Toccoa River Fishing Report - January
It’s been a wet winter so far here in the Blue Ridge Mountains, which has definitely made for some happy trout, but can sometimes mean some frustrated Fly Fisherman. However, Fly Fishing on the Toccoa River has been great lately both on the Delayed Harvest Section and on the Tailwater, however they are two entirely differently beats and warrant two separate Fishing reports so we’ll break it up accordingly
Toccoa Delayed Harvest
It’s full bore delayed harvest season here in the Southeast and The delayed harvest stretch of the Toccoa from Sandy Bottoms Canoe Launch to the Shallowford Bridge off of Aska Rd is full of Eager(dumb) fish if you can present the fly right, we’ve been routinely seeing 20 fish half days with some more and some less so far this winter and we don’t expect anything to change until Spring. As far as specific fly patterns are concerned Junk food is always good, White San Juan worms as well as regular squirmy worms and Peach eggs. We’ve also been catching lots of fish on big (size 12) prince nymphs and size 14 pheasant tails. The winning rig has been a straight Fluro leader with an indicator and as much as 2 BB size split shot to get it down depending on water flows.
Toccoa River Tailwater
Now is the time to chase truly big wild fish on the Toccoa Tailwater. We’ve been fishing from the drift boat and using a variety of tactics, but streamers while water is being generated through Blue Ridge Dam has been the preferred method lately. There are still plenty of fish to be caught around the public accesses at Tammen Park, Curtis Switch, and Horseshoe Bend park lately wading on low water as well, the trick has just been finding a time with low enough water to actually be able to wade with all of the recent rains. Fly Selection wise, size 14-16 blue wing olive imitations such as pheasant tail nymphs and quill nymphs have been the go to on low water. A little soft hackle on the collar can also make a big difference as well. On high water streamers like Tommy Lynch’s D&D or Kelly Gallops Circus Peanut have been killer fished in the slower pockets. Like on the Delayed Harvest Section the key on the Tailwater has been getting flies down deep.
We are starting the New Year off strong with some great guide trips Recently both on the Toccoa and on our Private Waters, and are expecting great fishing for the rest of January for sure. Open dates in the Remaining colder months are plentiful and you can even ask us about our Reduced Winter Rates for Trips Booked in January and February! Also now is the Time to get your Trips on the Calendar for April and May as dates are going quick! Contact us to get some before their gone!