UO Fishing Report - 9/25/20

Cool weather means hot fall fishing across north Georgia! Dropping water temps now have stream trout, river bass, and pond bream in much better moods this week. 

Northeast GA received 1-2 inches of rain overnight. This morning’s intermittent rain should quit by lunch. Similar to last week, our streams should drop back quickly toward their low baseflows.  My morning recon shows that bluelines are fishable today, while bass rivers might take a couple days to clear. The Hooch in Helen is Yoo-hoo right now, but might be fishable by this evening, and definitely by tomorrow.

https://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/uv?02330450

Add a great weekly weather report and we have some fine fishing conditions ahead of us. Here’s the latest fishing news from our Helen home base.  Tomorrow (26th) is National Hunting and Fishing Day, and a free fishing day for GA residents,

http://georgiawildlife.com/get-involvedq/nhfday

so grab a new angler and turn them on to our favorite addiction, I mean sport!  

More good news: North Carolina’s Delayed Harvest trout season is right around the corner (Oct 1), so restock your fly boxes with buggers, eggs, and squirmies, grab fresh tippet, and make road trip plans soon.

http://www.ncwildlife.org/News/delayed-harvest-trout-waters-open-oct-1-2020

Know before you go!  My friend, NCWRC trout biologist Jake Rash, told me that all of their abundant DH streams should be restocked by the middle of October, just as in prior years.  He suggested that trouting fans watch the daily stocking reports on the agency’s trout page to ensure the first loads of DH fish have hit their favorite waters before burning gas up there:

https://www.ncwildlife.org/learning/species/fish/trout/trout-fishing

That link is certainly worth a bookmark.

UO Buddy Sautee had a good day bluelining “high above Helen” earlier this week. The little wild rainbows succumbed to stealth, first, a drag-free drift, second, and finally a size 16 yellow elk hair Caddis on the far end of his winning combination. He said:

“The recent cooling air temps resulted in cooler water which gave fish just enough incentive to spread out and look up more.  The increased activity meant more “looks and takes” of meandering dries.  Skinny, clear water put the odds more in the quarry’s court but a ninja approach balanced the ledger.  Fish to hand was the reward for deliberate technique.”

UO Buddy Ron W:

“Our Traditional Trio hit "The Park" on  Saturday to fish a creek we fished several years ago...and just like the last time, it didn't disappoint!  After a long hike in and  600' in elevation gain, we finally got in the creek around 10am.  We fished about a half-mile section, gaining several hundred more feet in elevation.  

The Specs were plentiful and  willing to look up all day long. Caught em on Yellow Sallies, Thunderheads, Split Wing Coachman's, Trudes  and just about anything else that was presented in a drag free drift! Fly of the day for me was a Yellow CDC Sedge Caddis. I brought over a dozen to hand on that fly alone before a rather large brookie stole it from me. The weather,  scenery, fishing, and company made for a Epic day on the water...I can't wait to get back out to Idbis creek! “

Leftover Stockers:

UO Guide Hunter Pittman said his Sunday client had a great time swinging small woolly buggers for stockers in the “hills above Helen.” Cover some ground with the downstream casts and bugger swings and you might have a great trip, too.  Hit the bigger waters with late-season stockings, and aim for remote downstream reaches. Suggestions:  Hooch, Tallulah, Wildcat, Cooper, Rock, and Toccoa tailwater.  If in doubt, hire Hunter for a day!

River Bass Report:

Our UO bunch held its annual staff fishing day last Monday. It was a great day of fellowship while afloat, with some nice river bass caught. The key to success was flexibility.  Jake said surface  bugs and streamers worked before lunch, but hardware was the ticket in the afternoon, with some swimming plugs and dredged soft plastics working well. Jimmy said that if he’d have thrown a small bream popper instead of a big bass bug, he would have worn out the redbreasts all day long!

Wes had a good guide trip on Wednesday (24th). Mike O from Atlanta and his dad had slow pickins’ before noon, then the action picked up as water temps rose above 60 degrees. Streamers were the ticket, with best bass in the boat hitting the 17 and 18 inch marks. The biggest fish of the day, however,  was a five-pound spot that inhaled a small redbreast, hooked on a small popper.  The huge spot was a great fight while it held onto the bream. With no hook in the bass, however, it finally gave up on lunch and sunk to the depths after spotting the raft.  Bottom line: It’s a great time to book a river float with Jake or Wes!

UO Buddy Jay’s  Athens Area Pond Report:

“I had a fishing emergency last night! I only had 90 minutes but I hit prime time topwater bass bite! Holy cow it was explosive, with 15 surface grabs in that short period.  Maybe late summer terrestrials had them looking up. The boogle bug sure was the ticket.   Thanks for the tip last week. Go Dawgs!”

That’s the latest from the UO bunch and our angling cohorts. Enjoy the fall weather and its improved fishing opportunities from the cooler waters.  Shoot us an email or call us at 706-878-3083 if we can help you restock your boxes for the fall.

UO Fishing Report - 9/18/20

Welcome to UO’s post-Sally fishing report. While we got 3-5 inches of rain yesterday In NE GA, it’s running off quickly. Your bets right now are headwater trout, lake bass and bream, and an early surprise: some shallow stripers on the reservoirs!

Your angling opportunities are decent for the weekend and will improve with each passing day of dropping and clearing water. And since base flows are low in the fall, our mountain streams drop much quicker than they do in the spring.  

The weather’s looking great, too, and you might want to add a sweatshirt to you tackle bag for the cold mountain mornings next week.  Here’s the latest intel from UO staff, our angling buddies, and our friends with GAWRD.

Your best bet right now is small stream trouting. While the Hooch in town was ripping last nite (5pm on 17th), the headwaters I surveyed had already dropped and cleared enough to be easily fishable. This morning the Hooch in Helen had already dropped and cleared enough for experienced anglers to give it a shot. 

https://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/uv?02330450

However, downstream reaches will still be blown out for bass anglers, for at least a couple more days.

The higher flows have headwater wild trout feeling safer and hungrier. One tip is to use a dry/dropper combo. When the water is high, fewer come to the dry. But a lot will nail the dropper!

Last weekend Sautee took a buddy, new to flyfishing,  “speckulating” high in the mtns. Flows were real low and temps were a bit high (high 60’s) and the brookies were very shy. They landed a half dozen natives in the skinny water on a size 16 parachute Adams and same-sized yellow elk hair Caddis. Buddy was thrilled with his first native speck and said he’ll be back up here soon! Where? I don’t believe they said....

The Unicoi Guru also snuck out to a blueline before the storm this week and had a blast on his short rod. He reports, “Had fun. Caught a dozen or so. Fished about an hour and a half. Two went 8”.  Best spots were the deeper runs, especially with log or boulder cover. I used only one fly in the small stream and the size 16 Adams Klinkhammer was the ticket.”

Dredger and Sautee met Monday afternoon in the Smokies. They each caught about a dozen, mostly bows, on dry/dropper combos. Nearly all fish hit their droppers. Sautee caught more because he left his dropper on, while Dredger cut his off to go strictly dry, and watched his catch rate drop.  Hot patterns were stimulator and beetle dries, while the wets were tungsten ants and Sautee’s deadly, silver beaded, yellow soft hackle wet in size 16.

Jake had a decent, pre-flood bass float this week and reports, “Shoal bass fishing is starting to improve for us with the change in season. The fish sense cooler weather coming, and are beginning to feed more aggressively. The topwater bite has dropped off, but subsurface flies continue to produce. We still have a few more weeks of great fishing, and plenty of availability for guided trips left before the weather becomes cooler and the fish become more dormant. “

Small lakes should fish well. Hit the shade or shadows. Another good bet is working the stained headwaters of the ponds where the storm flows dump in. The stained water hides predators and also washes in groceries. Some of the biggest bass I’ve seen in NE GA have come from small lakes (Vogel, W Scott, Unicoi) with trout stocked in them or above them. Keep that in mind if you’re hunting the elusive ten-pounder. In the meantime, enjoy the big bream and small bass under the overhanging tree limbs, just waiting for your rubber spider or stealth bomber. 

GAWRD-Gainesville biologist Hunter Roop responded to my inquiry with this:

“Overcast skies have brought Stripers up shallow early and they are feeding aggressively on Lanier. Pre-spawn Hooch browns are biting on precisely placed nymphs and there is a quality over quantity theme afoot (unless you get into the desperate stockers). Visibility on the Hooch Tailwater is limited due to the annual stain from lake stratification but improves significantly around Jones Bridge. More details will be in this afternoon’s update to our weekly, statewide fishing blog.”

https://georgiawildlife.blog/category/fishing/

(PS- see last week’s blog for Deadly Damer’s wild brown report)

Hunter is right!  As I was finishing this report at noon, Henry Cowen called in with the freshest intel possible. This morning their Lanier duo did well on shallow stripers by throwing Pole Dancers in their fly rods and Sebiles on their spinners. Fish were shallow, but not breaking the surface. It’s a good time for good electronics and a lot of experience on the lake to track these fish down. It’s also a great time to pre-order Henry’s book on freshwater striper fishing. Thanks Henry!

That’s the latest from our Unicoi Bunch.  If you haven’t been washed away, plan to socially distance on a small stream or a lake soon, as cooler weather will begin to fire up our fall fishing. Good luck. Call either the Helen or Clarkesville store if we can help you further.

UO Fishing Report - 9/11/20

It’s a special Friday as we pay tribute to our fellow Americans impacted by the events of 9/11.  Personally, we salute our late friend Tom, PAPD badge # 1712, and his life-saving efforts in the South Tower. Your son proudly wears your badge now, and is a pretty darn good fly angler! We’re honored to call him our friend.

On to the fishing intel. This week’s report is nearly a rerun of last week’s.   Best bets continue to be river bass and blueline trout. Worst bet, until rains roil the river, is Hooch stripers. The two big changes affect bass rivers and stocker streams. River bassin’ is better because the streams have dropped and cleared, at least until the weekend rains hit. Second, GAWRD is winding down its stocking season, so anglers with kids or new to fly fishing should search for Labor Day leftovers in remote reaches below stocking stretches, and watch for this afternoon’s shorter stocking list.

http://georgiawildlife.com/Fishing/Trout

Here are some fresh reports.

UO assistant manager Wes:

“I had a couple productive river bass trips this week. The low and clear flows had the fish looking up. It wasn't automatic, but once we found the fish we were well rewarded.”

Dredger finally saw dropping water on the USGS gauge for favorite, unnamed smallie stream just north of the border, and hit it twice this week.  The first trip was real slow (4 fish) as the water was still high and a bit cloudy. At least 12 and 14 inchers came up to crush his white stealth bomber.

The second trip was better as the river had dropped another 100 cfs and cleared.  But it was dead til dark!  He worked hard yesterday (9th) for a measly 6 fish in four afternoon hours.  The best one, 12 inches, hit his “ trolled” rubberlegs dropper as he waded back upstream. He’ll take any fish, even the accidents!

The last hour made Trip 2 worthwhile as 8 fish ate the stealth bomber at sunset. One may have pushed 12 inches, but most were 10-11 inches, jumping, and fun.

River bassing should be a real good bet until the rains return. When they leave and the rivers clear again, we should have another 4-6 weeks of good action in the low water of fall before cold water cools the topwater bite.  Bottom line: fish the shadows! And remember your wading staff and headlamp.

River stripers have lockjaw. The low, clear water has them nervous and not interested in any fly or lure tossed their way. Jimmy and Kathy hit Helen Wednesday nite and were shut out. This can change, at least for a day or so,  with one big rain and its stain.

UO friend Ron W’s marathon trout trip: 

“Awesome day for the Trio, a long one I might add! Left Woodstock at 5am and returned at 11pm.  We stopped by the fly shop in the Highlands to get some Intel in area streams. Did about 4 miles plus back in to one of them, last mile+ was all uphill. Beautiful brookies caught on top!

We had a quick lunch on the tailgate of the truck and then decided to go check out a stream we had good success in the past in North Georgia. Took the curvy road down from the Highlands and ended up stopping by "The River" to make a quick deposit...a new Flybrary I built recently.

After that we hit our intended stream and got our fix on some  beautiful wild bows. All came on dries and droppers, the Trude and Pheasant tail combo was working for me. 

All in all it was a great day to be out in the woods and on the water with my brothers in arms! My legs are sore my and back is toast but I'd do it all over again today if I had the chance!  Tight Lines! “

Remember, stealth is the key to a good wild trout trek. Don’t miss “Fundamentals” in Domenick’s  latest blog:

https://troutbitten.com/2020/09/10/are-you-spooking-trout/

Jeff’s neighbor, Tim, had a short but decent yakking trip to a local lake. He landed 4 largemouth bass to two pounds along the shady bank with a Texas rigged Zman crawdad behind a 1/16 oz black bullet sinker.

Hopefully this fresh intel will help your weekend planning. Good luck as you stay safe, stay distant, and aim at the shadows. Call either one of our UO stores if we can be of service.

UO Fishing Report - 9/4/20

Welcome back to our Friday fishing report. It looks like we’re gonna be “high and dry,” so your best bets for this holiday weekend are river bass, blueline wild trout, and DNR stockers for the kids.  Notice that the days are now shorter, so our dawn or dusk adventures will now be easier on all of us!  Here’s our latest intel.

We are high on air temps and dry on the rainfall, finally. That means our bigger rivers are clearing. The Hooch at Highway 115 this morning (4th) had a good 3-4 feet of visibility, so yak and canoe fans should have a good time floating the northeast Georgia rivers while the bass and bream can actually see your flies.

Headwater trout are still rockin’ along! Jimmy and Jeff hit the Smokies yesterday (3rd) and had a big time on droppers and dries. They each caught a dozen or more, mainly bows, but the best fish for both were twelve-inch browns. Each lost a bigger brown, which was probably due to their inexperience.  😉 Almost all fish came on the dropper, which was a freshly tied tungsten fur ant. The few trout on top succumbed to a small stimulator or parachute beetle during the day and a large (#12) stimulator at Dark30.  To top off a stellar day, both drivers enjoyed Big Boy’s induced elk jam when he crossed Highway 441 on their way home.

The best headwater intel came from UO-Helen’s assistant manager Wes, who said, “ Got out on Monday for a couple hours of speck fishing on IDBIS creek. I caught about 7 fish that were all very nice. What the creek lacked in quantity it made up for in quality. The smallest fish I caught was probably 6” and the largest fish I caught went slightly over 8”. The trusty #12 black Wooly Bugger was my fly of choice. The two attached pictures are actually some of the smaller fish I caught. It was a crazy good day in the mountains.”

We had a great stocker report from our friend, flatlander Chris Moore, who took a brief family vacation up here last weekend to get his son on some trout. Chris said,”Nash Had a big time on Moccasin Creek. Best luck was on a 1/8 oz glitter fire tiger rooster tail.”  Nice job starting them young, Chris!

Today’s DNR intel here: 

http://georgiawildlife.com/Fishing/Trout

Darren from Alpharetta ran up to Helen twice for some Dark30 stripers with a local fishing buddy. They had decent luck both times.  The first trip took advantage of a rain spike, and they nailed one small striper and a 3-pounder on a six-inch rainbow trout streamer in the muddy water.  Their return trip was to low, gin-clear waters, the toughest conditions to get any takers.  They finally fooled two small fish on olive buggers at dark, but Darren was haunted by the two BIG  blowups behind his six-inch trout streamer.  It looks like they were last-minute refusals, but those violent crashes right at his feet made Darren vow for a rematch.

That’s the latest from the UO gang. Be smart and distance yourselves from the holiday crowds. You can still find some great opportunities by getting off the beaten paths. Enjoy the break in our monsoon season, enjoy the long weekend, and make some memories of your own. Thanks for your patronage: online, curbside, and instore.  Call either shop if we can help point you in the right direction.

UO Fishing Report - August 28,

Welcome back to UO’s Friday fishing report. The remnants of Tropical Storm Laura will dictate most of your weekend opportunities.  The timing and intensity of weekend storms will control water conditions and lead you toward or away from your targeted waters.  In summary, your best bets are headwater streams and small lakes, your hero or zero opportunities are bass rivers, and a nice day trip is a Smokies excursion.  Here’s some intel and reports from our staff.

Wild trout in cold headwater streams are still a good bet.  Be ready with your hi A-game, however, as these fish become spookier and suspicious in late summer’s low, gin-clear waters.  Best bets for risers are still the standard summer fare: tan caddis, small stimulators, parachute adams, and the black stuff- ants and beetles.  Good droppers are ants, pheasant tails, hare’s ears, and princes.  If I had to pick one size, it’s a 16, but I’d have some 14’s for bigger water and 18’s if the fish get real picky.  UO guide Hunter is on a client trip right now (28th).  He said that the dry/dropper combo of an elk hair caddis with either a prince or pheasant tail dropper (when they hit deeper pools) has been the ticket on this week’s client trips.

We’re still concentrating on streams and rivers, so our yaks continue to collect dust.  Pond fish should still be good in the shadows of dawn and dusk.  Our friends just to the west have had fun with bass and bream at Lake Zwerner in the past.  Give this lake next to Dahlonega a look, and try the Yahoola Creek channel for some deeper, cooler water and hungrier fish.  Try a surface popper, but be ready to dredge deep in the summer heat to find a cooperator or two.

River bassin’ has been tough all summer due to high water and low visibility.  On a Wednesday (26th)  lunchtime errand, Jeff saw about two feet of visibility at the Highway 115 access and convinced Jimmy to give it a try.  The duo knocked the cobwebs off their six-weights, abandoned on garage rod racks all summer, and hit the upper Hooch just before dusk.  Fishing was fun but catching was still slow.  At least the half dozen or so shoalies ate a stealth bomber on top.  Most were 10-11 inches and the best hit 14 inches.  It was still nice to wet wade some shoals again.  Jeff crossed the Hooch at 10am today (28th) and it looked a little bit clearer.  If upstream storms don’t turn it red, weekend bassers may have a shot.  Try some bigger and/or brighter baits to get their attention in the discolored waters.  Big buggers, poppers, and even Ned rigs or spinnerbaits on your backup spinning rods might draw more strikes.

While muddy water is a turnoff for many of our targets, it’s a turn-on for Nacoochee Bend stripers.  Last Friday (21st) Dredger read that day’s UO fishing report, noticed the morning rain, and called Jake at the fly shop.  Jake confirmed that the river was high and muddy, but not blood-red, so Dredger convinced the Unicoi Guru to play hooky after lunch.  The duo met at the Bend and hopped in as the river cleared just a bit more.  They hooked up with two brutes!  The bigger one, at least 12 pounds, shook off after an epic battle, but they were able to land the smaller one, which taped at 29 inches and might have hit ten pounds, if weighed.  Hot flies were a huge olive woolly bugger and Guru’s leftover peacock bass streamer from his Amazon adventure.  Due to its size and color, they called it the “gray squirrel streamer.” Have your 8-weights and squirrel streamers ready, watch the weather, and call the fly shop for river conditions and a trip booking at prime time.  As these two angling addicts will attest, “the tug is the drug.”  Give the tug a try at dawn, dusk, or in dingy midday waters. Remember that your trip fee is actually a donation to the Nomadic Waters fishing guides in the Amazon, lacking tourist anglers during this unprecedented year.

Our friends at GAWRD have another great weekly blog for everyone.  Check out the picture of the 7-pound Hooch brown!  If you have kids, tune into this week’s trout stocking list.

https://georgiawildlife.blog/2020/08/28/georgia-fishing-report-august-28-2020/

Finally, if you can day-trip the Smokies, or find a safe, socially distant campsite for one night up there, give the park a try.  Jeff day-tripped yesterday (27th).  Wild bows and browns were, indeed, spooky and suspicious, with 6 or 7 refusals for every rise and hookup. The afternoon’s money flies, however, were long droppers in prime runs and pools. The best fish ate either a brown rubberlegs or the silver beaded, tan mop.  He could not pattern the risers, with an adams, beetle, and stimulator each fooling a few through the afternoon (which is always the slowest time of the day).  A brief “Dark30” happened ‪at 7pm‬ and lasted for about 30 minutes.  They looked up as the shadows fell, but were still hesitant to eat.  Despite their reluctance, he landed a small handful, with more browns than bows to end a nice afternoon.

He quit early to elk-watch, and was treated to a herd of about two dozen in the Cherokee visitor center field.  The elk-tourist referee (park ranger) said that the biggest bull was indeed nicknamed Big Boy and sported a 6X6 rack. Jeff enjoyed supper in the parking lot while listening to bugles and watching Big Boy run off two teenage bulls from his harem of cows.  While the catching was “fair,” the fishing trip was still rated two thumbs-up.

That’s the latest intel from our UO gang.  While our windows of opportunity are a bit limited in a late summer of frequent storms, some good chances are there if you look closely.  Call either shop if you need help sighting in your weekend targets.  And to end the report, let’s take a break from life’s stresses and enjoy nature’s wonders.  Thanks to “Natureman’s” post on North Georgia Trout Online, we found Robert Bush, Sr.’s spectacular videos of “life on a log.” 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/703595726495870/permalink/1475583245963777/

Congratulate yourself on surviving another week, decompress to one these amazing videos, and make your own plan to get outside soon.  Remember, the tug is the drug!  Good luck from all of us at Unicoi Outfitters.

UO Fishing Report - 8/21/20

Welcome back to UO’s Friday fishing report!  “Flexibility” will catch you more fish this week. Let the weather and water conditions lead you to success. Your best bets will continue to be headwater wild trout, cold stocker streams, and small ponds, either close to home or up here during a social distancing day trip.

Be flexible not only with your destinations, but also with your tackle and timing.  Right now we might aim for decent sized, cold trout waters at high elevations, northern aspects, or below a big dam. But if they’re blown out by a storm (like several that have rolled through since last nite), we are ready with a Plan B and maybe even a Plan C.  For my trips, I’ll typically pack a 9 foot , 3 weight trout outfit, a 7.5 foot blueline rod, and even a 6-wt outfit and bug box for pond or river bass. If it’s my long-awaited fishing day, I’m gonna wet a line somewhere!

Since most storms are firing up after lunch, consider an early start and fish the mornings right now.  But still pack that raincoat!

Headwaters are still fishing well. However, be ready to change your instream tactics to “drought mode.” Yep, we said drought! Despite the frequent storms, many streams are running at their normally low summer baseflows in between the brief storm surges. Just look at the USGS Hooch - Helen gauge and you’ll see how low they go. Low water trout are in survival mode- very skittish and hesitant to leave cover. But they still gotta eat!

Yesterday (8/20), somewhere “high above Helen,” my good spots of a month ago were skinny, sunny, and fishless except for a few dinks. I had to find pinched stream channels with some summer cover: logjams, undercut banks, deep and narrow runs, and plunge pools. The resident bows laughed at my caddis and yellow sally, but I finally got even with a #16 parachute ant in the flat water and a #16 orange stimmy in the bumpy water, both on 5X tippet.

On the big, flat pools, I fooled a few with the spring creek method of “fly-first.” Try sneaking thru the woods to the riffle above the pool, crouch down, make a fairly long downstream cast, and drift it real long so that they see the fly first. Or just skip that darn flat stuff and find the next easy plunge pool!  Don’t forget your key ingredients: stealth and a good dead drift.  And lots of dessicant if you’re lucky, too!

If there’s a storm surge, try a Euro rig in the few soft spots. It worked last week in the Smokies. I caught enough headwater fish on top to have fun, despite about 7 refusals for every eat. I would have done better with a dropper under the dry, but I just wanted to see the rises. After the midday dry action, I followed an afternoon storm surge in a downstream section    and aimed for bigger fish. A half dozen bows and browns from 7 to 13 inches slammed the walts worm anchor or the black rubberlegs dropper to top off my day.   Or so I thought until that bull elk showed up at dusk. I hope you liked that video we posted last week.

River bass are likely blown out this weekend, but some high water and color are good for our summering stripers in Helen. Several folks have hooked up and a few have landed some nice fish in the last week. Landon shared a pic of his hot fly that fooled two stripers last week. We heard a rumor that a big Puglisi minnow also worked.

Ponds should still be good, and might even fish better on these cloudy and rainy days!  Jay from Athens keeps posting Instagram pics of his huge ‘gills from Pond X.  We haven’t been invIted there yet. Have you?  If you’re staying close to home, remember your local waters and work those pond perimeters.  A hand-sized bream on a limber  fly rod is even more fun than a trout!  Remember the popper/dropper technique to double your chances of success.

We hope this timely intel fires you up for the days ahead. These are still tough times for everyone, but it’s amazing how a little dose of “hydrotherapy” can renew our spirits and allow us to get through another week of anxiety and responsibility.  Call either shop if we can help keep that smile on your face and hope in your heart. We deeply appreciate your patronage and especially your friendship.  Good luck on all fronts this week! Together, we will survive all these storms.

UO Fishing Report - 8/14/20

We’re gonna go with “hit or miss” as this week’s theme for our Friday fishing report.  It isn’t surprising, given that we’re in the middle of August, a traditionally slow time for catching across north Georgia.  The abundant August “misses”  are warm water and high, muddy flows from frequent, intense afternoon storms.  But have faith!  We hope to give you some timely tips and fresh intel that should enhance your odds for some “hits” this week.

On the trout front, think real high or real low.  High equals headwater streams,which still have good flows from frequent rains and are staying cold enough to maintain wild trout appetites.  The same summer techniques and fly patterns that we’ve been preaching will continue to work through August on blueline bows, specks, and even browns when the sun’s down. Don’t forget your raincoat!    If you have kids, watch the GAWRD trout stocking list, updated each Friday, as it targets cooler waters, and stick a small black woolly bugger, peach glo-bug, red squirmy worm or even a small Panther Martin spinner on the end of their line for some stocker success.  For the “real, real high,” check out the trout report to follow.  For the “real low,”you need to be below a really big dam, one that still holds winter water.  That’s  the Hooch below Lanier for our metro fans and in north Georgia, that means Blue Ridge Dam.

Try a wade trip at the dam, at Tammen Park, or at Curtis Switch.  Horseshoe Bend, way down near McCaysville, often is too warm in late summer for a good trout bite.  The Toccoa is also a good float for careful folks.  Whether you wade or float, you must be tuned into the TVA dam generation schedule.  The high water during a sudden generation is dangerous, so don’t take chances.  Blue Ridge Dam info is here: https://www.tva.com/environment/lake-levels/wblue-ridge

 

UO Buddy “Sautee” rambled far north on 441 yesterday to catch an extra thousand feet of elevation and the resulting colder water.  Enjoy his “real high” report and tips:

“Decided  to try a new (to me) trout stream in GSMNP this week since last week’s trip to higher, cooler waters was such a success. Foggy when I reached the Park and about 20 elk, including one nice bull greeted me as I drove past the Oconaluftee Visitor Center. Arrived at the trailhead at 8:00 AM, hiked 1.5 miles and plopped in the stream about 8:45. Water was crystal clear and running a little low. Started with my go-to yellow caddis hoping once again to catch’em looking up. Over the course of the next hour and 10 minutes, I switched flies repeatedly hoping to get some interest, but to no avail. Had a couple refusals but that was the best I could do. When I switched to a black foam beetle and added a #16 hares ear dropper about 14 “ off the back, things livened up. The first fish I landed was an 11” brown that ate the dropper. Thereafter was a steady diet of 6-9” rainbows that took the dry and the dropper. With my success climbing I switched back to the caddis with no luck, changed over to a yellow sally and caught a couple, then went to Adams and caught a couple more, but I was seeing more refusals so switched back to the beetle and dropper. The hares ear was the best fly of the day producing more fish than all others combined.The beetle was my best dry, but still not too productive. At 12:35 the lightning started and the sky opened up as it is prone to do during the summer months in the Smokies. I hung out under a hemlock long enough to decide the rain was settling in for a while and then hiked my way back out to a dry set of clothes waiting for me in my vehicle. There is still good top water fishing to be had even this late in the summer. Go out and have yourself a good time!”

The bass rivers seem fishable right now, but that can change in only 15 minutes if a thunderstorm rolls through.  This morning the Hooch sites in Helen and at Highway 115 were clear enough to fish.  Down at Duncan Bridge, it muddied up a bit (likely from the Soque), but still had 2-3 feet of visibility.  If you fished shallow where bass and bream could still see your bug, you’d probably get bit.  The Chestatee gauge also suggested that last nite’s  storms missed it, and it may still be fishable.  

The larger lakes are slow for shallow water fans as the fish go deep and sulk for summer. Jake took a day off to drown a Ned rig in a GA Power lake this week and had a slow time, with only one spot, one largemouth, and one “kitty” landed. We’ll need some cool fall weather to bring the larger lakes back to life for angling fans.

While we don’t have fresh reports from small lakes, experience suggests that they should do fairly well during the low light of dawn and dusk.  Toss small poppers for bream and large ones for bass right against the bank or at any downed tree in the water. At dawn and dusk, a lot of fish are looking for terrestrials to lose their footing and drop in for dinner.  Small rubber spiders are real good at this time of the year, too.  Grab a canoe or yak and work the perimeter of the lake for an hour or two when the sun isn’t cooking you and the fish.  When they won’t come up, go down to them with a popper/dropper combo.  Tie 2-3 feet of 4X or 5X tippet to the bend of your popper’s hook, and knot a trout nymph to the far end.  Use your popper as a strike indicator to save your day.   To make up for our lack of reports, we’ll substitute some intel on a couple of local spots that we frequent.  On Unicoi Lake, we do better in the upper two-thirds of the impoundment, where it is shallower and greener from the nutrient inflow.  In contrast, we do better on the lower two-thirds of little Lake Russell on US Forest Service land near Cornelia, because the upper third, above the boat ramp, is too shallow and weed-choked.  We also catch bass right in the middle of the lake as they chase really small fingerling fish- maybe bream schools?  Watch for busting bass and cast at them.  You might be rewarded.  

On any lake or river trip, always plan an exit strategy before you launch. The storms this week have been intense in both lightning and rainfall, so figure out where you can take shelter quickly. Watch the weather apps on your phone and be ready to get out of the water in a few short minutes.

That’s about it for this week, a typical one for August anglers in Georgia.  It’s  almost like winter: the pickins’ are slim, but if you do a little homework and aim accurately, you might have a few more hits than misses.  And none of us has to worry about frozen fingers and toes right now!  Good luck.  Call either shop if we can help point you in the right direction.

UO Fishing Report - 8/7/20

Welcome back to Respite from Reality, better known as UO’s Friday fishing report.  Our staff at both shops hope you’re doing well as you navigate life’s choppy waters right now.  Give yourselves a pat on the back for reaching Friday, then sit back and enjoy this break. Once again, we’ll start with a nice video to set the tone.  In contrast to last week’s serene lake, we thought we’d bring out the kid in all of us.  So here’s “Spoon Auger Spray Park,” courtesy of Mother Nature.  Dip your head right into the cold droplets and get refreshed.  Feel better?  Good!  Now’s let’s get to the angling intel.

This week’s theme is Storm Dodging.  If you can work around the muddy floods from intense PM thunderstorms, you should do fairly well.  Remember it’s August, and we don’t expect the great catch rates seen in spring and fall.  But there are still good opportunities out there to put a bend in your rod.  Your best bets remain: high elevation trout streams, small lakes, and cool rivers WHEN they’re clear enough for fish to see your bugs.  Also intense are weekend crowds, especially at popular and/or highly developed sites.  We recommend that you hit those spots real early or, best of all, on uncrowded weekdays.  Weekend anglers should look at less popular spots literally off the beaten path for your best social distancing opportunities. We’ve got some good books, maps, and brains at both shops to help you find a distant spot or two.

Our best intel this week comes from UO’s benevolent angling buddies, kind enough to check in and share recent reports and pics.  First up are the bluelines.  If they’re not blown out by a sudden 2-inch rain, they’re still fishing real well. Remember to check a) local fly shops, b) USGS stream gauges, and c) your weather radar app before burning your gas and your precious off-day.  Our favorite summer colors are yellow (stimulator), black (ants and beetles) and green (inchworms).  Local fish vacuum “Foothills Bob” (FB) shared a secret recently: tie a tiny bright green mop fly on a size 16 or 18 jig hook, with a silver tungsten bead, and sink that bug under your buoyant dry fly.  Nurse Kitty and I tried it on Dukes last May and we are believers!  For more of FB’s hot tips, join GA Foothills TU and read his great monthly newsletters.  Warning: don’t ever, ever fish behind him!

Next up is “Sautee,” who packed his lunch, gassed up locally, and did a solo “distance” trip just to our north.  In his words: “Decided to head north to GSMNP, gain some elevation, leave the heat behind and recharge my soul. Went higher on this stream than I have ever been, but it won’t be my last trek to this mountain paradise.  Because of the long drive and 45-minute walk in from the trailhead, it was 10:00 before I found the spot to get in the creek. Not to worry, the sun had not yet been able to find its way over the ridge and penetrate the dense overstory.  I was high enough that some rhododendron were still blooming and there was foam flower in the understory.  Started out with a #14 yellow elk hair caddis and landed 3 rainbows and one brown from the first hole. It just got better from there.  Whatever I tried worked.  #16 Adams, #16 black ant, #14 foam beetle all produced rainbows, a few brookies and a handful of browns.  Best part of the day was when I was working a run catching a couple of specks but noticed lips rising to the surface near a half-submerged log at the far bank.  I snuck up on the log and cast everything I had been having success with (caddis, beetle, ant, Adams) but to no avail.  I went to the opposite bank and sat down thinking I probably spooked the fish. Gave it about 10 minutes while I ate my sandwich and then tried again.  Nothing!  Undeterred, I tied on a big ugly hopper and sailed it to the upstream end of the log and let it drift.  After drifting for about 2 feet, a flash!  The hopper got crushed by a 13-14” brown that charged out from under the log and turned to go right back under it. When I tried to turn him, he shrugged those massive shoulders and broke me off!  Great excitement and a great way to end the day!  I shrugged my shoulders, tipped my hat, bowed my head, gave the old boy props and headed downstream to my car with a smile on my face.  There’s still good fishing to be had, high and pretty close to home.  Get out and enjoy it.”

Stocker fans, GAWRD trout stocking coordinator John Lee Thomson told me that there are some nice, fat fish hitting stocked streams this week.  They take a little longer to hit that larger ten-inch target, thanks to your fishing license increase funds of a few years ago.  This late-season crop is getting stocked in waters that are cool enough in late summer to support the fish.  The stocking list comes out late on Friday afternoons, after John Lee ensures the fish from four different hatcheries have indeed hit their target waters.  Look here just before your Friday supper: https://georgiawildlife.com/Fishing/Trout

We had two good reports on the bassin’ front this week. Remember yesterday’s post, too, with our tips for river bassin’ bugs.   Bassing, honestly, has been hit or miss.  It seems like the fish hits are happening where the storm hits are not, while the strikeouts are happening where the water is high and muddy.  The Hooch was ripping red mud today (8/7) when I crossed it, so your weekend opportunities will be limited.  Call the Helen shop and watch the USGS Hooch-Leaf gauge to “gauge” whether or not to burn your gas in that direction.  In contrast, Landon had a real good float on the Chestatee yesterday.  He didn’t catch any wallhangers, but caught enough on top to be very happy.  Shoalies outnumbered spots by 3:1, a few redbreasts added color to the day, and his white popper outfished the blue one by that same 3:1 ratio. He felt that a long leader made a big difference. If you’re looking for river bassin’ intel, it doesn’t get any fresher than that!

Next up is Ron W, who’s usually stuck on the west side of ATL.  He’s up here for trout in the colder months, but sure knows how to make the best of his nearby opportunities.  Ron said, “Caught some nice bass last Friday and Saturday on Lake Arrowhead. Went out a few times for a combined 3 hours and caught well over a dozen fish.  All caught on a NED rig with a Zman TRD worm threaded on it (ed note: see zmanfishing.com).   I know it doesn't count....I kid you not, I saw one on the same dock where I caught my nearly 10#er a few months back. It was easily 15 pounds or more.  Biggest bucketmouth I've ever seen! it could possibly be the one that I fought a few weeks back for about three minutes before it busting me off after I made my 3rd drag adjustment. I never saw the fish but it fought just like a bass and I did hook it in 6' of water.”

We had a tearjerker of a striper story from the Unicoi Guru himself.  In his own words:

In his never-ending quest to outsmart the neurons and synapses of a creature operating solely on instinct, Jimmy has once again taken one step forward and two steps back.  The stripers inhabiting Nacoochee Bend this summer have become maddeningly picky.  In an effort to prove he's superior to your average stripey fish, Jimmy has experimented with a number of techniques, most of which have been abject failures.

Fish right at dawn?  Okay, somewhat successful on smaller fish

Fish during the day when the Solunar tables indicate it's best?  Not much.  Twelve-inchers hanging right under the falls.

Fish right at sunset?  Skunked more times than not.

Change up colors on the fly?  They run from white like it's Covid 19.  Olive/White gets some interest but nothing to get excited about.  Black was hot for a few days, Woolly Buggers of all things.

Fish the surface or strip streamers along the bottom in 2 feet of water?  Rejection.

Drop a Woolly Bugger or Crayfish pattern 15" below a 1" Thingamabobber? 

BINGO!  Hooked up... briefly.  For the second time this summer my hook straightens on a big fish.  The fly was given to me by a "friend" who obviously still holds some hard feelings from that time I tried to net a 24" rainbow for him and knocked it off the hook.  

 

Moral of the story?  Pick your flies with more care than you pick your friends. 

(ed note: my gift flies went with no warranties)

 

Since these social media platforms don’t seem to mix pics and vids well, I’ll make a second post with the “best of” fishing photos from our source anglers.  Enjoy the eye candy to come.

We’d like to close with a shout-out to the Prez and the DC crowd. In an era when it seems like elected folks can’t get along in Washington, the conservation community scored a big touchdown this week.  We owe all DC players, the Prez, the Senate and the House, a big thank-you for their passage of the Great American Outdoors Act.  National parks will be repaired and more public recreational lands can be acquired thru Act funds.  For more info on this amazing news, see our NGTO post called “touchdown”: http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/forum/forum/welcome-to-ngto/events-happenings

That’ the latest from our north GA hills.   Give us a call at either store if we can help you plot your weekend strategies.  Thanks for your patronage.   Stay safe, everyone. We will all catch more fish in the long run if we’re smart in the short term!

The River Bass Box

The River Bass Box

By Jeff Durniak

The dog days of summer are here.  That means the lengthy rains of spring are long-gone and we simply have to deal with occasional, pop-up thunderstorms.  While those brief storms might muddy-up flowing waters, they usually clear quickly.  That’s great news for our best bet during the dog days: river bassin’!   While a lot of anglers complicate things, river bassin’, at its roots, is really simple and easy.   For new fly fishers, you can enjoy your own Huck Finn days with any old 5,6, or 7-weight fly rod, wading shoes or a canoe/kayak, and a basic bass box.   I’ll tell you the goodies I carry in my box.

That basic box is a simple 3 X 2 concept of water layers and fly patterns.  I’ve got three layers of water to cover (top, middle, and bottom) and two flies per layer, my go-to pattern, and a backup bug.  Only two, you say?  Yep, for a starter box.  Pick the bug size to match your local quarry.  If you need a size to start, buy or tie these on size 4 hooks.  Of course, we can add more bugs and make that box bigger.  That’s what fly fishing is all about, lotsa cool trinkets, right?  But for new fly-flingers, a ton of trinkets isn’t necessary.  Sometimes it’s counterproductive, as noobs spend more time changing flies than casting their first pick into a good spot and working it seductively.  Remember this: Technique trumps Pattern!

Now let’s get to the gotta-have patterns. First, for the surface, I like a white Kent’s Stealth Bomber and a white popper.  They both must have lots of long rubber legs!  Toss the Stealth Bomber into low, clear water along shady banks, and don’t move it. Just let it drift along.  Every now and then, give it a slight twitch to wiggle the legs, then let it drift again for 5-10 feet.  River bass and bream are spooky in summer’s low, clear water, but they’re very hungry and love to hang out under tree limbs, waiting for terrestrial bugs to lose their footing. Fish with patience and you’ll be rewarded.  The backup surface bug is the trusty white popper. Use it to call fish up from deep, fast, or slightly discolored water.  Don’t pop it as much as you did in the spring when the water was cooler.  Pop and drift, then repeat. Use these two surface bugs in the shade and shadows of dawn, dusk, and shaded banks, where your quarry feels safe enough to “look up” for supper and not be a meal for a heron.

When they’re not looking up, go down for the fish.  You can start at mid-column with either the Clouser minnow or the greatest fly of all time, the black woolly bugger.  Fish the Clouser like a nervous minnow.  Cast, let it sink a bit, and retrieve it back to you with erratic strips.  Don’t fall into the bad habit of a constant retrieve.  You’ll catch more fish when they think their lunch is leaving!  You can fish the bugger any way at all: cast upstream and twitch down to you, then twitch slightly as it swings past you and hangs in the current below you, then twitch and strip it back to your rod tip.  One hint: put your rod tip right on the water surface while you’re twitching and stripping.  Striking fish will encounter a tight line and result in more hookups.  Strikes on high rods just pull on a big U-loop of slack – and you’ll have lots of misses.

When your shoalies and smallies are glued to the bottom, especially in the high sun, go knock on den doors and offer them a lobster dinner.  Dens are boulder fields, rock ledges, and logjams, especially the shady side of each.  You can toss Reindeau’s Hairy Fodder upstream and bounce it on the bottom, back to you, to imitate a downstream- fleeing crayfish.  Toss it across the stream, toward the bank, and twitch it while it swings.  As it finally hangs in the current below you, stick that rod tip in the water and short-strip it back upstream.  If you’re greedy like us, tie two feet of 10lb tippet to the fodder’s hook bend and drop the woolly bugger off the back. That dual-dinner menu is hard to resist.

Hopefully, these tips will get you started on some summer fun, while you await the return of trouting in the fall.  Don’t forget a big hat, sunscreen, bug spray, flashlight, plenty of water, and a good fishing buddy (at a distance) for river safety.  Toss one of these six bugs in the right spot, work it like the natural food, and hold on. These river bass have bad attitudes and broad shoulders! And they’ll make you smile in the summer sun.

Author’s Note:  Jeff Durniak recently retired as DNR’s Regional Fisheries Biologist for North Georgia.  He now spends his time terrorizing fish and working his hobby job at Unicoi Outfitters. 

UO Fishing Report -7/31/20

Welcome to Fishing Friday! We think that everyone can sure use a break from all the stress surrounding us, so turn off your TV’s and radios and enjoy this dose of good news.  Whether you can get out locally to wet a line, or stick close to home and enjoy a virtual moment or two with us, we hope that this Unicoi Rx will help all of you, our friends, to refresh your mind and spirit.

First, how about a “breath of fresh air?” We’re adapting the “Moment of Chill” concept from the Orvis Company ( https://www.orvis.com/momentofchill ) to our local lands and waters so you can enjoy nature, whether it’s in person or virtually. Today we’ll visit Unicoi Lake.

Now on to the fishing intel.  Let’s start with trout.  Given the summer heat, the trick is to head high up the mountain, early in the morning. 

TroutBumTrey, our young buck at the new UO General Store in Clarkesville, said that he and a socially distant buddy had slow action on a Rabun County mainstream near his home. The action improved as soon as they hung a right turn up a cold tributary.  They each landed a handful of wild rainbows on dry/dropper combos of a chubby Chernobyl on 5x, with a short 6X dropper down to a copper john or tungsten bead pheasant tail. UO guide Hunter reported similar results for his clients, high in the hills above our Helen shop. He said wild rainbows were usually tuned into a small (16) yellow stimulator.  During the rare times they turned off the stimmy, he came back with either a #18 tan caddis or the chubby with an 18” dropper down to a small pheasant tail or Frenchie, and was back in the action.  He stressed the need for stealth, light tippets (5, 6X) and a raincoat for the daily 30 minute storms. The good news is that consistent rains have boosted summer streamflows, and the headwater wild trout are happy and hungry.

For stockers, shop clients reported good luck on spring holdovers that have been washed downstream into remote reaches of WRD-stocked streams.  Small, flashy nymphs were the ticket. The short public section of the Soque gets a lot of pressure, but folks getting there first have had some shots at a few big summer migrants in search of cold water. Try a big dry before dredging with large nymphs or small buggers.

For more intel on stocked streams, as well as all other public streams and lakes, it’s hard to beat the Friday fishing blog and trout stocking lists from our friends at GAWRD.  Check them out here:

https://georgiawildlife.blog/category/fishing/

https://georgiawildlife.com/Fishing/Trout

Our guides have reported relatively slow fishing for river bass, especially shoalies, in July.  The combination of muddy water from daily thunderstorms, along with heavy floater traffic (yaks and tubes), especially on weekends, may have them hunkered down.  Jake and Wes have had more luck chucking streamers than the surface stuff recently.  If you go, have some buggers, hairy fodders, and other minnow and crayfish imitation in your box, next to the poppers.  If the rains subside and rivers drop and clear in August, the topwater bite should improve.  Jimmy got out for a mental health moment one evening after work this week.  A nice shoalie crushed his surface diver and put a smile on his face.

Our migrant stripers are in their typical summer moods, too. The bite has been best very early, very late, or after a rainstorm cools off the river and stains it. Dark and/or subtle streamer colors are working much better than white or bright ones, especially in clear waters.  Try a super-fast strip first to imitate fleeing prey.  If the predators are sulking and won’t charge your bug with a reaction bite, then drop the dark flies deep and twitch them slowly back to you.  Hunter had luck this week on the slow retrieve of his Muddy Buddy fly (we’ve got them in the shop).

Another staffer gassed up here and packed his lunch, and then went a bit farther north for a solo day trip.  He was met with muddy red waters, but moved upstream to get above the morning storm’s first surge.  He abandoned his initial idea of dries and Euronymphed instead in the flood flows, which were slowly clearing and dropping.  With wading staff in one hand, he hi-sticked with the other in the soft pockets behind boulders and against the bank, and ended the day with a real nice handful of wild bows and browns.   Flexibility was the key to success, so be prepared and let the stream conditions tell you what to do.

We’ve had enough rain to keep our streams flowing well, so we haven’t yet had a good reason to detour to the small lakes.  They should be fishing well, early and late, but we’ll save them for later yakking in August, if the great stream fishing ever dies.

Good luck this week, whether you get outside and stay distant while astream, or stay close to home and just “fish” with us here on your favorite web channels.  Call either the Helen (706-878-3083) or Clarkesville store (706-754-0203) if you need a hand with supplies and intel for your own mental health day to the woods and waters.  Thanks for your patronage.   Stay safe, everyone.

Hot Fun!

Hot fun with Rodney Tumlin and Nacoochee Bend summer stripers. Watch this video of his epic battle:

 https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=631824117431219

Bass Handling

We love our shoal bass more than any other and we want to encourage anglers to take good care of them, keep em wet, and don't take a chance on injuring them with this outdated technique simply for a photo opp. Thanks!

https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.orvis.com%2Ffly-fishing%2Fpro-tips-stop-lip-grip%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR0SVkb295VLYXVev_ZUEwHJaY7dDtFXFlubGhRtBVKn7aIrcwaJQZ0JWOc&h=AT1AWZdjwEgm18QPZWlRrADuUA3ZPTD1gQaPnl9-0Kpj-eVkbuRSXvpYc9E44XeIBnsVaNhzP7JhDghTK7DOCe_F8iaN1tcAHdRJmF8MhzqHvWk5fqgQ81aip0b4324Q1dYP-ZbWSnoJ88-171O4Tf3qEtf-9_ZPN6EyMtADlqNUGUGXpTDrql6KbN8fpdImBtUce0d3PFjM91pdCJZU0kAdWgf_Fz82qiy2ty5YAz20c4EaLcxScceB3YZpnjfr4IsYp1AtWccDebqNXSCynGyP-PSidYqlj5gt15xT-TjctiCxqDQeuXo-0o5gxedrJuFRkvHyofwHpyHy9BqK7BYUYNTHb8zFTefJDcLdI_o-2UFQe6BCqWAPIub1PchB61C-SU-yRza2MJ4RiT2jov8mwigKRVjPYcWGSi-CZLzohurp4-M7KmONd0Nj0VYm9zQ3lJREYkuFE9hu3xzIgo-gX1BHyrF1kUtPdclWfjm77J-OZeQMEEcI98lUUMEDUpXhu47rD9N4Bm147baC0lzlNmW4-MwDRNWeJHp6kZeINP5u_YYJdoxJ8UXYwryh5F8FMQCHKfRcvSrt

Summer Bassin'

 

Jim was able to grind it out the other day and find some good ones!  Summer is just getting started. Get with us if you wanna go after some north Georgia shoal bass.

Our New Clarkesville Store!

The curtains have come down, we're in the home stretch. Unicoi Outfitters General Store will be open for business this Wednesday (6/17). Store hours will be 10 AM til 7 PM Tuesday through Saturday. Stop by and see us on the square in downtown Clarkesville!

Blueline Time!

Beautiful scenery, low fishing pressure, and wild trout willing to rise to a dry. Grab a map and go explore some blue lines.