Gary Sundin
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I think the original post is a disingenuous troll. It fails to put forth any argument whatsoever except: “mineral extraction is necessary for our fly rods, reels, computers, and jeeps”. No shit. What, exactly, does the nature of carbon have to do with the proposed Pebble Creek Mine? Your scattergun is missing the target here, Geoff.
G
I’ve never fished it, but I fish the general area, see the river near the Brigadoon property, and know folks that have fished it. It is what it is. The reports I’ve had from guests is that they were pleased with the lodge and with the PFP fishing.
Few things to consider. We’ve had a great spring/early summer for rain and temps. If things continue, the fall flows there should be robust and the fish relatively happy. That said, the Soque down there is low-elevation enough that the fall fishing can really depend on good rain and not-too-hot summer air temps. Also, we’re coming off of a devestating 2-year drought. Not sure the survival of their fish over last summer, but my guess is most of the fish they have now are fairly recently stocked. Only guessing, of course. The Soque throughout that entire stretch is “managed” for “trophy trout” by a disparate group of private landowners, which is non-optimal, in my opinion, from an environmental viewpoint. I don’t completely turn my nose at PFP, but I don’t pay to fish for them. The fish are big and will pull hard.
The Chattooga is an obvious first choice. With the rains we’ve had this spring the trout fishing might be pretty good, but June is pushing the limits on that river. Last summer, water temps were over 70 F by June 10, even in the very upper reaches of the flow. For trout, there are any number of small streams in the GA, NC, SC border area that should fish great, especially as you get more into NC. The lower sections of the Tooga are a good bet for red eye bass.
There are a number of impounded lakes within a couple hour’s drive. West into GA, find a string of small impoundments (Burton, Seed, Rabun, Tullulah Falls, Tugaloo, Yonah) leading into Hartwell. On the eastern arm of this complex in NC and SC, are Lake Toxaway, Jocassee, Keowee leading into Hartwell. I’ve never fished the eastern lakes, and fished the small GA lakes only a few times. The little GA mountain and foothill lakes are quite pretty—clear water, relatively little development—but I can’t offer you much advice on the fishing. Some hybrids have been stocked in Burton, but I’ve not heard of a consistent fishery for them. There are trout in Burton as well, but by June they will be deep. I’ve heard good things about the smallies in Toxaway. Black bass fishing can be quite good on any of those lakes, if that’s your thing. If you care to come down to the big lakes (Hartwell, Russell, Clarks Hill) I can offer up a few opinions on those—but mostly opinions on carp, I’m afraid. On these lakes, I find June to be a tough month for stripers on fly from a kayak. May be a few tucked up in the tailwaters, perhaps a little surface schooling from hybrids in the super early dawn, but for the most part, the stripey fish are deep.
I remove dozens of ticks from myself each year. Of those dozens, only a handful are actually attached. Georgia, and the southeastern US generally, seem to have a lot more ticks than the northeast–that’s from my personal observation. Growing up in PA, it was always quite a big deal to find one. Around here, the most commont ticks I pick up are Lone Star ticks (“wood ticks”), easy to recognize with the big white spot. They may carry some nastiness, but not Lymes. In the south, Lymes is transmitted much less frequently–GA has had less than 20 confirmed cases/year for the last 10 years.
To add to what John has said: while deer ticks are small, not all small ticks are deer ticks. All ticks start tiny and molt through several nymphal stages. The tiny ticks we get around here are usually just nymphal Lone Stars. If I’m outside, I usually just pick and flick. Inside or deeply imbedded, I’ll use tweezers or alcohol. I’ve had great luck applying an ETOH swab for a few seconds–they pop right off. Keep a few on you.
G
