By Jeff Durniak, Georgia Wildlife Resources Division
A. Winter (December – February)
1. Look behind before looking ahead
a. Have trout populations recovered?
2. Droughts good for spawning – stable flows
3. “Gauge” your stream – USGS Real Time Water Data
4. Low water = large stream accessibility
5. South slopes = sunshine and warmer water
6. Fish the afternoons (11AM to 3 PM)
7. Fresh fish like junk food: Y2K, egg, fly, san juan worm
8. Residents love tiny pheasant tails (sizes 18 – 20)
9. Cold fish react slower–find slow water
10.Best bets: Hooch DH, Toccoa tailwater, Smith DH, Chattooga DH, Dukes Creek
B. Spring (March – May)
1. Low water is tough on adult trout habitat, but easy on wading!
2. Droughts are easy on sac fry and fingerlings
3. Universal search rig: parachute Adams dry fly and prince nymph dropper (Size14)
4. Let your fishing follow the water temperatures and hatches: Noon to dusk to “dark – thirty”
5. Hatch charts at www.rabuntu.org “Tight Lines”
6. Everything is good! Best bets: largest freestone streams, the two tailwaters
7. Must tries: Georgia “speck” streams, NC’s Nantahala DH near Andrews.
C. Summer (June – September)
1. Add a month to spring by going to NC (extra thousand feet of elevation)
2. Ole reliable–two GA tailwaters
3. Go high – headwater rainbow streams at top of watersheds: Hooch, Tallulah, West Fork Chattooga
4. Hit north slope streams like Noontootla
5. Scaledown-“six foot rod and six foot leader”
6. Attractor dries and terrestrials: yellow stimulator, coachman trude, ants, soft hackle wets (16-18)
7. Replace trout with other species:
a. River redeye and shoal bass
b. Pond bass and bream
c. Reservoir gar and carp
D. Fall (October – November)
1. Remember to look back – trout recovery?
2. Ole reliable–tailwaters
3. Get the Delayed Harvest jump in NC (October 1)
4. GA headwater trout last chance (October 31)
5. November = cooler weather and cooperative DH stockers
6. Find spawning browns
7. Best bets = tailwaters, NC DH (Tuckaseegee, Nantahala), Chattooga and Toccoa DH
E. Summary
1. Let the weather and the water be your trip guide; decide the day before
2. Change your destinations and tactics to match the seasons
3. Change species in summer
4. Add to your ranks. “Take one, make one” – Anglers Legacy, NGTO, Trout Business Cards.
5. Jeff’s email list for north GA news (jeff.durniak@dnr.state.ga.us.)