Unicoi Outfitters is north Georgia's premier guide service and fly fishing outfitter, located on the Chattahoochee River near alpine Helen. Look for fishing reports, gear and book reviews, and general musings here from our staff and guides.
Just a quick note to let you know that I'll be speaking on "Tying Flies for Delayed Harvest and Stocked Trout" at the monthly meeting of the Tailwater Trout Unlimited Chapter on Thursday, Sept. 1. The group meets at Tanner's at the corner of Peachtree Industrial Blvd. and Suwanee Dam Road in Suwanee.
I'll be talking about selecting, tying and using different flies that are effective for delayed harvest streams -- not just at the beginning of the season but also as the fish adjust from recent stockers to veteran holdovers. The opening of the delayed harvest seasons in Georgia and North Carolina are fast approaching, and this should be a great way to get you started on getting your fly box ready for some truly great trout fishing!
The meeting starts at 6:30 but we may meet a bit earlier to do a bit of tying. Hope to see you there!
Our good friend Al Money just returned from a trip to Colorado and sends us this fishing report:
Ronnie Gibson and I got a chance to do some fishing on the Arkansas River in Colorado last week. We were about 3 hours southwest of Denver near the towns of Salida and Buena Vista. We hired a guide (Abe) through Arkanglers Fly Shop for a half day just to show us the tricks of the local water.
It didn't take Ronnie long to hook up with a nice Rainbow but I guess I am just a slow learner because we were several hours into the day before I got my first Brown to the net.
We both had two pretty fantastic days once we learned the trick of fishing tiny flies over shallow but fast riffles with no lead and absolutely drag free drift. Most of the fish we caught were holding in about 6 inches of fast moving water over a rocky bottom. They blended in so well with the bottom that you really couldn't spot them until one took the fly. The Rainbows are stocked but all of the Browns in this river are wild fish. Here are a few pictures, hope you enjoy.
We think this is a very good article on one of flyfishing's most noted icons. Written for the mainstream readers of the Denver Post, Scott Willoughby gives a different perspective of Gierach than we normally get from flyfishing periodicals.
LYONS — Ask John Gierach a question, and he's likely to tell you a story. Odds are it will be about fly-fishing.
After all, that's what Gierach does. Over the course of some 35 years now, the 64-year-old Lyons local has spun enough yarn to fill 16 books on the topic, ranging from guides to fishing small streams and high-country lakes to the iconic fish stories of "Trout Bum," "Sex, Death and Fly-Fishing" and his most recent title, "No Shortage of Good Days."
"I love them all and I'm proud of them all," Gierach said. "But I tend to think my last book is my best book, if for no other reason than you're supposed to get better with age."
It has been 25 years since "Trout Bum," and the white-bearded poet-turned-outdoors writer from middle America is still pursuing his literary artistry with the same dedication required of his favorite pastime.
"The two are inseparable at this point," he said.
On a recent day when high water made for tricky fishing on his local St. Vrain Creek stomping grounds, Gierach took time between casts to tell a few more tales.
Q: Is it really possible to be as one-dimensional as you portray yourself in print?
A: Nobody really thinks of themselves as one-dimensional, right? So probably not. I mean, I have an actual life. I do think about things besides fly-fishing. But, you know, I've been doing this writing about fly-fishing professionally for like 35 years, so it definitely colors who you are after a while, really sets the tone and direction of your life. But, I do have other interests and on book tours, people — well, women — ask, "Do you do anything else?"
What a beautiful brown trout that took a sulfur on the South Holston river this past week--1 of a few that I actually had the skill to catch--I need to fish more dries. Sulfurs & pheasant tails are the flies we will be tying during this month's tying session which will take place Tues Aug. 2. at 6:00 PM.
We will change locations this month to Nacoochee Methodist Church on Hwy. 17 about a mile or so past the Indian Mound on the left. Enter on Rabun Rd. and park behind the church.
Beginners & experienced fly tyers are both invited to join us. Hope to see you there.
One of our fearless leaders proves why he's fearless...not necessarily for the squeamish...
Shark Fishing with a Dropper Rig – Don’t Do It!!!
by
David Dockery
During a recent trip to St. Simons Island, I took the opportunity to get in a
little inshore fishing. Since it had been a number of years since I had fished
the Georgia Coast and not knowing the tidal creeks and rivers around Brunswick
very well, I decided that shark fishing would provide my best chance for
success. Twenty years ago when I
was in graduate school at UGA, Jim Music, who used to work at the Coastal
Resources Division of DNR in Brunswick, took me and a few friends fishing for
sharks in Jekyll Creek, behind Jekyll Island. We were very successful that day, so, here all these years
later, I felt like I could pull off the same kind of success on sharks.
I rigged dead bonito with 2 hooks, because I didn’t want to
risk losing half a baitfish to a short striker. Time being of the essence, my 2-hook rigs were hardly in
accordance with IGFA standards and I wasn’t too concerned about the possibility
of landing a new world record.
After we anchored, it was only about 10 minutes until we had
our first fish on. As my fishing
partner, Chris, brought what appeared to be a 30 pound sandbar shark to the
boat, I grabbed the wire leader and began working on removing the “stinger”
hook from the shark’s mouth with a pair of pliers. Things seemed to be going well until the pliers slipped off
the hook and the fish yanked the other dangling hook (which I had been largely
ignoring) through my left hand.
The fun for me ended at this point.
Thank goodness he was only 30 pounds! I quickly pulled the fish back to the
boat and started using the wire cutters to cut loose everything in sight. My only thoughts were, “It’s going to
be a long grueling trip back to the launch ramp.” Chris let me drive the boat to keep me occupied, while he
navigated with the GPS and monitored my state of consciousness. It took about an hour to get to the
launch ramp, and load the boat on the trailer. It took another half hour to find and get to the closest
hospital.
In the Emergency Room, I tried to be as nonchalant as
possible, while walking around with a 12/0 hook sticking out of my hand. Not wanting to freak out the other
patients in the ER, the receptionist quickly scuttled me back to the triage area.
The triage nurse didn’t immediately notice my problem, as
she started working on getting my vital signs. When she asked me what my problem was, I gestured towards my
hand. I think her comforting words
to me were “Oh God” or something to that effect when she saw my issue. She told me they take hooks out of people about once a week,
but she had never seen a hook that big in anyone. She then ask me if she could take this picture:
The Physician’s Assistant who treated me was from Kenya and
spoke English with a heavy accent.
He did provide me with an opportunity to ask “Unasema Kiswahili?” which
is not something I’ve used very much since learning the language skills
necessary to be an African professional big game hunter at White County High
School in 1982. He told me that he
expected it would take quite a while to SAW!!! through the hook sticking out of
my hand.
After his initial assessment, a nurse brought in a syringe
the size of a turkey baster full of Novocain and laid it gently on the
stainless steel tray in front of me.
(Oh Boy!)
The PA came back in a few minutes and began using the
syringe with reckless abandon. The
impalement by the hook was nothing compared to being worked over by that
syringe. My hand literally blew up
like a balloon with all the Novocain under my skin. As my Kenyan friend left the room, I sat there with cold
sweat beaded up on my balding forehead, waiting for his return.
When he came back a few minutes later, he carried in his
hands something akin to a battery powered Dremel tool with a diamond saw blade
attachment. He worked about 5
minutes carefully cutting through the hook above the barb. He then rounded the rough edges and
backed the hook out of my hand.
Finally, I was free!
The nurse then produced another huge syringe full of
Betadine (thankfully without a needle this time). My PA squirted the equivalent of several shot glasses full
of the reddish brown liquid through the back of my hand until it ran out my
palm. He blotted everything off,
gave me a most lovely Tetanus shot, and prescriptions of antibiotics and pain
killers. He told me not to bandage
the hand, unless I risked getting it dirty, because he wanted it to
“weep”.
Despite my description of the events in the ER, the staff at
the Brunswick Campus of the Southeast Georgia Health System all did an
excellent job. My poor attempts at making light of the situation were all anxiety and shock induced. Thanks to their efforts, I was able to pick up where I left off without missing a thing. I spent the next 3 days masking my hand
and walking around with a pocket full of surgical gauze.
Despite a swollen hand, I felt good enough the evening of
the next day to try it again. We
didn’t catch any fish, but I did learn that SeaTow charges $300/hr. to come and
get you when your boat breaks down.
That’s another story for another day.
In the meantime, if you would like for me to take you shark
fishing on the Georgia coast, please give me a call!
Recently, David and I took a trip to Eleuthera, Bahamas. We had been invited to visit John and Shirley Pool at their new home on the island. David and I could not wait to go vacation on Eleuthera with its endless miles of beaches and bonefish flats. Within a half hour of getting off the plane, John had us casting to bonefish. And, from then on we were fishing to bones on a picturesque flat daily. For a couple of days, we fished with a guide, Bonefish Gersh. You would not believe how well he could see these fish. Its crazy! Gersh helped us up our game and learn how catch these elusive fish. And, boy can John can spot these gray ghosts too!I could not tell you how many bonefish we had seen during our trip. John and Shirley are renting their "Bonefish Cottage" now to folks throughout the year. You can visit www.vrbo.com #351775 if you are interested in taking an adventure of a lifetime like we did. On one side of the cottage is the Atlantic Ocean and the other is the Caribbean. Eleuthera has so much character and a laid back lifestyle. So, if you get tired of putting a serious bend in your 8wt rod, you can enjoy the beach and do some snorkeling. You can snorkel and swim at Rainbow Beach which is less than 5 minutes from the cottage. The food is also incredible. Jerk chicken, conch burgers, conch salad and fresh fish are available daily from the local people. Fresh pineapple and mangoes that melt in your mouth. And, don't get me started on the rum drinks! We had our first exposure to Rum Bubbas at the fish fry on Friday at Governor's Harbor. A must do if you go there! If your interested in hearing more about our trip and Eleuthera, give us a call and we would be glad to speak with you. I might also share with you Shirley's secret Bahamian Mac and Cheese recipe. No, somethings are better kept a secret!
Livin the Island Life!
Becky Hulsey
Act Now to Stop the Most Serious Threat to Clean Water in Decades!
DIRTY WATER BILL THREATENS ALL GEORGIA RIVERS, CREEKS AND WETLANDS
Seldom will we send you a more important call to action.
The US Clean Water Act established and has protected your rights to abundant, clean, drinkable, swimmable, fishable water since the early 1970s. Riverkeepers were at the forefront of the effort to establish this important protection, and, nationwide, have used this tool to restore and protect clean water for decades. In Georgia, the Chattahoochee in Metro Atlanta, the mighty Altamaha from its headwaters in Metro to the coast, the elegant Ogeechee, the hardworking Savannah, the delicate Satilla, and, recently, your precious, stunning Flint, have benefitted from Clean Water Act enforcement actions, lawsuits, and/or federal oversight of state permitting.
Now, a truly radical group in the US House of Representatives, hiding behind a “pro business” and “jobs” agenda that will in fact lead to less productive businesses and fewer jobs, are moving forcefully to neuter federal power to enforce the Act, instead leaving it to Georgia officials to protect our water.
Please call your call U.S. representative today and urge him to OPPOSE H.R. 2018.Tell him that this bill will harm the Flint River and all Georgia waterways because if passed, it would:
• prevent the U.S. EPA from stepping in if Georgia fails to adequately protect our waters from pollution; • abolish EPA's authority to block permits that may negatively affect drinking water, fisheries, wildlife, recreation, and downstream communities; and • undermine the Clean Water Act's central goal to restore the Chattahoochee and other Georgia waterways to "fishable, swimmable" standards.
To find your representative, go to www.congress.org and enter your zip code.Then, under the “president and congress” column, click on your representative's name. Tell him that you are opposed to HR 2018, and in favor of abundant, clean water.
HR 2018 - "Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act of 2011" - was passed out of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee two weeks ago without any public hearing or environmental subcommittee review. This is undoubtedly the boldest attempt to date to dismantle the federal-state cooperation that lies at the heart of the Clean Water Act and has safeguarded our water ways for nearly four decades. When passed in 1972, the Clean Water Act gave EPA the authority to control pollution and improve water quality across the country, helping to protect our waterways for drinking, swimming, and fishing. HR 2018 takes EPA out of the picture, shifting regulatory power back to the states, back to the days when Georgia and other states could dump untreated sewage and toxic chemicals unceremoniously into our rivers and lakes.
YOU MUST CALL, TODAY, AND MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD. You will most likely talk to a staffer, or even a recording. Some of you may have a personal relationship with your congressman. Either way, simply say you are from your Congressman’s district (referencing his name, and yours, and the town or city you live in or near), and state that you are firmly opposed to HR 2018, and in favor of continued, strong federal oversight of the Clean Water Act. ACT NOW. ACT STRONGLY. IT IS YOUR WATER, YOUR RIVER. IT IS COMPLETELY UP TO YOU TO MAKE DEMOCRACY WORK.
Thank you.
For the Flint, and clean, abundant water all over Georgia,
Gordon
The Flint Riverkeeper's (FRk's) sole purpose is to serve as a steward for this valued waterway and to ensure the future life and health of the river and its tributaries remains certain during these uncertain times. FRK is a non-profit 501(c)3 corporation with the goal of protecting the Flint River in its most natural state for future generations to enjoy. Flint Riverkeeper ® is a fully licensed member of the Waterkeeper ® Alliance. Visit us at www.flintriverkeeper.org.
It's always good to hear from friends who send us reports from exotic (or not-so-exotic) places. This video report from Jay Shelton of UGA:
Last week I made my annual pilgrimage to the land of my birth (Louisiana) to do some kayak fly fishing (and overeating). I was delighted to find plenty of red drum exactly where I left them one year ago. Sight casting in water less than a foot deep can be challenging. Many things can go wrong during the process of stalking, spotting, positioning, casting, hook set, fighting, and hopefully landing a fish. It isn’t easy to describe the overall experience in words. So this year I tried a tiny waterproof, wearable, wide-angle video camera for the first time and was pretty happy with the results:
Snapshots grabbed from the video aren’t bad either:
One fish was kind enough to take me on a “Louisiana Sleigh Ride”, dragging me near enough to my brother for him to snap a photo before release.
Overall it was a great trip and for anyone who has struggled to “capture the moment” while fishing alone, you might consider a wearable video camera with a chest mount harness.
Our fly tying session will not meet in July since it is the week of the 4th--have a good time celebrating our freedom and living in this great country!
Even with the frequent rains we've been having lately, water temperatures in mid-afternoon on many streams have been getting a little too warm for a full day of quality trout fishing. So what do you do if you've got an outing with friends planned who don't have to be home before dark thirty? You drive a little farther north and fish the streams in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. When we stepped into the stream, the water temp read 57 degrees; cool enough for me to bail on wet wading. We had hoped to fish dry flies primarily but it quickly became obvious the fish weren't looking up so dry/dropper rig was our second choice. At least it was the second choice for two of us. Jeff, in typical Dredger style, went way deep with multiple split shot and a big meaty fly. A fierce battle with his 3 wt. and 5X tippet ended when Alan netted the big fish; all 21 1/2 inches of it. This is no Cherokee stocked pig; this is a wild brown caught on a small stream in the Park. An absolutely amazing fish!
I've been very busy guiding fishing trips for Unicoi Outfitters all Spring and Summer, but I finally I had a Saturday free. What does every good fly fishing guide do on his day off? I packed my truck with my gear, some food for lunch, some water and other liquid refreshment, and headed for one of my favorite high altitude small streams to pursue the elusive wild Tiger Trout as my mission. All I can say is that I felt a certain positive energy that day and I firmly believed that I would be successful. I used common sense to choose the stream that I felt would give me the best chance. You need a Brook Trout stream that has or recently has had Brown Trout also taking up residence there.
I drove about an hour from my home in Big Canoe and parked my truck off to the side of the forest service road, put on my hip waders and rigged up my Dan Craft one weight rod with 6X tippet and a 16 Royal Wulff, and then I set off to pursue my quarry. I started at the lower end of the stream and caught around ten small rainbows. As I fished my way up above a barrier falls, I began to catch some very nice Brook Trout, and ended up pulling out around 10 brookies.
I tied on a 16 Light Cahill and continued on up the stream and caught a couple more 8–9 inch Brook Trout. I came to a very overgrown stretch of stream that was impossible to fish so I decided to get out to an old logging road and return to my truck and try another stream. When I got to the old road, I had a change of heart as something told me to go up and see if the stream opened up again. I walked about a quarter mile and came back to the stream and to some beautiful small falls and drop pools. I dropped my Light Cahill in some slow water at the edge of the pool and a big mouth engulfed my fly and took off under a rock ledge. He fought like a Brown Trout and I knew it wasn’t a Brook. I finally forced him out from under the ledge two more times before he finally tired and raised his head and gave up. As i brought him in closer I realized that I finally had my elusive Tiger Trout. I pulled him into some shallow water and got out my camera for some pictures so all of my fishing buddies would believe me. I thanked him for the fight and released him back into his pool and headed back to my truck for lunch and a well deserved cold beer.
Then it hit me that I needed a Brown to complete the Ultimate Georgia Trout Grand Slam. After my sandwich and beer, I tied on some 5X tippet and another Royal Wulff and set out for a Brown. I hooked and lost two fish that could have been Rainbows or Browns. I finally landed a 9 inch Brown to complete my slam! I was tempted to call it a day and spend the rest of the afternoon savoring my unique accomplishment, but it was only around 2pm, so I kept fishing a bit longer. Only a few minutes later and a little ways further upstream, I drifted my fly in a deep run at a sharp bend in the stream and a big explosion took the presentation and headed down stream for a big log jam. I put as much pressure as I could to keep him from the jam, but there was not a lot I could do to tell this fish where to go. Then, he seemed to stop just short of the logs and hold still. He finally shot back up stream and then turned and went back towards the logs again, again stopping just short. He began to tire and I slowly worked him back up stream and into the shallows for a quick photo session...a 16 inch Brown to end up a once in a lifetime day on the water!
Here's a quick notice that we're having our first Orvis Fly Fishing 101 session of the year tomorrow beginning at 10am at both Helen and Blue Ridge stores. FF101 covers Knots, Rigging and Outfits and Casting Tips and is free. Participants receive a coupon valued $25 off Orvis purchases.
For more info or to register, call the Helen store at 706-878-3083 or our shop in Blue Ridge at 706-632-1880.
Stay tuned for info on future FF101 classes, as well as Fly Fishing 201!
There is just something special about the feeling an angler gets when he pulls into the Dukes Creek access of Smithgall Woods. Maybe its because it is a rarity for me to be able to fish this little slice of heaven since I am a landlocked Alabamian, but last Sunday I got the chance to head that way on a lovely morning with little fishing competition. As I rigged up my rod with the special attention to detail that is required to succeed at Dukes, I pondered my fly choice. The thought had crossed my mind that perhaps due to the warmer weather there could be chance that I could fool some willing participants on a hopper pattern, and what a thrill to fish terrestrials on a small stream to rising fish! Soon after preparations were complete, I made my way to the bottom of section 1 and immediately began to get into 4”- 6” wild rainbows. The coloration on these stream born fish is beautiful and a welcome sight for eyes that have seen a large proportion of stocker rainbows with their ubiquitous presence in most North Georgia streams and rivers. A methodical dissecting of each run and riffle lead me upstream inch by inch until I offered up the hopper/dropper to a nice little run that meandered by a submerged log against a cutbank. Almost as soon as the hopper struck the water's glassy surface a good brown announced his presence and hammered the fly, leading to brief but thrilling acrobatic upstream run.
Several more vividly colored small rainbows made their way to hand as I continued upstream and each one was a pleasure to observe as they inspected the hopper before ultimately falling to the offering. One nice rainbow briefly teased the end of my line before ultimately coming off, which was a repeatedly occurring event on this day, but I didn’t mind because it was all great to experience on a beautiful stream on a beautiful day, and on a hopper nonetheless.
After a small break to retie and re-strategize I set out upstream again. I quickly got back into more small bows again before making my way to a nice looking deep run with some fast water beating down into it creating a scene of crisply folded current and foamy water. Several casts yielded more of the previously noted fish, but I just knew there had to be a larger specimen lurking in the darkness of the run. The tumultuous current kept swallowing my now smaller hopper and taking it down to the depths of the run. Instead of pulling it out, I tried a few drifts with a tight line highstick technique to let the bead head prince dropper bump the bottom. The line became tight and a much larger fish appeared in the shallows of the run. To my surprise, he was attached to my line! After a brief staredown between him and myself (I honestly don’t think he realized he was hooked), he fully grasped my incompetence and fragility and took line screaming off my reel as he torched his way downstream. A frantic and acrobatic man vs. beast battle ensued culminating with the beast relinquishing power to my net, just in time for me to slack line and scoop as he flopped for one last moment of glory, and my barbless fly was hurled upwards as he mocked me and swam away back to his lair. Proof? I have none. Sense of accomplishment for “landing” a good Dukes fish in the “16- “18 range, I have! You’ll have to take my word for it!
Overall it was a great time to be in the water, and what a place to experience. It is getting hot up that way with the water temp reading 62 by mid morning, so get on up there if you want to have some luck. Hoppers and princes along with a peach Y2K were the ticket for me. Tight Lines!
Send in your fishing reports, with or without photos...or your fishing photos with or without reports and we'll see about publishing 'em here on the Angler Management blog or our other social media...just send to flyfish@unicoioutfitters.com
Hi folks!
