Fanin County – Fly Bum Outdoors

Stream Location: Fannin County

Wild Trout: Rainbow and Brown

Stocked: Rainbow, Brook, and Brown

Other Species of Note: Smallmouth, Largemouth, Rock, and Spotted Bass

Gear:

Dry Flies: Adams, Caddis, Royal Wulff, Terrestrials

Nymphs: Caddis Puppa, Pheasant Tail, Prince, Hares, Stone, Squirmy Wormy, Mop, and Perdigon

Streamers: Minnows, and Wooly Buggers

Waders: Yes

Net: Yes

Wading Stick: Yes

Casting: Overhead, Tuck, Bow and Arrow, Spey, and Roll

About:

Realistically there is very little chance of me going through and telling you about the entire Toccoa River and all of the places to fish on it. It would be like giving a stream post that covers the Chattahoochee River, the South Holston River, the New River, and the James River. It would be an impossible feat unless I spent years doing the research, neglecting the other streams in the state of Georgia. I am not that bold to do that.

What I can say about the Toccoa River is that it is a beautiful freestone stream in Northern Georgia that makes you almost feel like you are out west fishing. It is remarkably cold, with large runs, deep holes, nice rapids, and a few riffles. Caution must always be used when fishing in a river such as the Toccoa, rain fall and snow melt can make this river a very dangerous spot for anglers that are wading and people who are floating it. Also during the fall, leaves can often mask how deep a hole is, be careful not to get into a situation where you could fall into one of these holes, always carry a wading stick with you to make sure this does not happen. Also you might want to bring a change of clothing just in case.

My main focus of this stream write up is stream post will cover the Delayed Harvest section of the Toccoa River, since it is one of only five DH streams in the state of Georgia. Located in Fannin County, near the town of Blue Ridge, Ga the Toccoa DH section is an amazing piece of water that can an be accessed by angler that are wading or ones that wish to float through. Realistically you should always check the water levels of this section of water before coming here. The day I took all of these photos for this post the Toccoa was very high, but I couldn’t resist the fall foliage. In most sections it would have been almost impossible to wade that day, but a person with a boat or raft could easily float through this section. As I have said before, please be careful out on the Toccoa while fishing, watch the depth of the water, watch for people in boats, and if you are floating this section watch for those that are wading.

As far as fishing this section one should use any type of hot spot nymphs, Pat’s stoneflies, squirmy wormies, and mop flies during the early months of the DH season. Once true winter sets in switch up to the more traditional styles of nymphs as fish get accustomed to the water (do not forget about midges). Streamers and dry flies are also a very good choice to use here. Another option, especially in high water, is to use a spey or switch rod to get further out in the stream, thus covering more water. The main thing to remember is to make sure that if you are using nymphs and streamers that you are getting down deep enough in the water column to the fish. Look for structure in the river that fish could easily hide behind, and don’t forget that fish sometimes like to be at the very end of a long run where water is not flowing so roughly.

Once again please be careful out on the Toccoa, take the appropriate precautions, park in the designated areas. Also try not blocking boating ramps that guides and boat owners like to use to pull their boats/rafts out of ( there is at least one that I know of, you will know it once you see it).

Directions:

https://georgiawildlife.com/sites/default/files/wrd/pdf/trout/tocooaDH.pdf

Stream Location: Blue Ridge WMA (Special Regulation Water)

Wild Trout: Rainbow, Brown, and Brook

Stocked Trout: None

Other Species of Note:

Dry Flies: Adams, Caddis, Royal Wulff, Terrestrials

Nymphs: Caddis Puppa, Pheasant Tail, Prince, Hares, Stone, Squirmy Wormy, Mop, and Perdigon

Streamers: Small Minnow

Waders: Yes

Net: Yes

Wading Stick: Yes

Casting: Tuck, Overhead, and Roll

About:

Noontootla Creek is an extremely technical stream to fish – if you want a beautiful stream to fish, one that is literally in what seems like a very big gorge, a stream that is shaded by massive and ancient trees, but also a stream that is liable to skunk you… then Noontootla Creek is the creek for you. Simply put Noontootla Creek is an ass kicking waiting to happen, I hate to be so blunt but it is what it is.

Because of serious angler pressure Noontootla’s wild trout have become very suspicious of everything that flows through this creek, to be honest I am surprised that they just do not starve to death. I have been there several times and have been skunked almost all of those times. Honestly it might be harder to fish here than in any water in that I have fished to date. If I hadn’t caught and seen a trout there I would honestly write this off as a barren stream, one that the state of Georgia has lied about. However to my astonishment there are trout in this stream, they are just very intelligent because of the pressure they receive daily… yes daily. I have never been to Noontootla Creek and been the only angler there. Besides dealing with anglers also know that you will have to deal with campers, bikers, hikers, and hunters year round.

Besides being one of the toughest streams I have ever fished, Noontootla Creek might also be one of the prettiest stream that I have seen, not to mention it has everything that an trout angler would want in a stream. There are tons of big boulders, fast runs, deep drop offs, deep holes, small holes, long pools, long riffles, and a lot of room to cast. Granted some areas are infested with my nemesis, Laurels, but for the most part You can overhead cast with ease, you can tuck and roll cast to anywhere in this stream. Noontootla is also a great spot to euro nymph fish, actually I would almost dare to say that euro nymph fishing or dry fly fishing is the best way to catch fish in this stream. However, if you are not dry fly fishing or euro nymph fishing, then stick to a very small strike indicator, like a New Zealand Strike Indicator, that does not cause a lot surface commotion that would spook trout. Also I would suggest using a slightly longer leader, like a 12 foot leader, instead of the traditional 9 foot leader. This way a majority of your fly line is out of the water and not spooking fish.

Realistically I cannot stress enough that you must be very sneaky and stealthy when you fish this creek. You don’t necessarily have to go fish this stream in camo, or be so stealthy that you are not enjoying yourself, but understand that fishing here is like fishing for brook trout at all times, which are also in this creek at its head waters (nod, nod, wink, wink).

Remember that you are in bear country, that you will not have a lot (if any) cell phone service, and you will be miles from the nearest doctor’s office. Take appropriate precautions before going to fish here. Use the pull off spaces that are available, trying to stay out of camping spots if you are not going to be camping there. Also since there are a lot of people that visit this area I would lock up your vehicle while you are gone, do not leave anything in it that a person could possibly steal. I have heard of several vehicles that had windows smashed and several hundreds of dollars’ worth of equipment being taken. Finally, just reemphasizing that you are in bear country, I would say that you should also carry, or at the very least have a bell on you as you walk this stream, you can never be too careful when you are in the backwoods.