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Abel Nippers

50 bucks for nippers?  Yes, it's extravagant - but an affordable extravagance!  Great for a stocking stuffer!

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Tie 1 On--Merry Christmas

Looking for a rewarding hobby--want to fish your own flies--how about just being around some other folks that enjoy sharing their "fly fishing" passion as much as you do!

If either of these interest you, then you are welcome to join us Tues. Dec. 6 at our fly tying session. We will meet in the Sautee valley at Nacoochee Methodist Church (located off Hwy 17) at 6:00 PM. If you don't have your own, Unicoi will provide vises, tools, and material--thanks.

We always have snacks and drinks--yea, and always great fish stories.

Steve Hudson from Alpaharetta will be with us for this Dec. session and will show us how to tie some of his delayed harvest flies--what great timing. We welcome Steve and anyone else who has an interest in fly tying.

See you in church,

Ron

For A Brief Moment, I Was the Heron!

My friend Jeff Durniak is fond of telling anglers new to the sport that, to be successful, they need to observe the best angler on the river and "Be the heron."  In other words, assume a stealth mode when approaching the area you intend to fish.  It's something most experienced anglers do instinctively...most of the time.  

On Friday, Alan Juncker and I hit the Chattooga DH around mid-day, hoping the sun would have warmed things up enough to trigger some feeding activity.  Unfortunately, after a long afternoon of changing flies, adding split shot, adjusting strike indicators, lengthening leaders, resting on the bank in a small dot of sun-warmed sand and moss, but little catching, I decided the warmth and comfort of my Tahoe was more appealing than watching the sun drop behind the ridge.

Crossing the river back over to the South Carolina side, I glanced downstream to where I had begun the day; that nice deep run below a steep, shallow riffle.  I had struck out there right before lunch.  Was it due to the 43 degree water temperature?  Who knows but it's worth one more try.  Stepping into the top of the riffle, I stop to study the run from above.  Almost instantly I notice a splashy commotion in the riffle.  Some kind of fish is working it's way through the shallows like a spawning salmon.  Standing dead still, I watch as it squiggles through the cobblestones...right to my feet!  As it rested in the small eddy of my right leg, I looked down on a big, brightly colored male brookie.  Does he even see me?  Is he blind?  

For at least five minutes, I stand frozen looking down on the beautiful white-tipped fins, the classic vermiculated worm patterns on his back and his huge toothy kype jaw methodically opening and closing. Everything goes through my mind.  I think I can reach down and grab him.  No, grappling for trout is illegal. If I had my net, I could just dip him up.  But I think seining is illegal also and, besides, I didn't bring a net. This is too weird not to try something.  All this time, my rod is hanging in the crook of my left elbow, reel to the front, rod behind me.  I wonder what would happen if I could drop my fly in front of him?  But how do I get in position without scaring him?  Slowly I unhook my fly from the guide and grasp the handle of my rod in my left hand.  Picture this; rod tip pointing upstream across the back of my shoulders with the leader and flies hanging in the current below my right knee.  Still watching the fish hanging at my feet.  Getting a fly to go where you want it in moving water while pointing the rod in the opposite direction ain't as easy as it sounds.  The little hares ear nymph dropper fly keeps rising to the surface and the brookie apparently never sees it.

Now I'm looking around to see if any other anglers have spotted me.  My contorted body must look like I'm suffering a seizure right in the middle of the river.  Would they realize I'm being the heron?  Whew!  No one in sight.  I'm going to be more aggressive. Slowly I take a step backwards, then another.  The fish, likewise, slowly moves the same distance away from me.  We're about a rod length apart now and I've got more options.  Since he obviously knows I'm not a mid-stream rock, I'm confident he won't take my fly.   What the heck, I'll put it in front of him anyhow.  Holding my rod out horizontally, I watch only my olive woolly bugger drift down in the crystal clear water to within 6 inches of the big mouth.  Like a puppy snapping at a Milk Bone biscuit, he surges forward and  crushes the fly!  Whoa!  Now he's fully aware of my intentions and does not want any part of it.  Only minutes earlier we were the closest of companions, my right boot provided respite from the exhausting path through the riffle. Now we're battling in the current; strong fat-bodied fish against nine feet of bent graphite and 5X tippet.  I give just enough to let him swing out into a calm area where he doesn't have the help of rushing water.  From there I ease the big fish into a puddle of water bounded by humps of golden grass and release the pressure. He's safe and resting comfortably in the small pocket so I dig out my cell phone for a couple of quick photos.  A gentle belly rub and I release him carefully to resume his journey.  What a bizarre vignette in an afternoon on the most beautiful wild river in Georgia.  I think I'll be back again soon.

Tradition Starter and Memory Maker!!

Mark Nosacka and his son JP fished with me on Saturday, doing an instructional half day at Nacoochee Bend.  Mark, having done a little fly fishing before, was wanting to get his son JP started off on the right foot.  I'll tell you, JP was a great student.  He listened well and tried hard to carry out my instructions.  He asked great questions and had a smile on his face all day....  especially when he realized that he had caught more fish than his dad !  Both he and his dad hooked fought and lost a "Nacoochee Toad".  You guys will just have to come back and put those fish in the net next time!! 

 

Rex Gudgel

FFF Master Certified Casting Instructor 

Courtney Williams Floats the Toccoa River - 11/25/11

Butch Martin had a nice float on the Toccoa and sends this along:

Courtney Williams and his father floated with me on the Toccoa the Friday after Thanksgiving and caught these two nice fish:  A couple of nice rainbows:  22" and 24"!  The Toccoa River floats are becoming very productive with 30 - 40 fish days and chances to catch some really memorable fish - come join us!

Never Too Old to "Tie 1 On"

What a great Thanksgiving--I really enjoy this time of year--we have so much to be thankful for!
I'm so grateful that I had the opportunity to fish with 93 year young "Mr. Bob" Still. It's hard to pick out which one he is in the picture, but he's the young looking guy in the middle. It was a joy and privilege to fish with and spend time with all of the Still family--David, Charlotte, and "Mr. Bob". Of course, he caught the largest fish, even though he took a "spill" in the process. He recovered well and brought the fish to net.
What a great day--thanks for sharing your time on the water with me, "Mr. Bob", and thanks for fishing with Unicoi--you are an inspiration.
Thanks,
Ron

Holiday Sale!!

Great deals on Orvis Clearwater II, Access, and Helios Outfits

Now through Dec. 24th.

Visit shoponline.unicoioutfitters.com or click the pics below to go straight to the deals.

Abel - A "Reel" Work of Art

In recent years the fly fishing industry has provided us with more and more choices when it comes to gear. Each tool for the job can be had in nearly any size, shape, color and even price. I think it is great that someone getting started in the sport can get an entry level outfit that will outperform top level technology of years past, all at a fraction of the cost. The other side to that, when fly fishing becomes a passion, there are companies such as Abel that provide the opportunity to own and fish with a functioning work of art. You don't need expensive gear to enjoy fly fishing, I just think it is great that there are people out there that love the sport enough to put this much effort and dedication into it.

Blue Ridge Tying Night!

Hey Guys and Gals the Unicoi Outfitters Fly Shop in Blue Ridge is having its monthly fly tying night this Thursday Nov. 17th at 6:30pm til 8:30pm. So far they've been well attended and lots of fun. So bring your tying stuff or they'll be free equipment and materials to use if you don't have something. Art and Larry will be heading up the meeting so they'll be plenty of shooting the bull time and fishing stories told. And Best of all it's free!

Steelies, Bows & Browns

After an unsuccesful week of deer hunting in Ohio, I headed up to New York for a mix of whitetail and steelhead. A friend of mine from North Carolina was up in NY chasing some steel and asked me to join him, so I headed to the creek on Saturday morning. The wind was gusting up to 30 mph, but down in the low area of the creek it was fairly pleasant. The water has been low on the Great Lake tributaries and this creek was one of the few that got some rain and had a decent number of fish. We had a lot of hookups and between the three of us we landed 10-12 chunky steelies. I brought 3 to hand with many LDRs on the day. All in all it was a good day.

 

On Sunday, the winds were up howling again, so I decided to hit one of my old haunts that I grew up fishing on for inland trout. I decided that I needed to knock the rust off of my comp fishing, so I rigged up the 10.5ft 3wt to give it a go. That day's recipe called for a size 8 Walt's Worm for an anchor and a size 14 hot spot Frenchie for the top offering. On the third cast, a had fiesty wild rainbow smash my anchor fly. The next cast called up another rainbow. The rust was knocked clear off the rod and my confidence was high, only to be smashed back down to reality as I spent the next 45 minutes fishing with only 2 more bows to show, but I did have a couple of LDRs.

Feeling a little low, I hopped in the truck and headed downstream a few miles to some honey holes that has been known to hold some spawning browns. I only had an hour to fish as I had an engagement to attend, so the pressure was on (kind of like fishing a comp). I worked a bunch of holes with feverish speed and missed a couple of nice fish. I got to the top hole and yanked out two nice size wild bows for the effort. I decided to call it a day and headed back for the truck. I stopped at the deep hole down by the truck and started making a few "last casts", knowing full well that I have never caught a fish out of this hole. This hole is about 10 feet deep and I was all the way at the bottom just churning my flies when the line got tighter than it should be. Knowing this is either the mother of all snags or a beast, I laid into the rod throwing caution and my 6x tippet to the wind. What happened on the other end of my line was something that reminded me of a Northern Pike head thrash. From the depths of the abyss, I could see a massive head just shaking wildly. The fought upstream and down, all the while staying at the bottom of the hole. I tried twice to take me into the log jam, but I leaned back on the rod and with the help of 10.5 feet, I was able to steer him back. After a ten minute battle and many choice words with myself for leaving the net in the truck, I beached the beast from the depths. The was truly a trophy wild brown that will rank up there as my best brown trout I have ever caught. It was not the biggest nor was it a Great Lake run fish, but it was a wild fish that I caught on my home water. You have to love those "last casts".

 

Story and photos by Foothills TU Newsletter Editor Bob Lux

A Great Time to Learn to Fly Fish

Friday, before the onslaught of the Gold Rush Tournament, I had the opportunity to take Joanne and Jasmine out on one of our Gilligan Specials at Nacoochee Bend. The 3 hour adventure started as usual, fitting boots and waders, putting rods together, tying on leaders, casting lessons and I said to myself, "Self,... why don't you get tired of this or at least get a little bored?" And I answered myself, "Self, because I make new friends every time, my efforts are always appreciated and rewarded, and I just love being a part of someone putting all of this together and catching their first fish on a fly rod!" Good reasons ! Thanks for the laughs and appreciation you two , I had a great afternoon!

Rex Gudgel

FFF Master Certified Casting Instructor

Tying for DH with Steve Hudson

This past weekend, we had Steve Hudson at the shop tying various fly patterns he created specifically for fishing the Delayed Harvest regulated streams in Georgia. Steve also did a "DH Fly Tying" clinic at the NGTO fall fling on Saturday. His patterns can be found in his book "Tying Flies for Stocked Trout" which is available for purchase at Unicoi Outfitters, online at geargiafishingbooks.com, or through Steve himself.

- Trent Sizemore

www.sizemoreoutdoors.com

Record Georgia Walleye?

"Yesterday, we collected probably the largest walleye anybody has ever seen in Georgia waters (picture attached).  The behemoth walleye was 30-inches long and exceeded the capacity of our certified scales that weighs up to 12 lb.  Using a Boga grip, the giant walleye weighed a hair over 12 lbs.  In the spring, this huge female walleye will probably weigh 15 pounds!  The fish was released unharmed and swam away with no apparent side effects from her ordeal.

"This is the second 12 lb fish we have collected from Lake Seed.  The first one was caught a couple of years ago during the spring spawning run.  The fish was caught within 400 yards of dam and was situated in a downed tree top.  Walleye love those downed trees!"

Anthony Rabern
Senior Fisheries Biologist
Georgia Department of Natural Resources
Lake Burton Hatchery
3695 Highway 197 North
Clarkesville, GA  30523
706/947-1507 (office)
404/695-7816 (cell)
Anthony.Rabern@dnr.state.ga.us

TIE 1 ON

Well, it's Sat. afternoon, and I'm watching the Ga.-Fla. game. If the dawgs go for 1 more field goal, I think I'll be about ready to "tie 1 on". Well enough of that--let's get back to something that's more relaxing and easier on my nerves--fly fishing and fly tying.

I'm really looking forward to our fly tying session Tues., Nov. 1. We will be meeting at 6:00 PM at Nacoochee Methodist Church located off Highway 17 in Sautee. Three of our fellow tyers will show us how to tie one of their favorites. Anyone interested in tying their own flies is welcome.

If you're wanting to learn how, this is a good place to start. All material and equipment will be supplied, along with some great coffee and a good time talking fishing. At this meeting, we'll also be planning a fishing trip or 2.

I would also like to remind all veterans and active military personnel not to forget to sign up for a free guided fishing trip with Unicoi. Just go by the shop and drop your name in the minnow bucket--the drawing for the trip will be on Vet. Day--Nov. 11. Thanks Unicoi for recognizing all our service

men and women--past and present. What a blessing they are to our country and to each of us--thank all of you for your sacrifices.

See you in church.

Thanks,

Ron