Did anybody see the show on Georgia trout today?

There was a program on I think it was O’Neil. They were on a section of private land with monster rainbows. It was fly catch and release only. They were saying the water temp was in the high 60s. Where do those rainbows come from? You can just stock your river/creek with what ever you want? There were some monster trout in there but they only caught a few fish.

I saw it…

Yep, if you own it, you can stock it…

Pretty place…Trout in Georgia, who’d have thunk it?

Buddy

Most states have laws & regulations regarding what what type(s) of fish can be stocked within that state. Oregon is one such state and I imagine most western states have regulations on this subject.

Tim

Didn’t see it, but probably pellet fed fish. Same thing happens here in Co. on some private waters. Be like catching your pet.

they do it in texas also on some of the city lakes , put and take, kind of fun if that is the only game in town for trout.

robin

In GA you have to get a permit to stock fish. There are many places in the North Georgia mountains that have pay to play fishing. Average I hear is something like $400 per day for pelt fed fish. Some of the local fly shop sell pellet flies to match the hatch.

Roy

There are several places in Georgia that are like this with monster, pellet-fed fish usually browns or rainbows. They come with a healthy price tag as Roy suggests. The owner of the local Orvis shop keeps trying to hook me into a trip to one of these pay to play fishing ventures. I think he goes along as a guide and gets to fish free. No thanks! 8T :slight_smile:

Most likely it was the Soque River - it is all private with an exception of less than a 1/4 of public access where one hopes for one of those pigs to find its way there. Georgia does have a great public C&R on Dukes Creek where some big natives lie, it is open 3 days a week and no cost reservations for up to 15 anglers per session of 4 miles of creek -seen them at Dukes and shunked at the same time - smartest fish until the rains strain the water and the bite can be on - Mike

I like to fish the Little Juniata in central Pa. right before the Spruce Creek section. Good ol’ Beaver from the much hated spring ridge club stock it w/ puppy fed trout and you can catch monsters on egg and san juan worm patterns all year round.

Makes you wonder…

Is this the future of fly fishing?..

Many folks don’t have the time to do long treks to get to ‘uncrowded’ fishing…many folks don’t have the skill, or the desire to acquire them, to take trout consistently on crowded public waters…but many of these same folks have money and a desire to catch fish, and maybe big fish, and are willing to pay for the priveledge. Guides, private waters, package vacations, all of these things are now available to get folks the most fishing for the least effort (on their part).

I know guys who NEVER go fishing without a guide…they don’t want to think about figuring out the fish, they just want to catch them. Some folks I know don’t ever fish locally, they only do vacation trips to places where the boats/tackle/guides are there to take them to the fish (often in places like the Bahamas, South America, or Canada), tell them how to catch them, feed them well, and provide comfortable accomodations.

Lots of people are working harder, working longer, and thus earning more…but they what they don’t have is the ‘time’ to spend learning a hobby on their own. They look at leisure time as precious, and are willing to spend money, often lots of it, to optimize that time. It will be interesting to see how this economy effects that spending…it could go either way.

As land become more valuable, those that own it will begin to look for ways to optimize revenues…leasing their fishing…charging to fish…setting up ‘lodges’ on what used to be cattle ranches…getting into the service/leisure business on the side to help with cash flows…it’s been hapening for a while now…

Many places in the world, ‘pay to play’ fishing is the norm…wonder if it will become so for us too?

Buddy

Georgia’s streams are not particularly fertile because of riverbed and mineral deficiencies. NC has streams that are relatively more fertile and capable of growing and sustaining bigger fish overall. There is an occasional big fish in every stream, but there is no Kenai River here. The water that we have that is capable of producing the biggest fish are the reservoirs fed by coldwater streams and the Chattahoochee River, a tailwater. The biggest streambred fish that I’ve caught in GA came from such waters.

I think that we will see more pay to play in hunting and fishing.

Going to a place like Brigadoon and paying to catch big cornfed fish and bragging about it is akin to one going to a brothel and bragging to all his buddies about being a ladies’ man.

Buddy I feel the same way about the sport. There has been some very promising litigation and court cases in the past several years. I’m not sure if your familiar w/ the spring ridge club or the Little Juniata in central Pa. but it is one of the best flyfishing streams in the state. Several years ago when I was going to college someone strung barbed wire across the river and posted it. Turns out the land surrounding this section was bought by Donnie Beaver who owns the spring ridge club in which elitist flyfisherman pay 80,000 dollars for a membership and 10 grand a year after, get to fish for stocked trophy sized farm raised browns and rainbows on private streams. There was flyfisherman outrage…its was the only way I can describe it. To make a long story short the Pa. fish and boat commision as well as a local flyfishing guide sued Beaver and that section of the river was designated navigable therefor open to the public. Beaver still owns the land and regularly threatens flyfishers in that section (including myself) but it is perfectly legal to fish there. There have been several other court cases across this country that have sided on the side of the publics right to fish once private water. This gives me hope for the future of flyfishing in this country.

If you really want the easiest fishing of your life for huge rainbows…Donnie still stocks that section for his club members.

LOL! What a great analogy!

My inlaws live in GA and once a year we meet in the north GA mountains and spend a week. Part of the reason I took up fly fishing, imagine stuck in a cabin full of 21 inlaws:p

Anyway, they have WMA’s in GA, that is Wildlife Management Areas they are public fishing grounds but you have to pay for a special permit to use these areas. They have other areas to fish that are stocked too, but it is my understanding that the WMAs are stocked more often. I know for an out of state WMA permit, fishing license and trout stamp you are looking at around $100. I assume the pellet farm fish areas you guys are talking about are different? At least I hope they are, I was looking forward to fishing the Cooper’s Creek WMA this fall, but I don’t care anything about fishing in an aquarium. If anyone knows if the WMAs are different please let me know.

thanks,
hNt

People generally only produce large, cornfed fish where they can control access to them and restrict the benefit of the feeding. You won’t run into that on Cooper’s Creek, but there is a lot of corn slinging rednecks there. I am not a flyfishing snob, I’m just telling you that there are some rough people on streams where bait is permitted. I often laugh about a long night in a campground years ago where the men and women got drunk and got in a fight and when the women and kids tried to get away in a car, the men jumped in a truck and were trying to cut them off and then chased them down. Screaming, cursing, car chases…what else could a guy want on his getaway to the mountains.

I knew that it was going to get fun when I cam walking out of the woods and into the campground in the evening and they were already mildly bickering, and I heard one trashy redneck to his trashy woman, “[t]hat didn’t seem to bother you none while I was in prison…”

I always go fishing and camping heavily armed.

Didn’t see the show, but you’re probably right. They’re all pellet-fed aquarium fish.

No thank you!

Jeremy.