Fishing Report: June 26th, 2020

The Toccoa River has been fished hard for the past couple months, but don’t let that deter you! We had enough rain to slightly stain the river earlier this week, and the generation schedule will probably crank up a little more to maintain the lake level. If you plan on wade fishing, the clarity should go back to normal below Hemptown Creek by Saturday or Sunday. I would mostly nymph or throw dry-dropper rigs unless you see a hatch come off.

For dry-droppers, try big dries imitating stoneflies and terrestrials – these flies are buoyant and can stand to float one or two nymphs with split shot. I like these big dries on a shorter, 7.5 foot 4x leader and use 4x or 5x fluorocarbon tippet to connect your dropper flies. Try dropping stonefly nymphs (Pat’s Rubber Legs, Double Bead Stones), smaller pheasant tail or hare’s ear variants, small rainbow warriors, caddis patterns, etc. Use the same flies for a nymph rig, but I would change to a 9ft 4x Fluorocarbon leader.

The Etowah River cranked up the flow today to 1980, so it might be borderline downstream of the creeks to fly fish effectively. If you go and chase striper, fish heavy. Keep an eye on the flow as it could drop quickly as soon as the Corps of Engineers levels out the lake and the rain subsides. Boogle Bugs, baitfish patterns, and craw patterns should work for the spotted bass. July is looking like it’s going to be prime time for river striper and bass, so call us if you want to set up a trip! 7069463044.

Small Streams should have received a welcome amount of rain this past week, but none of the streams higher up should be blown out. If the water is a little high still, try high sticking heavier tungsten flies like March Brown Jigs, Jigged Hare’s Ear Soft Hackles, and big stonefly patterns and wooly buggers. As the water levels out, any yellow dry fly, beetle pattern, or small terrestrial should do the trick. 5x and 6x leaders on a light 3 or 4 weight rod will provide a lot of fun.