by David Hulsey
The month of June is one of my favorite times of the year here in the Georgia Mountains. Trout are usually eager to crush a properly drifted terrestrial such as a hopper, beetle, ant or bee pattern. Rises aren’t gentle sips off the surface as when they are eating little Blue Winged Olives or Midges, now small explosions are the norm. Grassy areas around the stream banks, blooming shrubs or overhanging leafy branches provide the perfect place for a clumsy bug to tumble in. Splashing the fly down onto the stream’s surface is usually a good idea instead of taboo as at other times of the year! Trout hearing the plop of a juicy beetle will almost always swing out from cover to investigate.
The morning and evening hours of the day seem to be the best times to sling a few bugs in early summer. Midday can be hot anyway and is usually better for drinking beer. The water temperatures are usually in good shape and the rainbows and browns are more active then. Big foam fly patterns float great and provide bulk to your offerings. Add a few rubber or flexy-floss legs to the pattern and you have the illusion of movement too. Terrestrials are fairly easy to tie if you care to, and fly tying materials from the Hareline Company are hard to beat.
The Toccoa River tailwater in Blue Ridge, Georgia and the private waters of Noontootla Creek Farms are the best fly fishing around in early summer, and a trip to either can be a blast! The tailwater runs through a low elevation lush green valley for much of its 15 mile length from the dam to McCaysville, Ga. It’s a bugarama during the summer, and the hungry trout take advantage of this. Noontootla Creek Farms’ trout population will simply destroy a big hopper pattern during the early summer. The water levels are starting to get low, but if you’re sneaky and can cast decent you have a real chance at a true trophy on a dry fly. Check out our website at www.ncfga.net, then give us a call to book your North Georgia fly fishing adventure.