Local Fishing Report 05/29/24

Local Fishing Report 05/29/24

By Matt Morrison

Cohutta Fishing Co. – Blue Ridge

Toccoa Tailwater: Summer is here so make sure you have your summer bugs ready. Sulfurs, Light Cahills, and Terrestrials are all on the menu. Definitely think of the bugs falling into the water this time of year. There are Hoppers, Beetles, Ants, and Inch Worms falling into the water. Fishing has been great early morning and late in the afternoons. Dry fly activity has been going strong. Parachute Sulfurs, CDC Comparaduns, and Yellow Stimulators are some of my favorite dry flies for this time of year. For your dry dropper rigs, Chubby Chernobyls work great, but you can be rewarded for changing it up a bit. Foam PMX’s and Donkey Kong Hoppers are great to run on top of a dropper rig as well. As far as nymphs, Frenchies, Pheasant Tails, and Flashback Hare’s Ears have been working well. Pat’s Rubber legs with a Crust Nymph off of the back has been my go to rig.

Upper Toccoa: The Upper Toccoa has still been fishing great. Wading opportunities are still slim with the flow staying above 500cfs. But if you keep an eye on the gauge you may find it creep down to a wadable level between the storms we’ve been having. Temps are definitely starting to creep up on the Upper so keep an eye on that.

One of the locals on a Yellow PMX

Small Streams: Dry fly fishing on the small streams have been great. Anything yellow has been killer. There are plenty of Sulfurs and Yellow Sallys, so Yellow Stimulators, PMX’s, and Parachute Sulfurs have been working great. Yellow is a very noticeable color so it is easy for the fish to detect as well. Ants and beetles are on the menu too, so cinnamon and peacock bodied flies work great too. For some of the stocked trout streams stick with a dry dropper rig with a Rubber Legs or a Frenchie and you should find some fish.

Warmwater: Cicada hatches are full bore on some of the lakes around. Not our lakes here in the mountains, but more towards Tennessee and middle Georgia. The best thing about the Cicadas is that it’s one of the few hatches where you can catch carp on dry flies. If you would like a chance at some once in a lifetime fishing, Garner Reid and Chase Pritchett are some great guides to go with. Give us a call at the shop and we can give you their info. Striper and bass fishing on fly has been great too. As we get into the summer and trout fishing gets slow midday, this is a welcome change of pace. A good popper bite has been starting to appear, so get your Boogle Bugs, Stealth Bombers, and other bass bugs ready. Striper fishing has been great in the mornings and evenings, with the occasional fish showing up midday. Our guides here at Cohutta all have their different bass water that we are each dialed in on. If you’re looking to change things up from your normal trout floats, this is a great time of year to try some other options.

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