A late start got me on recommended rivers at recommended entries – all afoot. My first two outings would be sure fire, I was told, if I fished elk hair caddis’. I struck out early, midday and evenings for three days. Then, as serendipity would have it, a green inch worm – making its way up my sleeve got the boot and landed in the water. It did not make it 20-feet and got slurped by a thick rainbow. I had no terrestrials so it was off to the fly shop to get materials to tie-up foam ants, San Juan Worms, inch worms, Griffith’s Gnats, Wooly Worms and some beetles.
Katie’s Chattahoochee River Brown Trout. Image Georgia Trout Unlimited.
After a late summer afternoon thunder storm, all sorts of terrestrials are washed into the water
My return to my favorite stretch of the “Hooch,” armed with terrestrials, and I landed all kinds of animals into early September. Over the course of three weeks, it was browns, rainbows (mostly), a brookie, a blue gill and a rock bass. It tricked me into thinking of myself, secretly, as the best fly fisherman in Georgia. A foolish but pleasant thought – that soon vanished.
Getting the hang of it
I learned that terrestrial patterns should be tied so they match the actual size of the insect. For example, inch worms are #8, #10; beetle imitations #10 to #12 and so forth.
Also, the best spots are overgrown – branches over-hanging the water. There, dead drift with with twitches every once in a while to imitate a struggling bug. In places where there are deep pools, dead drift all the way through the pool.
The Arsenal
What worked best for me, leader wise, was RIO’s knotless, 9- to 10-foot long with 5X and 6X tippets. My rod an Echo (Rajeff Sports) glass, 6’9, 3-weight, a medium action rod. Fly line RIO’s Trout LT DT.
NOTE: Featured Image is the Chattahoochee River as an extension of the Appalachian Trial. Image courtesy of Atlanta NPR.
