March, 2006

Upper Toccoa DH Report from Wayne Probst

Public Meeting Set For March 16

            Unless some unforeseen snag arises between now and next fall, Georgia will offer a new Delayed Harvest (DH) trout fishing opportunity come November 1, 2006 on a 1.2-mile section of the Upper Toccoa River in Fannin County. The DH section will begin just above the Shallowford Bridge (just off Aska Road) at the U. S. Forest Service property boundary and end upstream at Sandy Bottoms at the canoe launch. The river is on Forest Service land throughout this section.

            In discussing the Upper Toccoa Delayed Harvest plans with the Blue Ridge Mountain TU Chapter at the February meeting, Wayne Probst, Fisheries Regional Supervisor with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), said the Blue Ridge TU group had originally asked the DNR to consider this DH venue over three years ago in a proposal compiled by former chapter president Bob Gill.

            Probst said DNR Wildlife Resources Division has received a number of DH suggestions around North Georgia and most, for various reasons, have not been feasible. He said he had expected this to be the case with the Upper Toccoa site until he visited that section of the river. The biggest "negative" to the Toccoa site is it is only a little more than a mile long and typically nothing less than several miles would be considered suitable by the DNR. "However," Probst said, "The Toccoa at this site is big water with a lot of excellent holding habitat for trout." There's as much potential fish-holding water in this 1.2 miles as there would be on a much longer reach of a smaller waterway. In addition, this section of the Toccoa is on public property, has easy access and is in an area of the state that will make it a desirable destination for a lot of anglers. These factors are what make the Upper Toccoa location work, Probst said.

            The Upper Toccoa will join four other sections of Georgia streams presently managed under the special DH regulations. These are on the Chattahoochee tailwater in metro-Atlanta, the Amicalola River in Dawson County, Smith Creek in Unicoi State Park near Helen and the Chattooga in Rabun County.

            Under delayed harvest rules, streams are governed by general trout fishing regulations including live bait and an eight-fish creel limit from May 15 to October 31. But during the rest of the year -- from November 1 to May 14 -- catch-and-release kicks in with single-hook artificial lures only (droppers are permitted, Probst said).  This makes for an efficient use of a limited resource [hatchery capacity], Probst said. The DNR can keep the streams well stocked during DH with fish "reused." He said studies of DH fish have shown many are caught as many as 5 or 6 times.

Wintertime trout fishing has been gaining favor in recent years and Probst said the delayed harvest concept has proven very popular with anglers. Surveys have shown 80% of those using the resource rate their fishing experience good to excellent.

            Probst said he originally hoped to have the Upper Toccoa DH going by this current season, but several delays had been encountered. Now he feels fairly confident the new DH will begin on Nov. 1, 2006. A public meeting and a public hearing must still be held after which the proposal has to receive final approve by the state DNR board. Probst said he doesn't expect any opposition to the Upper Toccoa plans but he said, “We also know there can be surprises.” For example, he said, private landowners in the area might not want to see the increased traffic brought by a popular DH fishing area or whitewater paddlers could see it as an encroachment on their territory. However, he said these were just examples of the kind of opposition that could crop up and in the case of the Upper Toccoa DH, he had no indication this would occur. Nevertheless, he encouraged those who want the new DH opportunity to become a reality to support the measure with their pubic comments.

In an email this week, Probst said he spoken with Davis Palmour, executive director of the Blue Ridge Mountain Arts Association about holding the public meeting at their building in downtown Blue Ridge (the old Fannin courthouse at 420 West Main Street) as suggested by Sandy Reinauer at the Feb. meeting, and they have set up March 16 at 7:00 p.m. as the public meeting time.  All interested parties are invited to attend this meeting and provide comments.  People who cannot attend this meeting should submit written comments before April 31, 2006 to Wayne Probst, WRD Fisheries Management, and P.O. Box 519, Calhoun, Georgia 30703.

If the attendance at the February TU Chapter program on the Upper Toccoa DH is any indication of how the new fishing opportunity will be received, we can look forward a popular new resource. This was the chapter’s best attended meeting ever with about 30 people present including some prospective new members and a delegation of our TU neighbors from the Blairsville chapter who we were glad to have join us.

“Now You ARE a Southerner Award” goes to Col. Mike: On the ride up to the Nantahala DH outing last month, Mike Maginn told about growing up in upper New York State which included living through many-months-long winters with never-ending snow up to the yazoo. Apparently Col. Mike has acclimated quite well to the Georgia climate. With 30 people waiting to get into Zaxby’s for the February meeting, word arrived that Mr. Maginn (who had the key) had slide off the road and over an embankment due to the icy road. With the former up-state New Yorker stranded in the snow, the meeting moved to the United Community Bank community room across the street. Thanks to them for accommodating us and again, our thanks to Zaxby’s for providing meeting space on a regular basis. And we’re glad to report that neither Col Mike nor his truck suffered any lasting damage (other than bruised ego).