Question- North Georgia Winter Trout Fishing?
- This topic has 13 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated Dec 7, 2011 at 12:45 am by
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I don’t know doodly squat about the trout water in North Georgia, and I’m going to be going there soon. I’ve been asking around in different forums on the web, but with little luck so far. It occurred to me tonight that this forum has more Georgia folks than most of the places I frequent and that I out to ask here.
We are going to be staying in a cabin on Mountaintown Creek (near Elijay) for about a week around Christmas. If anybody knows anything about this creek or this area, any information would be great. I’m trying to figure out a little bit about what to expect from this stream, and also an idea on what kind (and size) flies to tie before we go.
Thanks a ton in advance for any insight.
bd
I can’t speak about that creek from experience, though it is well-known to be privately stocked by numerous landowners. I expect the experience there will depend on how much water you have access to, how your “beat” is managed, etc. I fish/have fished a couple places in the general vicinity (say 30-40 minute driving time) that have wild fish and are worth checking out by the standards of GA trout fishing (which standards aren’t particularly high). I’m no fount of information, but feel free to shoot me a PM and I’ll happily share what I know.
G
If you Google “Pellet Fly” you will see all you need to know about flies for supplemental fed trout.
Roy
If you Google “Pellet Fly” you will see all you need to know about flies for supplemental fed trout.
I don’t believe this stretch where I’ll be is supplemental fed, Roy. It’s private, but it’s nowhere near expensive enough to be pay to play, pellet-fed pig water.
I’m okay with stocked water, since that’s much of what we’ve got in the South (all the tailwaters, most of the non-mountain creeks, Tellico, Gatlinburg area, etc), but I don’t get any special thrill out of fishing to fed fish.
bd
It is a personal decision, but I would go for wild trout over pen-raised birds, if that is the choice.
I got the impression from the guide that the Toccoa was stocked water – he said something on the phone about them putting brood fish in the river in the winter. So I’m thinking it’s stocked trout versus stocked quail, more or less.
The gist of my question boils down to how the Toccoa fishes in late December, really. Some tailwaters suck that time of year unless there’s a shad kill or something going on. I don’t know if the Toccoa is in that category or not.
I like to fish more than I like to hunt, but I get more opportunities to fish, too. If the Toccoa is likely to be fishing pretty well, then I’ll probably do that. If I’m likely to go all day for a handful of dinks, then I’d probably prefer to shoot some quail that day for something different to do, and spend the rest of my week chasing the dinks in the mountain creeks closer to the cabin we’ll be staying in.
bd
Thanks a ton, Zach. I have been desperately hoping you might have some helpful input for this thread.
Now I just need to learn more about Mountaintown Creek for the rest of the days when I’m not quail hunting.
Any particular flies I ought to be tying right now? I’m assuming it’s going to be all midges and small pheasant tails, but if there are any particular local favorites I ought to be carrying in my box, let me know.
Edit – by the way, what caused the fish kill?
bd
Fish kill was caused by some kind of management issue in the lake; there was a dead zone of anaerobic water, completely depleted of oxygen, which got sucked into the tailwater during a period of intense August heat, thus suffocating all the fish, from what I understand.
Local flies are no more complex than any tailwater patterns anywhere.
Local flies are no more complex than any tailwater patterns anywhere.
Oh, I was asking about flies for the creek, which is up by Ellijay.
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