Our October fishing-fest is here in earnest as dry, cool fall weather continues. Headwaters are very thin but cold, with trout-friendly temps throughout the day. Private water fishing is on fire, too. Pond and lake predators are also enjoying the cooler water temps and are cashing in on baitfish before their winter hibernation. The federal shutdown may have closed some developed facilities like campgrounds, but most of the national forest appears open to visitors (both Anna Ruby and Raven Cliffs were accessible today).
Just bring two things with you this weekend: a warm jacket for the chilly mornings and a dose of patience for Octoberfest crowds and slow-motoring leaf lookers. Fishy details are in our weekly report. It’s fresh 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, yellow or orange stimmy, foam ant, micro chubby Chernobyl, royal humpy, Drymerger.
Nymphs & Wets:
Stockers: red squirmy worm, slush egg, girdle bug, black woolly bugger, tan and olive mops, Duracell, psycho prince.
Mountain streams: hares ear, drowned ant, pheasant tail nymph and soft hackle, prince nymph, crazy leg stone.
Streamers:
small black and olive buggers, bank robber sculpin, micro dungeon.
(Bass & Stripers) Boogle bug, wiggle minnow, sparkle minnow, clouser minnow, thrasher, polar changer.
Headwaters:
They’ll still real low and clear, but they are nice and cold! Leaf fall isn’t bad yet, so bluelines are a best bet for quiet stalkers with long, thin leaders and smaller bugs. At 4PM today Smith was 58F,
Spoilcane was 62F,
and a high Hooch trib was 58F.
Those water temps will have trout chowing all day long.
UO buddy Mo: “ Kurt and I fished Dukes at Smithgall Saturday morning and had about 10 fish to hand each. Nothing bigger than snits tho and lots of fingerlings. The water was super low and clear and it was very challenging to sneak up on holes without spooking any fish that might be in there. We fished dull, smaller and lighter flies to help with drifts and avoid getting hung up on the bottom. It was more like fishing a blue line for specks than a stream known for big trout.
Speaking of which, we didn’t even see any. The fish we saw were podded up in ‘deeper’ holes and were not interested in eating our offerings. And forget about slower pools, any fish we caught came from spots with faster flow. We fished from 8-12 and decided to call it a day. After stopping by Unicoi Outfitters fly shop for some gear and fishing wisdom from Dredger and Wes, we joined the Octoberfest crowds in town for bratwurst and refreshments. “
Delayed Harvest:
Still gotta go north this month. See the Afar paragraph.
Stockers:
There are still some leftovers in the two short lists of streams stocked since late September.
https://georgiawildlife.com/Fishing/Trout
Private Waters:
UO-Helen manager Wes: “Our fall private water season kicked off this week. I ran a half-day trip at Nacoochee Bend with Tim and his friend. We caught plenty of fish on Duracells, eggs, and buggers.
The flows are currently very low, so a dry/dropper or poly yarn are gonna be your best options for a lightly landing strike indicator that won’t spook the fish.”
UO company manager and long-time guide Jake: “Nacoochee Bend fished excellent this week. Flows are still low, so dry/droppers and streamers were the best producers for us. We landed fish on #16 Girdle Bugs and Duracell nymphs that were dropped below a Chubby Chernobyl, with numerous fish coming on stripped sparkle minnows as well. “
UO guide Sydney: “My first guide trips of the fall have gone really well ! The water is still low and clear, but the beautiful, chilly mornings have dropped water temps and turned on the trout.
They have been falling to my dry/dropper and double nymph rigs!
Some cdc flies, eggs, and flashy bugs like flashback pheasant tails and sexy Walt’s have been my hot flies. Enjoy my guests’ doubleheader!”
Tailwaters:
No recent reports. Be careful wading in those heavily stained reservoir outflows.
Warm Rivers:
No recent reports, since most of our folks have now switched bsck to trout. Rivers are low and clear and mighty inviting to floating bassers. The Hooch at Hwy 115 was clear and 68F at 3PM today.
Looks like the cooler water has put an end to the summer inner tube armada. Get out there soon for shoalies and spots.
https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?site_no=02331000&legacy=1
Ponds:
UO friend Recent Retiree (Jay): “Weather this week has been very nice. One day I spent my lunch break at a nearby pond. The hopper bite was good and I had steady action on this tan/yellow 409 Yeager. Lots of fun on a 3-weight!”
Lakes:
UO guide Joseph: “Fishing on Lanier over the last week has still been good. With high winds and cold fronts, the stripers have been hard to find near the surface consistently. On the other hand, bass fishing has been phenomenal between high winds and cooler water temps. Most of the stripers we’re seeing have been in open water and surfacing sporadically. For the bass they have been on brush in creeks or near the mouth of creeks. Both bass and stripers are still moving fast, so conventional tackle is going to put more fish in the boat than fly rigs. We’ve mostly been utilizing topwater walking baits, serpentine swimbaits, and flukes. If you want to give the fly a try, then clousers, game changers and Henry Cowen’s somethin else would be great options.
Fishing is getting really good and should only get better from here! I still have availability for November.
To book call UO-Helen at (706)878-3083 or visit www.josephclarkflyfishing.com”
UO friend RSquared: “My middle son Matt took me fishing on Lake Allatoona this week. We had a blast catching Spotted Bass. We started at daylight & fished until noon. It was cloudy & misting rain off & on all morning. We were fishing submerged brush piles. When one area slowed, we would move to another. Dragging rubber worms attached to a Shaky Head Jig through the brush proved to be very effective. Purple worms were on fire!
I also received word from GAWRD that I had once again successfully completed the Georgia Bass Slam It was my 6th time since the slam began!”
https://georgiawildlife.com/fishing/angler-resources/GeorgiaBassSlam
Afar:
Delayed Harvest trout regulations took effect on October 1st in NC and TN. The NC streams got stocked this week, so expect big crowds, skinny water, and naive fish for the opening weekend. Also prepare for leaf fall, which has started at high elevations. We rode north of Asheville on Thursday and there was some decent color on the mountaintops. Simplify and streamline your terminal tackle to catch fewer drifting leaves and more trout.
UO’s nomadic reporter CDB: “I have spent the last two weeks plying the waters of the South Platte in Colorado. The weather was surprisingly warm and pleasant, which had the benefit of some great trico hatches. At this time of the year, the fish have gotten pretty picky. Water levels were really good however, as always, end of summer grasses make some of the runs more challenging. It’s great cover for the trout but can be challenging to fish subsurface. The fish burrow into those grasses every chance they get once they are hooked.
Trico spinners were the best recipe – size 22-24. Really good drifts are a necessity. Dropping an unweighted WD-40 or a gray RS2 off the spinner helped pick up those fish that were grabbing emergers.
If you go, hike to some of the more remote spots. Not only will you get away from the people, but you might also get to observe (or be observed by) the local wildlife. Had a fun morning watching a fox work the hillside below me. After catching and devouring something, a lizard I think, the fox made its way up to me and almost walked right into me where I was crouched in some scrub.”
UO buddy Ski checked in once again from his cabin on the bank of the Pere Marquette River in Michigan.
https://fishbaldwin.com/category/fishing-reports/
Last Saturday he batted one-for-two on king salmon, losing a good one but landing and releasing a really nice 32-inch hen on his 8-weight outfit and a beaded woolly bugger. He shared this video of a king spawning pod.
Events:
The Rabunites reminded us of two current events. First, there’s just one week left to their Winston rod raffle:
Second, everyone is invited to the October 21st monthly meeting at Currahee Brewing Company in downtown Clayton.
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1NgxDugHTL/?mibextid=wwXIfr
That’s the latest news from an Octoberfest-ive corner of Georgia. Trout stream temps are perfect and bass rivers are still clear and warm enough for good action. Lanier is waking up, too. Grab a warm sweatshirt for early morning angling and enjoy some of the best weather and water of the year. The Dawgs play late tomorrow, so you have time to sneak out for some trout. Stop in either UO store for hot flies and even hotter advice before fishing and festing.
Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.
