The north GA flyfishing community is awesome. We are proud to be a part of it.
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Wednesday, February 11, 2026
Friday, February 6, 2026
Unicoi Outfitters Fishing Report - 2/6/26
Congratulations to all fellow survivors of our last three weeks of storms. We are now being rewarded with a sunny, warmer week ahead that’s full of great news. First, our GA DH streams have received their February redosing. As expected, catch rates are soaring while those fresh “dumplings” are naive. Second, there’s a great trout angler party in Clayton tomorrow nite and you’re invited. Third, international fly fishing celebrity Jeff Currier joins Wes for Tuesday nite’s live Instagram interview. And fourth, our Helen shop’s moving plans (a few miles south to Sautee) are progressing really well.
While there is no news on Lanier’s frozen stripers and spots, hopefully they’ll swim a bit shallower over the warmer days ahead. We do have a great Okefenokee Swamp report from recent retiree Jay.
Check out all the details in our full report, here:
http://blog.angler.management/
(Link in bio)
Come see us in Helen (soon to be Sautee) and downtown Clarkesville to stock up on your winter and early spring supplies. Maybe you’ll even win that sweet 5-weight Recon that we’ve donated to tomorrow night’s banquet!
Helen: 706-878-3083. Open 8-5 daily. Moving to Sautee soon!
Clarkesville: 706-754-0203. Open 8-5 from Monday thru Saturday.
Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.
Wes’ Hot Fly List:
The same midwinter patterns continue to be our favorites.
Dries: parachute blue wing olive, griffiths gnat, little black stone (or #18 gray elk hair caddis, and a small tan chubby or elk hair caddis as the lead fly (a strike indicator for your tiny dry dropper)
Nymphs & Wets:
DH Stockers: twister egg, pheasant tail (nymph, soft hackle) or Frenchie, red squirmy worm, sexy Walts worm, rainbow warrior.
Mountain streams: zebra midge, soft hackles, prince nymph, frenchie or pheasant tail.
Streamers:
Black and olive woolly buggers, jig leech, UV polar Jig.
Reservoir Bass & Stripers:
Cowen’s somethin else. Gray over white clouser minnow, low fat minnow. Or a 0.6 ounce flexit spoon on conventional gear.
Headwaters:
They’re low and clear and should slowly warm up over the week ahead. They were still real chilly yesterday (6th) at noon (Smith DH 42F, Dukes at Smithgall 42).
Many forest roads may still be closed due to downed trees, so check the closure list on the Chattahoochee Forest page before aiming for interior roads.
Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest | Alerts | Forest Service
Most state and county roads are now in good shape with the thaw, but Russell Highway was still gated yesterday.
Delayed Harvest:
Both GA and SC wildlife agencies restocked their DH streams over the last week.
Our friends at Burton Hatchery said the raceways finally thawed enough to let them feed and harvest some fish once again.
Fresh stockers and warming water will spell success for DH trouters. Just be ready for tougher hikes around or over downed trees on angler trails due to the ice storm.
UO guide Sydney was lighting up the fresh Smith stockers on her off-day yesterday. A good mix of chunky bows and browns came to hand via some stripped streamers and drifted egg patterns.
She even took time out to help a new trouter land her first two trout on the fly.
Earlier in the week she had the chance to fish with her dad. They had a good trip to Smith, too.
The DH streams will be your trouting best bet this week. Try movement (stripped buggers), or deep-drifted bright (eggs, worms) and buggy (girdle bugs) bugs for fresh stockers, while small and dark bugs (pheasant tail and hares ear variants) will tempt older stocked fish. On warm afternoons, carry a few dark dries and be on the lookout for a few risers to little black stones, midges, and BWO’s.
Stockers:
Stockers remain slim. Your best bets are the two tailwaters for summer/fall holdovers and just outside the DH stream boundaries to find the wash-downs. Fishing public waters above or below private trophy waters might fetch you a straying brute or two. It’s Rainbow Romance season and some bows may swim upstream in search of clean gravel.
Private Waters:
They’re starting to warm back up and so is the fishing. UO-Helen manager Wes: “I had a trip with John this week on the Soque River. The mid 50’s weather practically felt like spring compared to the last couple of weeks it was great! The fish were pretty cooperative as well. Smaller bugs on lighter tippet really seemed to be the trick. We caught most of our fish on soft hackles and root beer midges and a handful of others on a micro girdle bug.”
Tailwaters:
UO buddy Ryan: “I had a minimally exciting 1.5 hours below Buford dam last Friday. Netted a rainbow and bounced a little brown. I know the section is loaded with fish, they just weren’t chewing much! Aside from one or 2 fish sticks that decided to go full “air jaws” for midges the size of a dandruff flake, it was slow going in the cold.”
Warm Bass Rivers:
No news, other than they aren’t very warm and those fish probably aren’t very hungry.
Ponds:
No news. Bring your skates. Half of them up here are still iced over.
Lakes:
No news by our gang. Good intel in today’s GAWRD blog:https://georgiawildlife.blog/category/fishing/
Rerun: Striper book author Henry Cowen said to carry a full sink fly outfit just in case you find a shallow school. But the money rig will be a spoon on spinning or conventional gear. Get some 0.6 ounce flexit spoons and bend them slightly at midpoint. Use your electronics to locate those deep schools of shad a d stripers in 40-60 feet of water. Drop the spoon down to them and then “flick and flutter.” Take 2-3 reel turns to flick the spoon up a few feet, then free spool it back to the bottom. The light, bent spoon will slowly flutter back down. This method will get you some stripers and spots while you wait for warmer water and shallower schools.
Afar:
Athens Jay: “After watching the Unicoi Instagram live event with Captain Bert Deener, I was very curious to check out winter bowfin fishing on the fly in Okeefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.
I spent a day with Captain Bert and really learned a lot. He has a tremendous amount of experience and it was truly a pleasure to fish with him. I landed a bunch of beautiful bowfin despite very cold (52 degree) water temperatures! Bert is also an innovative fly and light tackle lure designer and his flies were deadly all day. I had success with two different color combinations (black/chartreuse and electric chicken). If you are feeling the urge for some hot fish action in the middle of winter, give Bert a call!
https://www.facebook.com/share/1NGPkMTVzq/?mibextid=wwXIfr”
Ed note: Congrats to Athens Jay! He was in South Georgia at a professional meeting, but set aside an extra day to fish with Bert. After that great fishing trip, Jay was surprised and honored with a career achievement award. His 40-year career at UGA helped to “spawn” many cohorts of fisheries professionals now working across the nation!
Speaking of mentors, our own RSquared made the best of his time on the D.L. Rodney said, “No fishing for me. I am still recovering from shoulder surgery. However, I did get to spend the week representing GATU with 170 fishy friends at the annual “Ga. Chapter of the American Fisheries Society” meeting on Jekyll Island. I am pictured with 3 UGA 5 Rivers Club members. Left-right : Sawyer Maddox, myself, club president Sophia West, & Anna Cawthon. Those students are excited about attending tomorrow’s Rabun Rendezvous!”
Events:
Don’t miss the Rabun Rendezvous Saturday night in downtown Clayton!
The Rabun Chapter of Trout Unlimited
Wes’ “Unicoi Undercurrents” continues each Tuesday night at 7PM. Next up is a true flyfishing celebrity. Worldwide trekker Jeff Currier has caught more species on the fly than we can count!
And have you ever seen his amazing artwork? Tune in to a fascinating interview and take advantage of your chance to ask Jeff some questions.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DUYWb81kYNe/?igsh=eGZzcWlyZjU0NGJy
That’s the latest, optimistic fishing news as we welcome a week of hospitable weather. Get out there and wet a line before Old Man Winter returns for Round 2. Don’t forget some Saturday night BBQ, Tuesday Currier tales, and a dozen buggers for some fresh DH fish. Come see us in Helen (soon Sautee) and Clarkesville for your fly resupply.
Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.
Tuesday, February 3, 2026
We are Moving!
Unicoi Outfitters is excited to announce that we are moving our Helen store from its current city location to a new site just five minutes down the road at 2454 Highway 17 in Sautee-Nacoochee. That’s just two miles east of the Nacoochee Indian Mound. We will be across the road from the Old Sautee Store.
Avoid the Helen traffic and join us in our beautiful new White County home. We look forward to serving you here in Sautee and in our second store, the UO General Store, still on the downtown square in Clarkesville.
We are looking forward to a great spring of new fishing memories with all of you. Watch for the move-in date and come see us in Sautee!
Saturday, January 31, 2026
Unicoi Outfitters Fishing Report - 1/ 31/26
Greetings from the frozen tundra of north Georgia and welcome to Round 2 of our Winter Wonderland. I might pass on grilling burgers today here at home in Cleveland. Apologies for being a day late, but we had a real long, fun Friday at the Fish Hawk show.
Today’s report is similar to last week’s. You’ll do best to delay your fishing trips for a few days until the roads clear again and air and water temperatures recover from their deep freezes.
The extended forecast suggests that our region will warm back up starting about Tuesday, so aim for the end of the week to scratch your angling itch. Remember that a lot of Forest Service back roads may still be closed due to downed trees, so check with the feds before venturing very far off the main county roads. We have the USFS link in our full report.
In the meantime, enjoy some great midwinter events on tap this week. For those of you snow-free in Atlanta, the Fish Hawk Fly Show continues today at their Buckhead Store on Miami Circle. Henry Cowen is on his way back to the show now to tie his striper flies and sell his striper book, with all proceeds going to his “adopted” Lake Lanier family needing shelter from the storms.
Wes’ great interview series returns on Tuesday. Native bass fans shouldn’t miss his Instagram live interview with redeye expert and book Author Dr. Matthew Lewis. Tune in at 7PM.
And on Saturday, the 7th, the Rabunites welcome all comers to their annual bluegrass and BBQ banquet, the Rabun Rendezvous at the county civic center in Clayton.
Ties some flies, go to the Fish Hawk show, attend some events, and maybe even plan a reunion with your favorite waters at the end of the week. Let’s be thankful for all the power companies who restored our power, and even for this precipitation to recharge our streams. It’s mid-winter and we are weathering January as we should. Before you know it, March will be here, stripers will chase shad in the shallows, and a few trout will rise to the first bug hatches of spring. Relax now and get ready for that. Enjoy some easy reading today via our full report, here:
http://blog.angler.management/
(Link in bio)
Stay warm and thankful for that heat. We’re a lot better off than some folks, like our Nashville friends. Our stores are closed today, but we’ll reopen as soon as the roads are safe again for y’all and our staff.
Helen: 706-878-3083. Open 8-5 daily (weather permitting).
Clarkesville: 706-754-0203. Open 8-5 from Monday thru Saturday (weather permitting).
Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.
www.unicoioutfitters.com
Wes’ Hot Fly List:
Who are we kidding? There are no hot flies now. Everything is cold! But some of these will work at the week-end thaw.
Dries: parachute blue wing olive, griffiths gnat, little black stone (or #18 gray elk hair caddis, and a small tan chubby or elk hair caddis as the lead fly (a strike indicator for your tiny dry dropper)
Nymphs & Wets:
DH Stockers: twister egg, pheasant tail or Frenchie, sexy Walts worm, rainbow warrior, zebra midge, red tag.
Mountain streams: ice auger first, the a zebra midge, soft hackles, prince nymph, frenchie or pheasant tail.
Streamers:
Black and olive woolly buggers, jig leech, UV polar Jig.
Reservoir Bass & Stripers:
Cowen’s somethin else. Gray over white clouser minnow, low fat minnow. Or a 0.6 ounce flexit spoon on conventional gear.
Headwaters:
They’re low and clear and icy and not worth hitting right now. In fact, many forest roads may still be closed due to downed trees and/or ice.
https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?site_no=02330450&legacy=1
I did my weekly recon Thursday around 4PM. Spoilcane along Hwy 75 was real low and clear and 42F.
Both Russell Highway and Smithgall park were still closed. White county roads were open, but I saw where road crews had cut out hundreds of downed trees from them so we could pass.
Do your homework before you return to remote mountain streams. Your best bets will be waters very near paved, main roads. Watch this Chattahoochee National Forest Service page for forest road and recreation area updates:
Delayed Harvest:
Most weren’t very accessible due to icy roads and downed trees. Smith was, however, and anglers had some success, mainly on eggs/nymphs, but some on dries!
The stream was 42 F on Thursday at 4PM and slightly stained from the lake.
I ran into new flyfisher Anthony, who said he had a stellar Wednesday on his dry/dropper rig, but found slower fishing on that Thursday. Once he added a heavier anchor fly to sink his two-bug rig, he scored.
Smith, Ami, and the Hooch are DH streams near paved roads and should be the first to restore safe access for y’all. Get some small eggs, girdle bugs, and dark nymphs deep and you should find some success when water temps hopefully rise back into the 40’s.
Caution: Rabun County roads are steep, shaded, and curvy. Add some snow and ice and we will all slide off the side of the mountain. Same for the Toccoa in Fannin. Wait until those roads warm up, even in the shady spots, before venturing back to that county’s creeks.
Stockers:
Stockers are slim. Your best bets are the two tailwaters for summer/fall holdovers and just outside the DH stream boundaries to find the wash-downs after last Saturday’s floods.
Private Waters:
No recent reports.
Tailwaters:
UO buddy Ryan: “I had a chance to get out with my friend Greg to catch some fish right before the Ice-pocalypse a week ago. We did some tight line nymphing, and even with the cold front and pressure change we found a handful of eager feeding fish.
Greg has paid his “Hooch Dues” over multiple trips, and I believe he’s now primed for some great days in the near future. I even saw fish rising, well more like “sipping” some kind of bug from the surface film. I assume they were midges or blue winged olives since I didn’t see any insects flying. These holdovers and “trout in the classroom” survivors seemed to be well fed, with round bellies on most of them.
So what is a Trout in the Classroom “survivor”?? For approximately a decade now, my local Upper Chattahoochee Chapter of Trout Unlimited has partnered with ~20 schools in setting up fish tanks and then delivering rainbow trout eggs for students to raise in classrooms, learning along the way. Once these fish reach about an inch in length, the classes take a field trip to the river. Our TU chapter gets a stocking permit from GAWRD so we can release those fish into the Tailwater. Riverside Stations are waiting for the groups of students, with local TU volunteers teaching knot tying, stream ecology, insects of the river, fly casting and more. Then everyone gets to release their own fingerling by hand into the river.
Over the years, the number of fingerlings that have survived has noticeably increased. These fish look wild with perfect white-tipped fins, fight wild, and are unmistakable in comparison to a stocked trout!
I was lucky to join for my first release day earlier this week and it was a blast!”
Warm Bass Rivers:
No news, other than they aren’t very warm and those fish probably aren’t very hungry. Bring a tipup and go ice fishing.,,,
Don’t miss Tuesday night’s interview with Matt Lewis! Details below.
Ponds:
No news. Bring your skates.
Lakes:
No news. Most fly folks have stayed off the lake since the fish have gone deep. Striper book author Henry Cowen shared a great midwinter tip today while driving back down to his tying booth at Fish Hawk show. He said to carry a full sink fly outfit just in case you find a shallow school. But the money rig will be a spoon on spinning or conventional gear. Get some 0.6 ounce flexit spoons and bend them slightly at midpoint. Use your electronics to locate those deep schools of shad and stripers in 40-60 feet of water.
Drop the spoon down to them and then “flick and flutter.” Take 2-3 reel turns to flick the spoon up a few feet, then free spool it back to the bottom. The light, bent spoon will slowly flutter back down. This method will get you some stripers and spots while you wait for warmer water and shallower schools.
https://www.captmacks.com/store/product/berrys-flex-it-spoon/
Stop in the Fish Hawk show today and talk to Henry. He’s tying striper flies and selling them and his book, with all weekend proceeds going to his “adopted” Lanier family. Donations still welcome and appreciated!
Events:
Today is Day 2 of the Fish Hawk fly fishing show on Miami Circle in Buckhead.
https://www.thefishhawk.com/service/events/
Wes’ “Unicoi Undercurrents” continues each Tuesday night.
Next up is native bass fan and book author, Dr Matthew Lewis. If you like chasing summer river bass, then don’t miss this program and your chance to ask Matt some questions.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DUGPVVJgKYW/?igsh=c3lnMTgzNTJhd2lh
Reminder: the Rabun Rendezvous is next weekend.. That annual bluegrass and BBQ banquet is on February 7th at the Rabun County Civic Center in downtown Clayton. I’m Save a few bucks by purchasing your banquet tickets online now, before the extended Feb 2 cutoff.
https://tu.myeventscenter.com/event/Rabun-Rendezvous-2026-119556
The second batch of prize photos is now online:
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DUmEUNUwU/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Enjoy the snow and our restored power and warmth, thanks to all of the GA Power, EMC, and visiting company heroes. Good luck when the roads and rivers eventually thaw out. Stop by and see us.
Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.
www.unicoioutfitters.com
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