Toccoa Tailwater
Spring Fly Fishing on the Toccoa Tailwater: Best Times, Patterns & Streamer Tips
The Toccoa Tailwater has been fishing well. Generations have been a little inconsistent with TVA letting out more water from our spring rains. Some days have had morning generations, but they have been consistently running water late in the afternoons. Our spring hatches are underway and the fish are feeding pretty good on low water in the mornings. I have been seeing the fishing slow down when temps get into the 80s midday. Morning and late afternoons are fishing the best right now if you can get low water. Patterns imitating March Browns, Hendricksons, and Quills have been working the best. But there are some Tan Caddis hatching as well. Pheasant Tails, March Brown Jig, and Hare’s Ears have been productive. A caddis emerger, like a Holy Grail, off of the back of a jigged fly can also work well. On a rainy day, Rubber Legs are my go to point fly. Pretty much all of my rigs have been dry dropper rigs. At least once during the day a fish tries to eat the chubby. Late in the afternoons you’ll see more fish looking up as well, so for you dry fly anglers, stay late and you should see a few bugs as the day cools off. We’ve been seeing a lot of nice streamer days as well. Cloudy, drizzly days the fish have been feeling pretty chasey. A lot of people think this is only a winter time thing. But with these early or late generations, there’s always a chance at a trophy. As stocking continues, as well as creek chubs, shiners, and other minnows get active in the rising water temps. There are a lot of targets for the bigger fish in our river to eat. Whether you’re a seasoned angler, or want to learn some new tricks, give us a call for a streamer float.
Upper Toccoa
Upper Toccoa DH Fishing Update: Flows, Patterns & Season End Insights
We are coming close to the end of our DH season on the Upper Toccoa. After May 15th, DH regulations are dropped and stockings there will slow down. Currently the DH is running at 565cfs and has been hovering between 700-500cfs the past few days. We don’t recommend wading these flows. This is a great flow to float however. Stick with bobber rigs in these flows, and make sure your rig is heavy enough to get down. Split-shot will come in handy here. Tungsten Rubber Legs, Pheasant Tails, Blow Torches, and Rainbow Warriors have been my go to on the Upper. Definitely sticking to more natural patterns, but a natural silhouette with some flash or color usually does the trick. Keep an eye on the flows here. As we get some time without rain the river will drop back down to a wadeable flow.
Small Streams
Small Stream Fly Fishing in North Georgia: Dry Droppers & Mayfly Hatches
Small streams have been on fire lately. Good hatches of mayflies and caddis pretty much daily. Most of our small streams have lots of over hanging cover, which makes for great hiding spots when the sun is at its highest during the hottest part of the day. Fast runs and riffles usually will have some cooperative fish during the midday lull. Dry dropper rigs have been working great, but keep a few dries on you for the shallow riffles or pocket water. A lot of fish in these creeks have been looking up. In most wild trout streams around here, all you need is a handful of dry flies to have a successful day.
Warmwater
Warmwater Action Heats Up: Striper Runs, Bass on Beds & Cicada Carp Eats
As the bass get on their beds for their spawn. They get harder to target on flies. They don’t tend to move far from their beds to chase a streamer. Most bites right now aren’t to feed, but a reactive strike to protect their beds. But now is the time to start chasing one of our favorite summer time fish: Striped Bass. In most places, the stripers are already well into their spawning run up some of our rivers. Striper can be a moody fish, but they make up for it with an amazing fight. Hooking a striper is like hooking into a freight train. A lot of striper fishing has to do with being in the right place at the right time of day, and our guides are very dialed into that. There can be a lot of down time when the fishing is slow, but when it is on it’s on! They tend to travel in schools, so most of the time when there is one there can be a few more following it. It also results in some epic eats. Be warned because it is very addicting. These stripers will hang out in these rivers for the rest of the summer for the cooler, oxygenated water. Also we have an incredible hatch coming into our area this summer: Cicadas. These periodical cicadas only happen every so often. We’ve been lucky enough to see them in 2021 and last year. Everything eats these bugs, but our favorite fish to target are the carp that gorge themselves on these bugs. So many of these bugs end up in the water that you can see the carp cruising the surface looking for them. This will be the last time we see this hatch for awhile, so don’t miss out on your opportunity to catch carp on a dry fly!
Hot Flies
Top Producing Spring Flies for North Georgia Waters
Jigged Soft Hackle Pheasant Tail (sz12-16)
Jigged Soft HAckle Hare’s Ear (sz12-16)
March Brown Jig (sz12-14)
Blow Torch (sz12-16)
Flash Back Pheasant Tail (sz12-16)
Flash Back Hare’s Ear (sz12-16)
Pat’s Rubber Legs
Tungsten Pat’s Rubber Legs
Holy Grail (sz14-16)
Swing Caddis (sz14-16)
Spot-On Bait Fish
Bucktail Decievers
Clouser
Pop’s Shad
