Unicoi Outfitters Fishing Report - 2/21/25

Let’s call this week’s prospects “dry and warming up.” The arctic blast is passing and daytime temperatures are recovering. They’re even heading toward the 60’s next week! That should warm the waters nicely and possibly turn on a few early season bugs, too. Carry some hope and dry flies with you.

Stripers remain scattered, but size is compensating for numbers. UO guide Joseph said birdwatching is worth your while. If the weather keeps warming, those sunny afternoons should start pulling some shad and stripers up into the rain-stained shallows. 

Catch Wes’ weekly update to his hot fly list and our latest fishing reports here:

http://blog.angler.management/

Stop in either UO shop (Helen, Clarkesville) for your early spring intel and supplies.

Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.

www.unicoioutfitters.com

Wes’ Hot Fly List:  

Dries: Micro chubby Chernobyl,  quill gordon , parachute Adams, blue wing olive, little black caddis, little black stone. 

Nymphs & Wets: 

DH streams: slush egg, Pink tag jig, Frenchie, Zebra midge, hares ear nymph and soft hackle, micro girdle bugs.

Mountain streams: Pheasant tails, micro girdle bugs, prince nymphs,  ruby midge.

Streamers:

Sparkle minnows, mohair leeches, UV polar jigs, mini shimmer buggers. 

(Bass & stripers) Somethin’ else, Clouser minnow, micro changer, jerk changer.

Headwaters: 

They’re clear and flowing at seasonal norms. They’ve been real cold, but are finally starting to warm up a bit. Yesterday afternoon Spoilcane ran a chilly 42F, 

but these headwaters will warm into the upper 40’s during the sunny afternoons ahead of us.  Try dry/dropper rigs and hope for a few on the dry after lunch.

https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?site_no=02176930&legacy=1

Delayed Harvest Streams:

They’ve had their February stockings and have been fishing fairly well, even through the cold snap. They should really turn on after a few warm afternoons, followed by nighttime air temps well above freezing.  Stockers have higher IQ’s now due some experience with anglers, so start downsizing your bugs and try natural-colored patterns instead of the gaudy stuff you threw at them right after stocking. Don’t forget to swing a soft hackle behind a bugger on your trek back downstream to your vehicle.

Yesterday afternoon Smith DH ran 46F and fish were taking nymphs and even some dries. 

The stream was still slightly stained, but that had the fish more comfortable. 

Thin tippet and Euro nymphs were the ticket for an avid Athens angler, new to the flyfishing game.

The SCDNR trout web page had a nice Chattooga DH “strike indicator” displayed this week, so those border waters will be a best bet.

https://www.dnr.sc.gov/fish/stocking/results.html

https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?site_no=02176930&legacy=1

Private Waters:

They’re slowly improving with each warmer day that passes. 

UO-Helen manager Wes:  “Como and I hosted a group of 5 ladies for an intro to fly fishing class on Monday afternoon. They were a fun and enthusiastic group to teach. The water was still up from the weekend rains and moving fast so our wading was limited. However the places we could safely wade and effectively fish were very productive and all the ladies were able to catch some fish. Jiggy Pat's rubberlegs, weighted egg patterns, and squirmy worms were the ticket in the higher flows.”

Tailwaters:

No recent reports. Be on the lookout for black caddis swarms any day now on our bigger waters.. 

NC:

(Replay from last week) News flash!  Here’s NC’s newly updated 2025 Delayed Harvest stocking schedule:

https://www.ncwildlife.org/fishing/trout-fishing-north-carolina

Make plans for your March road trips.

Warm Rivers:

Tis the season to follow the GAWRD weekly fishing reports. Those folks use the most effective bait I’ve ever seen: electricity!  Tune in each Friday for their latest on bass, stripers, and walleye. Today’s report says the first batches of river running walleye have been encountered.

https://georgiawildlife.blog/category/fishing/

Lakes:

UO guide Joseph: “Striper fishing  has been okay on Lanier. Inconsistent weather has the fish spread out across the lake, feeding in mostly open water. One thing that was a constant was the bird life. Wherever you find bait and birds, stripers are sure to be nearby. The fish eating on the surface are moving very quickly and eating small threadfin. For these fish an intermediate line and a small somethin else or polar fiber minnow is what I’ve had success on. For fish you find on the graph, a sinking line accompanied with a small somethin else with heavy lead eyes is the ticket. Spring weather is just around the corner, so if you’re looking to get in on some amazing fishing for some pre spawn stripers, no time is better than now to book a trip.  Call our Helen shop at (706)-878-3083.”

UO owner Jimmy: “UO’s favorite Falcon, Nate Landman with a nice 19 lb. (On the Boga) striper last Saturday. Weather swings are keeping the fishing unpredictable but some nice stripers are being caught on the fly.”

News and Events:

Ongoing: Dream Trip ticket sales. Win a week of fishing in Yellowstone for just ten bucks, or one of a dozen great runnerup prizes.  Drawing on March 22.  Details here:

https://georgiatu.org/

Feb 26: Hank the Yank’s freshwater striper webinar.

https://www.mastersofthefly.com/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1bo3hiwRYf6ORbpfOKFH_NHKE1hFbC6jFO3PFaaTAvx4-4f7KHWb58n_M_aem_Ax0FWCabVgqBhy47HIONXA

March 22 : Hoot on the Hooch. Georgia Foothills TU’s annual fundraiser on the banks of the Chattahoochee River at the Helendorf Inn in Helen. All Dream Trip raffle winners announced.

A draft GA state wildlife action plan (SWAP) is available for your review and comments. Comment deadline to GAWRD is March 21. Details:

https://georgiawildlife.com/WildGeorgiaSWAP

Take advantage of this upswing in air and water temps. The fishing should be good for your weekend and get even better with each passing, warm day.  Get a jump on spring and wet a line this week. You’ll forget all about your frozen fingers and toes of last week. Stop in either UO shop (Helen, Clarkesville) for breaking intel and the best bugs. We live, work, and fish here, by golly, and we’re glad to tune you in, too!

Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.

www.unicoioutfitters.com

Unicoi Outfitters Fishing Report - 2/14/25

This week’s theme is “work around the rains.” Streams are just starting to drop from this week’s four inches of rain. Headwaters and midsized WMA streams have already dropped to fishable levels today, while large trout streams and our warm rivers will need more time to recede to safe fishing levels. So head high for your best trout bets.

There’s some hope for tomorrow, while Sunday will likely be blown out by the violent overnight storms in the forecast. Last week’s delayed harvest stockings have spiced up those GA streams, while a new NC DH stocking plan for 2025 gives us hope for a fun spring to our north.

It’s still a bit early for spring runs in our lakes and warmwater rivers, but GAWRD is providing great weekly intel on the status of those runs.

Catch Wes’ weekly update to his hot fly list and the latest fishing reports here:

http://blog.angler.management/

Stop in either UO shop (Helen, Clarkesville) for your February supplies.

Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.

www.unicoioutfitters.com

Wes’ Hot Fly List:  

Dries: Micro chubby Chernobyl,  orange stimulator, parachute Adams,  little black caddis, little black stone. 

Nymphs & Wets: 

DH streams: squirmy worm, Twister egg, Frenchie, pheasant til, Duracell, micro girdle bug, ruby midge, gold ribbed hares ear.

Mountain streams: Pheasant tails, frenchies, micro girdle bugs, prince nymphs.

Streamers:

Sparkle minnow, Jiggy fry, CDC squirrel leech, muddy buddy.

(Bass & stripers) Somethin’ else, Clouser minnow, micro changer, jerk changer.

Headwaters: 

They are still a tad high but very fishable. Spoilcane was high, clear, and 46F at 10am today. 

The Hooch on the WMA looked good, too.

Dry/dropper combos should put you on fish. More will hit the dropper until warm afternoons boost stream temps again and get more fish to look up.

Foothills TUer Bob sent me some nice pics and just a few cryptic clues, so I’m surmising that he had a good day at Smithgall during a recent high-flow event, and might have used a leech pattern to fool these beautiful wild bows.

GATech 5Rivers clubber Will: I know I’m too late for today’s report, but I caught a few good fish today (2/7). It started at Smith DH where the fish couldn’t resist a size 20 pheasant tail. There was certainly no shortage of fish, and  they were very willing to eat.

Then I headed to a blue line to take advantage of the warmer water temps, and the brookies were certainly munching! I ended up lucky enough to land my personal best southern Appalachian brookie- a 9” male with a humpback and the first signs of a kype. After releasing him, he stayed right next to me recovering while I watched him in awe for a solid minute. What a day!”

Delayed Harvest Streams:

Most fished well before the floods and they should fish well afterward. You’ll just have to wait for flows to drop to fishable levels before getting back on them. Watch those USGS gauges 

https://waterdata.usgs.gov/ga/nwis/uv?site_no=02176930

and refer to your smart phone notes taken after your past trips, when you wrote down the flows that you could negotiate.

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

The combination of fresh stockers and high, stained water has spelled success for Smith DH anglers yesterday (water temp 50F) 

and again this morning (48F at 11am). 

The squirmy worm hatch was in full force as I walked along the creek.  As long as the water stays high and stained, big and bright or buggy flies will be your best bets, so toss squirmies, eggs, buggers, and rubberleg stones.  Then drop back to smaller, natural-colored nymphs as the water clears. Use your submerged boot as an index of clarity.

Winter breaker Kason was out of school and having a great morning today (14th) with his champion fishing guide, his father Josh.  Deep-dredged squirmies under an indicator were being inhaled in the softer seams of a deep pool. 

Kason caught a handful of bows and a real pretty brookie while I stopped by.

 After I left, Josh texted me,  exclaiming that Kason just got a brown to complete his first-ever GA trout slam!

The stream got crowded by my noon departure, so go early or late this weekend to avoid the most competition for honey holes.

UO buddy Hillis had a nice day on Feb 7 at Smith DH. He said: “ Jeff, I had a Great day fishing Smith today. Caught several, all on a Walt’s Worm. Started fishing around 10:00. Almost immediately I had a really big one hooked, but unfortunately it broke my tippet. Later I had another large one hooked, and it took off like a rocket and broke off. Finally I managed to land a big one. All the other fish I caught were decent but not large. I caught rainbows and browns.

 I tried several flies with very little success until 1:00 or so when I put a Walt’s Worm on and that was the silver bullet. Before that I met a guy on the stream fishing a brown wooly and having a lot of luck with it. He gave me one and said it was guaranteed to catch fish, but unfortunately for me it didn’t work. I tried drifting and stripping it with no luck. I then put a strike indicator on and dropped a Walt’s worm off the end of the wooly and whammo I started catching fish, all on the Walt’s Worm. I gave one of my Walt’s Worms to a fellow fisherman who was fishing with a tenkara set up and not catching anything. He tied it on and caught a fish almost immediately. He was so grateful, said it was his first fish caught on the tenkara. It made me feel really good. Usually, almost always, it’s the other guy giving me a fly that works. I had to leave and wasn’t able to stick around and see if he caught anymore. I hope he did. Following my fun day on Smith my wife and I had a late lunch at my favorite BBQ restaurant. Could not have asked for a better day.”

Private Waters:

Nacoochee Bend fished well for our guests earlier this week. Plenty of fresh memories were made by our guests, the Veterans Fly Fishing group, based in Dahlonega.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DF_Q3QBB7pe/?img_index=4&igsh=eWxkNDF4cTJwN2Q3

Interested veterans, here’s more info on their program:

https://veteransflyfishing.org/about/

Tailwaters:

No recent reports. Be on the lookout soon for black caddis squadrons.  Jimmy saw a bunch on the lower Hooch, below trout waters, last week.

NC:

News flash!  Here’s NC’s newly updated 2025 Delayed Harvest stocking schedule:

https://www.ncwildlife.org/fishing/trout-fishing-north-carolina

Also, here’s Ian’s pre-flood Smokies update:

https://randrflyfishing.com/2025/02/05/winter-thaw-in-the-smokies/

And his 2/13 flood video:

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/19zcM9bn8F/?

UO buddy Myles recently returned from his road trip and said:  “This past Saturday, I fished western North Carolina with 2 friends of mine. I was able to catch 24, one of my friends caught about 12 and the other caught 8. Lots of pretty wild fish were caught, and even a nice stocker brown about 14".

I was using 6-6.5x tippet with 2 nymphs on my Euro rig. I commonly switch between size 18 and size 20 nymphs with either a 2.5 or 3.0mm bead depending on the depth and current. With a proper tuck cast and drift, I had minimal problem getting 6-10 feet deep in some spots. Silver and Pink beads have been the ticket for me lately, with copper not as favored.”

Warm Rivers:

UGA 5Rivers member Adam: “We fished the backwater of a middle Georgia river this past weekend. The max depth was only about 3 feet. About 90% of all bites were on small red/white poppers. Targeted the "deep" channel just off the bank. Water was low and clear, so sight fishing was effective. We caught bluegill, flier, bass, chain Pickerel, crappie, and even hooked a carp."

GAWRD has some fresh river walleye, stripers, whites, and bass in today’s blog:

https://georgiawildlife.blog/category/fishing/

Lakes:

UO buddy Athens Jay: “Last week I helped some friends introduce their daughter Paige to fishing. She started out a little hesitant, but the first good tug had her hooked. Farm pond fishing is definitely heating up and we caught a variety of species on both fly gear and conventional tackle. A white sparkle minnow worked great on bass species. The bluegill and stocked trout could not resist this abomination!”

UO buddy MD:  “One thing I love about fly fishing local warm water fisheries is being able catch multiple natives over corse of the afternoon. Last Saturday I hit a local lake with my four weight and a buggy little rubber-legged-dragon variation suspended under a chubby Chernobyl. In addition to redbreast sunfish, bluegill, black crappie, and largemouth bass, I pulled in two of my local favorites: redear sunfish (aka shellcracker) and warmouth. Warmouth are just so cool looking to me, and a big shellcraker will often do its best redfish impression, surging toward the bottom as it approaches the kayak. I may even give swollen lakes a try before more rain moves through this weekend.”

No news received this week from our Lanier striper regulars. 

Events:

Ongoing: Dream Trip ticket sales. Win a week of fishing in Yellowstone for just ten bucks, or one of a dozen great runnerup prizes.  Drawing on March 22.  Details here:

https://georgiatu.org/

March 22 : Hoot on the Hooch. Georgia Foothills TU’s annual fundraiser on the banks of the Chattahoochee River at the Helendorf Inn in Helen. All Dream Trip raffle winners announced.

Good luck as you work around the storms and high water. It’s nice to see our rivers recharging, so we’ll accept this single step back for two steps forward for spring fishing success.  Check those USGS gauges and know the flows before you go. 

https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/02330450/#dataTypeId=continuous-00065-0&period=P7D&showMedian=false

Stop in either UO shop for more breaking intel and our best February bugs.

Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.

www.unicoioutfitters.com