Summary:
Despite two warm days, we are still within a stretch of cool weather that has sparked good trouting. Stealth and small dries spell success for blueline prospectors. Stocker fans will have to cover more ground to hook holiday leftovers. River bass are on fire - on any day that the water is clear enough for them to see and slurp your surface poppers. Lake bass are good and stripers are beginning to stir. Big Smokies streams are fun and wildlife watching is a bonus. And our WY vacationer showed off more memorable bows and browns. Lotsa folks are now gone back to work and school, so you’ll have more water to yourselves.
Details are in 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 UO shop if we can help you out.
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: purple haze, tan elk hair caddis, parachute ant, foam ant, micro chubby Chernobyl, royal humpy, Drymerger.
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, UV green weenie, prince nymph.
Streamers:
small black and olive buggers, bank robber sculpin, micro dungeon.
(Bass) Boogle bug, wiggle minnow, sparkle minnow, crawfish jambalaya,
(Panfish) Gill Scorpion, amnesia bug, girdle bug, chartreuse mop.
(Carp) carp nasty, gorgon craw.
Headwaters:
They remain really low, really clear, and surprising cool for t hi s time of the year, thanks to this string of cooler nights. To see how hot they’re getting, I checked several yesterday at 6PM. Upper Smith was 66,
Spoilcane was 67,
the river on the lower end of the WMA was 68 (with leftover stockers finning in the pool) ,
and a high trib was 66.
Trout will eat well at those water temperatures IF you don’t spook them. Creep up to those drought refuges (pools and logjams) and toss your favorite fluffy dry in there. Be ready for a real fast strike! Tan caddis, para-Adams, and plenty of High N Dry dessicant are highly recommended for blueline trout stalkers.
Stockers:
The GAWRD trout stocking season is pretty much over, except for a few stray fall stockings. That means you’re fishing for Labor Day leftovers. Fish fast and cover a longer stretch of stream to locate those holiday survivors. Try swimming a real small olive or black bugger thru the pockets as you wade downstream and cover some distance.
https://georgiawildlife.com/Fishing/Trout
Private Waters:
Our private trout waters are still shut down for summer. We need to see daily highs only reaching the mid-60’s before they’ll reopen. Feel free to call our shop ASAP to reserve those prime fall and winter weekend dates after October 15, when we reopen those cooled-off streams for business.
Tailwaters:
They’re still a really good bet! UO buddy and Tailwater guide Ryan: “This past weekend I fished the Chattahoochee tailwater 2 days consecutively at different locations. I landed 30+ fish via tight line nymphing, using 5x & 6.5x tippet with natural-colored nymphs (hares ear and pheasant tail variants) . A bit of flash in the flies seems to attract fish now that the water is stained by fall lake stratification. My friend hooked and landed his first double - 2 fish in one cast- which was awesome to be a part of!”
Warm Rivers:
They are looking real good today! After our lunch, Jimmy checked the Hooch at Duncan Bridge and I checked the 115 bridge. The Hooch at both crossings ran clear!
If we don’t get rained on hard, tonite, they’ll be a best bet for river bassers. Get your yaks and canoes ready tonite. Just check the USGS Hooch (Leaf) and the Chestatee river gauges before you depart. Make sure you don’t see an overnight flow spike from a midnite storm.
UO guide Israel: “Wes’ idea of fun is to drag an overweight, out-of-shape, 40 year-old through a steep downhill hike to a river, where you must use rock climbing skills to get clamber among shore line and fish. But hey we got a few Barts on stealth bombers and Boogle Bugs!”
UO Helen manager Wes: “Ditto what Israel said. A good morning session for Barts on topwater. We are all eagerly awaiting fall, but don’t forget to take advantage of the late summer fishing opportunities before they slip away til next year. “
UO friend RSquared: “I'm still chasing Coosa Redeyes in NW Georgia. A fellow TU buddy from the Rome area & I managed to catch a couple dozen each this morning. They are aggressively taking small minnow imitations. Several were feeding on top this morning. They will often come completely out of the water when they feed on the surface. The next time I go, I will bring some small Boogle Bug poppers!”
Our west-side buddy, Paul D, has a long-running outdoors column in the Rome newspaper. He had a mighty-fine redeye bass article today that, with his permission, we are sharing with you.
Ponds:
No recent reports, as our pond fanatics must have been busy at Labor Day cookouts. Small lakes will fish better and better with each passing, cool night. Expect more bass in the shallows this month to intercept your poppers and stealth bombers at low light.
Lakes:
UO guide Joseph: “Fishing on Lanier remains steady. With water temps in the low 80s the bass fishing has been great. I’m seeing lots of fish on or around brush piles on main lake humps or points. I am also starting to see some groups of spots near the creek mouths as fall approaches. I’ve had most success on topwater walking baits or swimming serpentine swimbaits/flukes just under the surface. Enjoy the brief video of us doubled-up on spots yesterday.
With fall just around the corner we’ll soon see what looks like cannon balls falling from the sky as stripers begin to move shallow and bust baitfish on top. I still have a couple prime fall dates available in October and November. If you’re wanting to get in on some awesome topwater fishing now is the time to book!
To inquire about or book a trip, give the Helen shop a call at (706)878-3083 or visit my website at www.josephclarkflyfishing.com”
Afar:
Dredger ran back up to the park on Wednesday to further test his new 10ft, 2wt Clearwater Euro rod. The day started with “lemons” as the rain poured and he waited for the break forecasted by his weather app.
He donned waders and a rain coat and grabbed his rod sections out of the tube. Distracted by the bull elk in front of him, he scraped the open truck door..
And his new rod turned into a 9ft, 11 inch model. Lemons!
He put the tipless rod back in its tube and decided to make lemonade out of the day. He pulled out his 6 wt bass rod and, given the stained water, he decided to swing for the fences. He added a versaleader to the floating line and tied on a big streamer. He swung that rig through a few big muddy pools and bingo, a hefty reservation rainbow, vacationing upstream, slammed his game changer. Homer, a 17-inch fish in the net.
He went upstream and switched to a double nymph rig under an airlock indi. And became the Chub King as two dozen attached their lips to his #12 mop and #16 Frenchie Euro bugs. Amongst the chubs he found a nice 10-inch wild bow and another hefty 14-inch reservation rainbow.
Drifting his bobber thru one last pool at 4PM, the indi stopped, he set the hook, and mayhem erupted. Somehow the Frenchie’s barbless hook and the 6X tippet both held,
and he netted a fine 16inch wild brown to end the day. Lemonade out of lemons!
Tip: stop in Haywood Smokehouse in Dillsboro for a BBQ sammich and massive brownie on your way home.
UO guide Palmer sent a few more pics from his western trip to rub it in. These studs were from the Green in WY.
Reminder:
Don’t forget Sammy’s freebie. Sign up for Strung online mag soon!
That’s the latest from our post-holiday environs. It’s much quieter up here now, with kids in school and parents back to work or in the football stands. C’mon up and treat yourselves to an early dose of fall. You might even make a little lemonade along the way. Hope to see you in our Helen shop tomorrow. Stop in and swap fish stories with me.
Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.
