Hiwassee River Float Trips Primed for Dry Flies
As
summer rolls in this month, trout fishing offered by the guide team at ReelAngling Adventures is highlighted with the float trips available on the
Hiwassee and lower Toccoa rivers. The Hiwassee trips will be operated on daily
high-water flows through Labor Day weekend, with the guides working boats on
2-mile, 5-mile or 7-mile floats chasing both trout and striped bass. This is a
numbers game for the trout, typically running 10-14 inches long. They take
flies of all styles – dries, nymphs and streamers – as well as the usual
spinning lures, small spoons and jigs. Stripers are just appearing in the upper
river, and we anticipate catch numbers to begin increasing as trip counts grow
from June through August. We hit ‘em with both lures and baits, hooking into
what can be fish that push the 50-pound mark!
Toccoa River Wade/Float Trips Depend on Water Levels
Our
Toccoa tailwater trips are based on day-to-day water levels that have created
some interesting fishing conditions this year on the 5- to 6-mile-long float
trips. The TVA had been running water flows from 240 to 360 cfs – much more
than the historical minimum water flows of 160 cfs – which changed many of the
skinniest boat-dragging shoals into prime trout lies with plenty of bug
activity to keep the dry-fly fishing working well through the day. However, on
June 13, the TVA returned to minimum flows to small to support float trips on
the Toccoa. Higher flows are sure to return with significant rainfall. Until
then, we’ll keep at it on foot, hosting wading trips on the Toccoa tailwater at
or near the primary stocking sites -- Blue Ridge Dam, the TVA access site off
Curtis Switch Road, and Horseshoe Bend Park in McCayesville -- where dry-fly
fishing has both rainbows and browns looking up and taking the fly patterns of
summertime. You might recall, too, that the Toccoa River Watershed Coalition (www.ToccoaRiverWatershedCoalition.org) supports special trout-fishing regulations it
believes would speed up the recovery of the Toccoa tailwater trout population, which
took a significant hit a year and a half ago when the TVA released water from the
lake that exceeded 74 degrees. Those releases cost the lower Toccoa River
almost 85% of its trout fishery. Nonetheless, the Georgia Department of Natural
Resources has not shown any indications it will change fishing regulations on
the tailwater at this time.
Wild Trout Trekking Promises Color in the Water
Thanks
to timely rainfall and moderate weather, most of the high-elevation streams
remain open for wild trout in Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee and can
produce some good trips for dry-fly fishing. We’ve got our fingers crossed that
these waters will fish well for another month before summertime heat takes its
toll and runs localized water temperatures to near 70 degrees. These are great
small-water adventures targeting wild rainbows, browns and brook trout on some
of the prettiest remote trout waters in the southern Appalachian Mountains.
Trophy Trout Taking Fat Flies
Those
same rains are extending the action on our trophy-trout water at Noontootla
Creek Farm by keeping water levels up and water temperatures steady in the low
60s. Despite the sometimes spotty action, anglers on the 2-mile-long
private-access stream that caters strictly to catch-and-release fly-fishermen
took several trout last weekend in the 20-plus-inch class. Fly selections can
sometimes change daily on NCF, but the technical “challenge” is part of the
beauty in fly-fishing this spectacular spring creek. Cover is often tight; the
stream is often clear; and stealth is a must on the riffle-run-pool pattern
that characterizes the stream’s progression from top to bottom.
Bassin' in the Jumps on Blue Ridge & Chatuge
Black-bass
fishing on the impoundments is currently on fire at daylight! Our half-day
summertime morning trips are finding both spotted bass and smallmouths slashing
through large schools of herring that gather over night on the surface in deep
water. The bass “discover” these schools of baitfish as daylight arrives. The
bite is fast and furious, providing exciting topwater action that sometimes
extends for several hours. Smallmouths and spots run together on Lake Blue
Ridge, and some really large schools of white bass can surprise anglers with
some of the most frantic fishing of the year! Spotted bass rule at Lake Chatuge.
The TVA continues to hold Lake Blue Ridge 15 feet below conservation pool,
while Lake Chatuge is full.
And Now for This ... Action A'Plenty for Stripers & Hybrids
Also,
Reel Angling Adventures recently developed a working relationship with the
guide team at FishGarrison.com – the premier guided fishing service that
targets striped bass and hybrid-stripers at Lake Nottely (Blairsville, GA); and
hybrid-stripers at Lake Chatuge (Hiawasee, GA). Guides Josh Garrison and Darren
Hughes combine for more than 30 years of fishing experience. Both guides use
large, center console boats outfitted with the latest electronics, rods, tackle
and live bait. Summertime fishing trips are planned around running deep
live-bait lines in the morning half of the day in uncrowded conditions,
surrounded b the picturesque settings of the North Georgia mountains. Operated
by the TVA, the lake is currently full with the best fishing taking place on
the days of cloud cover and drizzling, rainy weather.
Summer
is, indeed, upon us, and fishing action – whether it’s fly-fishing or conventional
fishing for trout, spotted bass, smallmouth bass, stripers or hybrid-stripers –
is taking the active turn toward the historical trends associated with the
destinations of the guide team of Reel Angling Adventures.
Good
fishing!
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