January

Talk about a warm spell! I knew the weather today was going to be magnificent, with air temperatures in the high 50's, so what better to do then chase after some trout?

It was a late start, but made it to the river around noon. Chatted with a couple of frustrated people on the way to the river, but we agreed that no one could complain on such a nice day. I got my things together, geared up, and quickly headed down the trail eager to get to the river. I was suprised to find some snow still lingering in the shady areas.

There were quite a few people out on the water so as usual I started off in an inconspicous areas, one that most people would overlook. After a few swings with no strikes on a streamer I switched up to a double nymph rig.

Second drift through... Wham! My line immediatly goes taut and I feel that tell-tale tug on the end of my line. I knew right away that it was a good fish... no darting, no runs, no acrobatics, just brute force toward swift current.

After a few moments of worry I got it under control and brought another nice brookie to hand. If you have been luck enough to catch one of these bruiser brook trout then you know what I mean. These big brood brookies look like footballs!





Things slowed down for the next hour or so picking up an occasional fish here and there, mainly rainbows. They seemed to be keying in on the little dropper off the back bounced along the bottom with some split shot. Best pattern was sort of weird... a size 18 tellico nymph. I assume these fish are getting educated and keying in on different looks.

With the sun shining down and the temperature starting to rise I was anticipating a nice hatch, and thankfully my expectations were answered. From about 1:30 -3:00, I witnessed the most prolific stonefly hatch I have ever seen on the Chattooga River. At one point I looked down and had five or six crawiling around on me.

Threw a size 14 brown stimulator the rest of the afternoon and had a blast. It was the first honest dry fly action this year and it was a ball. Strangely, an inordinate number of fish were chunky browns that were keyed in on the stones.

I ended up really wearing them out on gaudy dry flies which is always fun to watch. Hope that you guys made it out to enjoy the warm weather.