Hooch Report, Sunday Sept. 10

[jtallman]

Four of us, Bonnie, Chris, Robert (Jai Live) and myself had a great time floating from 20 to Settles this morning. Among the tree and log trout were some nice browns and bows for the guys and even some for Bonnie and myself. She has a wonderful cast and has done a lifetime of fishing. She describes herself as a "mediocre" fisherperson but I don't think so at all. What I saw with her casting was most impressive. Robert showed us how to fish the WB productively. My first fish on a WB, Robert. Thanks! Let's do it again and I'll slow my new speedboat tube down.

Water is still stained and around 56 degrees.
Cheers and thanks, Julie

[Chris England]

Excellent company, excellent fish.

Enjoyed it very much, and glad I had the foresight to request some company on the connections board. Any one of you guyz decide to float that stretch just let me know. There's big fish in there, and I'm only minutes from the bridge. Jahlive... maybe we'll commo a little better on the pickup/dropoff thing next time, and I won't have to have wake Jenny up.

With the stain being as prevelant as it was, a big bugger was called for. JahLive, and I probably would've caught 40 if we would've shut our mouths long enough to set the hook (mangrove's & memories). We each had many fish hit in what my estimation were "opportunity" strikes. They didn't seem to zone in and nail them, but short strike. Probably partly attributed to stripping a little too fast, and the fact that the water was stained such that they probably didn't see the bugger until the last minute. I think we each caught somewhere around 10-12. Mine were all nice fat bows, with the largest right at 14".

Touchdown!!!!... the sound of a big conehead spiked into the water.

Ppfffwaaat... the sound of a big conehead hitting the back of your hat if you don't "chuck and duck". http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/ubbngto/wink.gif

Ploing...ploing...ploing... the sound the line of an expert squirrel fisherman makes just after setting the hook on a limb-bream. http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/ubbngto/wink.gif

Julie... as we used to say when I was in a "special" unit in the Army, "first one in, last one out." I had a grandmother who fly fished, and deer hunted into her upper 70's. Carry the torch, and we will follow.

P.S. Next time I'll bring the keen-eye.

-- tight lines



[This message has been edited by Chris England (edited 09-10-2000).]

[Lil'Joe]

I gotta get a tube http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/ubbngto/frown.gif..I'm just about3 miles from 20 bridge and the dam. Need to hook up with you guys!

[jtallman]

Great stuff, Guys. Thanks. Tell us about the "Chuck and Duck" cast, Chris. I wasn't controlling my casting very well. I did have a conehead WB on. No, I wasn't bumping bottom. How much weight should I have added? What size WB were you guys fishing?

Yes, Bonnie was casting WB like she had on a small dry, so smooth. She's had years of casting experience especially oceanside, grew up in a fishing family. Neat stuff.

In several years, I'll be wanting to bring along my grandson and teach him how to flyfish. Then my granddaughters.

Just had a new granddaughter arrive, two weeks ago. They live in Columbia, SC. I will forgive them for enjoying the Georgia massacre but only because of the joy these kids and now Lydia Mae bring into my life. :)
PS how do you insert your smilies into your letters?

Julie

[NiteOwl]

you put a : and a ) right beisde each other, in that order! http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/ubbngto/smile.gif Thanks for the report ya'll !

..oh and a ; and a ) makes this -- http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/ubbngto/wink.gif


Owl
( king of the typo's ! http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/ubbngto/smile.gif )

[This message has been edited by NiteOwl (edited 09-11-2000).]

[jtallman]

Thanks Owl, let's see if I can do it http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/ubbngto/smile.gif

Is that good? http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/ubbngto/wink.gif
Julie

[Bonnie Anderson]

Thanks to all of you for a great day of fishing and fun. Jah Live, thanks for teaching me a lot about WHERE to cast... It's clear I can use some more lessons on where the bows hang out.

Julie, if you can go that fast UPstream you'd really be on to something!

Chris, watching you was a lesson in grace.

Can't wait to fish with all of you again!

B

[Jah Live!]

This was my first float on this section of the river, and I have to say one of the best I've had. It sure would have been nice if the river was as clear as the day was though.

On the other hand, I was reminded that there is more to floating the Chattahoochee than just catching fish. This stretch is incredibly beautiful and sparks the imagination of what the river must have been like 100 years ago.

Thanks to Julie, Bonnie, Chris and JD http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/ubbngto/wink.gif for a great day. I know Julie really enjoyed herself as she was the first to disappear downstream into the fog and was the last one out at the end of the day. Stick with those WB's Julie! You will find yourself catching a lot of fish with them and occasionally coaxing a trophy brown out of it's hiding place. Remember, if you're not bumping the bottom, you're not fishing them deep enough!

I'm going to hold you to your offer of fishing Lanier for striper this year Chris! I know there is a lot I can learn from you, the most valuable of which today was the "chuck and duck" cast. Just wish you would have told me before I welted my back with those big coneheads you tie. http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/ubbngto/smile.gif

Bonnie, if you're here, thanks for helping me start the day off right! http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/ubbngto/wink.gif You have a wonderful cast. (she was throwing BHWB's like they were dries!) You need to teach me how to do that.

I would fish with you folks anytime! Hope to see you at the fling. (don't forget your tubes!)


Jah Live!

[Chris England]

Sorry for taking so long to come full circle on this Julie.

The "chuck and duck" is really just a description of the way it feels to throw a few ounces of fly on a fly-rod. I fish a *big* conehead. It imparts a seriously crazy wave in the line when you cast it, and *never* feels right. Jahlive! remarked that he could probably cast it on his ultra-light. You just have to get over the image of a magical looking cast, and on that weight of a line control is a problem. As Stu Apte put it at the shallow water show, "we're fly *fishing* not fly *casting*" emphasizing that a pretty cast isn't always what is called for. Put the right fly in front of a hungry fish.

The reason for throwing that big dude on Sunday was simple. First of all, I like to average bigger fish, and not numbers. I think they help. In fact, just about all the *big trout* (over 20") that I've ever caught have been on a black bugger stripped. Secondly with the stain as bad as it was, the bigger and darker the bait the better. As far as depth is concerned, that's partly controlled by the strip. At one point JahLive and I were getting bit on just about every cast, but we were talking, and weren't really "in the zone". It seemed that when we started to concentrate a little, and slow down the strip, they got a good hold of the bait. I just imagined that the fish were having trouble fixating on the bait, and needed a little extra help.

-- tight lines

[Gray ghost]

Fellow "chuck and duckers" let me know when your planning another run on the Hooch . I like to live in the streamer zone when working the river also. Chris and Jah have you ever tried purple buggers? They work pretty good for me. http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/ubbngto/smile.gif

[Chris England]

No, but I'm game. I'd wager that one probably wouldn't out fish the other though.

Seriously... my buggers are a standard black, copper wire ribbed, with either green, or red crystal flash tied on each side from cone to tail. I'll look up the types of hooks and cones when I get home. Eventhough I'm meticulous about knot tying, when it comes to fly tying I'm pretty much the opposite. When I'm at the shop, I buy the hooks that look right to me, and I have several different sized cones at the house for hooks size 10 - 4.

-- tight lines

[jtallman]

Thanks Chris, that helps. Several good points to remember. Julie