Info Provided by: Jeff Durniak, GA DNR North Georgia Region Fisheries Supervisor and North Georgia Region Fisheries staff
Chattooga brook trout
Here are a few more late-breaking reports and timely tips to spice up your Thanksgiving.
Walleye: Northeast Georgia – Anthony’s results
Walleye: Northwest Georgia
Holiday gift bidding – Our conservation sister, Beverly Booth asked us to pass this along.
Chattooga DH – The Guru and Dredger fished from 2 to 5 last Saturday afternoon (11/22) and had a good time on the lower end of the DH section. An assortment of flies seemed to do the trick: Euronymphed Walt’s worms (#14) and beaded Baetis (18), and indicator-fished Apricot Oreck’s eggs (14) and the ole reliable Mike’s mohair leech (#8, olive). Most fish were caught scraping the bottom in the 41-degree water. Fly selection didn’t seem to matter as much as reading the water and dead-drifting the flies along a cobble/gravel bottom instead of sand. However, as dusk approached at 4:45, Dredger saw some noses slowly poking up in the eddies along a stretch of river with ledges. It was likely midges or BWO’s emerging or just going on a ride in the film. In the waning daylight he finally knotted on a #18 pheasant tail, puffed it up with Frog’s Fanny, and caught a rainbow and two browns in the surface film to end the day. The duo didn’t catch any whoppers, but it was a great afternoon on a beautiful river, with about two dozen rainbows and browns coming to the net. Looks like the river is dropping and should stay below the magical 2.0 gauge height for most weekenders to wade effectively, even with a little rain tomorrow. Dredger expressed his thanks to Landon for the Euro-lessons that now seem to be paying off, while Dredger tries to pay off that new ten-foot rod. Old dogs can learn new tricks and buy new toys that they think they need (but really don’t…). By the way, colored mono sighters are only good if you’re young enough to actually SEE them!
Hooch DH How-to – Beginners are often intimidated by the size of Atlanta’s river. Pick through the responses in the thread, to discover the small stream fishing tips that will enable you to dissect any large river into fishable sections. Remember the “seams,” whether you’re on the Hooch, Ami, Toccoa, or Tooga. Don’t forget to lengthen leaders and add enough weight until you finally tick the bottom. By the way, I think I hear the splashes of bucket dumps at Whitewater Park as I write this note…
Gotta-have – Here’s an early Christmas gift. Fishing report/NGTO veterans may recall “secret weapon #1” from 7-8 years ago. Our thanks to Mike K for introducing his creation to us a decade ago while he conversed with us professionally and then recreated on Dukes after our biologists’ meeting. It’s made a lot of Georgians smile since then, as they visited their favorite trout stream or bass river.
This note is for our latest generation of fly-flingers, who “fish shallow” in the water and on the web, and may not have researched Georgia trouting history as well as they should (hint, hint: click more than once as you’ll discover lots of hidden web goodies).
This winter, try some 8’s and 12’s, in olive for clear water and black for all other times. Dredger likes deep dead-drifts the best, but will strip if the water’s warm enough for a moving fly.
Good luck. Hope your weekend starts early! Best bets: Anthony’s walleye lakes, Lanier under the gull flocks, Smith DH with a kid and an egg fly, Hooch DH at Akers or Paces, and the Chattooga DH with a good friend, some split shot, and a camera.