Autumn Farewell

My phone tells me it's 21 degrees outside my house, and yesterday's rain knocked off many of our late-clinging leaves. Seemingly, autumn has fled North Georgia, and days that have that wonderful autumn-like feel and appearance won't return for another 11 months or so. 

I'm glad to say that on Monday (the day before the rain arrived) it fit well with work needs for me to slip out to one of my favorite Georgia streams to do a bit of fishing and lure photography. I didn't venture far from the care or hit the fishing super hard. Various lure pics were my main priority. Even so, the trout were cooperative enough that I was able to catch and release several pretty little brown trout. Rebel Teeny Wee-Craws and Tracdown Ghost Minnows earned all the day's catch credits.

The stream was low and clear, and the steep slopes that bound it sported the rusty colors that define late autumn. Making a good thing even better, I had the stream to myself, despite fishing very close to an easy access point.

Time to start thinking about winter fishing!

Rain & More Rain

Rain is falling steadily outside my North Georgia home, as it did most of yesterday and is forecast to do all of today and part of tomorrow. That's not bad. While enough remain has fallen that most streams are apt blown out and many lakes and ponds are muddied up, the big surge will settle fairly quickly, and the rain will serve as a nice recharge for our streams and the lakes.

I'm supposed to do some photo work on Lake Lanier on Tuesday. As of today, the forecast looks good. Only a 20 percent chance of scattered rain. A couple of days ago it said 60 percent, though, so hopefully it stays at 20 or gets better. The lake's far upper end might get dirty from all this rain, but Lanier is so deep and rocky that the lower main body normally stays in good shape. Therefore, I'm guessing we won't have a problem finding good water.

Later in the week, I hope to do some small-water fishing farther south in Georgia. This rain has been fairly warm, and the week's temperatures look warmer, so small-water bass fishing should be waking up. I'm not sure just how plans will shape up, but I have several ideas that offer good promise.

This year has started slowly, fishing wise. I've fished a handful of days in Arkansas and North Carolina and have caught some trout, but I've yet to make a cast in Georgia or to catch any warm-water fish. Hopefully by this time next week the report will be much different. One way or the other, I'll be on my way to Oklahoma next week around this time, and fishing prospects look good on that trip. I suppose that's getting a little ahead of the story, though!

Rain

It rained here yesterday. Somewhat significantly, even.

Normally that wouldn't be noteworthy. We get quite a bit of rain in North Georgia. We've been dreadfully dry this fall, though. In fact, if I recall correctly, our last measurable rainfall before yesterday was during the first full week of October and was related to Hurricane Matthew, and our air has been smoky from wildfires more often than not for most of November.

Even folks who always grumble about rain seemed happy about a wet, dark day yesterday, so I can't even imagine the smiles on the faces of the trout as their homes got a bit of a recharge. We need much more, of course, and it looks like another round might come later this morning. For now, though, I'm thankful for yesterday's rain.

Georgia Trout Opener

Limit catches will be plentiful this weekend in North Georgia. Trout season opens Saturday morning, and you can count on streams being well stocked. Georgia trout fishermen don't have to quit fishing through the winter. Many of the state's trout waters stay open year round. In fact, some of the state's best opportunities occur during the cold months. Many streams are designated as seasonal, though, closing in November and reopening the last Saturday in March.

That's this Saturday, and they officially open 1/2 hour before sunrise.

Many of Georgia's most popular stocked streams are seasonal, so opening day is heavily anticipated by many fishermen. Popular streams will be crowded on Saturday, but it is one day that most folks don't seem to mind the crowds. It's part of the tradition, and many anglers likely share their favorite opening day stream with many of the same fishermen year after year. Tradition often also includes camping or staying in cabin in the mountains and/or cooking up a fresh limit of trout on Saturday night.

Whether trout are kept for dinner or released for someone else to catch, the Georgia Wildlife Resources Division will make sure there are plenty of fish in the rivers. Hatchery workers have been busy all week stocking streams all over the northern third of the state to make certain they are ready for opening day. Of course, fish are still fish, and you still have to get them to bite. They'll be there, though!

Southern Appalachian Snow?

Word is that we have a 30-percent chance of some snow falling overnight in North Georgia and the just uphill of here, in the North Carolina and Tennessee mountains, a foot of snow could fall between now and tomorrow morning. I was just up that way two days ago, fishing with no coat on and with vibrant autumn colors in the background!

It's hard to say what will really materialize, and I don't know if snow on the eve of November says anything at all about what's ahead, winter-wise. I just know it's awfully early for snow to even be in the weatherman's conversations in this part of the world.

Of course, I also noticed a while ago on the national map that the temperature at the time in North Dakota was 14 degrees, and I recall Deadwood, South Dakota getting significant snow a few weeks ago. Given those realities, the idea of overnight lows around freezing and a bit of snow that wouldn't even last doesn't sound so bad.

Spring

Word has it spring sprang early this afternoon. While my friends to the north remain unconvinced, (something about a foot and a half of ice makes it seem less springy, I hear), we're enjoying perfect weather in North Georgia today, and it feels like the first day of spring. Mid 60s, I'd guess, sunny, and with a slight breeze. Truly the only thing that's not good about today's weather is that I probably won't have the opportunity to get out in it and go fishing.

Our winter has been cold, as yours most likely has, no matter where you are reading this, so our flowers and fish behavior and such clearly are behind where they'd normally be. It doesn't look as springy outside as it should in mid March, and it I could go to the ponds, I'd probably need to fish more slowly than would feel right. The forecast looked good last I peeked at it, though, and it won't take much weather like today's to make it seem like spring in every way.

I sure do wonder what the fish are doing on the pond today!

3?

You know how everyone sees a need for a new prison or landfill -- but always somewhere else? I'm that way with weather, and I'll be the first to admit it. I like to see really low lows in other places, especially those places where I might be ice-fishing later in the season, but I'm not so crazy about really cold forecasts for North Georgia.

I don't mind a bit of cold. I like a distinctive change of seasons and even find romance in occasional snow falling. That said, a low of 3 and high of 25, 50 percent chance of snow, and 19 mph NNW winds sound more than a little cold to me, and that's exactly what our forecast is for Monday. Sounds like a really good day to stay inside and write about warm-season fishing!

Surveying Speckle Waters

Walking beside a North Georgia creek, fairly high in the mountains and on Forest Service land, I was reminded yesterday of how much I enjoy crawling up little creeks and pitching or shooting micro jigs into pockets and pools for wild browns, rainbows and especially brook trout. Specks, as our native fish are most often called, usually aren't big at all. However, their colors are spectacular, as are the streams they inhabit, and there's something super fun about creeping up a remote high-country creek and trying to put the sneak on totally wild, native fish.

My wife and I were hiking to a waterfall and enjoying the creek and the Appalachian forest, but the creek we hiked beside is speckle country, I'm pretty sure, and it's not terribly far from home. I even spotted trout holding in classic feeding lanes from the trail, way about the stream. I couldn't tell the kind from our high vantage, but I'm guessing brook rout.

The creek is pretty full right now, which is good for that type of destination, and I'm guessing it's cooler than normal for June because our spring progressed so slowly this year. Nathaniel and I might have to slip out there some day soon to try our hand at truly wild Georgia trout. If we do, I'll let you know how it turns out.

Georgia's Spring Walleye Run

Most folks probably don't associate Georgia with walleyes, but the truth is that several lakes in the northern part of Peach State support outstanding walleye populations. Georgia's mountain lakes offer fine walleye habitat and plenty of food, and the Georgia Wildlife Resources Division stocks fish every year to keep the numbers strong. The WRD's website also provides great descriptions of its reservoirs, with annual assessments of fish populations and even some location-specific and seasonal fishing tips.

Right now, the fish are up major river arms, preparing to spawn, which makes them easier to locate than at other times of year. Fish the deepest pools you can find well up the river arms and close to moving water, dragging night crawlers across the bottom. Early and late in the day and at night the fish will move up onto shoals and can be targeted with stickbaits reeled slowly and steadily.

If you've not yet tried walleye fishing in Georgia, now might be the time to give it a try!

Start Looking Shallow

The 10-day forecast for my hometown in North Georgia shows highs in the 60s every day! Given strings of sunny days, bass, crappie and bluegill should be moving onto shallow flats in big numbers during that time. Much is spawn related, but the fish also find food in the shallow water as the water warms and move into ambush positions around shallow cover. The best places to find the earliest shallow bite in major reservoirs tend to be big cover-rich flats that are close to deeper water and where the water is somewhat stained -- often close to a main lake. As spring progresses more fish will move well up the creeks. I'm ready for warm weather and for the shallow bite.

My next fishing stop actually is the White River in Arkansas. As a tailwater, the White is always cold, and the fish are much more impacted by water levels than water temperatures. By the time I get home, though, I expect the fish in the ponds around home to be shallow and aggressive and for the fishing action to make it seem more like spring.

I

Brown Trout Skies

Today has been an office day, with most of my time devoted to writing about trout gear and about the fine fishing in couple of different trout streams. Every time I step outside I think that I really should be fishing for trout, instead of writing about them. It's late November, the temperature is strangely mild and the sky is about as dark as a sky can get without having rain falling from it. Today is a brown trout sort of a day, without any question, but I must be content with the idea that other North Georgia anglers are taking advantage of the day and enjoying its offerings.

I do plan to get out in a trout stream some time very soon, maybe next Monday or Tuesday, and I'll enjoy being out there no matter what the weather brings. My hope, though, is that's another day just like today and that I'll return home with something really good to write about.

Fall's Forgotten Final Days

October must be better than November at public relations campaigns. Most North Georgia travelers seemingly think that fall begins Oct. 1 and ends Oct. 31. Many people visit the mountains in early October and are disappointed to find minimal color. In early November, when our hillsides are blazing, few folks come to visit. The first week or so of November is actually my favorite time to hike waterfall trails and otherwise explore around here because the landscapes are spectacular and I can pretty much have a trail to myself.

By now, more leaves have fallen than remain on the trees. I'll acknowledge that. Those that remain attached have almost all changed colors, though, and some of the deepest reds and oranges seem to come late. The ground is also covered with leaves -- some bright and some brown. Landscape vistas offer beautiful blends of Crayola-bight colors and muted bronze tones.

In another couple of weeks, virtually all the leaves will have fallen from our deciduous trees, and those still clinging to branches will be brown. That creates an openness and a rugged, stark beauty, but by then it no longer looks like fall. Right now it still does, but most folk will miss it because they believe autumn ended with the turning of the calendar page.

Great Time to Catch Georgia Trout

If you don't mind releasing the fish you catch and being restricted to using single-hook artificial lures, some of the best opportunities of the year to catch trout in Georgia begin tomorrow. Nov. 1 is the official opening day for Georgia's five delayed harvest streams, and all five streams are sure to be well stocked with trout (including a few big ones). From tomorrow morning through mid-May, no harvest will be permitted and only single-hook artificial lures may be used or possessed, but the Georgia WRD will continue stocking trout from time to time throughout the season.

All five streams in the program offer excellent trout habitat during the cool season and are therefore perfect for DH designation. Adding interest, they vary dramatically in character and range from Chattahoochee, which is a big urban tailwater, to Smith Creek, which is a fairly small mountain creek. Two of the stream sections, along the Chattooga and Amicalola rivers, offer only walking access to most of their combined 6 miles.

November is prime time to hit DH waters because temperatures tend to be mild, the rivers are beautiful, and the fish are freshly stocked and typically a little less educated than they will be later in the DH season. Don't  expect to have any of these waters to yourself, though. Folks have figured out that they offer very good opportunities to catch trout and they are therefore quite popular.

Trying Out Trout

Nathaniel, Asher and I camped with the men and boys from our church this weekend, and I had the opportunity to share a bit about North Georgia trout fishing at the campsite and then to spend a couple of hours astream with the crew. We camped beside the Tallulah River, which is a popular stocked stream, and fished the big bend in the river that wraps around the campground.

Between it being well past the normal stocking season for a Georgia put-and-take stream and us choosing a highly accessible run just footsteps from a popular campground, I'm guessing we were not around many trout. Still, the boys managed to catch one nice stocker that had surprisingly good colors, one pretty little wild rainbow, and a few willing chubs. More importantly, the crew seemed to enjoy casting into the creek's cool, clear waters and hopefully discovered something they'll want to try more of in the future. And while that bend in the river probably wasn't the fishiest place in the North Georgia, a flat gravel bar that fronted a long, deep run created a perfect setting for new anglers of a range of ages to fish together without crossing each other's lines too much or having to battle too many complicated currents.

At times we had lines going in every direction, and together we caught more than a few rocks and rhododendron branches. That's all part of the adventure, though, and I believe all the boys enjoyed themselves. Nathaniel was a big help tying knot, freeing snags and such, and Asher was impressively self-sufficient for an 8-year-old who has fished a fair amount but had spent any time in a trout stream.

Scatterd Showers

The rain didn't last long yesterday afternoon, but it certainly was refreshing. My littlest ones spent 10 minutes or so just running in circles in the rain and grinning. Today's forecast includes a 30 percent chance of showers. Same tonight. I hope some of that materializes. I also have an eye on Tropical Storm Debby, which is lingering in the Gulf and has a very uncertain course, and am hopeful that it ends up moving directly north to provide us a much-needed soaking.

Yesterday as I drove past he pond where my children and I often fish, I noticed that our favorite spring flat is now high and day. I haven't been trout fishing lately, but I suspect most North Georgia flows are creeping pretty low and could really use a recharge.

Summer Rain

The good news about that about the rain that has been falling steadily through this morning's early morning hours is that three of my tents are getting dryness tests with no one inside them to get wet if they fail. Yesterday was a basement sorting day for me, and the effort included pulling out various tents I've accumulated over the years to figure out which still have the right stakes, which rain tarps go with which tents, etc. As part of the process, I set up three tents in the yard. I left them up overnight because they provided big evening fun for my three youngest children and I figured they'd like to continue that fun this morning.
The bad news is that Nathaniel has big fishing plans with our friend, Mr. Kenneth, who he often works with in town. They plan to load Nathaniel's johnboat on Mr. Kenneth's utility trailer and haul it to the little lake at Tallulah Gorge State Park. Nathaniel got all his gear gathered yesterday, and Mr. Kenneth took the day off work, so hopefully the rain won't mess up their plans. It looks like the current band will pass in plenty of time, but there could be more regenerating to the west and moving in this direction.

The other good part about the rain, which is more important than our immediate circumstances, is that we can really use the rain in North Georgia right now, and it has been a good soaking rain this morning. If trout streams and garden plots could smile, they'd be doing so right now.

Fishing Weather

In a recent e-mail to a friend and fellow writer, I mentioned that this week's refreshingly fallish weather has made me want to go trout fishing. The most recent front that pushed through, the one that collided with Lee remnants and created flooding rains just west of us, brought a refreshing rain to North Georgia and a nice temperature break that so far hasn't fled.

However, even while I was writing to my friend about the fall-like weather made me want to go fishing, I had to acknowledge that winter, spring and summer conditions have the exactly same effect (but only when it's hot, cold or in-between and only if it's sunny, overcast, partly cloudy, raining or snowing).