The following reports are colored by my personal preferences (I guess most are). Many are for Callaway Gardens as I guide fly fishing on the private lakes there. I also do
guided trips on the Flint River and trophy trout trips in north Georgia.
I fish West Point Lake a lot too, but exclusively with a fly rod. There are no reports that include far-flung locations on the lake (unlike some "bass-masters" on the lake I don't like to "set the water on fire" while racing from one spot to another).
But there are a few "alternative species" report as I love to take those big carp (and cats) on a
fly.
"Live like you'll die tomorrow (fish every day), .....fish like you'll live forever (preserve the resources).
December 17 - 9 am - Callaway Gardens - Fished
Wren and Hummingbird. Though the weather left a bit to be desired the rainbows
did not!
December 14 - 4 pm - XXX Creek, Alabama - Fished with Carl from Callaway. We've had good reports on stripers up this little Bama creek. Unfortunately, with all the rain, it was pretty muddy and that probably put `em off. We managed only a single striper (about 6-7 lb) and a pretty good largemouth. The striper took a PolarFiber minnow and the bigmouth a 2/0 clouser. But it was a nice mild evening with a good guy so we fished til well after midnite. `Told a lot of lies; but when it was quiet, all you could hear was the sound of the lines shooting thru the guides with a sky full of stars above. `Sure beat watching ER and the news!
December 13 - 8 am - Callaway Gardens - Had a great day with Joe W. and his wife, Sam, plus brother Jeff. Sam was new to the fly, but picked up pretty quick on the casting lesson. We fished Wren and landed several nice
17"-ish rainbows, with a number more "long-distance released." These were great folks who were lots of fun, in spite of the cold, wind and rain.
December 6 - 1 pm - XXX River- Fished the tailrace with Joel D. Stripers were few and far between. Very few fish, but it was a nice brisk afternoon on the water with good company.
December 3 - 8 am - Callaway Gardens - Fished with Joel & Paul for the trout on Wren. We did good, taking many nice 16-18" rainbows. Most came to a green sparkle-bugger.
November 29 - 8 am - Callaway Gardens - Fished with Brian & Rusty on Wren & Hummingbird. Trout were hot, and Rusty, a first-timer at Callaway, had the hottest hand by far. He probably landed two dozen nice fish, while Brian and I contented ourselves with about half that number.
November 25 - 8 am- Callaway Gardens - Fished with Richard C. on Wren Lake again today. We found the fish much like last trip, pretty deep and taking softly. They bit the bead-rattle buggers and a giant #6 flashback hares ear with white rubber legs. As the sun came up high, the fish seemed to move to the dam & suspend at the edge of deep water. We took too many to tell about - suffice it to say it was a very good morning.
November 23 - 8 am- Callaway Gardens - Slipped in early to work up an appetite for the turkey & dressing! Fished Wren - rainbows were deep & soft-hitting early. I got 4 on a bead-rattle bugger. As the sun got on the water, the fish got a bit more active. `Did especially well with a san-juan worm "knock-off" tied with chamois in "orange-koolaid" color. Wound up with 9 fish by 10:30, all rainbows from 14"-17". One of many things I'm thankful for today!
November 15 - 8 am- Callaway Gardens - Fished with Don L. from Pittsboro, NC. After a casting lesson, we headed to Wren to find the trout. Didn't take Don long to find `em, either. The first was a "ldr," but he landed half-a-dozen after that on a bead-rattle wooly bugger. I was fishless with several fly changes, so I put on the bead rattle & soon I was into the fish, too.
November 10 - 8 am - Callaway Gardens - The trout have "migrated" in for another season, so I slipped over to Wren early and caught a few. Nice healthy rainbows, 14"-18". Carl says there are some very big browns , too; though I didn't get one this morn.
Spent the afternoon taking the FFF Fly Casting Instructor Certification. Wanda & Gary Taylor gave the exam - what great folks they are!! Learned lots of great techniques from them ( Did you ever see an accurate 50' sidearm roll cast, for example?). Also got the chance to throw some of the Fly Logic rods, as Gary & Wanda are their Pro-Team directors. These rods are top-notch - if you're in the market, check them out.
October 27 - 8 am - Negril River, Jamaica - Down for a wedding, but had to get in a trip. Started up the river with local
fisher-mon, but stopped by big down tree. Returned to the beach, just beyond the reef, to catch barracuda and jacks. One of the cudas was near 48". All took a chatrreuse clouser or whistler. Gotta' get back up that river - the "Stryker" said it was full of snook & tarpon!
October 22 - 8 am - Brigadoon Lodge on the Soque - Scheduled to guide a trip, but my folks didn't show. So, only thing to do was go fishing. What a day!! Took many fish over 20", one that was 26.5" & 15" in girth. Hot fly was a chamois san juan and a hare's ear with chartreuse head.
October 19 - 6 pm - Kudzu Fly Casters,
Auburn - Opelieka, AL - Not really fishing, but, with all the lies that were told, we could have been. This is a new FFF-affiliated club that's just getting started. Lots of good guys, so if you live in this area, get in contact.
October 15 & 16 - 8 am - Soque River - Brigadoon Lodge - Fished with a great couple, Ann &
G. from Arkansas. Vets of the Little Red at home, they'd never seen fish quite like these. Jack had the hot hand to start, and wanted Ann to move into his spot. He should not have worried - before the trip was over, Ann caught a ton! Including a 24" rainbow landed, two bigger that got away, and a 22-incher that we measured a 13+" girth. Before we started the next day, we gave Ann a few pointers on fighting big fish using the butt of the rod and palming the reel. Like most trout anglers, she'd seldom had the need to use such techniques; but with the fish at Brigadoon, it's a different story. The second day was as good or better than the first, with Jack and Ann taking
several very large fish. Our hottest fly was a flashback hare's ear tied with chartreuse thread on a big prominent head. Ann caught so many fish on hers - by the time we retired it to her hat, it was only a bit of thread unraveling from the hook and a bit of wingcase (the fish didn't mind, but it embarrassed me a bit - even though it had probably caught 30 or 40 lbs of fish!)
October 12 - 1 pm - Callaway Gardens - Fished with long-time friend and client Bill T. We hit the Chapel lake first - bass were scattered, but we got some nice bream. Then we moved to #1, where we'd bashed `em in the spring (see 4/13 report). `Had only been on the water a few minutes when Carl drove by & said there were hundreds on fish
hitting on top out on the flat in the big lake, Mountain Creek. I got out and walked down through the woods to take a peek; an, sure `nuf, it was happening. Hurried back and got Bill & the tubes and we humped down to Mt. Creek. The rises were thinning, but the fish were still there. We took many on poppers - bass, big bluegill, a couple of shellcracker, and a big shiner to boot! Luckily the moon was full as we fished an hour or more after dark, setting hooks by sound and feel.
October 11 - 5 pm - Private Lake, LaGrange - Fished with Joel D. on a little pond here. Perfect afternoon with big bream and quite a few bass. Took `em mainly on poppers and sliders.
October 5 - 8 am - Soque River - Brigadoon Lodge - Nice to be back at Brigadoon now that the water has cooled. Fished w/Jerry from Connecticut. Jerry has fished a lot for native brookies, but had never seen fish like this! He adapted well and landed two over 25" (well, one of them was almost landed), plus several smaller fish.
September 28 - 3 pm - West Point Lake - Fished up Yellow Jacket - took several keeper bass off bank on clousers and poppers. Found the schoolie hybrid coming up at dusk on the shoals - they love the chartreuse clousers.
September 24 - 8 am - Fightingtown Creek, Blue Ridge, GA - Fished with Richard & Patsy on the private water at Dogwood Inn. Water was still up a bit and a little cloudy. Morning yielded a couple of nice fish, one 18" rainbow for Patsy and numerous little natives. The nice thing about lodging on the river is lunch - a quick stop at the cabin for roasted chicken sandwiches with roasted red peppers & goat cheese, plus a sip or two of champagne and we were back on the river. The afternoon was great - probably 20 or 30 fish over 12" up to 18".
September 23 - 6 pm - Toccoa River, Blue Ridge, GA- Had a guide trip on Fightingtown Creek the next morn so I got to town early. Nothing to do but go fishing! Hit the river just down below the dam - took many 8-12" fish on a "bite-me flash" nymph.
September 19 - 3 pm - Callaway Gardens - Fished #4 with Jonathan P. We took a few fish, but not too many. About 6, Jonathan left. I'd paddled across to say bye, and as I returned to my spot I saw a few bloodworms floating in the film. So I tied a bloodworm dropper on my tarantula and proceeded to take 2 16" fish on the blood, plus a couple on the tarantula. My multiple dropper rig would probably have worked well too, but a buddy had chastised me for fishing a "trot-line" when I told him about it.
September 17 - 7 am - Callaway Gardens - Fished with Ron & Camille H. A fun couple I've fished with before in north GA. After a slow morning, we got into them in the afternoon, taking bass shallow on poppers & sliders. Plus quite a few big bream.
September 13 - 6 pm - West Point Lake- Found the hybrids busting topwater at Hybrid Point. Took many on a chartreuse clouser.
September 10 - 7 am -Callaway Gardens - For a few weeks I’ve been seeing large
bloodworms
on top in a couple of lakes. So this morning I did my 1st "serious" bloodworm fishing. After throwing topwater for the first two hours of daylight, I switched to the bloods. Rig as follows - three various ties of bloodworm fished in tandem on 16'leader, with flies at about 10', 14', & tungsten bead version at 16'. Actually, I rigged the top two flies on long blood-knot tags so they would stand out from the leader. Cast out and let sink to bottom. Begin very, very, very slow,
modified (more on the modification, later) hand-twitch retrieve.
This is an incredibly boring way to fish, until you get a hit! From some reason
(and the majority of bloodworm articles I found were re Kamloops trout fishing with bloodworms and they mentioned the same thing) the take is incredibly
hard. My first strike broke me off instantaneously before I could get the line of my hand! I soon learned to use a hand-twist retrieve speed, but NOT to actually wrap the line around my hand. The fish, every time, almost jerked the rod from
my hand. In the 45 minutes, I landed 3 bass - all over 16", one pushing 20". The bite quit with no takes in the next 45, so I changed back to conventional tactics.
But I'll be doing this some more.
Though I've taken bass on small flies before, I've never consistently caught good fish on this size before. The worms were tied on #10 2xl straight & curved nymph hooks and #10 caddis hooks. The bloodworms I've been seeing were nearly an inch in length, so that's the size I tried to dupe.
September 7 - Callaway Gardens - Did a full-day school/trip with Shannon & Shirley C. and their lovely daughters. Lots of fun, topped off with some nice fish.
September 2-4 - Lake Hartwell - Spent the weekend @ the inlaws - thank heavens they're on the water. Fished a couple of mornings, catching a few bass. Highlight was
nice carp on a small nymph. I love these fish, and they're so cute!! The small one I landed - one that was twice his size spit the hook.
August 31 - 3 pm - Callaway Gardens - Fished Upper Falls - bass & bream active, but suspended. Most of `em took the bead-rattle rubber legs.
August 26 - 5 pm - Callaway Gardens - With Joel D., fished Martin & #1. Nothing exceptional fish-wise, but a nice evening on the water with a friend.
August 24 - 8 am- Callaway Gardens - Fished with Mark G. and Dana from NY on #1. Mark had thrown the fly, but Dana's first fishing trip. She did good!
5 pm - Fished #4 with Carl. He found a honey hole with 3 big bass on 3 consecutive casts. Unfortunately, the biggest (around 6+ lbs) came off on a head-shaker right at the tube. Meanwhile, I contented myself with big bream and some decent bass.
August 20 - 6 am - Callaway Gardens - An early trip on #4. Took many big bluegill in shallow cove among stump bed.
Occasionally I saw what appeared to be big bass chasing bait onto bank, but couldn't get a cast to them & they'd be gone. Finally I threw one in the midst, hooked up heavy immediately, and broke off as he wrapped me on stump. As I fished back to the dam, I saw bank action moving around but not close enough. Took bass & bream suspended out 15-25', but not the bank-bashers. At noon, I had taken out on dam and was ready to leave when they came up only 30' down the bank. A quick cast of the bead-rattle bugger and one quick strip - slammmm! Largemouth - about 21". `A nice note to head for lunch.
August 19 - 7 pm - Callaway Gardens - A quick check-up on Chapel Lake after the picnic. Took many big bream that were bashing the egg-laying damselflies on weed edges. Lake was calm & still and you could hear `em sucking down the flies all the way across the lake. Splat! Whap! Slurp! Life is good.
August 15 - 7 am - Callaway Gardens - Fished with the B's from California on Upper Falls. `Caught a lot of fish in spite of the sun and heat. A fun group with the dad, 2 sons, and 2 son-in-laws. A little friendly competion never hurts.
August 9 - 8 am - Callaway Gardens - Fished with Ira F., his wife, Beth and their daughters, Rebekah and Jessica. After quick progress on the casting field, we hit Upper Falls. Rebekah scored first with a big redbreast, but would not hold the fish for a photo. Everybody got in on the act, with bass and bluegill, too. A good time had by all.
4 pm - Fished with the 3 McC. brothers on #1. We got bluegill, warmouth, shellcrackers and largemouth. Where were the redbreasts? Most of the fish came on the RLD or the bead-rattle wooly bugger.
August 4 - 7 am - Callaway Gardens - Scheduled for a trip, but the sports didn't show. So I went fishing. On #1 with a new multi-colored, rubber-legged wooly bugger, I caught beaucoup. The water was up & the fish were on. Took 2 bass in excess of 16" out of water so shallow it didn't cover their fins. I love it like this!
July 30 - Callaway Gardens - Did a full-day, private instructional school with Beth & Suresh L. from Columbus, GA. A real fun couple, who caught on quick. Beth had fished as a kid in Florida, Suresh never. He was an apt pupil, however. Both landed fish in the afternoon, with Beth looking almost like a pro by the evening.
July 27 - 4 pm - Callaway Gardens - With Mike & Colleen B., I fished #3 for the first time in a while. Fishing has been
tough in the heat & low water, but was OK today. Colleen landed 2 nice bass, her first fish ever on a fly rod. Mike had a couple near the net, but couldn't quite finish. Also took several bream, including the fattest warmouth I've ever seen. Mike & Colleen have been coming to Callaway for 10 years but had never fished with us - they assure me they will
again now that they Know!
July 26 - 7 am - Callaway Gardens - A treat today fishing with Matt P from New Orleans. Matt fished with me twice last year, his first fly fishing experiences, and he did great. I still tell many of my clients about Matt, who on his first day out was a bit sickly & just couldn't get out those long casts. So he eased up real slow & quick to the fishy spots, flipped little cast in & fished with an intense concentration. And he So it doesn't always take big long casts to catch fish. Along with Matt were Jim R. and Jay W. Jim struck first with a big catfish. We actually saw the fish chasing bait on the bank, thought it was a bass, & threw the wooly bugger to him. Before the morn was done, everyone had landed fish, including a couple of more sight-casted cats!
July 25- - 4 pm - Callaway Gardens - Fished with Al S. & his son Dillon from Mississippi. Dillon took a huge bluegill off the floating island on Hummingbird, and then father & son nailed the big cats on Wren.
July 23- - 9 am - Callaway Gardens - Fly fishing school day. Had a good group, and lots of fun "lifting weights" with our fly rods. Fished in the afternoon, got good cooled down by a nice rain, and caught some fish.
July 21- - 9 am - Etowah River- Fished with Dave B., the "Hooker". Great trip, as always. The Etowah is strictly jet-boat territory, and it is slap full of stripers and big spotted bass. Thanks, Dave.
July 15- - 4 pm - Callaway Gardens - Fished with Joann & Mark Z. from LA. After a slow start, we got into the big bluegill, bigtime. Joann was the fisherperson of the day!
July 10- - 6 am - West Point Lake - Fished up Whitewater & was doing well with bank bass on the big white popper until the water pump on my motor decided to quit. It's a long way back on the trolling motor - sure glad the battery was full.
July 3 - 6 am - Callaway Gardens - Fished with Jim & Sherry S. from Savannah. Both did well, with bass & big bluegill.
July 2 - 6 am - West Point Lake - Fished just up Yellow Jacket. Found largemouth chasing bait on top in middle of small feeder creek mouth. Took several on big white popper. Later, they were taking clouser of the bank on shady edges.
June 27 - Callaway Gardens - 7 am - Fished with Nick & Jean Z. from Philly. We did good, with many bass & bluegill. Most of the fish took tarantulas, with a few on the RLD.
3 pm - Suppose to have a group of 13 from a major tire company, but they "no-showed". So Tim, Jonathan & I just went fishing. On #3, it was tough under the midday sun, but I took 3 good bass on a seducer, while Tim got his on small nymphs & his new 3-weight.
June 25 - Callaway Gardens- 3 pm - Fished with a group of 12 from an Atlanta law firm. We began with a casting lesson and then hit Upper Falls. After 45 minutes of fishing we got a lightning warning and pulled out to let the electrics pass.
Some of the group had to be back early & several others decided to leave. When the all-clear siren sounded, the only anglers left were two lovely young ladies, Marge & Kim, and the two old (pervert) guides, Paul & I. Of course we fished til dark!! Marge & Kim did great, landing their first fish on the fly & many more to follow.
June 17-23 - Apalachicola Bay, FL - Spent the week on St. George Island for a family vacation. Did manage to fish a little (every day) and did pretty well wading the bay flats. Trout liked the bead-rattle clousers, and something big in the surf liked a merkin-style crab (never turned him before he broke me off about 50 yards into the backing). Big fish landed was a 46" hammerhead that young John hooked on the bay side.
June 11 - Callaway Gardens - 6:30 am - Fished with Obie M. from Virginia. Caught many big bluegill, warmouth and several good bass (to 18"). Hot
flies were the Rubber-legged Dragon underneath and the tarantula on top.
June 7 - Flint River - 4 pm- Fished with Al M. from Atlanta & his son. We did well, number-wise, tho' the water has dropped even further. A nice afternoon on a beautiful river.
June 4 - Flint River - 7:30 am - Fished the Flint with Joel D. Water way down & fishing was tough. We found quite a few of the smaller fish, but none of the big guys.
June 2 - Soque River - 6:30 am - Fished at Brigadoon with Randy and Scott. A good day for these newbie fly fishers, including a landed 20" rainbow for Scott. Randy had several big ones on that we couldn't manage to land - don't despair, Randy, the majority of these big fish are not landed when hooked, regardless of the fisherman.
May 30 - Flint River - 8 am - Fished the Flint north of Woodbury, along with a small tributary. A typical Flint day, redeyes and redbreasts galore.
May 25 - Soque River - 8 am - Fished with Bobby and Tony at Brigadoon. Bobby's a very interesting guy - started fly fishing in `93 and has goal of fishing 1000 north GA & NC trout streams. To qualify as "fishing a stream", he says he must catch at least 2. He was at 780 when he came. Within the hour he'd made it 781. The first fish was a 22" rainbow, on a dead-drifted midge emerger. Before the day was out, he'd added quite a few more but the 22" remained the biggest landed. Tony had never fly fished, but caught on quick and landed several smaller fish. Then in the Spring Pool, he had one on and almost to the net that was 24" or better - cut him off on a rock.
May 21 - Callaway Gardens - 8 am - Fished Upper Falls with Steve & Brian H.
With cold front whipping thru early am, fish were off, but we managed a few (including some big bluegill).
May 20 - Callaway Gardens - 5 pm - Checked in to see the finish of the GA Women's Fly Fishing tournament, then had to fish a bit. On Wren, the big bream were shallow in the coves, and they loved a new weighed san juan worm variation.
May 16 - Callaway Gardens - 3 am - Fished with Joe H. from Virginia. Joe is just starting with the fly rod, but he can fish. We caught plenty of bass, warmouth, and big 11" bluegill that Joe had a blast with. Good day, good company.
May 15 - Callaway Gardens - 3 pm - Norman flew in from Colorada and, with Paul & Norman's friend, we hit the water. Fishing was good, and was good to fish with our old bud. He said it was good to fish with the "old geezers" again.
May 14 - Callaway Gardens - 3 am - Fished with Adam & Louie C. from Atlanta again today. Our first trip on 3/26 was short, but good. This one was even better - Adam gets better & better. And his dad, Louie, did
phenomenally well for his second time with the fly rod. We fished Hummingbird & took numerous bass and big bluegill & shellcracker.
May 13 - North Georgia - 8 am - Guided a trip for Ron H. from Atlanta at
Brigadoon Lodge on the Soque River. This is an incredible fishery and a beautiful river. We landed two very large rainbows, one a little over 24" and another very near that - big strong, healthy fish! `Had another one on for a minute or so that was much larger. And, of course, there were several "small" fish too; but when the big ones are that big, the little ones barely count - even if they'd be a near trophy in most north Georgia streams.
May 11 - Flint River - 3 pm - Got on the river below Woodbury about 3 pm. Heading across the shoals to a favorite run, I was idly flipping my fly to some little pockets in the whitewater and caught 3 nice 10-12" fish. By seven, I had 18 or 19, biggest around 15" - these fish aren't huge, but they are fun. Much more like trout fishing than bass fishing - the shoal bass
are like little wild brookies in the reckless, abandoned way they attack a fly.
By seven, pleasantly exhausted, slightly sunburned, nursing a thumb that felt like #100 grit sandpaper, I headed back to the car. Moving down a slow, shallow, mostly stillwater, channel I hadn't fished, I traded the Chernobyl for a tarantula.` Just flipping the fly to little still, 12" deep pockets between the rocks and weeds and chugging it hard. The fish surprised me; laying up in the skinny water. I hooked another half dozen fish on my way back in the fading light, including the biggest of the day. I can still hear their splashy takes and jumps, echoing just a bit above the rush and gurgle of the river in the background.
May 9 - Callaway Gardens - 3 am - Slipped away to fish Upper Falls again. Bass were on the bank, ready for the little poppers and tarantulas.
May 7 - Callaway Gardens - 9 am - Fly fishing school today at Callaway. Fished Upper Falls in the afternoon & everyone did well, mostly on topwater.
May 2 - Callaway Gardens - 6 am - Fished with Dwain B. and Chris S. from Atlanta. Dwain had lots of fly experience, but Chris had none. Started on Wren where Dwain hooked a rainbow and several bluegill while Chris and I practiced casting on the fairway (the golfers were sleeping in). We joined him and caught a few, then moved to another pond. Had a great afternoon, with everybody catching plenty. Dwain said he'd never seen bluegill and warmouth like these. `Spent the last 5 minutes of light sitting on the dam, pleasantly exhausted and admiring the sunset.
April 30 - Callaway Gardens - 11 am -Fished with Chuck again , and his young nephew. Had a good morning, tho not quite as good as Friday. Finished off with some big cats on Wren.
April 28 - Callaway Gardens - 11 am -Fished with Chuck H. from Hickory, NC. We started on a small pond and couldn't bear to leave til after 4 pm. The fish were blasting us, especially Chuck's Super Double humpy. He was fishing it wet, with twitches and drops. The bass , the big bluegill and the warmouth loved it. After a quick break, we traded lakes to #4. Lots of good bass, including one on the Super Humpy that went 7-8 pounds. He got off on the first jump, only about 15' from us, but he was was big. We finally quit at dark.
April 18 - Callaway Gardens - 7 am -Fished with Dick L. from Minnesota this morn. Dick is a serious small mouth and river fisherman, primarily with light-weight spinning tackle. But he adapted quickly to the long rod, the float tube and our warmer-water species, & Dick took bass, bluegill & warmouth.
3:30 pm - Fished with Ron & Hester H. from Pennsylvania. On Wren we found the bass & bluegill shallow. Hester hooked into something big, had it on for quite a while before it slipped away. About dusk we started to see
little midges flying around and a few splashy rises out in the middle of the lake. Within minutes, the trout were coming up everywhere, some rocketing completely clear of the water. Hester got the first and only one - a nice 17" rainbow. Ron & I both had solid hits and even a couple on for an instant.
April 16 - Callaway Gardens - 8 am - Fished today with Kirk D. & Michael C. from Atlanta. These guys were very
experienced anglers. We started on Bluebird Lake, and they immediately began drilling the casts under the trees and right on the edge of the bank. Fish liked it - Kirk taking several nice bass, while Michael finessed the bluegills (big slabs, too), with quite a few bass to boot. As the sun got high the fish slowed down, so we moved to another lake. Found the fishing tough, with just a few small fish. Broke for lunch, and went to Hummingbird Lake. Started in the back, and took a few. Then moved toward the deeper end when Michael tied on a little yellow spider. Immediately he was into the big bluegill. He took seven out of one single slot, several on consecutive casts. On the pretext of looking at Kirk's fly, Michael got it in his hand and promptly bit it off for himself. Luckily, Kirk had another, and we nailed `em steady til about 6pm. The fish were still on, but we weren't. A good day - good start, slow middle, and a jam-up finish.
April 15 - Callaway Gardens - 8 am - A real treat today for me - fished with my son, Andy, for the first time in a couple of years. With a fly rod in his hand, that man makes a father proud (without the rod, too!). Within a few minutes of launching in the rain, he was into the bass - must be the genes! The rain quit & the sun even came out. One of my best-ever days on the water! And the fishing was pretty good, too.
April 13 - Callaway Gardens- 1 pm - Fished with Bill T. from Atlanta yesterday, who’s taken many previous trips with me. I always look forward to our trips, as it seems we always have a great day. This one was no exception, & may have been our best!
Bill started with a tarantula (one of us always does when we fish together), & I had a bead-rattle wooly bugger. Bill caught about 4 or 5 nice bass (15-16”) in a row from a shallow stumped cove. Fishing behind him, I took more with my bead-rattle. Bill generally got hits out from shoreline about 10-15”, while mine were mostly right on the bank & in the grass. If I didn’t hang up, I got bite (and occasionally got bit just as I pulled loose from hang-up on the grass).
After a couple of swirling “refusals” of his tarantula, Bill swapped to a rattle-bugger too. As we moved on to a deeper bank, we began to take the bluegills & warmouth. Warmouth were really lit up with bright greens, cream edges on fins, & orange on gills. Big bluegills, too - many were 10-12” fish, knot-heads, bright colors, fat bellies, and 2+” thick. This continued on almost to the point of boredom (almost! - I think I could catch big bream forever and still enjoy myself). A couple of the fish were spitting wads of some small nymphs as we released em .
The warm, cloudy weather began to deteriorate to a cold wind with a little rain. Good thing the fishing heated us up, cause the weather felt like February. By then we were on the dam side & were seeing swirls on the bank. Bill tied on a cork popper & started to wear `em out throwing the fly just onto the bank, nudging it into the water, then a couple of pops and a stop. The bass were all over him - didn’t take me long to trade the wooly
bugger! We fished this 200’ of bank for over two hours & it was hot the whole time.
At our put-in spot, we were tempted to do it again. But we decided to see if we (and the fish) were as good as we thought. Yeah, by now, we were feeling like Lefty & Flip! So we moved to another lake, fished the dam, and took bass til after dark.. They were right on the bank & liked the popper, the booger, and the polarfibre minnow.
One thing that struck me as strange was the condition of the bass. Some seemed to be in full spawn form, with red fins, scrapes & scratches, while others showed no signs of spawn activity - other than being shallow & aggressive. Perhaps the changing weather patterns & borderline water temps have only got some of them in the mood?
April 12 - Callaway Gardens - 5 pm - Fished with Carl & Jane. A quick trip, but we took a few.
April 2 - Callaway Gardens - 8 am - Fished all day with Chris, Cliff & Al. A good day with bass, bream & trout. Finished up on #2 with hot, feisty bluegill way shallow near the dam.
March 28 - Callaway Gardens - 8 am - Showed up early to fish Mt. Creek Lake from the fly shop's new canoes (rentals available). Found the bass up shallow on the windy side. They liked the big bead-rattle wooly bugger. Then I met Wendy & her son, Hank, for a individual school/trip. Hank, at 14, was a fisherman but wanted to learn the fly. We spent some time on basics, equipment, tying & tactics, then a casting lesson. A quick lunch, a few more fundamentals & we were on the water. Hank only managed 1 fish - the wind was strong and made it tough. But his casting got better & he will catch fish.
March 26 - Callaway Gardens - 9 am - Had a noon trip scheduled, so (after getting bored watching Sunday AM ESPN2 fish shows) I showed up early to fish. Found Louie & Adam C. in the fly shop parking lot with the same idea in mind! Told `em I only had until noon, they echoed my standard sentiments - "a little fishing is better than none". We piled in the float tubes & headed for Wren. Louie hooked up first, but young son, Adam then got in the groove. In a couple of hours we landed a dozen or so nice bass & bluegill.
12 noon - Robin Lake - After dropping Adam & his dad, I hooked up with Paul for a trip with Chris & Jenny, plus her Mom, Hunter & brother, Hugo. Chris & Jenny were novices so I took them for a quick casting lesson, while Paul, Hunter & Hugo headed directly to Robin Lake (a 24", 8 lber was caught there yesterday). Chris & Jenny caught on quick and we joined the group on Robin. They had already landed several nice bass. We began fishing around the ski
pavilion & Jenny started nailing the bluegill. Then Chris hooked a bass that got off, & another he landed. Jenny meanwhile is into more bluegill, bass, & shellcracker. The other group had moved to the other side of the lake & looked to be doing well, so we headed the other way. The afternoon continued beautifully with regular hookups until we met up with Paul, Hunter & Hugo. Everyone had caught a bunch of fish, and was pleasantly exhausted.
March 22 - Callaway Gardens - 10 am - Fished with Stu M. from Savannah & Larry C. from Memphis. Started with a casting lesson & then fished Hummingbird. Both guys did well - bass, bream & trout.
March 19 - Callaway Gardens - 7 am - Fished with Peter L. from Castleton, NY. Started on #4, then moved to #1. Another cold front through yesterday, in the 40's this morn with much wind. In spite of that, Peter took some big Callaway bluegill and two good warmouth.
March 15 - Callaway Gardens - 7 am - A busman's holiday - laid out & fished alone all day. YEAH! Started on #4, which is becoming a "big bass" lake. Took only 5 fish during the morn, but the smallest was 17" & the big on a little over 20". Fish were scattered, generally back off bank a ways
(tho' one was way up in shallow flat). Changing weather seems to have them confused - warm one day & cold the next. All the fish took a big polar-fibre minnow fished on a sink-tip line. I'm really liking this fly.
After lunch I moved to Hummingbird. Changing to a
bead-rattle wooly bugger, I began to take a mixed bag of bluegill and bass. Some of the bass here were up real shallow - the water was a little warmer here & the lake is more protected. And the bream! They are really turned on, bashing the flies almost when they hit the water as opposed to cautiously watching the drop as they will later in the year..
March 12 - Callaway Gardens - 7 am - Fished with Paul D. from
Columbus. Hit the beach at Robin first and took a few bass and bluegill. Then we moved to Wren. Fishing was a bit slow, as temps had dropped way down from earlier in the week 70's. But we still managed a few.
February 28 - March 7 - West Point Lake - Fished a little feeder creek off Yellow Jacket, wading an old road bed for crappie. They are definitely on right now. Just look for the parked cars and tie on a small clouser. My biggest was a 14-15" slab , but lots of other good ones. Plus a couple of evenings, the white bass moved up there - they like a clouser, too!!
February 21 - Callaway Gardens - 7 am - Fished with Matt & Pam M. from Heflin, Alabama. Matt was an accomplished fly-rodder, but the day before was Pam's first experience. Weather was tough - cold front just through and very windy. But they did good, landing bass, bluegill and trout.
February 20 - Callaway Gardens - 7 am - A treat today - fished with my river-fishing buddy. Dave agreed to leave the jet-boat parked and take a turn in the float-tube. We started on Hummingbird, then to Robin, #4, and finally Wren. We caught some of everything (30+ in all). Next trip is set for the skip-jack run on the Hooch - it was a blast last year (see April 6, 1999).
February 18 - Callaway Gardens - 1 pm - Fished Wren Lake with a large group from Milliken. They caught a mixed bag of trout, bass, bluegill & catfish. Tom M., a new recruit from SC, took to the fly quickly. By the end of the day, he was anxious to get home and catch some tailrace stripers on a fly rod instead of down-lined trout.
February 13 - Callaway Gardens - 8 am - Fished w/Richard C. from LaGrange. Trout were rising on Hummingbird as we came in, so that's where we started. I hit first when I saw something chasing bait near bank - got 2 bass on a polarfibre minnow. Then Richard took a big bluegill. We followed with several trout and moved to Wren. More trout there, plus bluegill and a couple of bass at bank for Richard.
February 10 - Callaway Gardens - 3 pm - Had a corporate group scheduled for a late trip. They didn't show - too bad cause the fishing was good. `Caught mucho bass wading the beach at Robin Lake, then at
dusk moved to Hummingbird and took 3 good rainbows . All the fish were on clousers and
polar-fibre minnows, chartreuse & white.
February 2 - XXX River - 9 am - Fished with Calvin B. from Chattanooga. Unfortunately, the fish didn't show up. Next time, Calvin.
January 29 - XXX River - 3 pm - Fished with Carl W. from Callaway on this tailrace. I managed just one little baby striper (about 5 lbs) - but that still beat hours of pre-game shows!
January 26 - Callaway Gardens - 10 am - Temps only a little below 30 so I came early to fish before a scheduled corporate trip for a dozen people at 1. Fished from the beach at Wren - taking many bass on sink-tip line with a
clouser. Occasionally had to "dunk & swish" the rod to remove ice, but otherwise was a nice morning. At 1, 5 of the 12 actually showed up to fish. A quick casting lesson & we were on the beach . `Caught a few bass & moved to the dam at Wren - caught rainbows & catfish (what a combo!) there. The brave 5 were quite proud of themselves for ignoring the elements & catching fish. Bravo!!
January 23 - Callaway Gardens - 11 am - Fished with Mike W. from Atlanta and Shawn S. from Columbus. Started on Hummingbird, where Mike landed a couple of nice trout & lost another after several jumps. Even tho' we had quite a few more strikes, we decided to change lakes (and dry out & warm up in the process as temps were low 40's & rain was heavy). On Wren, Shawn took a largemouth, his first trout (plus an extra), then a big catfish. Mike added another bass to the tally.
January 21 - Callaway - 11 am - Fished Wren Lake. `Had heard the trout had been slow lately, & I started that way. Then I got 2 in a row up shallow. After a lunch break, I found 4 more, plus a largemouth & a big catfish. Good day in spite of cold temps.
January 15 - West Point Lake - 8 am - Fished with Paul H. We hunted the hybrid, found `em on the graph, but not with the hook. Only fish was a white bass, 10 minutes after launch within site of the marina ramp.
January 2 - Callaway Gardens - 8 am - Wow - a whole day just to fish - a definite treat! Fished Wren & Hummingbird, taking lots of good fish.
January 1 - West Point Lake - 8 am - Fished down around the mouth of Whitewater with Paul & Joel. We caught a number of good hybrid, 3-5 lb. All the fish were spotted on the electronics at around 25-30' suspended. We cast sinking lines and caught em on various streamers. I was trying out my new shooting head system made with LC-13 & amnesia running line. I like it - it gets down fast & you can throw it a mile!
My Five Star List of Fly Fishing Books
-Ridiculous though it may be, life is not such that I may fish whenever I want, i.e. all the time. Luckily, both fly tying and the wealth of truly fine books related to fishing let me to satisfy the addiction.
Here are some personal recommendations for a "great read" on fly fishing; and, through a affiliate program with Amazon Books,
we offer them for sale online.
