Excitement at the Fly Shop!!! December 2nd, 2011

Well everyone, their have been some things a happening around here.  Firstly, I would like to announce that our shop has a new family member.  We would like to welcome Karl Ekberg as a new partner in the business.  Most of you know Karl either from meeting him at the shop, or you have seen him at the river most likely.  Karl is not easily forgettable, as he is owner of the finest mustache in these parts!!!  Karl will be in the shop tying flies and helping people, or out on the water guiding people into fish.  He is a great fly tier, and a great fishermen.  We are super pleased that he decided to join the gang!

The other thing that we are super excited about is all the new things we will be getting into the shop over the next couple of weeks.  Fly tying wall revamped  with more materials, awesome waders and boots from Aquaz, bigger selection of  TFO rods and reels, new boxes with our logo stamped on, more great lines from Jim Teeny,  Chattooga River Fly Shop t-shirts and hats, all the accessories you are looking for, Fisknat nets, maps,  flies and more!!!! The shop will look better than ever!  If you have Christmas needs, just let us know and we will “hook” you up…..(Sorry I had to, required by fly shop owners manual)

We truly appreciate all our friends and customers that have helped us grow to this point.  It has been an arduous task starting a fly shop in this economy but we are so glad that we did it.  We have made so many great friends that we otherwise would not have, that alone was worth it!  We thank you each and everyone!!!

Now before this blog starts to sound like an advertisement, I want to wish everyone a happy holiday season.  As some of you may know, I didn’t grow up celebrating this holiday. Weird, right? LOL!  Pessimistic hearts say this is a Holiday commercialized in the 50’s into what it is now, and to an extent that is true…  Optimistic hearts know this is a Holiday about love for your family, and trying to be good to your fellow man.  Thank goodness for Kellie and Lili showing me the correct way to look at it… Now Kellie has an excited 4 year old and  36 year old on Christmas morning!   Well wishes to everyone, and we will see you at shop! (or the river if we are lucky!)

P.S.   Andy caught a big trout out of the Toccoa on Thanksgiving, and then Griff caught a big rainbow out of the Tuck the next weekend!!! Stinkers!

Fishing adventures here and abroad!!! 11-15-11

A pile of  laundry and gear needing to be stowed from my latest fishing adventure sits in the floor.  Looking at it just makes me want to reminisce about the last four days and what a surreal/unbelievable/awesome fishing trip I just had.

First a little back story,  my brother in law Marc Hipp has been teasing/enraging(imagine bull with red cape)  me with pictures of  Steelhead from New York for about five or six years now.  Every year it seemed like it was one of those things, either work would get in the way or not enough work would get in the way if you know what I mean.  Life as I call it.

Enter the Mango.  John Mango that is.  John has been coming into the shop since we opened and is one of the  characters that is usually about the shop.   Some of you know him as Mike the dogs owner/dad.   Most of you have fished his Flashback Caddis, his Little Yellow Sally nymph, or his Triple Double soft hackle pattern.   Not only that, John has helped many people in the shop by fishing with them and teaching them.  I admire anyone who wants to help just because they can. He is a stand up dude, its all I can say.  John is formerly from Pittsburgh PA and was quite familiar with the fishery up there.  So we made plans and this is how the trip went…

The drive up ….  Originally we had decided to leave 5 a.m. Friday morning.  Thursday evening I received a text from Mango saying he  w0uld be ready by six that night…lol.  It was like he was reading my mind. We were both pumped to get to do this trip and we just wanted to get there.  I couldn’t make it by 6 but we rolled out at 10:30 that night.  Highlights from the drive up included a warning ticket before getting out of Anderson, using the bathroom in Awful House that one of the workers had just smoked weed in somewhere around Spartanburg, breakfast number 2 in Jane Lew West Virginia  under a mural with freakishly large deer and bad home fries, some freakish snow showers and ice all over the place especially about 50 miles from Erie.  We finally rolled in around 1 p.m. and went straight to BAC bait shop for license and the local goodies…

Friday fishing…. Once we got settled into the sumptuous accommodations at the fabulous Thunderbird Motel we decided to go fish at Elk Creek.  A few words on the Thunderbird before we get too much further.  The Thunderbird is one of those places I sort of worried we were going to find a dead hooker stuffed in the pull out sofa.  A little shabby but perfect for fishermen, I didn’t worry about walking in with waders or anything else.  It made it kind of fun, but bedtime was rough trying to hover over the bed while sleeping…..lol.   So we finally got to Elk, it wasn’t crowded as Mango informed me and we got in the water.   We watched two fellas just knocking fish out one after the other.  We complimented their success, and they were super nice and invited us to fish with them in this area. Within10 minutes of getting to the river, I hooked my first Steelie and beached it. It was kind enough to unhook itself  and flop away before I could dive on it and get a picture with my first fish… Oh well.  Everyone agreed it was a caught fish just to make me feel better I think, and I was fine with that…LOL!  Mango hooked up a little later but the fish slipped the hook.  These huge fish were trying to eat tiny Caddis pupae.. weird.  So right at the end of the night, the Vladi Worm poked an old  dark fish and I actually landed it…. The whole time the weather was just going crazy with rain, sleet, snow and intermittent cloudy/sunshine….  So that was the first two and a half hours of our fishing time… That night we were extremely excited about the next days fishing, and it was going to be my birthday……

Birthday party right???….   We awoke Saturday early and got to the “middle” of Elk Creek with secret directions to a honey hole.  Well the first thing I learned is nothing is a secret up there, every fishermen knows the Elk well because it is such a great fishery.  Just not on my birthday. I can smile about it now, but it led to a frustrating day. I only fair hooked one fish, it got off  and gave me the fin as it swam away. Fine. But then I proceeded to foul hook  fish the rest of the day that would just get my hopes up(for a fair hook up) and then smash them against the granite rocks laying everywhere.  The reason for all this misery?  Beautiful blue bird weather!!!!Well you just have to remember on your birthday you get gifts and a spanking.  Just got more of the spanking that day…. Frustrated we went and drowned our sorrows at the Avonia Tavern and commiserated with other Steelheaders over the lousy day of fishing.  Later on back at the Thunderbird we watched the weatherman tell us about 40 mile an hour winds to be expected all day long the next day.. Grrr!!!!  That night, the trailer rocked and rolled and we slept like babies because we were worn out……

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!!!  Having no reason to get up early, we just got up when we wanted to, had some breakfast at a diner, talked about leaving early and promptly ditched that idea.  The weatherman said rain was coming the next day and we were going to fish a few hours before we had to leave on Monday. The weather is truly the key it seems.  So we decided to throw the gear in the car and go look at some streams.  I was feeling antsy because I really wanted a picture with a good fish.  On trips like this, a picture is the confirmation of future stories told around the fly tying table at the shop.  They keep you honest too, that eight pounder never grows to 14 and 3/4 pounds.  Pictures let the fish keep running and growing and I like that.  Also, I could throw pictures in my bro-in-laws face this year and lets face it, that was important!  So after looking at a couple of different places we finally end up on the East side as they call it.   We decided to fish as the wind was probably only blowing 30 miles an hour….  That afternoon I fear has given me a new addiction.  I got a good fair hooking on a nice fish around 6 or 7 pounds and it fought like bloody murder! I had forgotten the thrill and adrenalin of big crazy fish, but it was all coming back to me.   John boy was not with me to take the picture, but i got some good pics of it laying beside my rod.  It was awesome, my hands were shaking.  Mango reappeared, and soon he was into a nice fish. Then we just started having some crazy hookups with fish just eating the fool out of a streamer of mine I call the Chattooga Shiner.   I took five with me to the stream and only 1 came back.  We decided to leave a little early and run back to BAC to get the materials to tie some more Chattooga Shiners.  We got the materials, had dinner at  the Avonia again, and then retired back to the trailer to tie and get packed up for leaving in the morning.

Manic Monday…..  Monday started off getting up at four in the morning. That was tough, this was a tiring trip so far and I am not as young as I used to be.  But I still had the hope of a truly big fish and that will make a fisherman push through.  Got the car packed and gear arranged, we drove straight to our spot after taking a detour to New York for breakfast.  That was funny I have to say, and thank goodness for GPS, for we would have been hungry without it.  Back at the river we got our  thoughts together.   I love the feeling when you are getting your stuff on and stringing the rod and you know it is about to be phenomenal and special.  I was having that feeling times 10 with all the sugar I consumed with breakfast!  Once we got on the water, it took me about 10 casts to catch a lake run brown that was not big by any means, but man was he a fighter.  I love brown trout.    The tone had been set for the next four and a half hours. We had many hookups, the fish were eating the fly for an emerald shiner and they were showing a marked preference to that pattern.  Many large fish were caught by Mango and I and you will see some of the pics below.  It was a mind melt.  The power of the fish was just incredible!  My big fish pic is below.  It still looks big next to me, so that should tell you how big it was… Mango had  huge fish as well. It was just  a surreal day.  By twelve, I was mentally done, i just felt satiated with the fishing.  We did what we needed to do, so we got in the car and came home.  The return trip was nowhere near eventful as the trip up. I was glad because I was in dire need of some Kellie and Lili time.   We made it in at 1 a.m. this morning and I am still tired and somewhat dazed.

All in all, this is one of the best trips I have ever been on. A good friend, good times and great fishing will make this one extremely memorable.  But to be honest guys, this post is dedicated to Daniel Brereton.  He gave me a hard time at the shop the other day for being a bad blogger.  I am a bad blogger, but as a wise gentleman pointed out to us, some talk about fishing and some people fish!

The Chattooga has been giving up differing reports in that some are having  good days and others not so good.  The fish are starting to wise up on us and we need to change tactics accordingly.  Think Fluoro and smaller nymphs and more imitative food sources. But mostly, you just need to look around because the fish are taking up new lies which is nice. Stop by the shop, and we can talk about it.  As usual, that is where I will be, see you guys there!!!!

        

      

        

Finally, our two best fish that I have pics of…….

     

 

 

I am about to freak out!!!! For some cooler weather that is!

Well people, the worlds slackest blogger has decided to grace you with a post…LOL! I apologize for this lapse of time but you people who work and have families know how it is.  So lets talk fishing.  Our fair river held up well this year until about the middle of June, but the lack of rain and skyrocketing temps (just like every year) brought the great fishing to a close.  Of course their was a few people who moved into North Carolina to chase wild fish and had good success but even it tapered off mid summer.  This is the price we pay to have a good fishery during the cold months of winter.  I don’t like to wish my life away, but I wish it was October 1st.  Even though it can still be pretty warm some days, that is the time when fishing really takes off in the Southeast.  North Carolina kicks off their DH season that day, and we just happen to be within an hour of the Tuckaseegee which is one of  the best rivers in this region.  I believe this year we will offer trips up there to anyone who would like to make the trip.  Then in November our DH starts and let the fun begin all over again!  I love our stretch of water as it is one of the best teaching rivers I know of.  I am really starting to get psyched about this year, and over this next month will be tying alot of flies for the shop to get ready.   I wanted to take this opportunity to post some pictures from this last season.

Great week for everybody….

This has been a great week for everyone to catch fish.  Water temps have finally moved into the magical lower 50’s and made bugs start popping.  Quill Gordons are showing up every day as well as Grannom Caddis(black caddis, finally!) .  Early Winter Blacks are still coming off well, but we should see them start tapering off pretty soon.  Soft hackle patterns and Y2K’s accounted for a lot of fish this week, but a lot of patterns are producing fish.  The fish have not been looking up well with the Quills, but they will have it figured out by the time the March Browns start coming off.   Nymphs are still going to be your best bet over the next couple of weeks, so plan to fish those.  With weather forecasts next week for Mountain Rest being in the high 70’s, the river will absolutely be fishing on fire!  I do so love this time of the year just for how cooperative the fish are…  Sorry no pics this week, but if you want to send some in to be placed on the website of your catch, just email to chattoogariverflyshop@gmail.com

The last part of my announcements has to do with days the shop will open and what hours we will operate.  I am having to step away from the seven days a week.  As most of you know,I run the shop mostly by myself, and it just doesn’t give me anytime to get anything done for the shop or at home.  So I have decided to take Mondays off so that I can do the banking and ordering on those days as well as things around the house.  Hour wise we are going to start opening at 9 and remaining open ’til 6 in the evening now that the days are much longer.  So the new schedule is going to be Tuesday through Saturday, 9-6…. Sunday 9-2.  Thanks everyone for understanding.

Last but not least, wanted to congratulate Bill Hager and Greg McKelvey for having some good days on the river this week!  They put the time in and were finally rewarded for it…  Look forward to seeing everyone next week!!!

Spring???? Maybe, maybe not….

Well people, it has been an interesting month so far. The weather has been warming up bringing the water temps up and making for some pleasant fishing the last couple of weeks.  Little black stoneflies have been pouring off in droves any day the water gets above 48 degrees.  Little black stone nymphs have been stellar, as most fish just aren’t looking up yet.  The other phenomenon is the Red Horse Sucker running up the river spawning.  This has tons of eggs in the river and they have been really keyed in on these easy meals.

Looking ahead the next couple of weeks, the famed Quill Gordons will soon start hatching and providing some of the first good fishing on top.  Don’t overlook fishing the whole daily cycle of nymphs early, soft hackles midday, and finally adults when you see the fish rising to them.  Then my favorite clinger of them all, the March Brown… I love these first classic spring hatches, the are so much fun and are steeped in a lot of early flyfishing history in  this country.

Guide trips have been doing well. Even earlier this month when it was still a bit cooler, Marcus had a good trip with David Steinkamp, a federal prosecutor from Minnesota.  Lots of hookups on egg patterns that trip.  I had Craig Tangren out a little over a week ago and we had a stellar trip with good numbers and a big rainbow falling for a streamer.  If you would like to experience a great day on the Chattooga, just give us a call  864-638-2806 to arrange a trip…

The regulars have been catching some quality fish as well.   Here is how luck goes, we practically had to run Joe out of the shop, and Alan had to threaten physical violence to get him to fish once they got to the river. How does this end? With Joe catching his biggest trout yet….  Yesterday, Trent and Jonathan caught Trents largest fish yet as well in the Grocery Store Hole, so it is all beginning to happen fishing wise.

The only other thing worth mentioning is that we will be going to a seven day a week schedule from March 1st to June 1st to be able to service all the fishermen visiting the river for the best fishing of the year.  We hope to see you all soon!!!

I would also like to thank Kent Edmonds, Randy Ratliff,  and Buck Ernst for a great day at The Great Southern Fishing Show in Atlanta.  I really enjoyed it guys.

January 30th, 2011… One year anniversary!

It was one year ago today that we opened our doors for business.  We had 250 dozen flies, leaders, tippets, shot and strike indicators(and good intentions).  Our first customer was our good friend Mark Naradowski, who with his family came to the shop even though their was 4 inches of snow on the ground to support us.  Jamie and Karen Collins as well as Ryan Foster and his family all came to support us that day.   The second week the river flooded and the infamous Duck Hunters showed up and friends were made.  Alan Wallace, Joe Purdy and Charles Wallace have now become like family.  Dan Farmer was bit by the bug hard and was in and out of the shop fishing alot.  John Mango( the most discerning customer in the world) breezed in eventually and became  a shop fixture and was quite smitten with our couch.  Charlie Sowell wrote a piece on us in the spring which gave us some needed coverage, and along the way has become a good friend.  And I must mention Mike Clark, our resident chemist for always stopping in and checking on us.  Lots of new faces lately, too many to name.  Andy, Kellie and I would like to thank each and everyone who has supported the shop over the last year and enabled us to grow.  Truly we appreciate it.  We look forward to a great spring, and hope to see you all in the upcoming months!

A Sunday spent well……

Sundays are a fun day at the shop.  The “Duck Hunters” stopped in to spread their cheer, get coffee’d up,  and flies hot out of the vise. Mango stopped in briefly, but  that man had to fish so he jetted pretty quickly.  Those boys were going into the top end of the DH section of the Chattooga to fish and that really got me wanting to go fish.  Well I knew I would probably not find them if I walked in, so I headed to the Chauga to fish around 1:15.    Well, what happened over the next 4 hours can only be described as an old testament smiting on the fish!  It was crazy, the first two hours I caught almost everything on a Barr’s Tungstone.  Thats right, a golden stone pattern. Weird huh? Then the next two hours were dominated to exclusion on the Brown Soft Hackle streamer( not to mention it caught a few during the first two hours).  I feel like we should call it the Curse, or Bane or some other sort of dark painful name.    At one point, two bait fishermen catching a buzz on the bank were commentating and providing play by play calls on my fishing.  They almost bugged out when I caught two at once.  Spinning rods were cursed is all I can say.   All told, my count  for the day was 32 fish….  Now we have pictures!!!!

 

Winter fishing… 2010

After a ten minute ride in on Big Bend Road I turned the truck off and Alan and I jumped out of the truck.  The 24 degree air hit our faces first and our lungs just a second after. Alan fixed me with a  good natured glare and said, ” Now whose bright idea was this?” .   I just laughed, because it was mine and mine alone.  See, I love fishing in the winter time, its a taste I developed years ago on the Davidson when you could fish the hatchery section and never see anyone all day long.  Those winter days on the Davidson also taught me other valuable lessons that if you could change your tactics and your gear you could catch many fish while most were sitting at home dreaming about fishing! Let me share with you what I have learned about Winter fishing and how you can apply it to our Chattooga river fishery.

First, for any fishing trip to be enjoyable one must be comfortable.  Advancements in breathable waders and base layers have made huge steps in the comfort department.  In truly cold water such as what we fished in yesterday, neoprene waders are still a viable option for some of our cold natured anglers.(My wife Kellie loves my old neoprenes!)  A typical set up for me goes like this, one thin pair of moisture wicking socks over which I put a heavy pair of wool socks.  Thin Polypropylene base layer for everything else south of the belly button and then a pair of fleece jogging pants over top of that.  It is important to build some air space between your skin and the side of the cold waders.  Up top is multi-layered affair basically like the bottom, something to wick away moisture, some fleeces,and a vest or possibly a wading jacket to cut wind.  A huge amount of heat is lost through the top of your head, so sometimes I wear a toboggan (beanie for you youngsters) and possibly a hat underneath. If you can find a warm hat that covers ears and provides a bill to shield your eyes you are in good shape.  Arguments could be made though that the most important piece of fishing attire would be a good glove. I myself prefer wool gloves with the fingers cut out so that I can still tie knots, change flies, and unhook fish comfortably.  Try to be vigilant about sweating, if you feel like you are going to, remove some layers.  The key is to stay dry.  If you have a long hike into the section you are going to fish, put your gear into a pack and just walk in to the river in your underlayers and finish dressing at the side of the river.

Gear wise you have everything you need all ready. Have a good tippet and sinker selection at the ready and you will be fine.  The only other preparations you could make to your gear would be line and guide treatments to keep it from icing.  I don’t mind a little icing, it gives me opportunity to step out for a moment and warm my feet while i break the ice out. If you do no treatments one way to limit icing is to make short line drifts that you can control without having to strip back in.  That has been a real key to success for me over time.

Fly selections can be extremely varied and it can range greatly just from section to section on a river.  Just like any other season, Winter has its own set of bugs and having some general information about them is key.  Here on the Chattooga blue winged olives, small black stoneflies and midges provide the bulk of our insect activity.  At the same time, this is the spawning season, so a selection of eggs never hurts to have in the box.  Rubber legs undulating in the current make many common patterns irresistible so look for that on your nymphs.  Warm days we will see some emergences of BWO’s and tiny black stoneflies, so have a couple of adult imitations(i.e. dry flies) for that occurence as well.  Soft Hackle Hares ears and Pheasant tails are a must for your box as well.

To be truly successful in the winter time, their are a few things you have to understand.  Trout are lethargic in cold weather, so early in the morning when the water is super cold, they are less likely to eat a fly.  You want to concentrate your best efforts during the warmest part of the day for optimal success.  Now that is not to say that you can’t catch them early in the morning,  you can, it just won’t be as productive as the warm period.  Accurate drifts putting the fly right on the fishes nose makes it easy for them to eat your fly.  You must be bumping the bottom and sometimes that takes longer leaders and multiple pieces of lead to get the fly in the fishes mouth.  Make careful approaches to get  close to fish so you don’t have to make long casts and then fish to them slowly and take your time working the water slowly.  The fish are slow so you must be as well, not to mention careful wading keeps you dry which is imperative.  Patience is still the defining mark of a good angler!

Lastly, you should always have some snacks and water with you. A little fire in the furnace keeps you warm so to speak, and keeps you from making bad decisions.  During winter fishing, it is always better to err on the side of caution.  Well  this comprises the bulk of my winter fishing knowledge.  We are lucky here on the Chattooga because we are so far south, in the winter we do not get as cold as some of the higher elevation  rivers in North Carolina, Tennesee and Virginia.  That alone gives us a much better winter fishery than most.

If you are wondering how mine and Alan’s day turned out in Big Bend, it went very well.  The water temp was 34 degrees and when the sun finally hit the main hole we were fishing we caught nearly 40 apiece.  No huge fish, but they didn’t need to be.  To me a little physical discomfort has always equated with a more epic fishing trip!  Now the hike out of there was another story……

December 1st, 2010…. Goings and Comings!

Many things are afoot at the fly shop.  The long awaited Chattooga River Fly Shop T-Shirt will finally be making its appearance in a couple of colors sure to make the fishermen happy. Also, we have officially started the guide service for the river.  Now as most of you know, it was not an idea I was crazy about, but that had to do more with the red tape and bureaucracy juggling we would have to do  more than anything.

So now to the fishing!!! …. Fishing has been good, in the last month I have seen pictures of  three large browns come through the shop that were most definitely old holdover fish and one that possibly was a riverborn!  The DH section really shows its potential  during the warm period of the day.  Seems to me the key has been to slow down the drift and get it on their nose as they are a bit cold and don’t want to expend too much energy for a small meal.  Remote sections of the river have also been fishing well, with some sightings of  large browns on and off of the line.  Don’t be afraid to get out and do some exploring and see what you can find, you may just be surprised!

Guys we look forward to seeing you all in the shop and hopefully getting out on the water together!

Delayed Harvest is finally here!!! Nov. 2nd, 2010

Well guys, that time of year is here again!  Delayed Harvest on the Chattooga officially began yesterday, and they started if off well with helicopter stockings..  Today, Alan Wallace and I  hiked in to the top of the DH around Reed Creek and got into some wonderful fishing for fat brook trout!   I love a good streamer bite, and today was no exception, as all of the big fish came on streamers.  We had started out catching fish on soft hackle patterns and then moved to streamers once the water began to warm a bit.  This was serious fun we had today, and hope everyone can get out soon!!!!!

Yes, that is correct, the second picture is of a Brook trout we caught today.  We snapped the picture up top and as he swam off he decided to take a little break between Alan’s legs. I grabbed the camera from him and managed to get this picture.  This was one big Brookie, as you can see it basically stretched from Alan’s knee down to his boot!  It is wild to catch big Brook trout like that here in the southeast!  Had me feeling like we should be dragging Gray Ghosts behind the boat in New Hampshire!  All in all, it was a great day with good company!