By David Hulsey
Fly fishing the North Georgia and Western North Carolina mountains in April is usually great, no matter where you go this month. The Georgia delayed harvest streams are really getting productive with the warming water temperatures and nicer days. The Toccoa, Smith Creek, and Amicalola DH waters receive a stocking normally the first of the month and the uneducated fish provide good fun for the beginning angler for a while. If the streams are low and clear enough, a dry dropper rig can be very productive. An Elk Hair Caddis or Yellow Stimulator with a Pheasant Tail or Prince dropper hanging underneath can be deadly. Wooly buggers or Zonkers, stripped in at a good clip, will also produce fish in the deeper holding water in the creek. If you can possibly fish during the week, there won’t be as much pressure on the fish as on the weekends.
In North Carolina, the delayed harvest waters of the Nantahala, Fires Creek, and Big Snowbird are rocking it with large numbers of willing fish. All three streams have great access to the water and are great places to introduce a new angler to the sport. Nothing can peak the interest of a new angler like catching a few! Like the Georgia waters, dry droppers and streamers are hard to beat. Dry flies are easiest to cast for the beginner and these trout usually favor larger sizes, making them easy to see and fish. Nymph rigs though, being more difficult to cast, can really up the numbers of netted trout in a day’s time. Egg patterns or San Juan Worms bounced close to the bottom are stone cold killers in the month of April on our well-loved delayed harvest waters. Wild fish are very aggressive to a high riding dry fly, swung wet fly, or soft hackle. They are seeing and eating insects every day and a well-drifted fly will normally get some attention. Fish are active all day, unlike the midday winter fishing hour-or-two of activity. So plan to get there early and stay late! If you’d like to sample these waters check us out at www.hulseyflyfishing.com or if you’ve never fly fished before and would like to learn how, visit our other company at www.blueridgeflyfishingschool.com
Give David Hulsey a call at (770) 639-4001 to book a class or a guided trout trip. See his website at www.hulseyflyfishing.com.