Southern Trout

This weekend I made the trip to northern Georgia and had the chance to chase trout for a day.  A friend and I have been preparing for this trip for a while.  Being new to fly fishing, he practiced casting on the lawn and on a local pond to get ready, and it paid off.

First trout - pretty happy

In the morning, we fished on the Toccoa river near McCaysville, GA for stocked rainbow trout.  The fish were holding seemingly everywhere in the river, and we were pleasantly surprised to find them taking flies off the surface.  We both caught several trout on Elk Hair Caddis flies.  None of them were huge, but they were big enough to make each fight enjoyable. 

A River Runs Through It

After lunch, we drove around the back roads trying to find a smaller stream with some wild trout.  Being from Michigan, stocker trout are somewhat of an anomaly to me, and I craved slightly less gullible trout with fully formed fins.  We eventually found a very scenic stream that looked like perfect trout habitat.

We didn't find any trout, but we found lots of wild fish.  In fact, we could barely keep them off the hook.  They hit dries and nymphs alike.  I did some research upon returning home and found that we were catching Warpaint Shiners.  They are actually very colorful and pretty fish.  Most were tiny like the one below, but one of them was pushing 7 inches, a real monster.

After taking a break to watch Germany vs. Portugal, I headed out solo for an evening session.  I briefly stopped at another small stream with warpaint shiners before heading to a new spot on the Toccoa.  I managed a couple more trout on a beadhead nymph before pulling out this surprise, a beautifully colored green sunfish.

It was a great weekend in Georgia, and I only wished for more time.  Its a long drive from Mississippi, especially for just a weekend trip.  Next time, I'll have to stay longer.