TIE 1 ON

What a great time of the year in north Georgia. We can enjoy this wonderful holiday season in such a beautiful setting and fish too. God has blessed me in so many ways that I could never return thanks enough. I guided a trip at NCF yesterday and the scenery and weather just amazed me as it does each time I'm on the water. Yea, and it wasn't too bad either when we landed some of those beautiful NCF bows (on dries). It was a great day.

Well, since all that will be left of the turkey are the feathers - let's use some of those this Tuesday, Dec. 1, when we attempt to tie a "20iincher" stonefly. We'll also tie an X-Caddis as our dry fly and any other fly you request as long as we have the right supplies. The tying session will be at 6:30 PM at the Unicoi shop in Helen. Everyone is welcome and invited, even if you've never tied before. Bring a vise and tools if you have them, but if you don't we'll supply them for you.

Thanks,

Ron

Team Unicoi Wins 1st Annual Gold Rush Cup

Well, while the jury may still be out on the acceptance of competition in fly fishing, I must say that the folks at Gold Rush TU put on a great event Saturday to help raise funds for their cold water conservation projects. The 1st Annual Gold Rush Cup went off as smooth as silk with great weather, great food and great friendly competitors. And they couldn't have picked a more perfect host venue, Frog Hollow on the Chestatee River. Over 100 people attended the event and anxiously paced the river banks trying to keep up with who was catching what. The two-angler teams had an hour to fish each of 5 beats on the river and could record two fish for each member during that time. From observation, the pressure of competition appeared to result in trying to force some fish into the net as quickly as possible and, for those of you who have fished at Frog Hollow can attest, you don't force those fish anywhere. Even Team Unicoi, Hamp Cross and Chuck Head, were observed long distance releasing a few fish. All in all, it was a fun way to raise money for Trout Unlimited and Chuck and Hamp walked away with a nice cash prize and two custom-built fly rods donated by Garland Stewart. We're very proud of Hamp and Chuck. As always, their professionalism and angling skills were obvious.

We also appreciate these other four teams:

Team Frog Frog Hollow: Jackie Gooch & James Peterson



Team Cannon Falls Lodge: Corey Roberts & Andrew Koester



Team Alpharetta Outfitters: Brian & Randy Schiltz



Team Etowah Anglers: Ben Gann & Steven Hartman

Thanks to Kenny Simmons for the photos.

Fishing With Elk

You may think this photo is from a trip to Yellowstone National Park but you would be seriously wrong. Just this week, Rocket Roy Lowe, Robert Sullivan and Joel Hope, all Foothills TU members, got together for a trout fishing outing in the Smokies. Now we all know Fall fishing in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is awesome for more reasons than just the fish. The weather and the scenery are superb and the chance to spot an elk would just be icing on the cake. As you can see, this trio did much more than see some elk; they became part of the herd! With so many of our larger streams running too high to safely fish, the Smokies offer a fabulous alternative within easy driving distance. Oh, and by the way, they had great success fishing with the moderately high water level.

HARTWELL LINESIDES 11-21-09

Had a trip this am on the lake and boy, was the fishing great due to pre-front conditions. Water temp was 63 and wind was calm. Could not find fish where I have had them the last week, so I headed north to some other creeks. On the second stop we found lots of them. Ended up with 12 hybrids: largest 6 lbs; 6 stripers: largest 5 lbs; and one small spot. Today they would not take micro-baits, Clousers 2" to 2-1/2" were the ticket. But I could not resist putting the wiggle minnow on, and they ate it up. There is nothing better that a good top water bite. We caught all our fish in 1-1/2 hrs, when the sun came out it shut off like a light switch. Not much bird activity, look for schools of fish and bait on the graph and then hang out. If they don't come up within 10 minutes go somewhere else. While waiting, throw a sinking line down to them to pass the time, you can pick up a couple this way generally. Location is everything, look in the backs of creeks and go north.

Buck Ernst
buckernstfishing.com

Pickwick Smallmouth

If your passion is chasing trophy smallmouth bass, the number one place in the southeast has to be Alabama's Pickwick Lake near Florence, AL. And the number one guide for those big fish in Pickwick is Steve Hacker. My friend Jim Bruce has been fishing with Steve for almost 20 years and has trips booked years in advance. When Jim asked me to tag along with him for a quick run over to fish on Tuesday of this week, I couldn't turn it down. I've been there before and it is definitely worth the trip. No fly fishing this time as I'm still trying to learn the nuances of how you catch these guys. When in Rome, you know. Pickwick Lake is essentially a controlled river in that there is almost always a current running between Wilson Dam and Pickwick Dam. And that current determines when and how you fish. Last week there was an FLW bass tournament on the lake and, while he's not much on bragging, Steve's clients who were out with him at the same time as the tournament were outfishing the pros by a substantial margin. Here is Steve's description of the day:

"386 anglers blasted off at 6:30 this morning in the FLW Stren Series Championship. Hank Chitwood, from near Calhoun, GA, had the "misfortune" of having a trip scheduled with his son, Caleb, while all of this madness is going on.

"Pulled up on the first spot this morning, and Hank hooked a giant within 3 seconds. Unfortunately, it broke his line. Not to worry, though, as by 7:30 they had a livewell full of smallmouths, with the five best at over 25#. They caught about 30 smallmouths for the day, and lost 4 giants (2 breakoffs and 2 jump offs). Could have probably had a five best of 27 pounds or so, as the second big fish Hank lost right at the boat was a giant. Something interesting: for the first time that I can ever remember, nothing but smallmouth were boated for the day. No drum, spots, or anything other than those beautiful brown bass."


Jim and I didn't have the day the Chitwoods had but it was plenty fun. At our first stop, we fished for about an hour and had only four casts between us during that time that didn't result in a strike or a hookup. It was wild! Steve is strictly catch and release and he does on occasion guide fly anglers. It sprinkled rain on us all morning (thankfully the heavy downpours were just east of us all day) but the fishing was so good we didn't mind at all. The sun broke out after lunch and the weather was absolutely beautiful. A great day on the water!

Toccoa Tailwater meeting Saturday November 14th

An Important Message From Our Friend Ralph Artigliere, Blue Ridge Mtn TU:


The future of our Toccoa Tailwater has been a hot topic among Georgia trout fishermen recently. Blue Ridge Mtn TU is dedicating its meeting on Saturday to information on the present and future of the Tailwater. GA DNR Biologist have been earnestly studying the Toccoa tailwater for two years, headed by Biologist John Damer. John is an expert in tailwater fisheries and hired and assigned this project in light of his background. He is also a good guy and excellent trout fisherman. Last fall John spoke on his interim assessment of his Toccoa River study to our Blue Ridge Mtn TU chapter, and that presentation was one of the most informative and popular programs we had last year. Last year we heard some history of the river, saw lots of neat fish pictures, and learned a ton about the fishery. John is coming back to speak to us on Saturday, November 14th, 9am at the Chamber of Commerce Welcome Center off Hwy 515 across from Ingles (above CVS). Guest are welcome. You do not want to miss this, as John has another full year of study under his belt. Other than "where did you shock up that ten pound brown?" John is generous about answering questions. John presentation and Q and A will be followed by an open forum on where we go from here in protecting the river moderated by BRMTU President Mike Holloway. If you care about the future of the Toccoa be there Saturday, November 14th.

Ralph Artigliere
blueridgetu.com

We look forward to seeing ya'll there.

Tight Lines,

David and Becky Hulsey

THE River

I was able to spend a couple of days on THE River - last Monday with the one-two punch of Julian Byrd and Duane Stalnaker (Did anyone else know that Duane was/is a rock star?? By the way, he's also from some strange part of Virginia I've never heard of... somewhere in the western part of the state, I believe??) and this past Sunday with Jeff Durniak - and it was great. Was the fishing lights-out? Not exactly. Was it still awesome to be out there? Absolutely. Here are some shots from the two trips:

Fly Fishing in Georgia - Book Signing with David Cannon

Y'all remember the other day we posted about David Cannon's new book on Fly Fishing Georgia?  Well, we're really happy that Dave will be in our Helen shop this Saturday, November 14th from 10 to 4 autographing books.  Y'all come on out and get your book signed - we'll have plenty on hand if you haven't purchased yours yet...and don't forget, they make great Christmas presents!  (I can't believe I said that before Thanksgiving!)

What a Day!

Blatantly stolen from our friend Alan Folger over at 52 Trout:

Chad with beautiful Noontootla Creek Rainbow

When I began sculpting trout a few years ago I was in dire need of reference material. At that time I hadn't collected a lot of photo references so I was taking advantage of every available opportunity. I was bumming old issues of Fly Fisherman and other journals from my buddies and I was watching the best of the fly fishing shows on TV. Any opportunity to get more familiar with my subject matter was taken. One Saturday morning I happened upon something called Fly Fishing Masters on cable. It was a national competition to select the finest fly fisherman in the land. The weekly episodes and the qualification trials were coming to an end and they were fishing that day at a place called Noontootla Creek in the mountains of north Georgia. Kevin Howell (who an hour later had won the competition)of Davidson River Outfitters was in the finals, so the program got my immediate attention.

Sure, the fishing was great...but the scenery, the creek...was just as inviting. I promised myself on that Saturday morning that I would someday fish Noontootla Creek.

Fast forward to 2 years ago. I was working my booth at the FFF Southeastern Conclave at Callaway Gardens and happened to meet Jimmy Harris, the proprietor of Unicoi Outfitters. From researching Noontootla Creek I was aware that Jimmy was one of the select few that had access to this prime water, so a plan began to take shape.

At about the same time I was getting started doing colored pencil commissions of catch and release trout and I thought that Jimmy, with his reputation and his access to such great private water, might be able to help me jump start the program. So I reviewed his website once again, picked out an image and got to work drawing. A week later I emailed the artwork to David Hulsey, who with his wife Becky, runs Jimmy's store in Blue Ridge, GA. The plan was to create an ad that included the artwork and the photo that it was based on, which would then be displayed in the store. Well David loved it...but. But he couldn't use it. Turns out the fisherman in the photo, unbeknownst to me, was one of their guides...and that particular guide had just been fired! Back to the drawing board.

This time I picked another photo. A photo of a guy that I didn't figure would be fired anytime soon. I picked a photo of Jimmy...and a beautiful rainbow trout that he had caught on Noontootla Creek. Well, Jimmy loved the final result and I offered him the original artwork...for a price...a day on Noontootla Creek. Jimmy agreed, but under one condition...that he wouldn't "guide." He wanted to fish, and who could blame him?

So this past Sunday, along with my son-in-law Chad, Jimmy and I headed out of Blue Ridge for the short drive to the creek. It was everything I remembered from that Saturday morning TV show. The water was in perfect condition and with the fall foliage at it's peak, we had the place entirely to ourselves. I, as usual, headed downstream while Jimmy and Chad headed up.

Olive Wooly Buggars, along with a couple of split shot(apparantly these big native rainbows don't care for coneheads), were supposed to be the thing, so that's what we started with. I spent the next two hours drifting them down deep through the runs with no luck at all. I varied the number of shot...tried droppers of all sorts...fished them upstream and down...even put on a strike indicator...all to no avail. Major frustration. Here I was on one of the premier trout streams in the southeast, and I hadn't had a bite! I even (horrors!)tried the old San Juan Worm. A little later, in desperation, as I was about to tie on an egg pattern that a guide on Big Cedar had forced upon me, I came to my senses. "STOP Alan! You don't have to do this! Dance with the one who brung you!"

Yep, I tied on a black and yellow marabou...with not one bit of weight. I was either going to fish the way I wanted to and hopefully land a fish or two...or I was going home skunked again. It didn't take long. Within just a few casts I had caught one of the beautiful, but small, par marked rainbows that grew up there. And not long after that, when fishing a very narrow and fast run I hooked into a lunker.

When we were gearing up back at the truck, Jimmy had made the comment that my old 1950's vintage Medalist made some sweet music when a fish took off. Well, had he been there at the time of this rainbows first, second and third runs...he would have heard a symphony. Jimmy had warned me about the strength of these fish, and it was no exaggeration. My old Fenwick had never had such a workout. Two times, as I stumbled my way downstream, I was able to get the fish out of the faster current and near to shore, and two times she caught her breath and took off again. Finally, after what must have been fifteen minutes, I got her about half way into the net and to the shore. I was praising the Lord...and shaking like a leaf. That fish, without a doubt, was the finest rainbow I have ever caught. I managed to get the hook out and get her fully revived, but I just didn't have the heart to keep her longer while I would have fumbled to get out my camera and record the moment. I layed my rod alongside for an estimation of her length (24 inches) and eased her back into the current.

Meanwhile, Chad and Jimmy were having some fun of their own. Chad couldn't get Jimmy to fish though. That man is such a teacher...such a guide...that even though he was carrying a rod, he rarely used it. Rather, he was teaching the finer points of nymphing to Chad (a situation that I'm not at all pleased about, as Chad will now be out fishing me with even greater regularity!) and netting his fish, including the fine rainbow that I've pictured above. From what I heard, Chad's battle was just as epic as mine.

What a day it was!
Thank you Jimmy!

TIE 1 ON

Does your job have you stressed out? Is your better half (husband or wife) on your case?

Are you bummed out about the "Dawgs"? - let's not go there. Does all this make you feel like "tying 1 on"? That's what we'll be doing Tuesday, November 3, at Unicoi Outfitters in Helen.

Come join us at 6:30 PM for our monthly fly tying session - everyone is welcome. If you're just wanting to learn to tie flies or you already tie, you're invited. Bring equipment if you have it - if not, we'll supply it.

We have a pretty good time at each session and occasionally we even tie a fly that might catch a fish. Hope to see you Tuesday.

Thanks,

Ron

Fly Fishing in Georgia - A No Nonsense Guide to Top Waters

It's here!

As many of you know, our friend David Cannon, who occasionally posts here at the Liars Club Blog, has written a guidebook for fly fishing in Georgia.  It is part of the No Nonsense Guide series that are just excellent books - well-written and photographed and nicely printed.  The great news is that after much anticipation, the book has arrived!  We have it stock in Helen today, and will have some in Blue Ridge tomorrow - hey, even Amazon doesn't have it yet!

David's book is the first and only guide to cover Georgia's top fly-fishing waters. It details cold water streams, warm water rivers and impoundments, and coastal saltwater fishing. You'll gain you a quick, clear understanding of the essential information you'll need to fly fish Georgia's best waters. Outstandingly clear maps provide access points to waters. Find everything you need to know to fish a particular water from hatch charts to flies to essential gear. Full color photos of fishing destinations and flies to use. A great book for the beginner or expert.  The book features photography by Chad McClure and David and Stephanie Cannon; illustrations by Tom Landreth, Bucky Bowles, Paul Puckett, and Patsy Lewis Gentry; and a foreword by our own Jimmy Harris.

We're really happy about how nicely this book turned out, and know that you will be too.

Test Drive an Abel Reel

For those of you who fish Abel reels and those of you who have always wondered what the big deal is with such a pricey reel, Unicoi Outfitters is going to give you an opportunity to fish with their new Super 5N series. Everyone knows Abel reels are the Maserati of fly fishing equipment. They are designed and machined to the most minute of tolerances, their finishes are the most durable in the industry and their drag systems are flawless.

Between now and the end of January 2010, Unicoi Outfitters is participating in the Abel Reel Challenge and will have two Abel Super 5N reels available in each store for you to borrow and fish with just to see how you like it. We'll have one spooled up for a 5 wt. and one for a 6 wt.

A great feature of the Super N series of reels is FlexABELity:  they can handle multiple line weights with the change of a spool. For example, the Super 5N with a large arbor spool is for a 5 or 6 wt. The same reel with a standard arbor spool handles a 7 or 8 wt. line. This provides a versatility not found in any other reel on the market.  For more details on the Abel Super Series, check out this page at Abel's website.

So here is the deal: You may come in and check out (just like a library book) one of the reels and fish with it. When you bring it back, we'll have a Abel questionnaire which you'll be asked to fill out. You don't have to but there is an incentive: even if you don't want to purchase an Abel reel as part of this promotion, simply by taking a few minutes to fill out the questionnaire, you will receive a free Abel ball cap from the manufacturer.

If you do choose to purchase an Abel reel, if you do so within 30 days of your test drive, you will be able to get a solid color reel for the same price as a black reel, and you will receive free laser engraving of your name or initials.  That's an effective savings of $100.  

To sweeten the pot, Unicoi Outfitters will throw in a gift certificate for a half day of fishing at Nacoochee Bend (a $120 value) when you make the purchase. These reels aren't for everyone but if you want the absolute best this is where you'll end up.

One Brother's Admiration

I’m lucky to have the friends I am close to. They keep me humble and grounded.

I’m blessed to have the family I have.

They are always there and are constant reminders that I belong to something greater. My brother in particular is the best brother in the world as far as I am concerned. I am truly proud to be his brother. Since the day I was made an uncle by he and his wife, I couldn’t wait for this particular day to arrive, Guy Weekend. It was time to introduce my nephew Joe (who is 4 years old) to the world of trout fishing. I know my father was hauling my brother and me around on fishing trips when we were Joe’s age and we both turned out just fine, so nothing wrong with getting Joe started early. So with a truck load of groceries and fishing gear, we headed up to the cabin for a weekend of burger grilling, Chocolate Yoo-Hoo drinking and trout fishing fun.



There is no better job than being an uncle. And to think that in a couple of years I get to do it again with Joe’s younger brother Jack.


There is also no greater joy than watching the fire being lit in the next generation of trout fishermen.

New Fall & Winter Store Hours in Helen

With Daylight Savings Time coming to an end this weekend (Nov. 1st), our shop in Helen will be changing our hours of operation for the remainder of the Fall and Winter season. The hours of operation in Helen will also reflect the changes in operational hours at Smithgall Woods for fishing at Dukes Creek. Here are the new schedules:

HELEN STORE HOURS

M,Tu,Th,F: 9am - 5pm

W,Sa,Su: 8am - 5pm

DUKES CREEK WINTER SHUTTLE SCHEDULE

8:30am , 11:30am , 4:30pm

New Boat/ Hartwell Report

Today I went to Hartwell with my 5 yr old daughter to test our new lake boat and fish. We got a 20ft Xpress with a 115 hp fourstroke yamaha. This boat runs like a dream. With 2 large casting decks and room on the floor for a third angler this boat will make fishing so much more comfortable. It rides like a Cadillac. The post-front conditions from the last couple of days had the fishing off a little today. We had to cover a lot of ground but finally found a few schools of hybrids in the open water on the south end. Lots of chop made it hard to see the blitzes, you really had to watch the birds and keep your eyes peeled. My daughter caught her first lake hybrid- a 3 pounder on 8lb test. What a great fight on light tackle, she was so excited.

Buck Ernst

Piedmont Angling

www.buckernstfishing.com