A First Timer

I have attempted many times over several years to catch a mountain trout on a fly rod. I've tried along the Toccoa River, near the Tallulah Gorge, at a pond near Black Rock Mountain State Park, in the lake and streams at Vogel State Park and most recently in Rocky Mountain National Park. I've had strikes, passes and smirks from trout, but never actually a landing. Regardless, of the lack of success, fly fishing has always been an enjoyable pursuit and much more about the method of fishing and less about actually catching.

For this trip I ID'd three different waterways in N. Georgia that were open for the 'delayed harvest' season (Amicalola Creek, Toccoa River and Smiths Creek). This is a catch-and-release only season that is only open to fishing with artificial lures (no bait) and single hooks (no trebles).

After fishing both the Amicalola and the Toccoa with no trout luck, (caught one small bass in the Amicalola) I spent my last night at Unicoi State Park with plans to fish Smiths Creek.

And it paid off! This trip involved both fishing - AND - catching: three rainbow trout, all 'stockers' from a GA hatchery. Apparently Smiths Creek is fine trout water in the fall-spring DH season. However by summer, most of the trout are either harvested by bait fishermen or the water runs too warm and the trout die. So don't plan a trip up there in the summer months if you're looking for cold water fish.

I spoke with several other fishermen at Smiths Creek who were much more experienced in the art and they reported catching many times more fish out of the same creek during the DH season. Regardless, finally catching not one, but three (!) trout felt monumental.

All trout were caught on a free lined black woolly bugger, by casting upstream of a deep pool just down from a culvert, allowing the fly to almost float out of the culvert towards the fish which were lying in the pool facing upstream. Strikes also came on a bead head prince nymph until it found a new permanent home on a submerged log.