Toccoa Tailwater: As we transition into our summer pattern, time of day will make or break your day of fishing. The mornings and late afternoons have been great out on the Toccoa. Fish have been eagerly eating mayfly and caddis nymphs. Lots of small Tan Caddis hatching as well as March Browns. On the right days, lots of fish have been rising to these bugs late in the afternoon. The water has been gin clear lately, so when the sun is high, down size your tippet and fish from further away. Delicate casts and long drifts have been the name of the game midday when the sun is high. During this time focus on shady spots. You’ll find pods of fish hiding out from the sun. Dry dropper rigs have been the best. With the low, clear water, bobbers just make too much commotion on the surface. DNR has been stocking a couple of times a month now, so there should be plenty of stockers in the river. Throwing a flashier point fly like a Pink Beaded Hare’s Ear or Duracell to catch some attention has been working pretty well. Behind it, throw something more natural like a smaller Pheasantail or Hare’s Ear. Running these 2-4ft under a Chubby has been working most of the day. This Spring has been a dry one. TVA has been sporadically pulsing water. For floating this should create a good bite window for streamers or bobber rigs. But with some good rain a couple of days ago and more in the forecast, this should help bump our flows up and lead to more generations from the dam. We’ll need it for our cold water storage, because summer time heat is already upon us.
Upper Toccoa DH: Even after the rain earlier this week, the Upper is still flowing around 260cfs. This is still a great flow to wade. DNR stocked fish around the end of April, but the stockings will slow down May 14th when DH ends. Stick with dry droppers for the most part, but a bobber rig would work fine in the deepest holes. Stick with flashier nymphs to catch some attention. Just like the tailwater fishing will slow down when the sun gets high. Water temps will be warmer than the tailwater and will fluctuate more with the midday heat. DH ends May 14th so get your last bit of fishing in there before stockings stop and temps get high.
Small Streams: This Spring, small streams have stayed pretty low. Some rains have bumped the flows, but they are so infrequent the ground soaks up a lot of that water. After each rain the fishing should be on fire as long as they are not blown out. Rubberlegs and worms have been best on these days, but as the water drops out fishing more natural patterns have been working better. Flies like Hare’s Ears and Holy Grails have been catching the most fish for me. The best thing about a Hare’s Ear this time of year is it mimics both Tan Caddis and March Browns. Dry fly fishing has been pretty good with these low flows. Parachute Adams, Tan Elk Hairs, and various attractor dries have been doing pretty well. Attractor Dries are flies that might not specifically mimic a certain bug but just something that looks buggy, matches a few different bugs, or just a pop of color just to get noticed. Flies like PMX’s or Purple Hazes. Especially on wild trout, these can be killer this time of year.
Warmwater: Our rivers have been low with the lack of rain. Stripers have been slowly starting their run. More and more Stripers should make their way up after the recent rains. Right now what you sacrifice in numbers, you’ll make up for in size. On the other hand, the bass have been on fire before they start to spawn. Swim flies are great to produce a visual and aggressive eat. On top of that these fish are the biggest they’ll be all year. Flies like Sluggos, Swinging D’s, and Hollow Flies should all work well on a strip strip pause retrieve. Just remember to let those flies hover. Most fish eat on the pause. Crawfish have also started to emerge, so fishing crawfish patterns in shallower water has been doing great as well. Flies like Nancy P’s fished on an erratic strip can produce well in shallower or faster water. Carp have also begun spawning on some of the lakes around. This brings the fish up shallow and makes for some awesome sight fishing. Carp are one of the spookiest fish but that makes them super rewarding to catch. They are also one of the few freshwater fish to get you into your backing frequently. As summer creeps up, we are transitioning from trout to our other warm water species. As it gets warmer trout fishing will get tougher. But that makes for a good excuse to change it up and try something different. As the fishing for Bass, Striper and Carp on fly heats up, now is the time to give the shop a call and book your warmwater trip.
Hot Flies:
Water is still low despite some rain here and there. We’ve wrapped up the black caddis from last month and are now starting to see March Browns showing up here and there. Hot flies on the Toccoa tailwater have been Duracells with...
Toccoa Tailwater: As a lot of you may know, Black Caddis have been coming off for about 3 weeks now. The cold snap has put the hatch on pause, but the warmer weather should trigger bigger hatches again. The best days to hit the hatch are the warm sunny days with...
Best Flies Right Now on the Toccoa River We’re still seeing consistent success with egg patterns, flashback Hare’s Ears, and flashback Pheasant Tails in a range of sizes. These remain solid producers, particularly during colder stretches. At the same time, anglers are...
