Windknot
04-15-09, 01:47 PM
Dredger must have gotten snowed in at the office, 'cause his weekend forecast is early! :D I took the liberty to highlight a point in his notes. Don
This weekend is looking great http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/weekend/30545?from=36hr_topnav_business (http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/weekend/30545?from=36hr_topnav_business)
for both harvest-oriented and catch-and-release trouters. Cool nights may make fishing slow at first light, but better in the afternoons and right before dark as the streams warm up. Those cool nights will be great for camp fires and sleeping bags, though, so plan your "trout camp" now and pack your car with tents and kids! Don't you love the smell of Coleman stove bacon in the morning?
http://www.fs.fed.us/conf/ (http://www.fs.fed.us/conf/) - recreation
http://www.gastateparks.org/net/calendar/events.aspx?typeids=22311&s=0.0.1.5 (http://www.gastateparks.org/net/calendar/events.aspx?typeids=22311&s=0.0.1.5)
* Stockers:
High stream flows have distributed stocked fish really well. Anglers who know how to cover ground, read water, and fish will have lots of success. It's not just "sit on the stocking hole" any more, due to the flushing flows. Fish all those pockets in the 200 yards below a suspected stocking site and pick up all those trout that other anglers walked past on their way to the crowded "bridge pool." Examine fast water closely and find the pockets. Two casts, then move up to the next little niche of slow water with cover (boulder, bedrock ledge, log). It does not take a lot of real estate to hold a stocker, even one of our bigger fish (12-15 inches) added to our loads to spice up your stringer and your post-trip tales.
There's an added bonus this week. :cheers: Our partners at the US Fish and Wildlife Service hatchery near Suches
http://www.fws.gov/southeast/ChattahoocheeForest/ (http://www.fws.gov/southeast/ChattahoocheeForest/)
have provided some brook trout for stocking. :cheers: Several north Georgia streams have gotten some in the last week. Maybe you'll be lucky enough to find a few in between the rainbow trout. Where? I don't believe I said.....
Other news and tall tales:
* After lamenting over a broken rod, eight-year old Trey McFalls of Tiger and his fishing buddy took a Saturday afternoon road trip. They found a nice four-foot Ugly Stick at Reeves Hardware in Dillard and then took off to the Tallulah River to break it in. Using rainbow-colored Powerbait, Trey reeled in two nice stockers in 1.5 hours of fishing (photo). They now reside in his freezer and await the frying pan. The Ugly Stick will now receive a true test of its durability!
Folks may learn from the USGS river and rain gauges about how quickly many of these mountain streams drop and clear after storm events. Don't let the rain get in your way! Just pick the right stream the day before your trip.
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?02178400 (http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?02178400)
Also remember our trout stocking list at gofishgeorgia.com, fishing, trout.
* Neat newsletter:
See "In Education" on the left side of this page.
http://campaign-archive.com/?u=946679e7fe51bbf81ce578cc1&id=91e6463a50&e= (http://campaign-archive.com/?u=946679e7fe51bbf81ce578cc1&id=91e6463a50&e=)
* Good article on Amicalola Creek access. Please note that this was a DNR project that the Mountain Stewards cooperated with. DNR's Game Management and Fisheries staff were involved in project planning, grant application, and construction. This is at the Highway 53 bridge five minutes west of Dawsonville.
http://www.dawsonnews.com/news/article/1619/ (http://www.dawsonnews.com/news/article/1619/)
Remember that a list of other "accessible" trouting sites is on our website (gofishgeorgia.com) under fishing - trout.
* Delayed Harvest- It's ON!
Note that you have only four weekends left to the current Delayed Harvest "release" season in Georgia.
Chattooga DH Report from NGTO
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Should be awesome this weekend. A friend reported to me that he fished it late Sunday afternoon and they really got active late in the day (6-8 PM). While there were few risers, there we some #20 tan caddis as well as #12 or 14 Light Cahills popping off all afternoon. He fished all afternoon with a #16 Parachute Adams with a #16 Tan Caddis or Lt. Cahill trailer. Had almost no success dead drifting the flies but an across and down cast, followed by some upstream tugs, caused the flies to skate across the surface and turned the trout on. Also, John Cross fished it in the snow last Tuesday and had good success on March Brown soft hackles.
__________________
Jimmy Harris
http://unicoiliarsclub.com (http://unicoiliarsclub.com/)
Editor's note: Come up this weekend armed with soft hackles during the sunny day and parachute Adams (14-18), Light Cahills (14-18) and tan elk hair caddis (16-20) for the evening hatch, when the trout "switch" turns on around 6 PM! Bring a camera with a flash on it.
* The Hooch in Atlanta should clear and fishing should be good on the put-and-take (8 fish creel limit) and Delayed Harvest river sections. Crowds may be high, so consider more remote sections or a late afternoon trip, after doing chores in the morning. For latest reports and tips on hot flies or lures, check the NGTO "Chattahoochee River" forum or call your favorite tackle shop right before you go.
Example:
04-08-09, 10:11 PM #1
watkins
Native
Posts: 686
Paces, WOW !
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avenged bad catching day Sat. by fishing "old reliable" today. Started in early below the rock and only got 3 taps. Took a Macallan break and walked up to 75. Fished something fish could see and water they couldn't see it long. Lightnin bugs & blueberry nymphs in fast water. Prob. the best ever day on the hooch in #'s and two very respectable Browns, one going @ least 18" and very thick. Fast water + 3wgt made the day. Also tied a stimi on and cought 2-3 on top. Wind was terrible but upstream casts were easy. I tried a Wulff TT Nymph & indicator line for the first time. 27' taper w/ 63" running line. As it twitchs or moves you cannot miss it, YELLOW. When I leave the Hooch w/ daylite left you know it was a steller day. TRW
*Dukes Creek at Smithgall Woods fished well for the Unicoi Guru on Sunday afternoon. More than a dozen rainbows up to 15 inches were netted. Most grabbed the small, bright flies (ex; #18 lightning bug) in the high, slightly stained waters. Few fish fell for his big, ugly flies, as the water was already too clear.
* Come join us on Monday night (4/20) at the Athens TU meeting. I'll cover "Georgia Drought Trouting" for interested attendees. Hopefully it will keep raining, however, and make my information obsolete!
Info:http://www.orctu.org/Home.html
Click on some of these links, above, as many will be well worth your time.
And, by all means, don't let grass cutting get in the way of your April fishing trips!
Good luck.
www.gofishgeorgia.com (http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/forum/www.gofishgeorgia.com)
This weekend is looking great http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/weekend/30545?from=36hr_topnav_business (http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/weekend/30545?from=36hr_topnav_business)
for both harvest-oriented and catch-and-release trouters. Cool nights may make fishing slow at first light, but better in the afternoons and right before dark as the streams warm up. Those cool nights will be great for camp fires and sleeping bags, though, so plan your "trout camp" now and pack your car with tents and kids! Don't you love the smell of Coleman stove bacon in the morning?
http://www.fs.fed.us/conf/ (http://www.fs.fed.us/conf/) - recreation
http://www.gastateparks.org/net/calendar/events.aspx?typeids=22311&s=0.0.1.5 (http://www.gastateparks.org/net/calendar/events.aspx?typeids=22311&s=0.0.1.5)
* Stockers:
High stream flows have distributed stocked fish really well. Anglers who know how to cover ground, read water, and fish will have lots of success. It's not just "sit on the stocking hole" any more, due to the flushing flows. Fish all those pockets in the 200 yards below a suspected stocking site and pick up all those trout that other anglers walked past on their way to the crowded "bridge pool." Examine fast water closely and find the pockets. Two casts, then move up to the next little niche of slow water with cover (boulder, bedrock ledge, log). It does not take a lot of real estate to hold a stocker, even one of our bigger fish (12-15 inches) added to our loads to spice up your stringer and your post-trip tales.
There's an added bonus this week. :cheers: Our partners at the US Fish and Wildlife Service hatchery near Suches
http://www.fws.gov/southeast/ChattahoocheeForest/ (http://www.fws.gov/southeast/ChattahoocheeForest/)
have provided some brook trout for stocking. :cheers: Several north Georgia streams have gotten some in the last week. Maybe you'll be lucky enough to find a few in between the rainbow trout. Where? I don't believe I said.....
Other news and tall tales:
* After lamenting over a broken rod, eight-year old Trey McFalls of Tiger and his fishing buddy took a Saturday afternoon road trip. They found a nice four-foot Ugly Stick at Reeves Hardware in Dillard and then took off to the Tallulah River to break it in. Using rainbow-colored Powerbait, Trey reeled in two nice stockers in 1.5 hours of fishing (photo). They now reside in his freezer and await the frying pan. The Ugly Stick will now receive a true test of its durability!
Folks may learn from the USGS river and rain gauges about how quickly many of these mountain streams drop and clear after storm events. Don't let the rain get in your way! Just pick the right stream the day before your trip.
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?02178400 (http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?02178400)
Also remember our trout stocking list at gofishgeorgia.com, fishing, trout.
* Neat newsletter:
See "In Education" on the left side of this page.
http://campaign-archive.com/?u=946679e7fe51bbf81ce578cc1&id=91e6463a50&e= (http://campaign-archive.com/?u=946679e7fe51bbf81ce578cc1&id=91e6463a50&e=)
* Good article on Amicalola Creek access. Please note that this was a DNR project that the Mountain Stewards cooperated with. DNR's Game Management and Fisheries staff were involved in project planning, grant application, and construction. This is at the Highway 53 bridge five minutes west of Dawsonville.
http://www.dawsonnews.com/news/article/1619/ (http://www.dawsonnews.com/news/article/1619/)
Remember that a list of other "accessible" trouting sites is on our website (gofishgeorgia.com) under fishing - trout.
* Delayed Harvest- It's ON!
Note that you have only four weekends left to the current Delayed Harvest "release" season in Georgia.
Chattooga DH Report from NGTO
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Should be awesome this weekend. A friend reported to me that he fished it late Sunday afternoon and they really got active late in the day (6-8 PM). While there were few risers, there we some #20 tan caddis as well as #12 or 14 Light Cahills popping off all afternoon. He fished all afternoon with a #16 Parachute Adams with a #16 Tan Caddis or Lt. Cahill trailer. Had almost no success dead drifting the flies but an across and down cast, followed by some upstream tugs, caused the flies to skate across the surface and turned the trout on. Also, John Cross fished it in the snow last Tuesday and had good success on March Brown soft hackles.
__________________
Jimmy Harris
http://unicoiliarsclub.com (http://unicoiliarsclub.com/)
Editor's note: Come up this weekend armed with soft hackles during the sunny day and parachute Adams (14-18), Light Cahills (14-18) and tan elk hair caddis (16-20) for the evening hatch, when the trout "switch" turns on around 6 PM! Bring a camera with a flash on it.
* The Hooch in Atlanta should clear and fishing should be good on the put-and-take (8 fish creel limit) and Delayed Harvest river sections. Crowds may be high, so consider more remote sections or a late afternoon trip, after doing chores in the morning. For latest reports and tips on hot flies or lures, check the NGTO "Chattahoochee River" forum or call your favorite tackle shop right before you go.
Example:
04-08-09, 10:11 PM #1
watkins
Native
Posts: 686
Paces, WOW !
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avenged bad catching day Sat. by fishing "old reliable" today. Started in early below the rock and only got 3 taps. Took a Macallan break and walked up to 75. Fished something fish could see and water they couldn't see it long. Lightnin bugs & blueberry nymphs in fast water. Prob. the best ever day on the hooch in #'s and two very respectable Browns, one going @ least 18" and very thick. Fast water + 3wgt made the day. Also tied a stimi on and cought 2-3 on top. Wind was terrible but upstream casts were easy. I tried a Wulff TT Nymph & indicator line for the first time. 27' taper w/ 63" running line. As it twitchs or moves you cannot miss it, YELLOW. When I leave the Hooch w/ daylite left you know it was a steller day. TRW
*Dukes Creek at Smithgall Woods fished well for the Unicoi Guru on Sunday afternoon. More than a dozen rainbows up to 15 inches were netted. Most grabbed the small, bright flies (ex; #18 lightning bug) in the high, slightly stained waters. Few fish fell for his big, ugly flies, as the water was already too clear.
* Come join us on Monday night (4/20) at the Athens TU meeting. I'll cover "Georgia Drought Trouting" for interested attendees. Hopefully it will keep raining, however, and make my information obsolete!
Info:http://www.orctu.org/Home.html
Click on some of these links, above, as many will be well worth your time.
And, by all means, don't let grass cutting get in the way of your April fishing trips!
Good luck.
www.gofishgeorgia.com (http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/forum/www.gofishgeorgia.com)