Fished Weedon with Tony this weekend and though we didn't have bait we had plenty of good luck finding fish.
We started off with some puffer fish which seemed to be everywhere and then poled around trying to find some reds or trout. Well we got around some pot holes a little while into the drift and I spotted a fish from the platform and Tony spotted a different fish from the front of the boat and made a perfect cast and was rewarded with a really heavy 27 inch red.
I thought we were on the fish then so we worked the area and zig-zagged across the area with no luck. We only spooked a couple more fish off the flat so we poled down the mangroves looking for fish. Then we ended up in the Christmas Hole which is an absolute great looking hole that many of the guides like to fish. After watching a big red swim off from the top of the hole we eased into the run as the current was rushing down the edge of the mangroves. We were rewarded with a couple of lady fish and one solid smaller red from the run. Then we moved into the flat behind the hole looking for fish and though we didn't find many fish I think the tide needs to be a little higher in there before the fish get all they way back up into the mangroves.
From there it was around lunch so we ran out and back to the launch to wash the boat and run some errands.
Fished Smithgall Woods with Greg, Sam and Joe the other weekend. We started the morning looking for fish along the high and off-colored Hooch through Helen which was almost unfishable with fly rods though the spin fishers were having a good morning. Well we knew that we had reservations at Smithgall so we were still excited about the day even though it was off to a slow start.
We got to Smithgall and after some stream-side Wendys and a quick throw of the Frisbee it was time to get loaded up and on the river. Since there was a turkey hunt going on the only section open was section 1 so we started at the culvert hole. I drew the short straw so I was first up and rewarded with a quick 10 inch trout. I jumped out and the next guy was up. We did that for a little while playing leapfrog in the hole and caught a couple of fish.
We caught some smaller fish and then Joe hooked into something a little larger and the race was on downstream.
There were a couple of bigger fish hooked in the run but we were unable to land them. So we ended up with a few fish out of that hole so we split up and started looking for fish upstream. We got to the pavilion hole which was running pretty fast and we caught a couple of small fish on the outside seam but before moving again. I found a run just downstream of that hole and started nymphing and before I had made that many casts I was up to 5 fish. They were sitting in the back and though none were larger than 16 inches they were active and feeding on midges. I jumped out and ran back up to get Sam to see if any of them were still biting for him. We got back into the hole and we discussed how to get the flies down to them and made a few casts and before you knew it Sam had his first trout on a fly rod.
He ended up with another pretty quickly and broke off on a fish way up in the run that hit his flies like a freight train so by that point it was time to get back up with Greg and Joe so we hustled back down to find them back in the culvert hole.
Well it didn't take long for Greg to figure out the run as well and the video says it all.
Greg was faster than I was and the fish was faster than both of us. Just off screen that fish took off and was flying downstream by the time Greg caught up with him. It seemed to be the story of the day for sure. The fish were just faster than we were though we ended up catching quite a few fish as usual the big fish find ways to break you off or come unglued. Still I love that stream and seeing that many smaller fish in there shows me that the stream is back on the way up.
Fished Smith's creek on an awesome day with some good buddies last weekend. It was about the only creek we could fish doe the rain we had the previous evening so after a couple of early morning phone calls we all met up at Unicoi to talk shop before heading on to Smiths. We were pleasantly surprised to see that no one had fished the creek for a few days and that the water was only slightly high and slightly stained.
We decided it would be a great day to start off with big impressionistic flies so usually our go to flies in that situation are worms and woolly buggers. So we hit the water hard and spread out. By the time we had met back up in a couple of hours we had landed a few fish each.
We joined up at the culvert hole and went on to catch quite a few more fish and I got to the slam pretty quickly.
And we had a few tree fish as well.
We also got some good video of some fishing coming to the net and getting released.
After lunch we worked down stream and found some fish short of the retention pond but nothing after that.
We worked back to the culvert hole and rewarded with a couple of late afternoon trout.
I was trying to get a picture but it turned into an action shot of a release.
By that point it was time to head back into town and grab a taste of
Bavaria from a local place in town. The food was great and the beer
tower was the perfect way to end the evening.
Fished with Dr. Will last week on the beautiful Chattooga River at the DH section above Hwy 28 bridge. We started not to far from the parking lot in a run at one of the first river crossings with no luck. It was early so there wasn't much going on in the way of hatches yet but I thought we might get lucky and hook into a few fish because the run is really nice and I've had success there before. Well we didn't even get a strike so we made our way upstream to some big pools to look for for fishing feeding up top and again there wasn't much going on. So we eased into some broken water and finally found some fish in some skinnier water above the big pools. Unfortunately, I was unable to bring those first few fish to hand but we worked up some more and Dr. Will and I both found some fish. I didn't take out my camera but all the fish caught today were nice solid fish that were lit up with amazing colors. We caught most fish on small midge patterns since there was a pretty good midge hatch all day long and we caught a couple of fish on the top fly as well with them taking some caddis/mayfly nymph patterns as there was a March Brown hatch early and an occasional small caddish hatch most of the day. I turned a large fish before lunch in one run but it made quick work of my rusty trout skills as it quickly ran back towards my feet before turning and running back into the run while breaking me off. Pretty disappointed after that fish. We ended up working pretty far upstream in the DH and Dr. Will caught at least one fish up top while missing a few more. I believe they weren't really taking the fly but rather slapping at it as it went by as he had numerous fish try to take his indicator as he was nymphing. Overall a great day on the water and with a little postgame Wendy's it was on to Amicolola for our bug meeting.
Fished with John this weekend at a very crowded Weedon Island. We started the morning off with boats around us and finished up with boats so close you could almost cast into them. I will definitely have to think twice about fishing there on a weekend again in the spring before the guides head offshore or to tarpon fish.
Well we found some potholes in some skinny water right off the bat but we never seemed to find any game fish. We caught quite a few puffer fish so we moved around for a couple of hours and didn't find anything other than a lone short trout and a 18 inch red over broken water. Boats were everywhere so we cruised around to the broken water area that I had fished the previous weekend only to find a bunch of very skiddish reds, trout and snook. Unfortunately, they were more interested in running away from the boat than actually feeding and although we had some "shots" at fish we unable to connect. We both had bites but just didn't connect as we had a couple of long line releases. It was frustrating to say the least but we were seeing fish and we were able to learn a little about how difficult it is to catch a fish that is aware of your presence.
Hopefully, next time we will be a little more prepared and a move a little more stealthy along the flats to cover those spooky fish. I'll be in Georgia hunting trout for the weekend so I should have a cold water report here pretty soon.
Kate and I started off Easter weekend with a little fishing and boat riding on Good Friday. I decided to fish in and around Weedon Island since it is in our backyard, so I launched from Crisp Park and took out to find some fish on the flats around Weedon. After heading south and getting up on the flat I didn't find much for life. I didn't have any bait so I started with some topwater and with no activity and cooler water temps the topwater bite was not there so I started making my way a lot shallower until I found some mullet activity and some puffer fish so I knew I was in the right depth water . I got the trolling motor down in the water and the cooler up front for a little higher vantage point and worked a new penny gulp shrimp on a jig head in and around some shallow pot holes off of the mangrove shore line. Pretty soon I had a nice trout to the boat and I was spooking some reds and trout along the grass areas so I knew I was in the right place.
I made it up to shallow turtle grass flat and looked up to see tails! Those big old red and blue tails were flagging me down and saying come over here so I tried to get closer to them but they seemed to be skiddish of the trolling motor so I ended up pushing them off into a little deeper water where I was able to fan cast to them. I ended up with a couple of nice reds in some shallow water in the mullet schools.
So I had dinner in the boat so I headed back to the launch to pick up Kate for some exploring and some more fishing. We headed back to Weedon and jumped a pod of dolphins in one of the channels so we got to watch them play for a little while which we both enjoyed. Then we put the hammer down to get back to the flat. We worked some of the same areas as I was just on with little to no luck then got closer to the mangroves as the tide started to move in. I caught a 12 inch flounder in a cut then moved to some broken water where I thought we might find a trout. Well I very quickly hooked up on a rather large snook that decided it didn't want to be caught as it cut my line after the first jump. I kept fan casting and looking and I saw what I thought was a redfish laying in a hole a long ways off so I made a good cast and was rewarded with this.
A solid 23 inch trout for dinner. After that I tried a couple more spots but it wasn't meant to be. So we fired up the big motor and headed back in. We had the redfish blackened at Pegs on Friday night and cooked the trout on our new grill on Easter Sunday.
.JPG)
