MAY, 2006 UNICOI NEWSLETTER

We took a look back over the past couple of years to see what kind of reports we had sent out in May and made a funny discovery: we haven't sent out a May report at all. Some of you may recall that we have vowed to never waste your time with a newsletter that doesn't have something worthwhile in it. It's not that we don't want to stay in contact with you and it's not that we don't want to share north Georgia fishing information with you. It's that WE'RE FISHING SO MUCH WE HAVEN'T HAD TIME TO THINK ABOUT A NEWSLETTER! Last month we encouraged you to drop whatever you were doing and go fishing and this month has been just as good. April, May and June in the mountains of north Georgia and western North Carolina are just about as good as it gets. The delayed harvest streams in Georgia have now opened to general regulations and will be warming up over the next month or so. However, there is no way the skillet anglers can fish these streams out with the first few weeks of open regs. Now could be a great time to fish them, particularly during the week. Sure, over the next month, the quality of the fishing on these streams will decline but for right now they remain a viable choice to consider.

Lots of bugs coming off on just about all streams right now. Well, lots for Georgia. On the Toccoa tailwater, we're seeing more and more sulfurs mixed with light cahills. Best way to fish the "T" is a dry dropper combination in the riffles and runs. Try a size 14 light cahill or a size 16 sulfur pattern with about 20 inches of 6X dropper hanging off the back that will run either a soft hackle hares ear or soft hackle pheasant tail along the bottom. If the water is very clear, ditch the bead head flies as the shine off the brass may spook wary trout. On the Toccoa, in the deeper stretches, tie on an olive woolly bugger and work the pools well. We've have some amazing fish caught on our trips lately off stripped buggers. At just about any time on the Toccoa you may find good midge hatches as well as blue winged olives. Just be ready if you see fish splashing the surface but you can't tell what they're eating. It could very well be the little stuff that has the attention of the fish even if there are larger cahills, caddis or sulfurs coming off. Always remember to check the TVA generationg schedule before heading out on the Toccoa. This time of year when Lake Blue Ridge has reached its summer pool level of 1688 feet, you'll likely find them releasing water at some point during the day. The good thing is, if they hold off until 11:00 Am or even later, you can get a lot of hours of fishing in before the water runs you off. For instance, rising water won't get to the Curtis Switch area for about 2 and a half hours after they begin generating. You can easily get in 5 or 6 good hours of fishing in the mornings. However, and this is a big "however", please don't make any attempts to stay in the river and fish when the water begins to rise. The fishing is lousy and it's dangerous! Best bet is to get out of the river before you think the water will reach you. It's a given, if you're fishing on the far side of the river when rising water reaches you, you will not make it back to the other side. It's as simple as that. That sucker comes up pretty darn quickly and you'll be swimming if you aren't careful. Not trying to be morbid but anglers have been killed on the Toccoa on more than one occasion trying to beat the odds and cross the river after the water comes up. Please don't risk it, just plan ahead and get out a little early.

On the Chattooga River and it's tributaries, we're seeing big stoneflies in the morning: golden stones and giant black stones (4's - 8's) as well as the little yellow sallies (14's & 16's). Late afternoons and evenings bring out the sulfurs (14's & 16's) as well as light cahills (12's & 14's) and mottled gray caddis (14's). The section down around Hwy. 28 may be warming up but the upper reaches of the Chattooga are definitely coming into their own. Don't wait until the heat of July and August turn the fishing off, plan a trip to this magnificent jewel soon.

Dukes Creek has been her usual hard to figure out self lately. Fishing can be awesome one day and aggravating the next. With low, clear water conditions, we're almost forced to concentrate on the fast runs with enough broken water on the surface to conceal the fish. If you can place your fly in the right spot, odds are you'll hook up. However, if you're not fishing deep enough or your fly is zooming over their heads in that fast water, you may never know there's a fish anywhere around. You can continue to catch good fish in these areas on hares hear nymphs and woolly buggers dead drifted near the bottom. You should also have some good old fashion junk food flies on hand if nothing else is working. San Juan worms in brown or shell pink and Y2K Bugs continue to take their fair share of good fish on Dukes. Early in the morning or late in the evening, you can have some luck on dry flies (preferably attractor patterns like Wulffs, Tarantulas, Stimulators, Trudes etc.) but during the middle of the day you should concentrate on going deep. This past weekend Dukes Creek had a lot of cancellations due to the threat of storms on Sunday. Don't do that! Your best fishing days on Dukes Creek are those when it's raining or has been raining recently and the water is off-color. When you have trouble seeing the bottom of the creek at Dukes, hang on to your hat because you're in for some good fishing. We think Dukes is one of the top three most challenging streams in the state but if you want to level the playing field head over there when the water is just a little discolored. You won't regret it.

The high mountain streams in Georgia are fishing really well now. The put and take fisheries are churning them out right now. The Chattahoochee drainage, Tallulah drainage, Etowah, Toccoa and Chattooga drainages offer great little streams full of stocked rainbows and browns. For fun fishing or to introduce a friend to trout fishing, head to one of these easily accessible streams. Georgia DNR does a very good job of providing fishing opportunities on these beautiful waters. If you're into hiking in for fishing, you'll even find sections of creeks with no stockers at all but plenty of little wild trout (rainbows and browns). A good stealthy presentation will fool a lot of these little guys into taking your fly but you've got to have some quick reflexes to actually set the hook in one of them. Give yourself a pat on the back if you end the day with anywhere near as many hookups as opportunities. If you're batting .500, you can consider yourself a pretty good angler. While light cahills are found on most of these streams this time of year, fly selection isn't particularly important on these streams. You need a fly that floats well, that you can see in those rhododendron tunnels, and one that will fit in the little fishies mouths. Big bushy attractor patterns will definitely get a rise but if it's too large the hackle will literally prevent the fish from taking it in their mouth. On some streams you may want to tie on a dropper as they will certainly catch fish. However, you can also catch plenty of wild fish with a dry only and it sure is a lot more fun.

FEDERATION OF FLY FISHERS

Unicoi Outfitters will be participating in the 2006 Southeastern Council Conclave June 8 - 10 at Callaway Gardens. Jimmy will be presenting a program on fishing the boundary zone for trout. You don't have to be a member of FFF to attend the Conclave and we want to invite everyone to come by and see us at our booth. There will be lots of good seminars and fly tying demos like you wouldn't believe. We hope to see you there. For more information, go to the SEC FFF website at http://www.fffsec.org/ . We think you'll enjoy it and the fishing at Callaway Gardens is phenomenal.

That's it for this month. We never want to add to your daily allotment of spam so this one is short and to the point. We hope you've had plenty of opportunities to go stand in a creek this spring. It's good for the soul and, Lord knows, this world sure needs more peaceful souls. Let some moving water wash your cares away.

THANK YOU

As always, we are grateful for your friendship and your patronage. If you ever need current fishing information or specifications and recommendations on gear, please call us at (706) 878-3083 in Helen or (706) 632-1880 in Blue Ridge.

Remember, if you no longer wish to receive our newsletter, just reply to this email with the word "remove" in the subject line. On the other hand, if you know someone you think would like to know what's going on with north Georgia trout fishing, please have them send us an email and request to be placed on our mailing list.

Tight lines!

The Liars Club http://www.unicoioutfitters.com