Welcome to the north Georgia rainforest. It’s been hot, humid, and rainy up here. That’s good news for forest health and blueline fishing opportunities. Headwater wild trout, higher stocked streams, and Tailwater trout will be your best coldwater options this week.
Ponds are still great and some bream are still on the beds as recently as this morning. Warm rivers are blown out right now from yesterday’s storms, but they have been clearing quickly (a day or two). The gar spawn is now over, but it was fun while it lasted. River stripers are still around and easier to fool in stained flows. Most reservoir sportfish have retreated to deeper, cooler water. The Tallulah River kids fishing rodeo happens tomorrow morning.
Check out all of our detailed intel at our blog. It’s new every Friday and will help you boost your own catch rates.
http://blog.angler.management/
(Link in bio)
Stop in either one of our two UO shops for some flies, supplies, and advice. Have fun this summer!
Helen: 706-878-3083. Open 8-5 daily.
Clarkesville: 706-754-0203. Open 8-5 from Monday thru Saturday.
Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.
Wes’ Hot Fly List:
Dries: parachute Adams, tan elk hair caddis, parachute and hard body ants, 409 Yeager yellow, small yellow stimulator, micro chubby Chernobyl.
Nymphs & Wets:
Stockers: red squirmy worm, peach egg, micro girdle bug, black woolly bugger, tan and olive mops, pink tag jig.
Mountain streams: hares ear, drowned ant, pheasant tail nymph and soft hackle, green weenie, prince nymph.
Streamers:
Sparkle minnows, small black and olive buggers, bank robber sculpin, micro dungeon.
(Bass & stripers) Boogle popper, wiggle minnow, polar changer, yard sale, crittermite, con man.
(Panfish) mini stealth bomber, Boogle popper #8, Amnesia bug, brim reaper, girdle bug.
Headwaters:
They are clear and flowing really well for June, thanks to consistent summer storms. Spoilcane was 64F
and Smith Creek above Unicoi Lake was 61F at 8AM today.
Fish the mornings and hit high-elevation and north slope streams for your best summer action. If dry fly action is slow and/or the flows are high (like this morning), then add a short dropper line to an ant or pheasant tail nymph.
UO guide Sydney: “I did some single dry fishing for some wild rainbows this week. I never had to change out my parachute Adams the entire time.”
Delayed Harvest Streams:
You can knock off some DH survivors from the NC streams over the next week or two. Some of those streams are also home to little wild trout year-round. Rabunite “Bluejay” hit the Nan DH early Wednesday and had a good morning, landing a total of 8 fish(half stockers and half wild rainbows) before the sun shut down the bite at 11AM. He fished a #14 caddis dry/# 18 Copper John dropper and all his fish came on the dropper.
Higher elevation waters are a best bet, while lower elevation streams wil be too warm for good fishing. Mornings will fish better than afternoons, except for the smaller, shaded, cooler streams that will fish through the day.
Remember the kids fishing rodeo on the Tallulah River tomorrow morning, and find all other stocked streams on this week’s stocking list here:
GeorgiaWildlife.com/Fishing/Trout.
Private Waters:
We are winding down our spring season with few morning trips when water temperatures allow.
UO-Helen manager Wes: “We are just about to wrap up our private water trips for the season. I got out this morning with Mike and we were able to find a few nice fish the first couple of hours of the morning before the heat slowed the bite down. A Duracell and a drowned ant pattern produced best for us.”
UO guide Sydney: “I had a fun trip with some clients this week. The fishing was tough, but we got a few on dry/dropper rigs and a few more on pats rubberlegs. “
Reminder: We just started offering fly fishing opportunities for stripers at Nacoochee Bend in Helen. A two-hour slot at either dawn or dusk will cost you $75 per angler. Check k out the details here:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DKcyF_Oprp1/?igsh=ZnJydnViM2w2MXJ2
And call the Helen shop at 706-878-3083 to make your reservation.
Boy, Nacoochee Bend looked like prime striper water this morning! That stained river hides you and masks your streamers from careful striper scrutiny. Our most productive trips happen in cooler, stained water.
Tailwaters: They’re your only good option for summer trouting on big waters. Just be very careful about dam discharges and dangerous flows.
UO buddy Ryan: “The past 2 days I took my middle GA friend out on our local Hooch tailwater. On day 1 we hit a favorite area of mine and fishing was great. We must've caught nearly 30 or so fish between the 2 of us and missed a boatload. My friend experimented with swinging wet flies which produced a handful of fish. When we ran out of long, "swingable" runs, we threw an indicator on and did real well on 5X tippet 5x and natural nymphs & wet flies with a little hotspot.
On day 2 we had a short trip to brown town. 1 small brown was caught swinging and I managed 7 little fish sticks on 6.5x tippet and size 20 nymphs. Not bad for an hour and a half before the release came! “
Warm Rivers:
Our bass rivers are blown out by yesterday’s storms. They usually clear to fishable conditions in a day or two, so check those river gauges and call local shops (like UO) for river condition updates. Stripers are up the rivers. You just have to find them. The gar spawning run was short, as always, and is now over. You can still find some fish in the larger pools throughout the summer. Tips here:
https://www.flyfisherman.com/editorial/fly-fishing-gar-rope-flies/496196
Wes and Israel cashed in on the gar run last week!
Ponds & Lakes:
Ponds and small lakes are best bets. Redbreast and bluegills are still finning in the shallows, with a good number still on their beds as recently as this morning, despite some breakfast visits from their feathered neighbors. Paddle around those pond perimeters soon and cash in with small Amnesia bugs.
UO guide Sydney: “I fun-fished at Unicoi Lake with some small leech patterns and caught a few little bass. Then I tossed some dry/dropper rigs for bream and did well.”
Athens Jay is preparing 150 fishing outfits for Round 2 tomorrow. Last Saturday featured a girls event, while tomorrow it’s the boys. It’s Steve Harveys’s youth fishing events!
https://www.instagram.com/p/DKtSa0UMdhq/?igsh=cDlqbzc5aG5pMTJ4
See last week’s UO fishing report for detailed info on bream hotspots and techniques.
http://blog.angler.management/2025/06/unicoi-outfitters-fishing-report-6625.html
Afar:
Dredger and his furry daughter drove up to NC on Wednesday to cheer on fellow Rabunite Bluejay at Nan DH (58F at 10AM) and then to recon some park streams. Those bigger park waters ran 58-60F at lunchtime, with good flows from summer storms.
Dredger will be back soon with his dry/dropper and Euro rigs, both with a sunken ant dropper. PS: drive slowly so you don’t clip an elk in and around Cherokee.
Catch some daily Park angling intel here, thanks to our friends at LRO:
https://littleriveroutfitters.com/
That’s the latest intel in between our summer storms. We like these stream recharges a lot better than droughts and high fire danger. Find sone cool water and shade and have some summer fun. Just remember your bug spray, sunscreen, raincoat, and a good buddy to share your adventure. Stop in either UO shop if we can help you out. We’ll make today and every day your lucky day. 😉
Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.
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