Those trout waters have still fished fairly well, especially for anglers who have shifted to a winter, low-water game. That has meant thin tippets and small, dark bugs drifted near the bottom. Fun exceptions to that rule have been our Delayed Harvest streams, where fresh holiday stockers have eaten a variety of fly patterns and even some dry flies. They are smartening up quickly, however, so be ready to change tactics to small egg and nymph dredging for them, too.
Lanier stripers have made a slight comeback to shallower water, which gives us hope for next week. The great news is that the lake has turned over and the tailwater has finally cleared for metro trouters.
We have all the breaking intel in our full Friday report, as always. Catch Wes’ weekly update to his hot fly list and the latest fishing reports from our UO staff and avid angling friends here:
http://blog.angler.management/
Good luck as we ring in the new fishing year. Don’t forget those squirmies for high, stained water. You might just start 2025 off with a bang! Stop in either UO store for tips, tackle, and fish tales.
Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.
Wes’ Hot Fly List:
Dries: Micro chubby Chernobyl, orange stimulator, parachute Adams, blue wing olive, black and cream midges.
Nymphs & Wets:
DH streams: Rainbow Warrior, twister egg, pheasant tail, micro mayfly, gold ribbed hares ear, Girdle Bug, duracell, root beer midge, frenchie.
Mountain streams: Pheasant tails, micro girdle bugs, prince nymphs, hares ear.
Streamers:
Olive and black buggers, sparkle minnows, CDC squirrel leech.
(Bass & stripers) Somethin’ else, Clouser minnow, micro changer, jerk changer.
Headwaters:
They’ve been low, clear, and cool, but not icy cold. Dry/dropper rigs have worked, with droppers outfishing the dries. Higher water ahead of us should give the dropper nymphs an even bigger advantage. Try some bright tungsten beaded nymphs when the flows are up.
VA visitor Brett: “Hi UO staff, I just wanted to check back in and say thank you for all the recommendations. We had a great day yesterday on that wild rainbow stream. They were mostly hitting subsurface on a pheasant tail dry/dropper combo. I had a handful hit topwater on an ant and parabaltz, but it was much slower than the pheasant tail nymph. I think we may book an Airbnb for late May/early June. The area definitely exceeded all of our expectations. Thanks again!”
Delayed Harvest Streams:
Georgia DNR’s pre-holiday redosings helped DH angler catch rates throughout the week. These latest stockers are slowly smartening up and demanding lighter tippets and micro nymphs, so have your tiny pheasant tails and a variety of midges ready when the weekend stormflows subside.
Rabunites Nanette and Rick visited Smith DH on Christmas Day. She reports: “Our afternoon was so peaceful. Two cars when we arrived, six when we left. We actually got to fish upstream from the vehicle bridge to the dam with no one else around. That’s where I saw fish rising and bugs flying and went for the orange stimulator (from Wes’ hot fly list). Caught six on the dry before we headed downstream. Rick did well on a double nymph rig.
Further downstream the sullen veteran stockers were super picky. We had to go really small and dark to get them. Flashy or natural didn’t seem to matter, but size did. When we found the magic flies they ate well. Caught several on an orange stimulator. The rest on tiny black midges and rainbow warriors fished below a weighted nymph. Rick tied me all these nymphs for Christmas. Just in time!”
New UO friend JL: “I took my grandkids fishing at Smith Creek today (27th). Weather forecast called for off and on rain, but as a wisened old Vermonter told my granddaughter “there are two good times for fishing, when it’s rainy and when it ain’t “ so we did not let the weather scare us off. As it turned out it was quite chilly and we had some early morning mist, but no real rain. Lot of people fishing, but we found a couple of good holes available and they caught several fish. It was a fun morning.”
UO buddy RSquared: “A good friend & I used our float tubes to access some hard-to-reach spots on my favorite Georgia DH stream. We caught several Rainbows & a few Browns. The fish were in the mood for size 12 Y2K's with something small dropped behind it such as size 16 Lightning
Bugs and Pheasant Tails. I love wintertime trout fishing in the South!”
We got this nice Facebook message from UO follower Jacob yesterday: “Hi Unicoi Outfitters! I took advantage of that 11am - 3pm window mentioned on your previous post and landed my PB Brown Trout today on a DH stream :). Just wanted to share this memorable catch with you guys! Cheers!”
Private Waters:
They have fished decently in the afternoons for our few guests over the holiday. The trick has been cycling through smaller egg and nymph patterns until the flavor of the day is discovered. Good dead-drifts and lighter tippet have been vital to success in skinny water.
UO guide Israel: Had a good trip for my two anglers on the Soque. They seemed to like BWO nymphs!
New UO staffer Sydney: “I took Daddy fishing at Nacoochee Bend after closing up our Helen store at 1PM on Christmas Eve. We had some great daddy/daughter time, with some nice rainbows landed on small, dark nymphs drifted deep on light tippet. Our best bugs were natural patterns: pheasant tails, black midges, and small girdle bugs, with a few on a flashy pattern, the rainbow warrior.”
Give us a call at 706-878-3083 to book your own trips in the new year with our UO guides.
Tailwaters:
Lanier has turned over and the tailwater has finally cleared!
https://georgiawildlife.com/lake-lanier-turnover-facts
That means easier wading (we can see the bottom once again), but pickier fish, so downsize your stonefly nymphs, midges, and tippets.
UO buddy Ryan: “On Christmas Eve, I was thrilled to jump on a last minute boat invite for a trip on the river. Multiple high quality fish were seen in pursuit of our streamers, but only 2 big browns were landed including this fish pictured.
On Christmas Day, brother Myles and I had just enough time before family came over to hit the river below the Dam. What makes for a good present from a trout angler? Fresh Trout! Myles managed to catch 6 trout and I pulled out 4. Shout out to DNR for the stocking report update of fresh dumplings! We were able to gift 2 of our friends some fresh trout for supper, and to say the least they were thrilled!”
UO buddy Mo: “Kurt and I fished below Buford Dam last week. The water was almost back to gin-clear and wading was fairly easy. We fished for about 4hrs and did really well drifting two nymph rigs. Managed a few to hand on a stone fly but most of my fish came on a black $3 dip. Kept it on as it was catching fish the whole time we were there.
As the temps warmed up in the pm the fish became more active and even started rising! Kurt switched to dry/dropper and fooled a handful on a small dyret, including this nice rainbow. We both caught way more browns than bows, however. Nothing of any size to speak of, but those small, scrappy, wild browns are too much fun when they’re up and working like that. Glad the ole gal is back to clear and fishing well once ahain. That annual lake turnover takes too darn long.”
Lakes:
UO guide Joseph: “ Fishing on the lake has picked back up slightly over the past week or so. I had a nice outing this past week and was able to catch a few down deep. While the fish are still picky there are lots of good opportunities to be had. All fish I landed were caught on a small somethin else on sinking lines. One key was to look for birds diving. Even though you might not see splashes, chances are there are stripers beneath the birds, pushing the bait up to the surface. In this situation it’s best to throw a sinking line and count down to 15 or even 20 before retrieving. The winter bite should only progressively get better from here, so if you’d like to book a trip call the Helen store at (706)-878-3083.
UO buddy AJ: “I was out a few times earlier this week and was rewarded with feeding fish 1 out 3 trips. Seems like fish are slowly coming out of the little funk they've been in the past two weeks. Water temps are hovering around 50, a degree or two above or below depending on time of day and water clarity. Fish aren't really surfacing, but feeding just below. Look for the birds to tip you off on the groups shallow enough to get with a fly rod. Even if you are seeing a few splashing, I suggest throwing a sinking line and a small threadfin pattern. For every splash you see on the surface, there are probably 20 fish below that feeding 10-25ft subsurface. I was hoping these overcast days would get the fish feeding back on top, but it looks like we'll be dealing with strong winds and the chance for some heavy rain Saturday. Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and has a Happy New Year! I have a few days open in January. Reach out if you'd like to get out there!”
Alex Jaume
Lanier on the Fly
IG - @lanier_on_the_fly
Grab those raincoats and hand warmers and take advantage of some higher water this weekend.
https://waterdata.usgs.gov/ga/nwis/uv?site_no=02330450
Or, if it’s too high, catch the subsiding flows next week. You have a brief window where squirmies and large “legs and eggs” combos will be the meal of choice. Then we’ll be back to tossing tiny winter nymphs again. Cloudy weather should help the striper bite, so let’s hope the dark skies bring up more Shad and stripers for our Lanier trophy hunters. Good luck and Happy New Fishing Year from our gang at Unicoi outfitters!
Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.
