By James Bradley
October is usually the start of the fall trout season. Cooler air temperatures will allow those slightly warm streams across North Georgia and North Carolina to fall back down into the safe zone for trout. This is when the water gets somewhere around the 68-degree mark and can hold the maximum amount of dissolved oxygen for trout. This means that all the private waters will be opening back up after sitting silent through the summer months!
What else is opening up? Yep, you probably guessed it; all the delayed harvest streams in North Carolina will open on October 1st. Keep in mind that the NC Wildlife Resources Commission doesn’t stock their streams prior to October 1st, but will usually have them all stocked by the end of the first week. To keep from fishing a possible fishless stream, be sure to check out NCWILDLIFE.COM, then look up their delayed harvest stocking dates. Here are some examples: the Nantahala will be stocked on October 8th and the Tuckasegee will be stocked on October 2nd and 3rd. It won’t hurt a bit to show up about a week after the stream stocking date. This will allow the fish to get spread out some, and it won’t feel like shooting fish in a barrel, so to speak! These DH sections are catch and release with artificial only until June 1st. When fishing the early part of the DH season, use junk flies like eggs, Y2Ks, San Juan and Squirmy worms for fast hookups. As the DH season drags on, begin switching back to naturals!
Locally, floating the Toccoa will see some changes. As of this writing in mid-September, the TVA has been split generating about every day. We’ve been able to do a few floats in between generations, but it’s difficult to not get caught on high water during either the beginning or the end of the float. And now, the TVA has just begun pulling the lake down in preparation for Hurricane Florence, and they are generating 24 hours a day. As we move into October, she should be fishing pretty well, but once the lake starts its annual turnover, the bite will fall off. As soon as the turnover ends, all should be well on the Toccoa tailwater for the next several months.
Toward the middle to the end of October, will begin the spawn for brown trout. They will start moving into the upper reaches of streams to stage for the spawn. This can be an exciting time to be on the water here in North Georgia. If you want to go after a brown trout of a lifetime, just give us a call and we’ll hook you up!
James Bradley is the only Orvis Endorsed Fly Fishing Guide in North Georgia’s Historic High-Country region. Reel Em In Guide Service has been offering their services to fly anglers since 2001. They have permits for guiding in North Georgia and North Carolina, offering over 7 miles of private trophy waters across Georgia, and operate drift boat trips on the Toccoa River in GA and the Tuckasegee River in NC.