Miller Watson, our Tuckasegee guide from Hookers Fly Shop in Sylva, went to Western Carolina University and indicated he might have skipped a few classes to fish. What makes the Tuck so special is the pristine water that feeds it. Here you can find rainbows, browns and brook trout. You will find stocked and wild browns and rainbows. Also, stocked brookies. The “grand slam” of the river is to net all three. Biggest in boat for Miller was a 27” wild brown.
Our time in North Georgia was filled with fishing, good food & drink, music, camping and more. We fished 2 of the rivers on the Trout Unlimited (TU) Top 100 Trout Streams list, the Chattahoochee and the Toccoa. We actually fished two different parts of the Chattahoochee River. We fished the tailwater section near Atlanta with Chris Scalley of River Through Atlanta and then fished the Upper Chattahoochee with Chuck Head of Unicoi Outfitters in Helen. We fished the Toccoa tailwater with Hunter Morris of Unicoi Outfitters and Fly Fishing North Georgia. We also fished the Toccoa above the dam and had great fun catching these beautiful rainbows. Their color was amazing. I know getting to the mountains in North Georgia may be hard for some, but for all of you that fly in, out or through Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport…. you have no excuse not to call Chris Scalley and go fishing. Just do it! And take a few extra days to go see Unicoi Outfitters in Helen. For now, click on “Read More” for highlights about this incredible special part of the world and watch the video highlighting our time in North Georgia.
In part 1 of his interview, Jimbo Roberts, Head of Fisheries for the Guadalupe River Trout Unlimited (GRTU) chapter discusses a bit of his fishing background, but focuses on the fishery itself and how GRTU got involved. Amazingly, it started with beer!
We decided to test our our ability to capture quality video and interviews along the way a while back on the Guadalupe. Our fishing buddies who really are two “characters”, James Kelley and Dan McCormack, came down to fish. There will be much more on them in a later post.
We hooked up with Alvin Dedeaux and JT Van Zandt of All Water Guides and had an incredible day on the river fishing. All of the video from the Guadalupe Ramble video as well as this video was shot by Keith Mitchell (Digital Aspirations).
At each spot we fish, we hope to capture interviews with local guides…. Hence, Guide Talk! In this case, Alvin and JT were game to share some of their adventures, best stories and most importantly to all you fly fishers out there…. tips on catching fish on the Guadalupe River. In addition to being awesome guides, they are truly “characters”. Their interview was priceless!
Please share your thoughts on what kinds of questions you’d like us to be asking the guides we float/wade with along the way. We want to make sure we capture the info that is helpful to fly fishers coming to the river for the first time.
To gain a full understanding of just what Barb and I are embarking on, you have to go back to March 16th of 2013. While Barb was visiting family in Indiana, I attended an all day (and night) SXSW tribute to Levon Helm at Auditorium Shores in Austin, TX. Levon, who passed on April 19, 2012, was the drummer and regular lead vocalist for The Band. Those of my generation know their songs… Chest Fever, The Weight, Up on Cripple Creek, The Last Waltz and more. Many artists performed that day in honor of Levon but at the end of the night, it was the Levon Helm Midnight Ramble Band that played, along with some very special guests including Carolyn Wonderland, JJ Grey, Steve Earle, Ivan Neville, The Mastersons and members of Spirit Family Reunion. There was something very special in the air that night (wink wink) and an idea was hatched.
Hello and welcome to our blog. Just getting our feet wet and trying to learn things on the fly (pun fully intended). A wise man told us to “jump in” so here we are.