Georgia and the New Year

A brutal winter continues on in Michigan. We have not gotten very much snow but our temperatures have been freezing cold for about a month with little to no relief in sight. Combine that with a very poor fall run and this marks the worst winter steelheading that I personally have seen. Lucky for me I got in two days of trout fishing while visiting the inlaws in Georgia for Christmas. On the 23rd I met up with my buddy Alex for an afternoon on a favorite mountain creek. It was sunny but pretty chilly and a stiff breeze was blowing. After hiking downstream for a 1/2 mile we got in and started working our way back. The water was super low and clear and made light tippets, small flies, and stealthy approaches necessary.

Right off the bat it was obvious I was a little rusty with the technical game as I botched my first few takes from a quick little chute. Finally I played my cards right and brought this pretty little rainbow to hand.

This same scenario played out for the remainder of the day....I had no trouble finding and hooking fish, but I lost way more than I landed. The takes were very subtle and the small hooks had trouble staying buttoned. Luckily some fish ate the point fly as well...a #16 hetero-genius.



Some skinny water that always seems to hold a few nice fish.

Alex working a deep run that he hooked a handful of fish in.

And one final fish before we left which turned out to be this fat 13 incher. He ate a #20 gun metal zebra midge from the tailout of a deep bucket.

The day after Christmas I had plans to fish with Joe on his property up in the mountains but those quickly got whiped out. Christmas day brought snow...the first snowy Xmas in GA in 130 years, and not just a dusting. The city and suburbs got 2-4 inches, but the higher elevation areas got up to 8 inches. Needless to say steep mountain roads, freezing temps, and inadequate snow removal equipment made the trek to Joe's place a bad idea. Still I wanted to get in one more day of fishing before heading back to Michigan so I went out solo and headed back to the same creek I fished a few days before. Temps in the upper teens and several inches of snow on the ground made me feel like I never left Michigan.

As expected the parking lot was empty and I had the whole creek to myself. This combo of snow and solitude made for a peaceful day on the water.

The temps and snow may have scared off other anglers but the fish didn't seem to mind at all. Small bugs drifted along the bottom of the deepest pockets brought several fish to hand.



I managed to bring 15 fish to hand in about 3 hours, all coming on zebra midges and small nymphs. With my trout fix satisfied I took one more photo of the creek to keep it fresh in my mind until next year.

I haven't strung up a rod since I've been back in Michigan and to be honest, until things improve a little I dont think I will anytime soon. With cabin fever setting in we spent the day yesterday busting brush looking for rabbits. We only saw one which I missed but it was still nice to get out. Jeff and I have plans for a late January/early February trip to either Arkansas or North Carolina in the works depending partly on how my interview goes tomorrow. Either way it looks like I still have a few more fishless weeks ahead of me....looks like more time at the vise for now!