fly fishing trout (blue ridge, ga)

Second day of my vacation started as early as early could start. I had taken a nap the night before to sleep off the drive from the previous day as well as the fishing from that morning. I woke up at midnight from my nap at and caught the remaining people who were still up cocktailing. I ate my dinner that was in the fridge and hung out and had a couple drinks with my wife, her brother, and his girlfriend. By the time I turned on the computer and did some research on some local fishing spots it was 2:30am. Why the heck wouldn’t I just stay up and go fishing? Killed an hour and by 3:30am I was packed and on the road to Blue Ridge, Ga.

The destination was the Toccoa River. This river has trout above and below Blue Ridge Lake, today I was fishing the tailraces below the dam. Got there early enough to have a solitary breakfast at the Waffle King, gear up in their parking lot, and still had some time before the sun came up. I was on the water before the sun hit horizon and the fog had a chance to melt away. A call to local water management department informed me there would be 0 generators at the dam running till 2:00pm and 1 generator from 2:00pm and later. This is something you need to pay special attention to because there is no sirens to warn you of the on coming surge of water. The reports aren’t gospel either so they recommend you pick a marker in the water to see if the water levels are rising. Growing up fishing the White River while visiting family in Arkansas I remember vividly that those sirens ended my fishing trips with my uncle.

foggy morning on the toccoa river

Started fishing the park closest to the dam. The water was at least 15 degrees colder then the Chattahoochee and actually had to take breaks to warm my legs up even though the temperature made it well into the 90’s. Wasted lots of time that morning fishing the shallow runs and riffles. 3 hours and no strikes, didn’t see one other person catch a fish in that time either. Made my way down river and found some trout rising in the deep slack water. Actually, I had one fish strike my indicator so made the decision to switch to a dry fly with a nymph dropper. From that point forward I went 0/3 on strikes only to look at my fly and notice a completely bent point… crap. Switched my fly out and the next strike I landed my first Georgia trout only to have it jump from my hands as I reached for my camera… double crap. Oh well, at least I saw it. It was my trophy 10 inch hatchery rainbow, I hope it isn’t my last .

an angler fishing in the fog

On the way back I made the mistake of taking hwy 60 back and quickly found that it a 30mph drive through the heart of the mountains in the national forest. Lots of groups of motorcycles, porches, and corvettes racing around every corner. Scenic but unbelievably slow, don’t attempt this drive without wanting sharp curves going downhill.