitters.com
Wes’ Hot Fly List:
Dries: Micro chubby Chernobyl, orange stimulator, parachute Adams, elk hair caddis, blue wing olive.
Nymphs & Wets:
DH streams: Duracells, CDC pheasant tails, hares ears, soft hackles, micro eggs, girdle bugs, Oops nymphs, psycho prince.
Mountain streams: Pheasant tails, micro girdle bugs, prince nymphs, Zebra midges.
Streamers:
Olive buggers, shimmer buggers, squirrely buggers, sparkle minnows.
(Bass & stripers) Somethin’ else, Clouser minnow, micro changer, jerk changer.
Headwaters:
They are low and clear and cooling off quickly with the frozen nights ahead of us. You might still get a few on dries, especially in the afternoon sunshine, but more fish will hit your dropper nymphs or small jigged streamers as fish hunker down a bit on cold mornings.
UO buddy RSquared: “The wild rainbows were looking up in East Tennessee this past week. I caught all of my trout on a #14 tan Never-Sink Caddis.”
Delayed Harvest Streams:
The GA streams received a fresh dose of stockers just before the holiday, so there’s plenty of fish to aim for. Just carry two games with you. The first game is bright (eggs, worms), leggy (pats rubberlegs) and moving (buggers) flies for this fresh batch of fish. The second game is small, dark, dead-drifted nymphs (hares ear, pheasant tail, leech, zebra midge) for the more experienced, November 1st stockers.
Dredger ran up to the Chattooga on Monday and again found bows and browns podded up in the drought refuges: deep and slow pools. The riffles and runs were still too shallow and sandy to hold many fish. His best bugs were, in order, stripped olive buggers, drifted black leeches, and a dredged “legs and eggs” combo of a brown Pats and an apricot egg. He was run off of his favorite pool at dusk by a better, local angler, and conceded his honey hole to the otter.
Shop clients have had good success at Smith DH on a variety of small, dark nymphs, micro eggs, and small buggers. Folks who even fished in the dawn chill this morning had really good luck.
Matt and Michele stopped in our shop last weekend for some hot bugs and even hotter intel. They ran up to Smith DH and had a great first flyfishing experience for Michele! Hot bugs were micro girdle bugs and eggs.
UO buddy Hillis: “Hi Jeff, yesterday (Tuesday) I fished Smith. It was my first day on the water since my trip to Montana back in September. My wife and I got a late morning start with a stop around 12:30 at my favorite country ham biscuit place. Instead of country ham biscuit we had country ham sandwiches, mine with a fried egg on slightly toasted bread. Hands down the best country ham sandwich I have ever eaten! It was our 60th wedding anniversary, so we figured we could splurge for country ham sandwiches. Just kidding about the splurging of course, prices were very reasonable and as I said the sandwiches were really good.
We arrived at Smith between 1 and 1:30 and I fished until 4:00. When we arrived the parking lot was full, but to my surprise no one was fishing at the concrete bridge or upstream from the bridge. That was not the case as the afternoon progressed, but it was never crowded. There were tons of fish in the water, but they were not biting. Regardless, it was a fun afternoon fishing, and I caught a handful, all brookies. Caught most of them high sticking. Some of the fish I caught I did not feel the bite nor see any movement in my line. I did not know I had a fish on until I started my retrieve. Most were smaller, probably 10 inches or so, but I caught one that was much larger. I caught it on a fly I purchased specifically for fishing the reed line in a spring creek in Montana. Didn't work in Montana, but worked in Georgia. Go figure! Surely stocked fish in Georgia are as smart as wild fish in Montana…
Here are pics of some of the fish I caught. The pics do not do the fish justice, can't tell which one was the largest.”
UO friend RonW: “Kurt and I ventured across the state line last Saturday to fish our favorite, out of the way DH stream.
We were surprised to see no cars in the parking area when we pulled up at 9am. We both decided to start high sticking and it was a wise decision. I had my 1st DH slam of the day in the first ten minutes between 2 runs. Kurt started slow but once he found his groove, it was game on.
We fished about halfway up on the DH, slaying fish in every little piece of water we drifted. We called it a day around 2pm and made the 30+ minute walk to the truck, not before catching a few more on the way back down.
We each netted 30+ fish on the day and most all came on an egg pattern. Love em or leave, eggs are the breakfast of champions for these uneducated fish. I suspect that will change very soon. It was another great day on the water for some much needed hydrotherapy!”
Private Waters:
UO-Helen manager Wes: “The private waters that UO guides on are gin-clear and low right now, so a really good, drag-free drift is very important to get bites right now.
Flies that were able to fool a few fish for me this past week were gold ribbed hares ears with no bead, micro girdle bugs, micro eggs, and Zebra midges.”
Morgan and her roommate took a road trip from the NC coast and fished The Bend last weekend. They landed some real chunky rainbows on a variety of small, dark nymphs and streamers.
UO guides Grant and Sydney had a nice Gilligan Special trip this afternoon with a four-member family from Birmingham. The flies of choice were a variety of small, dark nymphs.
Give us a call at 706-878-3083 to book your own trips in ‘24 and in the new year.
https://www.unicoioutfitters.com/guided-fishing/
Lakes:
UO guide Joseph texted his report to me today (29th) while he’s on Lanier:
“Fishing on Lanier is still steady with good topwater action. We’re starting to see a good amount of fish in pockets or near pockets off the main lake. For flies game changers and polar fiber minnows have fished the best. For conventional tackle a serpentine swim bait is best. We now have our birds back so that will also aid in finding fish. If you’re interested in chasing saltwater fish miles from the coast give the shop a call (706-878-3083) to book a trip with me!”
UO guide and RN-to-be Grant said: “Fishing on the lake has been hit-or- miss over the past few days, but we’ve observed plenty of fish congregating around open water humps and specific pockets. The birds are finally starting to clue in on the stripers as they push baitfish to the surface, adding an exciting dynamic to the action.
For me, this week’s success has hinged on a combination of good cloud cover and tracking where the seagulls have been most active. Interestingly, the afternoons have proven to be far more productive than the mornings. When it comes to flies, smaller-sized game changers and polar fiber minnows have been the standout performers. On the conventional side, walking baits and serpentine-style lures remain the top choices for consistent results.”
Mentoring kudos:
From UO buddy Nanette: “Rabunites Tammy, Nan, Ken and Jack joined Athens Jay and had a blast helping some young lady members of UGA’s 5 Rivers TU Fishing Club improve their fly fishing skills this weekend on the Hooch near Helen. The girls came north for a weekend of camping, camaraderie and casting. Some of them experienced the thrill of catching their first trout!”
UO friend Athens Jay said: “UGA 5 Rivers mentors took advantage of great weather to take some first-time fly anglers fishing on local lakes. The fish were very cooperative, and this new group of anglers had a blast. They started out targeting bluegill using brown Rubberlegs under a bobber. Once they got comfortable setting the hook and fighting fish, we switch to streamer fishing and managed to entice some chunky bass to eat.”
There’s a quick report to help your own Black Friday plans. Come see us at either UO store and take advantage of our intel, discounts and gift certificates!
Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.
www.unicoioutfitters.com
