UO Fishing Report - 8/21/26
Summary: it’s still hot up here, so wild trout are out and stocker opportunities are waning at season-end. The good news is that the rains have subsided, so river bassin’ is a best bet. Mountain lake bassin woke up, too, while ponds should still fish well in low light of dawn and dusk.
Catch all the details in our full report, here:
https://www.unicoioutfitters.com/fishing-reports
Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.
www.unicoioutfitters.com
Sautee: 706-878-3083. Open 8-5 daily. (2454 GA Hwy 17, Sautee-Nacoochee.)
Clarkesville: 706-754-0203. Open 8-5 from Monday thru Saturday.
Wes’ Hot Fly List:
Dries: parachute ant, para Adams, stimulator, chubby Chernobyl for dry dropper fishing.
Nymphs & Wets:
Drowned ant, UV green weenie, root beer midge, pheasant tail, small buggers, squirmy worms in dirty water from afternoon storms.
Streamers:
Jiggy bugger, muddler, micro peanut envy.
River stripers:
Mop tail changer, bangtail, clouser.
River bass:
Crittermite, stealth bomber, Boogle bug, hairy fodder, coyote.
Bream & Carp:
Hybrid worm, carp it bomb, gill scorpion, amnesia bug, mini jig bugger.
Headwaters:
It’s still hot, so forget most GA wild trout streams if you want those “natives” to survive the summer. You can still try high north slopes on early mornings, and treks to higher elevation streams in NC. Yesterday at 5PM, upper Smith and Dukes at Smithgall were both 72F,
while the Hooch on the lower end of the WMA was a warm 74F.
There is a bit of good news on the horizon, as the mountain air temps start to cool off slightly. We need some overnite lows to dip back down into the mid-60’s. Then those headwaters will be cool enough again to float your Adams or ant past those little wild bows and specks.
Stockers:
This week’s stocking list is slim as we near the end of the 2026 stocking season. You still have a good shot at sone hefty, end-of-growing-season stockers. Just go early or to an icy tailwater.
As always, find the 2026 master list here to find those creeks that will still get stocked late in the season.
https://georgiawildlife.com/Fishing/Trout
Private Waters:
Forget em til October. Low, warm, and in their summer siestas til fall brings cooler water temps. Call your favorite shops and guides in August to book those prime fall weekends.
Tailwaters:
They should fish well with their clear, cold water, finally untainted by muddy tribs. UO buddy and Hooch Tailwater guide Myles: “My buddy and I went out on his boat on Thursday for a morning float. Over the course of about 4 hours, we brought probably 40 fish to the boat and missed numerous as well. There were a number of bigger stockers in the 9-14” range caught, which was awesome. Almost every logjam or grassy patch with a drop off near it held fish. I used 6lb fluorocarbon with eggs and small nymphs. This brown here was a nice surprise.”
Feel free to contact the Hartley duo for your Hooch intel and maybe a guide trip:
Ryan Hartley: 678-468-0440
Myles Hartley: 678-900-0835
Warm Rivers:
The upper Hooch was running Lear when I crossed it yesterday and again today. River bassin’ is a best bet this weekend, given the very low chance of rain. Take your topwater bugs (boogles and stealth bombers) for shady times and your bottom bouncers (hairy fodders) for dredging the depths during sunny middays. We have custom-tied fodders and bombers from our guides available for purchase at our Sautee shop.
Ponds:
No recent reports. Small Lake fishing should remain a good bet early and lake in the day. Take your kids flyfishing for bream with a popper/dropper setup. That dropper nymph or wet fly will elicit a lot of strikes from bluegills and hook your children in flyfishing.
Lakes:
UO manager and lake guide Jake: “Mountain lake bass fishing has been really good the past week. Fortunately, we caught them on the fun stuff! We were targeting offshore brush pile-relating fish with various topwaters, soft jerk baits, and hard baits just below the surface. This bite was strong and should only improve over the next few weeks, as it looks like we have some cooler weather in the forecast.”
Afar:
New UO buddy “SJ” booked a trip with UO guide Sydney a few months ago. He wanted to learn the basics of flyfishing for trout before heading west for his first experience in the promised land. He just got back from WY and said:
“Please share this pic with Sydney for me if you will. This picture was taken on the North Platte River. She was a great instructor!”
UO buddy CDB: “I did something a little bit different. I had to be in Madison Wisconsin for a conference, so I fished The Driftless this week. Pretty country. Did a combination of crawling around on my hands and knees, and casting in little streams in between 5 foot tall stands of golden rod.
The fish weren’t easy. Would love to do this in grouse season. I may try to fish one or two days after the conference. I feel like the fish schooled me a little bit. So I need to give it another go.
And if you’re asking, yes, tiny leech patterns underneath a hopper were the trick for me.
That’s the latest, thin fishing news as we put another scorching August week in our rear view mirror. Look ahead with some optimism; hopefully we’ll start cooling down a bit. That will make both the fish and the fishers happier, with more activity by both groups. Stop in either UO shop for your late summer bugs and the breaking daily intel. We enjoy your company!
Unicoi Outfitters: Friendly. Local. Experts.
Late addition from Rodney: “Same thing different day in AA (Almost Alabama) Coosa Redeye Bass are still looking up. Yellow is still working on hoppers, Chernobyl’s, small Stealth Bombers, etc. “
