Hiawassee River-Hwy 30 at Reliance Tn: Water temp was around 50 degrees F, sunny with light east winds. Put in just upstream from Wades Grocery, and fished the 3 pools between the 3 shoals up stream, and under the bridge.
Rainbows were on a feeding frenzy from 6:30AM (when I got there) until almost 12:00 noon. I got my limt (7) in the first 20 casts, all over 1-pound. The largest topped 2 pounds. They were attacking my Olive and Green Wooley Bugger in gangs. I lost the Wooly Bugger (on the bridge, no less…LOL), and switched to Olive and White Clouser, with no drop in the action. After I got my limit, I C & R’d over 25 trout. They all went off duty around noon, so I packed up the canoe, and went home.
Sorry about no pictures. The battery in my camera was dead. I have replaced it, and I’m going out again tomorrow. Stay tuned…
[i]Trade Secret[/i]-There were about 7 or 8 other anglers wading the shoals, but I didn’t see anyone catch a fish. They probably don’t understand Hiawasse trout. First, they seldom cruise the shoals, prefering the deeper water between them. Next, they eat mostly minnows and crawfish. I have never caught a Hiawasse trout on a dry fly, in 20 years, and only small ones on nymphs. They eat fish and crustaceans, and are very aggressive towards them. They have a definite preference for the colors Olive Green and White, with close-second being Chartruese. Any streamer pattern with these colors usually works. ANd the more action you give it, the better. Wooley Buggers rule on the Hiawassee.
If anyone spin fishes, a small, green Blue Fox spiiner, or Mepps Black Fury will almost guarantee a limit. Cast around the bridge, and all through the pools, allowing it to sink for a 6 count, and reel it in just fast enough for the spinner to work. Small red and white Daredevels work good here as well.
Hit the Hiawassee again today. Arrived at 7:15AM (10 minutes before sun-up). Had the canoe in the water when the sun made it’s appearance. Water temp around 55 degrees, and clear. Mild current and light, variable winds. Tied on a OD #8 Wooley Bugger tied with that funky fuzzy yarn I found at Hobby Lobby. 2nd cast, nailed a vicious rainbow that went almost 2 pounds, just downstream of the RR Bridge. Lost the Bugger after the 5th trout (about 25 casts), and tied on a Red and White weighted Wooley Bugger, #8 (I tied this because I know the trout here hit small red and white Daredevels like crazy). First cast nailed a very bellegerant Brown Trout, almost 3-1/2 pounds. Waited a few minutes for my heart to get back out of my throat, and continued fishing. Got my limit (7) on the next 4 casts, all rainbows. It was now 8:30 AM. At 08:40, was attacked several times by a very ticked-off male Canada Goose. Must’ve had a nest near the bridge piling, or something. Finally had to gently pop him with my paddle to get him to back-off. Moved downstream about 10 yards, and that seemed to satisfy him. Honor had been served. Continued fishing until 9:00AM, and C & R’d maybe 20 more trout (got tired of counting). Got home before 10:00AM, in time to see my wife off to work. I cleaned the fish, put them in the freezer, cleaned up, and was at my clinic by 10:45, in time for my first patient.
All in all, another great day.
Addendum: Excuse for no pictures today was that I couldn’t find the camera. My wife used it last, and either didn’t put back in the case, or she left it at work. I’ll try again in a few days.
If you live near E. Tennessee, and haven’t fished the Hiawassee, yet, you are really missing out. It is the best trout fishery in this part of the country, that I know of.
John-PM me if you get to come down and I’ll send you directions, and maybe even meet you there. Bring lots of Buggers and Clousers ( and Goose repellant…).
I have known this pair (Butch and Gretchen) for a long time. They have been on this section of river for over 3 years, and I also knew both their parents. We are old friends.
Only male geese (ganders) puff up and hiss. Females just lower their heads and make low, threatening noises. When ganders attack, that usually means there is a female hidden nearby, on a nest. I’m sure Gretchen was watching the whole thing from somewhere. In this case, Butch had made several low arial passes, grazing my head with his wingtips. When this failed to make me move off, he landed next to the canoe, puffed, hissed and tried to climb in, and bite at me. That’s when I gave him a gentle ‘pop’ upside the head to adjust his attitude. Not enough to do any damage, but enough for him to know to back off. He moved off a few feet, shaking the stars out of his head, and I took the time to move a few yards away. This satisfied him, and we are friends again, now.
Personally, I think he was just trying to show-off to his lady, knowing that I wouldn’t hurt him.
OK. I give up! I cannot post pictures since they changed everything on the site. I have tried everything, and I have no idea what I’m doing wrong. All it does is make a link, which I’ve been told does not work.
And I took some great shots, just to post here. It’s a bit discouraging.
Great report Gigmaster and sounds like you’ve got some really fishy waters out your way. The quote below has me concerned for your hard earned cash though. Please don’t take this the wrong way since i might be all wrong but in some states, once a fisherperson has caught their limit, by law they must cease fishing. I don’t know what the fine is in TN or if that’s even the rule but where it is the rule the reason cited is that if one keeps fishing after they limit, they could be culling smaller fish in favor of larger fish. If caught at that in some states, there’s a fine involved unless one is lucky enough to get a friendly warning. Just thought i’d point that out and i apologise in advance if fishing after limiting is allowed in TN.
I’m with John…we need to get your picture-posting issue sorted out. I’d love to see the pics you took!
Posting pictures still works the same for me. I use Photobucket. After I’ve loaded the pictures there, I select the bottom link option, hightlight it, hit “Ctrl+C” to copy it, then click in the thread here and “Ctrl+V” to paste it.
If you use the “Insert Image” button on top of the window when you are typing a new message, from Photobucket, I think you choose the 2nd link option from the top (“direct link”).
I haven’t tried loading directly from my computer yet.
Not at all. It could be a legitimate concern in some states…
It is my fault for not being more clear in my terminology. Here in TN. the ‘limit’ I referred to is actually called the “Daily Creel Limit”. In this case, (except in waters with Special Regulations) the Daily Creel Limit is 7 trout of all species. That means you can keep 7 trout. You can keep fishing, but you are only allowd to have 7 trout in your ‘possession’, in the field. We also have a “Total Limit”, which is twice the Daily Creel Limit. This means that if you are camping, or if you stop fishing, put those trout up, and go back out later in the day, you can keep another 7, but that’s all you can keep away from the house. And the trout cannot be cleaned, or otherwise modified in the field to where the size, and/or species cannot be determined.
If you C & R, you can catch as many as you want. They would have no way of knowing how many you caught, anyway, so any C & R limit would be difficult, if not impossible to enforce.
They probably don’t worry about ‘culling’ because all the trout are stocked every 2 weeks, with no survival, and they are all within a few ounces of each other in size. There wouldn’t be much point in culling.
I use Photobucket as well, but everytime I try to post the picture, it just puts a link on the post with some kind of strange number. And the link does not go to the picture.
I suppose it could be something wrong with my computer. I will run some diagnostics this week and see what turns up.
Well i’m glad i’m wrong then Gigmaster and it sounds like TN trusts fisherpersons more than some other states do. Thanks for the clarification too, i just din’t want to hear that you got a fine.