Need some advice for NE Georgia

[Blackwater Virgil 0]

I have a buddy who lives literally on the banks of the Chattahoochee River not far from Helen, and I want to tie him some flies for trout, rock bass, striper and white bass, and whatever else he has there. I have the striper/whites part covered, but I live down in SE Ga., so I have no real knowledge of the stuff trout feed on in that particular area. Can anyone here advise me on what I need to tie up for him to catch some fish there. His stretch of the river is very swift and usually shallow, though it's a lot higher than usual right now with all the rains we've had. He knows about the helgramites, and has seen them put to good use, but I don't know a good pattern to look up to make some imitations, so a recommendation there would be appreciated. The ephemera there are a mystery to me, and any suggestions there would be appreciated. Thanks in advance for any help you can offer. We're both retired now, so tying flies keeps us out'a trouble, and out'a jail. Mostly.

[ihang10 0]

What time of year/weather?

 

I have no knowledge of that area, but there a few universal flies that should work:

 

GRHE and PTs on a 12-16

 

Elk Caddis on a 12-16

 

Zebra midge 14-18

 

Any ant or hopper

 

Copper John 12-16

 

Griffiths gnat 16-20

 

Maybe a Prince nymph??

 

Kaufman stimulator

[mikechell 0]

You can't go wrong with minnow imitations, either. Small clousers and streamers will draw strikes from all the fish mentioned.

That said ... some foam hopper patterns. Nothing gets the blood pumping like a fish nailing a hopper on the surface, no matter what kind of fish it is.

[Fisherboy0301 0]

What part of SE Ga? I saw you mention the beautiful ogeechee river in your last thread, I'm really close to it. In Jenkins County.

[Blackwater Virgil 0]

Fisherboy! Glad to hear you're nearby. I've long wanted to know someone nearby who likes to tie flies. I'm just outside Statesboro, a few miles south. Would love to get together with you some time and compare notes. I'm presently waiting on back surgery Monday week, but have tied up some shad flies I've been using for about 50 years now. They take shad as good or better than anything I've ever used ... so far, at least. Mostly just marking time until the surgery so I can sit up at the vise and do all sorts of other stuff. I'll look forward to meeting you some time. I go up your way to see a gunsmith buddy of mine on occasion. If you know Joe Collier, builder of super duper rifles, just south of Millen, then we may be able to arrange a meeting some time. Not many tiers in this neighborhood, and it's always good to swap ideas, compare notes and flies, etc. Glad you responded and let me know. Only fly tiers I know around here are some of the guys at Bass Pro in Savannah. I'm hoping to get into salt water fly fishing this summer. I don't (yet?) see why it shouldnt' be as easy and challenging as the stuff I've always done, and I do love any sort of adventure or new challenge. My direct family lineage settled on the Ogeechee back in 1763, and my lineage hasn't strayed as much as 20 miles for the past 250+ years. That black mud gets into your veins and it just keeps snapping you back like a rubber band. Son just bought a place, on it too, so the grandboys are gonna' be regular Huck Finns before many moons pass. It's a wondrous place, full of all manner of life and mystery and challenges. Good things for a growing boy to face and learn to handle. Do you shad fish? If so, I can send you some of my flies. I've been giving them to friends for many years, and most don't use anything else, especially the better fishermen among them. It's ironically one of the first flies I ever tied. Didn't even have a vise back then, and just got tinsel tubing, from a dress shop, used Mom's thread, and picked up feathers wherever and whenever I could. The first ones I tied did really well, despite my less than spectacular talents at the time. I still can't claim a lot of skill, but my bugs catch fish pretty darn well. Most of the species aren't often very picky, but sometimes they can be. Even bluegills can get picky, particularly in summer. Glad to see another mudder around here.

[Fisherboy0301 0]

Fisherboy! Glad to hear you're nearby. I've long wanted to know someone nearby who likes to tie flies. I'm just outside Statesboro, a few miles south. Would love to get together with you some time and compare notes. I'm presently waiting on back surgery Monday week, but have tied up some shad flies I've been using for about 50 years now. They take shad as good or better than anything I've ever used ... so far, at least. Mostly just marking time until the surgery so I can sit up at the vise and do all sorts of other stuff. I'll look forward to meeting you some time. I go up your way to see a gunsmith buddy of mine on occasion. If you know Joe Collier, builder of super duper rifles, just south of Millen, then we may be able to arrange a meeting some time. Not many tiers in this neighborhood, and it's always good to swap ideas, compare notes and flies, etc. Glad you responded and let me know. Only fly tiers I know around here are some of the guys at Bass Pro in Savannah. I'm hoping to get into salt water fly fishing this summer. I don't (yet?) see why it shouldnt' be as easy and challenging as the stuff I've always done, and I do love any sort of adventure or new challenge. My direct family lineage settled on the Ogeechee back in 1763, and my lineage hasn't strayed as much as 20 miles for the past 250+ years. That black mud gets into your veins and it just keeps snapping you back like a rubber band. Son just bought a place, on it too, so the grandboys are gonna' be regular Huck Finns before many moons pass. It's a wondrous place, full of all manner of life and mystery and challenges. Good things for a growing boy to face and learn to handle. Do you shad fish? If so, I can send you some of my flies. I've been giving them to friends for many years, and most don't use anything else, especially the better fishermen among them. It's ironically one of the first flies I ever tied. Didn't even have a vise back then, and just got tinsel tubing, from a dress shop, used Mom's thread, and picked up feathers wherever and whenever I could. The first ones I tied did really well, despite my less than spectacular talents at the time. I still can't claim a lot of skill, but my bugs catch fish pretty darn well. Most of the species aren't often very picky, but sometimes they can be. Even bluegills can get picky, particularly in summer. Glad to see another mudder around here.

I live in Millen, currently a freshman at JCHS. I know one other person from Statesboro that ties, but your right, not many in our area at all! I fish for bass, sunfish, crappie, pickerel, gar, bowfin, and carp, but have never had the opportunity to try for shad. I'm not even sure if they come through the river up this way or not. I haven't fly fished the river much, as my access is extremely limited. I do want to try my hand at saltwater like you, and just recently bought a 10wt rod and reel, just looking for a line for it now. we should surely hook up to fish and tie sometime. I'm sorry to hear about your back, what is wrong with it? My stepdad had back problems, 7 surgeries later, still has problems. They are trying to get him in for #8 soon.

[Blackwater Virgil 0]

1. Wow! Sure hope your Dad finds the right doc and gets better. Lots of folks have lingering problems after back surgery. Mine back in July went as good as it could have been expected to, but the disc just wouldn't hold up. Not the Doc's fault. He trimmed it up and alleviated the pain for a while, but the disc just can't hold up, so he's got to go in again and fuse it. Usin Dr. Wirth in Savannah at Neurological Institute o of Savannah I believe it's called. Dr. Baker there fused a disc in my neck 15 yr. ago and it's been absolutely trouble free since. They're neurosurgeons, not orthopoedists, and from listening to folks with similar problems for 33 years, I've found that the neurosurgeons give more satisfactory results more of the time. They sure do a booming business at NIS! If your Dad hasn't tried them, he might want to check into them and maybe give them a try. No surgeon can guarantee results, of course, but these guys are as good as it gets, and I have friends who've also used them, and their results have been very positive. Email me your address at blk wtr ga at yahoo dot com (just take out the spaces) and I'll send you some of those shad flies so you might be able to catch a few if you get the chance to go. Will be in contact.