Local Fishing Report 10/24/23
By Matt Morrison
Cohutta Fishing Co. – Blue Ridge
Toccoa Tailwater: Turnover is done on the Toccoa Tailwater! Water temps below the dam are down into the mid 60’s and are dropping. The fish are feeding on a variety of things. Plenty of Tan Caddis and BWO’s are around, as well as tons of midges. October Caddis are just around the corner, so we’re expecting to see these start popping off any day now. Morning and late evening dry fly fishing has been phenomenal throwing smaller Parachute Adams, Parachute BWO’s and Tan Elk Hair Caddis. Dry Dropper rigs have been working well, with nymphs hanging between 2-4 feet below the dry depending on where you are fishing. Hare’s Ear variations have been working the best with some small mayfly nymphs, like pheasant tails, in the mix. Fishing should only get better as we start to get into our October Caddis hatch so start stocking up on some orange colored caddis dries. Even switching to a smaller orange chubby on your dry dropper rigs can help pick up a couple extra fish.
Upper Toccoa: Delayed Harvest season starts November 1st. Flows are incredibly low with as little rain as we’ve had. As I’m writing this the upper is flowing at 106cfs. This should really help wade fishermen out. Make sure to stock up on your typical junk flies like Pat’s, Eggs, Worms, and Rainbow Warriors. If you’re new to fly fishing or don’t know what DH season is, basically starting Nov 1st there are a few more regulations you need to pay attention to. During DH season (Nov. 1 – May 14), fishing is catch and release only, single hooks only (for us fly fishermen meaning no more than 2 flies), and artificial lures only. There are a few different DH’s in Georgia and North Carolina and they all provide great opportunities for newer anglers.
Small Streams: This fall is looking to be another low water fall. With not much more than a drizzle the past two months, the creeks are incredibly low. This means fish can be really spooky. In the wild trout streams, stick with dry flies or some lighter dry dropper rigs. Throwing lighter rigs can help keep your flies from slapping the water and spooking fish. In some of the stocked streams, that can also be the case with pressured fish. With dry flies, I’ve been having some luck throwing some attractions like Stimulators, Bugmeisters, and PMX’s. But they will still eat natural dries like Caddis and Parachute Adams pretty well. Sometimes it just helps throwing something that sticks out from all of the leaves.
Hot Flies:
- Soft Hackle Jigged Pheasant Tail (sz16-18)
- Soft Hackle Jigged Hare’s Ear (sz14-180
- Flashback Pheasant Tail (sz16-18)
- Flashback Hare’s Ear (sz 14-18)
- Duracell Jig (sz 14-18)
- Rainbow Warrior (sz16-18)
- Wooly Bugger
- Pat’s Rubber Leg
- Tungsten Pat’s Rubber Leg
- Elk Hair Caddis Tan (sz12-16)
- Parachute Adams (sz 16-18)
- Parachute BWO (sz 16-18)
- Zebra Midge (sz 16-18)
- Two Bit Hooker (sz 16-18)
- Bugmeister (sz 12-14)
- PMX (sz 12-14)
- Donkey Kong Hopper (sz 12)
- Stimulator (sz 12-14)
