# North GA Fly Trip



## Shadowcast (Feb 26, 2008)

Well @CaptainRob and I finally made the 8 hour drive up for a camping/fly fishing trip to the Blue Ridge area on Thursday. We camped at Whispering Pines which is a great campground. We had a great trip catching rainbows on nymphs during the days and dries during "happy hour" (aka last 90 minutes of daylight). We had most of our success on the Toccoa at Tammen Park and Curtis Switch. We tried some native areas but did not score. We tried Rock Creek but it was quite crowded. Saturday we fished with a guide on private stocked water and really put a hurtin' on the bows. Needless to say....I'm hooked. I love the area and I will be back!!


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## MAK (Dec 15, 2017)

Looks like you had a great time. That’s my Northern stomping grounds. I built a cabin below Blairsville, half way between Blue Ridge and Suches. I’m less than 3 miles from the Toccoa, Rock Creek, and Cooper Creek. Curtis Switch, Tammen Park, and Horseshoe Bend are all great spots on the Toccoa below the lake. I also like the delayed harvest section of the Toccoa above the lake.
We were up there until yesterday when we drove back to Flagler. I was itching to get out and wet a line but was tied up trying to get my old bass boat running so I could get it up for sale.


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## Shadowcast (Feb 26, 2008)

MAK said:


> Looks like you had a great time. That’s my Northern stomping grounds. I built a cabin below Blairsville, half way between Blue Ridge and Suches. I’m less than 3 miles from the Toccoa, Rock Creek, and Cooper Creek. Curtis Switch, Tammen Park, and Horseshoe Bend are all great spots on the Toccoa below the lake. I also like the delayed harvest section of the Toccoa above the lake.
> We were up there until yesterday when we drove back to Flagler. I was itching to get out and wet a line but was tied up trying to get my old bass boat running so I could get it up for sale.


Yeah we went to the DH as well. The water was deep and flowing hard. My buddy got a couple bows there.


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## flysalt060 (Aug 5, 2012)

Yep with all the rain the Dh has been flowing. A bote would have been the ticket.


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## crboggs (Mar 30, 2015)

I lived in Cumming GA for several years. I really need to get back up to north GA.


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## MAK (Dec 15, 2017)

crboggs said:


> I lived in Cumming GA for several years. I really need to get back up to north GA.


I worked in Cumming for 30 years and lived on Lake Lanier in North Forsyth County. We just sold our house there and moved down here in January. Couldn’t give up our place in the mountains and those trout like Shadowcast posted though. I wouldn’t mind the drive if it weren’t for having to pass near Atlanta...


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## crboggs (Mar 30, 2015)

MAK said:


> I worked in Cumming for 30 years and lived on Lake Lanier in North Forsyth County.


We were over off Kelly Mill Rd...Barrett Downs. I probably drove past the Atlanta Fly Fishing School over there 5000 times over the years. But never thought about picking up a rod until my wife (Tampa native) got recruited for a job that brought us here with our kids in 2011. I traded the mountain bike and motorcycle for kayaks, SUPs, canoes, and a skiff. *lol*

Now I'm looking for a reason to go back "home" with my 5wt...


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## Ferrulewax (Mar 19, 2018)

Those are my stomping grounds! Plenty of fishing opportunities in the area if you are willing to put in the leg work. I am over towards the east a little further, but trout fishing up here has been excellent recently.


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## MAK (Dec 15, 2017)

Ferrulewax said:


> Those are my stomping grounds! Plenty of fishing opportunities in the area if you are willing to put in the leg work. I am over towards the east a little further, but trout fishing up here has been excellent recently.


What county are you in?


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## Ferrulewax (Mar 19, 2018)

MAK said:


> What county are you in?


White & Lumpkin


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## Guest (Apr 20, 2018)

MAK said:


> I worked in Cumming for 30 years and lived on Lake Lanier in North Forsyth County. We just sold our house there and moved down here in January. Couldn’t give up our place in the mountains and those trout like Shadowcast posted though. I wouldn’t mind the drive if it weren’t for having to pass near Atlanta...


Amen! I’ve lived here ( Atlanta ) for 58 years. The traffic is getting worse by the day. Looking for a smaller coastal town to retire to soon!


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## SomaliPirate (Feb 5, 2016)

I think I speak for most Georgia natives when I say I would be ok with ceding Atlanta to Alabama or South Carolina.


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## MAK (Dec 15, 2017)

SomaliPirate said:


> I think I speak for most Georgia natives when I say I would be ok with ceding Atlanta to Alabama or South Carolina.


If only we could just slide it over to the West a hundred miles or so


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## displaced trout (Feb 6, 2018)

yall keep those lips tight if youre not talking about tailwater spots...


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## Shadowcast (Feb 26, 2008)

displaced trout said:


> yall keep those lips tight if youre not talking about tailwater spots...


I've heard the term but what exactly is tailwater? Every spot I went to except with our guide was very public.


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## permitchaser (Aug 26, 2013)

I fished all the creeks in north GA years ago. Caught truck fish and some little native rainbows and brook trout. I also floated the chatahoochee in a float tube catching truck fish. It was fun
But salt water fish don't spin and pull harder. Those truck fish can water ski behind a bone fish
I am a native Atlantan


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## TheAdamsProject (Oct 29, 2007)

Shadowcast said:


> I've heard the term but what exactly is tailwater? Every spot I went to except with our guide was very public.


Tailwater is the river portion below a damn.


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## flysalt060 (Aug 5, 2012)

Shadowcast y'all fished well known spots.


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## blackmagic1 (Jul 3, 2014)

permitchaser said:


> I fished all the creeks in north GA years ago. Caught truck fish and some little native rainbows and brook trout. I also floated the chatahoochee in a float tube catching truck fish. It was fun
> But salt water fish don't spin and pull harder. Those truck fish can water ski behind a bone fish
> I am a native Atlantan


I might just be a dumbazz, but what's a "truck fish"?


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## MAK (Dec 15, 2017)

blackmagic1 said:


> I might just be a dumbazz, but what's a "truck fish"?


The stocked trout that the GADNR go around and dump off their trucks in to the N GA creeks and streams. I’m no trout expert but I believe Browns and Rainbows are not native to Georgia, and few aside from those in the colder and deeper areas survive through the summer from one year to the next. 
Brook trout are the natives, and if I remember right they aren’t even actually a trout. From the sucker family if I’m remembering right.


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## flysalt060 (Aug 5, 2012)

The Browns in the hooch below Buford dam are now native. None stocked in nearly 15 years. Population is doing quite well.


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## eightwt (May 11, 2017)

MAK said:


> Brook trout are the natives, and if I remember right they aren’t even actually a trout. From the sucker family if I’m remembering right.


Actually a char.


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## permitchaser (Aug 26, 2013)

blackmagic1 said:


> I might just be a dumbazz, but what's a "truck fish"?


DNR truck drives up to the river/stream opens the spigot out come the truck fish. They look like rainbows but if you catch one look at the fins, there worn down from being in a cement pond
Also you can catch them best on corn


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## Flats Broke (Feb 7, 2017)

Shadowcast said:


> Well @CaptainRob and I finally made the 8 hour drive up for a camping/fly fishing trip to the Blue Ridge area on Thursday. We camped at Whispering Pines which is a great campground. We had a great trip catching rainbows on nymphs during the days and dries during "happy hour" (aka last 90 minutes of daylight). We had most of our success on the Toccoa at Tammen Park and Curtis Switch. We tried some native areas but did not score. We tried Rock Creek but it was quite crowded. Saturday we fished with a guide on private stocked water and really put a hurtin' on the bows. Needless to say....I'm hooked. I love the area and I will be back!!
> View attachment 26829
> View attachment 26830
> View attachment 26831
> ...


I used to fish those waters regularly. I recognize the 515 bridge in one of the photos. It is named for Brett Dickey who was a Gilmer County Sheriff's deputy killed while serving a warrant. He was the nephew of James Dickey (author of Deliverance) and the son of Mary and Joe Dickey of Blue Ridge, who own a restaurant called the Apple House and an orchard in Fannin County. My wife and I lived in BR for nine years before moving back to Florida. Glad to see the river coming back to its former glory. A few years ago the TVA managed to kill just about all the trout in the tailwater area of the river when they pulled Lake Blue Ridge down so they could fix the penstock on the dam. All the hot lake water killed most the trout below the dam. Thanks to stocking by GDNR and the USFWS, the population has come back. There still aren't as many big fish as there used to be, but there will be again in the not too distant future. I'm guessing the private water you fished was Noontootla Creek. It's almost like shooting fish in a barrel; but, if you want to get someone hooked on fly fishing, it's a great place to take them for an initiation. Glad you enjoyed your trip to Fannin County. It's a beautiful area with lots of great fishing. 

You should probably give the Soque River over in Habersham County a try sometime too . It's just about all private, but a few guides can get you on parts of it. There are some world records swimming around in there. Stop by a place on the Soque called Mark of the Potter. You won't believe all the outsized bows swimming around out back.


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## flysalt060 (Aug 5, 2012)

And Capt Joel Dickey , tarpon guide in keys is part of that family.


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## Flats Broke (Feb 7, 2017)

flysalt060 said:


> And Capt Joel Dickey , tarpon guide in keys is part of that family.


That is correct. Joel is the son of Joe and Mary, and Brett was his brother. He doesn't guide exclusively for Tarpon, but he is very well regarded as a Tarpon guide. He also targets bones and permit. He is based out of Big Pine and fishes out of a custom East Cape Evo.


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## privateer (Dec 6, 2013)

Can I ask who your guide was?


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## Shadowcast (Feb 26, 2008)

privateer said:


> Can I ask who your guide was?


Eric Crowley. Awesome guide! Tons of fun to fish with and he put us on some amazing water!


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## privateer (Dec 6, 2013)

Shadowcast said:


> Eric Crowley. Awesome guide! Tons of fun to fish with and he put us on some amazing water!


Do you have the contact info? I might be making a trip up in a few weeks.

Thanks


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## Shadowcast (Feb 26, 2008)

Eric Crowley
Lake and Stream Guide Service
706-669-4973


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## Shadowcast (Feb 26, 2008)

Tell him who sent ya!


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