Summary:
Cooler weather is here, so take advantage of it. Headwater trouting is good, as are the tailwaters. Stocker fishing is hanging in there and should benefit from reduced temps and higher streamflows. Lake bassing is still good, while river bassing has been limited by consistent storms and muddy water. Distant trip reports were promising, too. Get up here soon before the holiday crowds beat you.
Details are in our blog. It’s new every Friday and will help you boost your own catch rates.
http://blog.angler.management/
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:
(Good for another week!)
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 & stripers) two tone stealth bomber (the olive/tan color has been deadly lately for river bass) Supernatural peanut, sparkle minnow, stealth jig.
(Panfish) mini stealth bomber, Boogle popper #8, brim reaper, girdle bug.
(Carp) squirmy hybrid, carp bitters, identity crisis.
Headwaters:
Despite consistent afternoon storms, our headwaters drain off and clear up very quickly. They’ve been warm, but will now cool off with the better weather knocking on north GA’s door. Mornings will still fish better for a while longer, but more streams should now be available to blueline fans with the coming cooler water temps.
Dredger snuck out for a few hours yesterday morning (21st) to one of his favorite headwater bow streams. He hit it early, while water temps were decent (65F), and had a blast on a #16 tan caddis on his short 3-weight rod.
It was fun watching the little bows come up in crystal clear water to either eat or refuse his fluffy dry.
He ended his AM shift with a few bonus fish on an ant, sunk 18 inches under his dry and run through a prime pool.
Hints: fish in the low, clear water are in FFM: full fright mode. Hit the cover, in the form of wood, deep pools, and deeper riffles with lots of broken water. Try lighter tippet (6X) and be patient while fish inspect your offering before deciding to eat. Bring plenty of dessicant to dry your fly between eats.
UO guide Sydney: “ I went to some high elevation streams this week caught a few nice specks. They liked my size 16 yellow stimmy, a great summer prospecting pattern.”
Stockers:
We should be seeing another decent list from GAWRD by 4PM today. Expect a real long list next Friday for the holiday weekend. It will be slim pickings for stockers after Labor Day, as most hatchery troughs will be refilled with 5-inch fingerlings for growout to spring 2026 stockers.
https://georgiawildlife.com/Fishing/Trout
Private Waters:
“Broken record:” We remain shut down for summer. Feel free to call our shop ASAP to reserve those prime fall weekend dates after October 15, when we reopen those cooled-off streams for business.
Reminder:
We are still offering flyfishing-only striper trips at Nacoochee Bend. Call the Helen shop at 706-878-3083 for details and to make your reservation. Aim for stained water after a storm, so watch that weather forecast.
Tailwaters:
They’re still a really good bet. Catch the Lanier Tailwater soon before fall lake stratification starts to stain it badly up near the dam.
UO buddy Mo is back from his European Adventure and provides this local report:
“I found some scrappy browns at Bowman’s last Sat. We started out early in the thick mist, but the day turned out great with great temps and some cloud cover. Had the place to ourselves, too, with only a half dozen cars in the Lower Pool lot. That was a pleasant surprise. The water’s stained a little, but visibility was still almost perfect.
A Size 16 Walt’s was responsible for fooling almost all of my fish. There were no risers at all, but they sure liked to eat a well drifted nymph. I messed around with several different droppers but never needed to change the Walt’s. It remained hot the whole time we fished. Around 2pm they just quit eating altogether, like someone flipped a switch. We used that as an excuse to head home.”
Warm Rivers:
The Hooch was high and stained when I crossed it this morning (22nd). North GA river bassing may be iffy this weekend due to expected storms. Again, watch the river gauges and call local fishing shops before driving up here to launch your yak in YooHoo to get skunked.
https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?site_no=02331000&legacy=1&agency_cd=USGS
https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?site_no=02333500&legacy=1&agency_cd=USGS
UO buddy RSquared : “Saturday, six members of the Cohutta Chapter of Trout Unlimited paddled 5 miles down a NW Georgia stream that has a reputation of fantastic Coosa Bass fishing.
We were not disappointed! The aggressive, scrappy Redeyes were taking flies from the surface & subsurface. Some of the members were spinning & sinning. Inline Rooster Tails and Mepps spinners were working as well as small crankbaits.
Ponds:
No recent reports. The bite should be pretty good with cooler, cloudy weather in the forecast.
Lakes:
UO manager Jake: “Despite it being August, mountain reservoir bass fishing has remained consistent for us. Some days it’s topwater, some days it’s a drop shot. The key has been going out with an open mind, having a lot of options ready, and seeing how they want to play that day. Once you crack the code the bite has been consistent. “
UO owner Jimmy took his grandson fishing with Jake last week and confirmed Jake’s report: “The topwater spot bite is hot!”
To book a reservoir bass trip with Jake, call the Helen shop at 706-878-3087.
UO guide Joseph: “Fishing on the Lanier remains steady. Topwater has still been producing more so on cloudy days. Main lake points and humps around brush piles have been producing. Baits such as serpentine swimbaits, walking baits, and flukes have been producing on top. Fly fishing this time of year is possible, however I’ve mostly been fishing with conventional gear as the fish are moving extremely fast. If you wanted to give the fly a try gamechangers, clousers, wiggle minnows, and other 3-4 inch long baitfish patterns will work.
I still have a few more prime moon dates available for fall and winter striper fishing on the pond but they won’t last long. Fishing on dates like these around good moon phases just puts a chip on our side of the table, conditions-wise.
If you’d like to book a trip call the Helen store at (706)-878-3083 or visit www.josephclarkflyfishing.com”
UO guide Iz is a reservoir flats fanatic: “I watched a carp break the leader and had a good many refusals. Believe the eat was on a hybrid worm. Tough conditions with these rains, making the water clarity terrible, but the summer flats fishing is still worth a try.”
Afar:
UO staffer Dredger returned to the national park last Monday for another dose of wild rainbows. The bite was slower than the week before, but was consistent throughout the day. Streamflow was up from recent rains, but the water was clear and the temp was still good (62 to start at 830 and 65 at his 4PM exit).
His Smokies catch was equally split between a tan mop and a sexy Walts. He topped off the trip with two fish on top via a yellow stimmy in a rippled, shallow pool. While total catch was down a bit, it was still a successful baptism of his new 10ft, 2wt Clearwater, a nice rod for light tippets in shallow water.
Athens Jay had some nice boat rides in the SC low country: “ The resident Redfish kicked our butts. Saw some each day, but no eats. Still it was great catching up with a former student and it is a beautiful place. I’ll be back for a rematch!”
UO friend “Dream Trip” John McGarity shared a pic of a big Yellowstone cutt. He said several real gooduns succumbed to his drifted ant pattern.
Grab a few raffle tix this winter for your chance to win a week of Yellowstone fishing with John. Follow the GATU website for raffle info:
https://georgiatu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/2024-Dream-Trip-Prize-Winners.pdf
Reminder:
Don’t forget Sammy’s freebie. Sign up for Strung online mag soon!
That’s the latest news as we welcome this next round of cooler weather. We will gladly don our rain gear in exchange for lower air and water temps and more cooperative fish. Good luck getting up here ASAP to catch some cool breezes before the holiday crowds arrive. Stop in either UO shop to stock up on hot bugs and even hotter intel. We will put you on the fish!
Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.
