Greetings from the frozen tundra of north Georgia. It’s been quite a chilly week up here, with water temps and trout catches both dropping. The good news is that warmer days are ahead and the trout bite should improve thru the weekend. After that, we have some welcome rain to recharge our extremely skinny streams.
On the lake front, stripers are still cooperating for those tough souls willing to take an artic boat ride on Lanier. Warmer, cloudy, rainy days next week should enhance that reservoir bite.
Catch Wes’ weekly update to his hot fly list and the latest fishing reports from our UO staff and friends here:
http://blog.angler.management/
Stop in either UO shop to warm up, restock your winter nymphs, and finish your holiday shopping for the outdoorsy folks on your gift lists. Catch some great gift ideas (and certificates) online, too, via our home page.
Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.
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 still low and clear and even colder than last week. Spoilcane was very skinny and an icy 38F at 11AM today.
You’ll do much better on warmer, lower elevation trout waters right now, especially if they’re on south slopes that catch more sun. If you insist on bluelining, focus on nymphs or small jigged leeches after lunch.
Stocked Streams
They haven’t been stocked in a long while, but folks covering some ground will find less angler competition and some nice holdovers. Rabunite Bluejay hit one of his local streams just before the Big Freeze and fooled some chunky fish on a slush egg.
Delayed Harvest Streams:
The bite has been slower than in past weeks due to colder water temperatures, but folks are still catching enough fish to put up with frozen fingers and toes. Bigger, lower elevation streams and those below dams are running slightly warmer, and water temps reaching the mid-40’s can spur a decent midafternoon bite. Smith DH was 46F at 11AM today, and a fishing friend said he had already caught two trout on a zebra midge after just 15 minutes astream.
UO buddy Hillis: “Three of us went up to NC this week and fished the Tuck and Fires. Weather was a bit tough, but not as bad as we expected, and the fishing was great.
Wednesday on the Tuck was overcast and cold, but the fish were cooperative. We caught a bunch, mostly brookies and one really pretty rainbow, a pic of which is below. The fish were not spread out very much. I found fish just a few steps after entering the stream and stayed there for a while. I then moved up stream casting along the way with no luck until I found another spot where I cleaned up. My fish were caught under a small strike indicator fishing a Blowtorch-Tungsten nymph, size 16, trailed by a smaller hares ear. I caught fish on both flies.
The next day we fished Fires. The stream was low and clear, which made for easy wading and sighting pods of fish. We were expecting a tough day fishing in cold and windy conditions, but it wasn’t anywhere nearly as bad as we expected, at least not for me. One of my fishing buddies said he had some trouble casting into the wind. But for me a blinding bright sun was the main problem. We all caught fish. One of my buddies said it might have been his best day ever. I had a good day catching mostly brookies, with a few rainbows, and one brown in the mix. I caught my fish drifting, swinging, and stripping a beaded olive wooly, size 10 I think, with a Bowtorch-Tungsten nymph trailing, and caught fish on both.”
UO buddy Lumis took a break between casts this afternoon to share a Tuck DH report: “Fished the Tuck DH near Webster for several days this week. Nymphing under an indicator has worked best. Brown and olive perdigons have been the top fly for sure, bring to hand some real nice browns among my trout catches.
With how dang cold it was when I first arrived in NC Wednesday morning (18° at one point), I ended up fishing the Tuck instead of my intended Smokies, as I did not want to be deep in a forest with frozen legs. The Tuck was nice. Not familiar with the river so I was getting a feel for it, but there's a lot of fish to be caught. Was also surprised when I hooked into a nice brown on that first day, so I came back for another few days and was glad I did.
Absolutely crazy that a 5-foot wide stretch in there had at least 40 trout in it. Doesn't look like much from the road. Doesn't look like much when wading it. But I noticed that calm section between two columns of faster water and goodness was it awesome to fish!”
That was a good lesson for Lumis on reading water and finding the early season DH “feast.”
https://issuu.com/coastalanglermagazine/docs/atl_0e1fc4fbacc718
Private Waters:
As expected, the bite slowed down with colder water temps on our private waters of the Hooch and Soque. Some good fish were still landed, and catch rates should increase along with the air and water temps this weekend. Drifting small eggs and nymphs, and slowly stripping smaller streamers were the best techniques for educated fish in thin, clear, cold water.
https://waterdata.usgs.gov/ga/nwis/uv?site_no=02330450
https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/02176930/
UO manager Jake guided his clients to some fine Soque fish just before the holiday. Small, dark, dredged nymphs drew the most attention.
UO guide Joseph: “ Despite plunging air and water temps, Soque Camp fished pretty darn well this week. We caught several fish on small stoneflies fished under wool indicators. We even managed this 27-inch monster!”
UO buddy Jackson said his midweek bite at Nacoochee Bend was tough, with few fish looking at his dry/dropper combo and his double nymph rigs (even with thin tippet and midge droppers) in the icy water. He finally got some fish to chase streamers and landed a few hefty bows to save the day.
UO buddy Megan hosted her new fishing friend, Mallory, at The Bend yesterday (5th). With enough warm clothing, they had a big time together. She said: “Mallory and I had been trying to fish for a year — since we met at the 2023 Casting for Recovery retreat. Dec 5th was the day - a bit chilly, with low water and spooky fish…perfect for two gals who love a challenge and who wanted lots of laughs! We started at 12:30, and a specially tied fly by my hubs - a black Frenchie-ish fly with some purple (Je ne sais pas the name)- did the trick within the first 20 minutes. Mal learned quick what a drag-free drift looked and felt like…and this beautiful rainbow treated her to a photo op.
She hooked a few more before we moved locales but 4.5X tippet was a bit light…all good practice on fish with big personalities! After the sun started to go down, a beaded Pats did the trick. Mal hooked a few more. At the end of the day, a stunning rainbow that she said she’d paint was brought to hand — this on the smallest midge I could tie on with my frozen fingers. Off the water by 4:15 and hot chocolate ala the microwave at the fly shop…and we could feel our fingers again! A great day on Nacoochee Bend.
It was so fun to watch her learn! Halfway through the day she said that she was going to have to give up all of her other hobbies because all she’s going to be doing is Fishing! “
Give us a call at 706-878-3083 to book your own trips now and in the new year. Or grab a trip gift certificate online here:
https://shoponline.unicoioutfitters.com/gift-certificates/
Lakes:
UO guide Joseph: “Fishing on the lake has been good, but fish are still being picky as far as presentation. Main lake is now 52-55 and pockets are 60-62. We’re seeing lots of fish around pockets, feeding on small threadfin under birds. We’ve caught fish both on the surface and down deep on sinking lines. This is also the time of year birds are no doubt the best “fish finder”. With that being said, fishing is getting better by the week, so call the Helen shop (706-878-3083) soon to book a trip!”
UO buddy AJ: I've been out quite a times over the past 2 weeks. As expected, the topwater bite definitely took a bit of a downturn with the 20'ish degree nights. Water temps have dropped 10+ degrees over the past 2 weeks, with temps ranging from low to upper 50s yesterday. I'm still seeing some groups pop up occasionally, but they are not splashing nearly as hard as they were prior to the cold front and not staying up nearly as long. The fish I have been seeing are mostly just barely disturbing the surface as well. And with these winds, they are tough to see unless you are close to them. Gulls and loons can help you locate fish initially, but sometimes the birds get skittish and will leave when boats approach. Good electronics will help keep you on the fish once they've gone back down. I was able to feed two nice mid-teen sized stripers midmorning yesterday by fishing to these subsurface groups with a full sinking line and small Game Changer fly. Late morning/middle of the day seems be fishing better than early or late. Hopefully we are just about over this high pressure cold front. Sunday through midweek is looking really good, depending on just how heavy/constant the rain is. I have a few days available in December and I am booking trips now for January. Reach out if you're interested!”
Alex Jaume
Lanier on the Fly
IG - @lanier_on_the_fly
GAWRD also has a bunch of fresh lake intel in today’s weekly blog, here:
https://georgiawildlife.blog/category/fishing/
Afar:
UO staffers Israel and Wes headed south over the holiday stretch. Iz reports: “Wes' Triple Threat was the best producer down in The Swamp during the cold snap. We caught some chunky bowfins.”
Welcome to December. Dress and fish accordingly (aim for warm afternoons) and you’ll still have a great time outside, despite seeing your breath. Take advantage of fewer folks on the water at this time of year and make some fine memories. Just have that thermos of hot chocolate ready, back at your vehicle, to celebrate the day. Come see us at either UO store and take advantage of our intel, gifts, and gift certificates!
Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.
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