Unicoi Outfitters Fishing Report - 6/13/25

Welcome to the north Georgia rainforest. It’s been hot, humid, and rainy up here.  That’s good news for forest health and blueline fishing opportunities. Headwater wild trout, higher stocked streams, and Tailwater trout will be your best coldwater options this week. 

Ponds are still great and some bream are still on the beds as recently as this morning. Warm rivers are blown out right now from yesterday’s storms, but they have been clearing quickly (a day or two).  The gar spawn is now over, but it was fun while it lasted. River stripers are still around and easier to fool in stained flows. Most reservoir sportfish have retreated to deeper, cooler water. The Tallulah River kids fishing rodeo happens tomorrow morning.

Check out all of our detailed intel at our blog. It’s new every Friday and will help you boost your own catch rates. 

http://blog.angler.management/

(Link in bio)

Stop in either one of our two UO shops for some flies, supplies, and advice. Have fun this summer!

Helen: 706-878-3083. Open 8-5 daily.

Clarkesville: 706-754-0203. Open 8-5 from Monday thru Saturday.

Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.

www.unicoioutfitters.com

Wes’ Hot Fly List:  

Dries:  parachute Adams, tan elk hair caddis, parachute and hard body ants, 409 Yeager yellow, small yellow stimulator, micro chubby Chernobyl.

Nymphs & Wets: 

Stockers: red squirmy worm, peach egg, micro girdle bug, black woolly bugger, tan and olive mops, pink tag jig.

Mountain streams: hares ear, drowned ant, pheasant tail nymph and soft hackle, green weenie, prince nymph.

Streamers:

Sparkle minnows, small black and olive buggers, bank robber sculpin, micro dungeon. 

(Bass & stripers) Boogle popper, wiggle minnow, polar changer, yard sale, crittermite, con man.

(Panfish) mini stealth bomber, Boogle popper #8, Amnesia bug, brim reaper, girdle bug.

Headwaters: 

They are clear and flowing really well for June, thanks to consistent summer storms.   Spoilcane was 64F

 and Smith Creek above Unicoi Lake was 61F at 8AM today. 

Fish the mornings and hit high-elevation and north slope streams for your best summer action. If dry fly action is slow and/or the flows are high (like this morning), then add a short dropper line to an ant or pheasant tail nymph.

UO guide Sydney: “I did some single dry fishing for some wild rainbows this week.  I never had to change out my parachute Adams  the entire time.”

Delayed Harvest Streams:

You can knock off some DH survivors from the NC streams over the next week or two. Some of those streams are also home to little wild trout year-round. Rabunite “Bluejay” hit the Nan DH early Wednesday and had a good morning, landing a total of 8 fish(half stockers and half wild rainbows) before the sun shut down the bite at 11AM.  He fished a #14 caddis dry/# 18 Copper John dropper and all his fish came on the dropper.

Stockers: 

Higher elevation waters are a best bet, while lower elevation streams wil be too warm for good fishing. Mornings will fish better than afternoons, except for the smaller, shaded, cooler streams that will fish through the day.

Remember the kids fishing rodeo on the Tallulah River tomorrow morning, and find all other stocked streams on this week’s  stocking list here:

GeorgiaWildlife.com/Fishing/Trout.

Private Waters:

We are winding down our spring season with few morning trips when water temperatures allow.

UO-Helen manager Wes: “We are just about to wrap up our private water trips for the season. I got out this morning with Mike and we were able to find a few nice fish the first couple of hours of the morning before the heat slowed the bite down.  A Duracell and a drowned ant pattern produced best for us.”

UO guide Sydney: “I had a fun trip with some clients this week.  The fishing was tough, but we got a few on dry/dropper rigs and a few more on pats rubberlegs. “

Reminder: We just started offering fly fishing opportunities for stripers at Nacoochee Bend in Helen. A two-hour slot at either dawn or dusk will cost you $75 per angler. Check k out the details here:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DKcyF_Oprp1/?igsh=ZnJydnViM2w2MXJ2

And call the Helen shop at 706-878-3083 to make your reservation.

Boy, Nacoochee Bend looked like prime striper water this morning!  That stained river hides you and masks your streamers from careful striper scrutiny. Our most productive trips happen in cooler, stained water.

Tailwaters: They’re your only good option for summer trouting on big waters. Just be very careful about dam discharges and dangerous flows.

UO buddy Ryan: “The past 2 days I took my middle GA friend out on our local Hooch tailwater.  On day 1 we hit a favorite area of mine and fishing was great.  We must've caught nearly 30 or so fish between the 2 of us and missed a boatload.  My friend experimented with swinging wet flies which produced a handful of fish.  When  we ran out of long, "swingable" runs, we threw an indicator on and did real well on 5X tippet 5x and natural nymphs & wet flies with a little hotspot. 

On day 2 we had a short trip to brown town.  1 small brown was caught swinging and I managed 7 little fish sticks on 6.5x tippet and size 20 nymphs. Not bad for an hour and a half before the release came! “

Warm Rivers:

 Our bass rivers are blown out by yesterday’s storms. They usually clear to fishable conditions in a day or two, so check those river gauges and call local shops (like UO) for river condition updates. Stripers are up the rivers. You just have to find them.  The gar spawning run was short, as always, and is now over. You can still find some fish in the larger pools throughout the summer.   Tips here:

https://www.flyfisherman.com/editorial/fly-fishing-gar-rope-flies/496196

Wes and Israel cashed in on the gar run last week!

Ponds & Lakes:

Ponds and small lakes are best bets.  Redbreast and bluegills are still finning in the shallows, with a good number still on their beds as recently as this morning, despite some breakfast visits from their feathered neighbors.  Paddle around those pond perimeters soon and cash in with small Amnesia bugs. 

UO guide Sydney: “I fun-fished at Unicoi Lake with some small leech patterns and caught a few little bass.  Then I tossed some dry/dropper rigs for bream and did well.”

Athens Jay is preparing 150 fishing outfits for Round 2 tomorrow.  Last Saturday featured a girls event, while tomorrow it’s the boys. It’s Steve Harveys’s youth fishing events!

https://www.instagram.com/p/DKtSa0UMdhq/?igsh=cDlqbzc5aG5pMTJ4

See last week’s UO fishing report for detailed info on bream hotspots and techniques.

http://blog.angler.management/2025/06/unicoi-outfitters-fishing-report-6625.html

Afar:

Dredger and his furry daughter drove up to NC on Wednesday to cheer on fellow Rabunite Bluejay at Nan DH (58F at 10AM) and then to recon some park streams. Those bigger park waters ran 58-60F at lunchtime, with good flows from summer storms. 

Dredger will be back soon with his  dry/dropper and Euro rigs, both with a sunken ant dropper. PS: drive slowly so you don’t clip an elk in and around Cherokee.

Catch some daily Park angling intel here, thanks to our friends at LRO:

https://littleriveroutfitters.com/

That’s the latest intel in between our summer storms.   We like these stream recharges a lot better than droughts and high fire danger.   Find sone cool water and shade and have some summer fun. Just remember your bug spray, sunscreen, raincoat, and a good buddy to share your adventure. Stop in either UO shop if we can help you out. We’ll make today and every day your lucky day. 😉

Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.

www.unicoioutfitters.com

Unicoi Outfitters Fishing Report - 6/6/25

Quick summary: wild trout are decent at high elevations, delayed harvest trout season is now history, stocked trout are good in high mountain streams (before lunch) and in icy tailwaters, river bassin’ will be good when storms don’t muddy our rivers, stripers and gar are bonus river treats, reservoirs are warming and slowing down, and ponds will be fun when fishing their shady perimeters.

And from GAWRD:

Free Fishing Day Tomorrow on Saturday, June 7 as part of our celebration of National Fishing and Boating Week (NFBW). On Free Fishing days, Georgia residents do not need a fishing license, trout license or Lands Pass to fish on public waters.

Check out all of our intel at our blog. It’s new every Friday and will help you boost your own catch rates. 

http://blog.angler.management/

(Link in bio)

Stop in either one of our two UO shops for some flies, supplies, and advice. Have fun this summer!

Helen: 706-878-3083. Open 8-5 daily.

Clarkesville: 706-754-0203. Open 8-5 from Monday thru Saturday.

Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.

www.unicoioutfitters.com

Wes’ Hot Fly List:  

Dries:  parachute Adams, parachute light Cahill, 409 Yeager yellow, yellow stimulator, micro chubby Chernobyl, parachute and hard body ants, goober sally. 

Nymphs & Wets: 

Stockers: Squirminator, lightning bug, micro girdle bug, slush egg, pink tag jig.

Mountain streams: hares ear, improved yallarhammer, drowned ant, prince nymph, crazy leg stone. 

Streamers:

Sparkle minnows, small black and olive buggers, bank robber sculpin, micro dungeon. 

(Bass & stripers) Boogle popper, wiggle minnow, polar changer, yard sale, crittermite, con man.

(Panfish) mini stealth bomber, Boogle popper #8, brim reaper, girdle bug.

Headwaters: 

They’re low and clear and warming quickly.  

Your best bet will be fishing in the mornings, before the midday sun heats the water, or in the high, cooler water right after a chilly summer storm.  Smith Creek above Unicoi Lake was already running 64F at 1PM today.

Dredger took his short three-weight rod and small box of dries to his favorite blueline stream “high above Helen”  last Tuesday morning. The stream was real low and clear but a comfortable 60F at 8AM.

Fishing was fun but catching was real slow for the resident wild bows. The skinny water had them hunkered down for predator protection. He managed only four dinks on dries (para ant and tan caddis) in a couple hours of prospecting. Next time he’s bringing some sunken ants and pheasant tails to add as droppers to his dry fly. The small streams need the return of weekly showers to improve flows and fishing.

Delayed Harvest Streams:

The GA streams are history and the NC streams revert to harvest regulations tomorrow. You can knock off some DH survivors from those NC streams over the next week or two. Some of those streams are also home to little wild trout year-round.

Stockers: 

Higher elevation waters are a best bet, while lower and wider streams (ex: Stephens County) will catch too much sun and warm air,  and will be too hot for good trout catches. Morning fishing will be better than warm afternoons, when water temps rise. Eggs, squirmies, small rubberleg stones, and small woolly buggers will help flyfishing rookies to score early successes.

From the GAWRD weekly fishing blog:

Stocked Trout: Over 40,000 trout were stocked this week!  Find out which trout streams received trout by clicking on the “Weekly Stocking Report” located at GeorgiaWildlife.com/Fishing/Trout.

UO buddy Kyle:

“Thanks for the tips. We gave the Tallulah a shot to introduce my friend to flyfishing. I got one and then taught Lucas how to roll cast. He missed 3 but got his casting down pretty good.  We used a squirmy worm for most of our success. We had fun and he’s talking about getting into the sport.”

UO buddy Splatek:

“My 4 year old son Presley caught his first trout all by himself. 

Micro light push button rod, with a few nymphs tied on, did the trick. 

He ended the day (~2 hours fishing) with about 8-9 landed fish. 

We put in 4 miles, of which three miles he did barefoot.  On the way home he asked “So are we going trout fishing tomorrow?”

 

On his next trip I remembered the ice for our catch!

Golly these boys are ate up with fishing.  Spencer (my 14 year old) even started his own YouTube channel.

https://youtube.com/@spence-xi6mn?si=y7GuI8jkXfIM7QYz

UO buddy Jackson: “ Thanks for the intel.  We hit the border water just before Memorial Day.  Man, we hit some great hatches. Lots of Caddis, a few mayflies, yellow sallies, and whatever the massive stonies are. They looked like pteronarcys. We only had a few streamer takes and only one to hand I believe. 

The majority came on big dries (size 6-8 chubbies and stimmies) even without many visible rises. Those fish are picky and turn off in the instant anything changes. I think we landed 25 or so in a full day plus a few hours between two of us. The water was warm and we’ll probably wait til next fall to return.”

From GAWRD:

Georgia Trout Slam:  If you have the skill to successfully catch all three species of trout (brook, brown, rainbow) in Georgia within a calendar year, consider giving the Georgia Trout Slam a try.  All successful submissions will receive the coveted Georgia Trout Slam Sticker and be entered into a drawing for an annual grand prize.  Program details can be found at GeorgiaWildlife.com/trout-slam.  Slammer intel for the week: brown trout were stocked in Smith Creek, Panther Creek, Sarah’s Creek, Warwoman Creek, Holcomb Creek, Middle Broad River, Tallulah River, and The Toccoa River Tailwater.

Editor’s note: thanks to the federal hatchery system providing brook trout eggs, GAWRD is now growing out a small portion of brook trout for annual stockings. You may have noticed some in your spring catches as you pursued your own GA trout slams.

Private Waters:

Our trout trips are just about over for the spring season. We are doing a few morning trips when water temperatures allow.

We just started offering fly fishing opportunities for stripers at Nacoochee Bend in Helen. A two-hour slot at either dawn or dusk will cost you $75 per angler. Check out the details here:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DKcyF_Oprp1/?igsh=ZnJydnViM2w2MXJ2

And call the Helen shop at 706-878-3083 to make your reservation.

UO had the honor of hosting the GATU teen Trout Campers and their volunteer fishing guides on Thursday morning.  The new flyfishers had great shots at our rainbow trout, with a good number netted and most of our trophy trout teaching those rookies a hard lesson on lost fish. Smiles were abundant. 

Kudos to Trout Camp leaders Rodney Tumlin and Kathy and Charlie Breithaupt. 

Trout Camp graduate and now adult mentor Ryan said: “ Our trout campers had a great time at Nacoochee Bend!  A number of fish were caught on 5x tippet and stone flies , pheasant tails and a variety of other flies from junk to dries.  One camper even caught a channel cat and a gar!”  More trout camp info at the end of this report.

Tailwaters: No recent reports. They’ll be a summer-long best bet, thanks to cold winter water stored in the reservoirs above the dams and consistent summer stockings by state and federal hatcheries. Just be careful with dam releases and treacherous river flows.

Warm Rivers:

Right now are bass rivers are looking mighty fine: clear with dropping flows. The Hooch at Highway 255 looked great at 8 this morning.  That can change quickly with tonight’s expected storm front and with the summer storms in our future. Check those river gauges and call local shops (like UO) for river condition updates.

Bassin’ should be good when the waters are clear enough for them to see your streamer or popper.  Got some stealth bombers and Boogle bugs? Stripers are up the rivers on their summer vacations from downstream, warm reservoirs.   (Note that we started offering Helen striper trips. ) An added bonus this week is spawning Lanier gar.  They made it up to Nacoochee Bend two days ago and will probably be up the rivers for a week or so. Grab your striper rod and some rope flies and give these freshwater marlin a try. Tips here:

https://www.flyfisherman.com/editorial/fly-fishing-gar-rope-flies/496196

Ponds & Lakes:

The reservoir shallow water bite for stripers is dead with warming surface temps, but the bassin is still decent.   Try way up the river or creek arms for cool water, shade, scarce jet skiers.  UO guide Joseph shares more tips:

“Been out on the pond a few times this week. While stripers are on their summer vacations the bass are not. We’ve seen some pretty good schools but for the most part it has been slower. Most of the fish we’ve caught have been on main lake points and humps. For conventional tackle topwater walking baits and serpentine swim baits have been the ticket. For flies game changers and wiggle minnows have been best. Over the next few weeks the bite should increasingly improve as spots set up on humps and ambush herring schools. If you’d like to go on a trip call the Helen shop at (706)-878-3083.”

Ponds and small lakes are best bets. Take your small boat or yak and hit the perimeters at dawn, dusk, or in the shade. Numerous parks also have boat rentals and/or good bank fishing opportunities. I’ve introduced numerous young folks to flyfishing by tossing a popper/dropper nymph combo at the bream school at the mouth of Moccasin Creek.

UO guide Israel had a fun personal trip and said: “The panfish were biting on Lake Rabun. Small crappie jigs did the trip for my daughter and me.”

UO buddy Spangler: “Been a while since I had much worth reporting with the business of work and life. I’ll say trout fishing has slipped away into its twilight right before my eyes (other than tailwater of course) which makes a me a little sad but reminds me it’s time to enjoy our warm water opportunities. 

So first, pond action has been fun! During a break from my daughter’s softball torment last Saturday, we hit the little county pond next to the park and hauled in a bunch of bluegill and crappie. My daughter used my tenkara rod swimming a little bugger along the bank and I threw a #6 stealth bomber with a small bugger hanging about a foot below. The Bomber is so great because you can work it as delicate or as agressive as you need! It draws fish up and in this case they all grabbed the bugger but a few did try it! 

Back to the theme of balancing fishing with work and life, I had a 30 min break  during work this week to stop at a small stream that holds spots, LMB, and shoal bass. I was able to catch a couple nice LMB jigging a Sculp Snack jig next to ledges but it was a bad choice to bring my 3W I had been using at the pond…I wrangled with a huge spot that I couldn’t horse up to the net and he eventually banged around enough to throw the fly. I got a good look at him as he was an acrobat!”

From the GAWRD blog:

State Park Lakes: Want to enjoy some late spring fishing potentially close to home?  If so, Georgia State Parks has got you covered. Small lakes can offer great spring fishing opportunities close to home.  Here are a few north Georgia State Parks with small lakes you may consider fishing this weekend:

• James H. “Sloppy” Floyd (Chattooga Co.).
• Fort Mountain (Murray Co.)
• Vogel (Union Co.)
• Unicoi (White Co.)
• Black Rock Mtn. (Rabun Co.)
• Fort Yargo (Barrow Co.)
• Sweetwater Creek (Douglas Co.) 

Afar:

NC has higher mountains and therefore colder water. It’s worth the trip for GA trout trekkers.

UO buddy CDB: “Ran up to GSMNP to fish some little water. I dug out my little 8’ 3” 4 wt and committed myself to top water. Forgot how much fun it is to cast that little devil. Unfortunately there was not much coming off which meant the top water action was inconsistent. But you know, patience is a virtue. Right? So I kept on having fun casting and picking up an occasional fish on a deer hair caddis. But as you know, I sometimes have issues with that whole patience thing.  I  kept looking at my drying patch and noticing I had two smallish size 18 hares ear wet hackles and one small size 14 black jig tunghead leech from my last outing. After another 4 seconds without a take, I clipped off the caddis and replaced it with the wet hackle and started to swing it through some pockets. Quite productive. But the leech kept calling me. So I tied it on, more or less straight lined it and, well, it was on!  Plenty of little guys wanted a piece of Mr. Leech.  Not as much fun as throwing a dry fly, but durn, I like to catch fish. 

Best of all was the solitude. Only company I had all day was a little mink who visited for a while.  Pretty cool bank with mossy, dark holes in it. Wonder what might be in those dark places?”

Catch some Park intel here, thanks to our friends at LRO:

https://littleriveroutfitters.com/

News and Events:

From GAWRD:

Kids Fishing Events:  Numerous kids and family fishing events will be held throughout the state this weekend (and next weekend) .  In north Georgia, great youth fishing opportunities will be available at the following events: Polk County Kids Fishing Rodeo, Rossville Mayor’s Kids Fishing Rodeo Chattahoochee Forest National Fish Hatchery Kids Fishing Rodeo,  Jones Bridge Park Kids Fishing Event, and Spalding Co. (Tyus Park) Family Summer Fishing Derby. 

UO buddy RSquared and his platoon of TU volunteers are recovering today from another successful annual Trout Camp for Teens. Fourteen campers spent a week learning how to tie flies, fly cast, trout fish, identify insects, build trout habitat structures, and stock trout. Check out GATU’s trout camp page if your child may be interested in applying next winter for the 2026 camp.

https://georgiatu.org/education/about-trout-camp/

Summer is here, so adjust your species targets and techniques appropriately.   We’re still here to point y’all toward success on these warm, challenging days, so stop in either UO store for a cool respite and some hot summer intel. Got your gar flies ready?

Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.

www.unicoioutfitters.com