Delayed Harvest

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has declared a section of the Upper Toccoa River as a delayed harvest trout stream. Under delayed harvest status, anglers are restricted to artificial lures with single hooks (yes, droppers are OK) and must catch and release trout from November 1 through May 14. Standard statewide trout fishing regulations apply from May 15 through October 31.

The Toccoa DH section covers 1.3 river miles beginning 0.4 miles above Shallowford Bridge (the steel bridge just off Aska Road) and extends

upstream to a point 450 feet above the Sandy Bottom Canoe Access. Signs designating this as Delayed Harvest water have been placed by the DNR along the gravel roads (Shallowford Bridge Road and Old Dial Road) that more or less follow the river.

To reach the DH section: Traveling north on Hwy. 515, turn right onto Old. Hwy. 76 Connector (right beside Kentucky Fried Chicken in Blue Ridge). After leaving the four-lane, the Connector dead ends in a couple of blocks at Old Hwy. 76 (Old Blairsville Highway) at a three-way stop. Take a left onto Old. Hwy. 76 and continue a couple of blocks until you pass the Ace Hardware. Aska Road will be on the right at the next intersection past Ace. Turn right onto Aska Road and continue for about 8.5 miles – until you see the steel bridge crossing the river. Cross the river and take a right on Shallowford Bridge Road. The DH section will begin at the Forest Service property boundary in 0.4 mile. Shallowford Bridge Road follows along side the river for a ways then veers away. About halfway up the DH section, Old Dial Road intersects with Shallowford Bridge Road coming in on the right and as you continue on this road, it shortly rejoins the river and runs along side the water up to the Sandy Bottoms Canoe Launch and upstream end of the DH section.

This section was chosen for DH designation because it is public land (U.S. Forest Service), is easily accessible and is an area that has great public support for conversion to a DH stream, according to DNR fisheries management.

For several years, the Blue Ridge Mountain Chapter of Trout Unlimited has been a leading proponent of Delayed Harvest regulations on the Toccoa. At an earlier public hearing, chapter president John Pool said, "The Blue Ridge Mountain TU Chapter has long been an advocate of Delayed Harvest on the Toccoa and we’re very pleased the DH regulations on this section of river have become a reality. We know this regulation change has been a long, drawn out process and we appreciate Wayne Probst, Regional Fisheries Supervisor, and his DNR fisheries cohorts seeing this through. This is a great new angling opportunity in our area of the state.”

Delayed Harvest was begun in Georgia in 1996 at Smith Creek at Unicoi State Park. Since then these special regulations have also been applied to sections of Amicalola Creek in Dawson County and the Chattahoochee River in metro-Atlanta and a stretch of the Chattooga River in Rabun County. The Toccoa DH represents an expansion of this highly successful and popular fishery program.

Speaking at a public meeting while DNR was finalizing Toccoa DH plans, Jimmy Harris with Unicoi Outfitters said he expects the Toccoa section will prove to be a very successful addition to the state's delayed harvest fishing opportunities. Harris said this section of the Toccoa contains some great trout habitat rivaling that of the Chattooga. He said it is big water offering a variety of runs, riffles and pools that will be fun to fish and it's in an area of the state that will attract a lot of anglers. "It's located just up the road from over four million Georgia residents," Harris said. “The Toccoa will become the most popular delayed harvest fishing destination in Georgia," he predicted.

Harris and Col. Mike Maginn presented a program at the Blue Ridge TU Chapter’s DH Primer just before the DH season opened. With almost 40 people in attendance, Harris said, “I’ve spoken at lots of TU chapter meetings, and this is the largest attendance I’ve ever seen at a regular monthly chapter meeting. I think this is a good indication of how popular the Toccoa DH will be.”

Col. Mike Maginn, who has several years experience guiding on this section of river and lives full-time just upstream of the DH section, said anglers will have an opportunity to fish a variety of water – everything from show, deep pools to fast-moving riffles and runs.

Harris said the river will be prefect for fishing from personal pontoons. He said, “It doesn’t really lend itself to float tubes or driftboats, but if you designed a river for pontoon fishing, this would be it.”

Maginn said there a couple of sets of Class II rapids in the DH section, but these don’t pose any serious challenge to experienced canoers or pontoon-paddlers. Actually, he said, they can be avoided altogether if a boater chooses to do so. Except for a few really deep pools, Maginn said most areas of the river are wadeable, but there are some tricky, slick rocks and deep potholes that anglers need to be aware of. Harris said, “There are areas where wading will test you. This isn’t a river that will kill you [if you make a wading mistake], but if you fish there much, you’ll get wet sooner or later.”

Harris said high-stick nymphing will probably be the most productive fishing method, but, he said, unlike most of North Georgia’s trout streams, this is “big water where you’ll have room to do some real casting.” He said 8 ½ or 9 foot rods in 3, 4 or 5 weight should do the job.

Just before the DH season began Metrela Brown, manager of the Unicoi Outfitters’ shop in Blue Ridge, was asked, “If you were going to fish the

Toccoa DH water when it opens, what flys would you have with you?” She said, basically what you’ll have success with when the DH first begins are “junk food” flys. These are patterns that don’t represent any natural food source but are bright and flashy to attract the attention of the freshly stocked fish. Patterns that Metrela said fill this bill could include: Y2K Bugs, Egg patterns, San Juan Worms, Crystal Buggers, Copper Johns, Lightning Bugs and other similar nymph patterns. “As the season progresses, we’ll just have to see what works,” Metrela said. “And this could change daily.”

Jimmy Harris agreed that “junk food” flys would be the ticket starting out, then he’d expect streamers and minnow patterns to work. After the fish have been in the river a while, they will become more selective, looking for something that looks more like the natural food they’re learning to eat. “The fish will find out nobody is coming along everyday throwing out trout chow and they have to learn to eat the bugs in the river. After they’ve been there a while, the fish will begin to get little more selective.”

Discussing hatches that are likely on this section of the Toccoa, Mike Maginn said during the delayed harvest season you’ll see little mayflys like blue wing olives on warm days during the winter. There will be early stoneflys in late winter and in the spring, Maginn said, there is a tremendous little grey caddis hatch. Maginn said his go-to fly for the upper Toccoa is a weighted stonefly nymph of his own design.

Maginn said you could encounter rising fish anytime there’s a hatch and have good success with a dry fly, but typically you’ll want to fish deep to be most productive. Harris emphasized the need to “dredge” the bottom because that’s where the fish will normally be holding. Fishing on the bottom as opposed to a couple of feet up can mean the difference between catching a lot of fish or being skunked, he said.

While some of the DH fish will be around long enough to become selective, anglers should keep their “junk food” flys handy throughout the season as there will be fresh hatchery fish stocked throughout the season. Wayne Probst, regional fisheries supervisor with the DNR, said the river would be heavily stocked just as the DH season opens and there will be supplemental stocking about every month during the season. The original plan was to stock from the US Fish & Wildlife Service’s Rock Creek Hatchery but because of production problems there caused by the summer drought and heat, Probst said the fish would come from DNR’s Summerville hatchery. He said trout production there has been managed so that there will be plenty of nice fish for the Toccoa DH. “You’ll see plenty of your typical 8 and 9 inch stockers, but there’s going to be a bunch of bigger fish,” Probst said. He advised TU volunteers helping with the stocking that a five-gallon bucket isn’t going to hold too many of these big fish. Earlier Probst said only rainbows will be stocked for the DH season, but don’t be surprised to catch browns too as they are residents of this section of the river. Smallmouth bass also turn up occasionally in the shoals along with various panfish in the deep holes.

Jeff Durniak, another DNR regional fisheries supervisor, said, while veteran anglers can enjoy fishing the DH water, the best thing about the delayed harvest program is that it provides a great opportunity to introduce new folks to the sport of trout fishing. “Delayed harvest provides a training-wheel stream for new anglers,” Durniak said. “This provides a perfect opportunity to stick a fishing pole in somebody's hands and get them involved in the sport."

No matter whether you’re a grizzled ole trout bum, a green-horn newbie, or somewhere in between, Delayed Harvest fishing on the Upper Toccoa offers everyone an opportunity to enjoy one of North Georgia’s treasures -- so . . . GO FISH!

The following is a report prepared by Jeff Durniak [aka when fishing himself: Dredger] from a 11/24 trip to the Toccoa DH:

"This was my first time fishing the DH section of the Toccoa. In the
past, I've only seen the upper and lower ends while driving on the road.
Impressions from Friday: big, scenic water and strong fish! It's best
fished by floating from a pontoon or float tube to the wadeable water in
between the deep pools. Wading anglers may just have to pick your river
entries carefully and/or hike up the side of the hill to get around the
deep water. Wadeable waters are on the upper and lower ends and in the
middle where the power line crosses. At this time, with big flows and
icy waters, this is not a place for small kids.

"The water looks great. Indeed, the trout habitat is comparable to or
even better than the Chattooga DH section because of more boulders than
bedrock. It's better than AMicalola. If you think "steelhead river",
it should prepare you for this place. Just think big: long rods, big
strike indicators, long leaders, flies and lures big and bright enough
to attract attention in big flows, and, most importantly, lots of split
shot. I changed between 1 and 3 size BB shot, depending on the pool or
run to be fished.

"It's tough wading. Make sure you wear a wader belt and take a wading
staff to be safe. I managed a soaker myself on Friday as I tried to
pull the pontoon downstream over slick rocks. The stream width gives
you the advantage of a lot of water to fish "across" before you even
have to move upstream. I watched several folks wading where the fish
probably were before being spooked. Don't wade too deep too quickly;
fish those seams between the fast and slow currents first (seam
giveaway: with polarized glasses, look for the bottom color change from
the tan sand/small gravel to darker cobble/boulder).

"Right now, with cold water and newly stocked fish, think "flood
refuges" and fish those deeper, slower places next to (or even
underneath) the main current that would shelter fish from floods that
push them down from stocking sites. In cold water, fish can't react
quick enough to your offerings in those fast currents, so fish slower
stuff. We caught them consistently in such water (flat water below each
higher gradient, bedrock shelf) with few hits in the shallows. I'm sure
that will change in the spring as the fish acclimate to the river, the
aquatic insects become more active in those shallows and pocket water,
and the trout are drawn over to "dry fly habitat." Friday's fish fought
hard, with a few, including the biggest (15 inches) that was caught by
Don, still warm enough to jump a few times. Again, don't fish at dawn
because the water's too darn cold and the fish won't hit. Fish this
place from 10 am to 3 PM for your best chances of hookups and least
chance of frostbitten toes and fingers.

"I was impressed and will be back. Trip 2 will be boatless and will
explore ways to hike in and wade fish these new waters. WIth cold
weather coming, our catch rates will soon go down. My catching usually
stops when the water hits 40 degrees. Still, an exploratory trip or two
now will pay dividends next spring. Knowing where to stand and how to
fish these waters is usually much more important than what fly or lure
you're tossing. Fish upstream, not across or downstream, if you want
your fly or spinner in front of the trout's nose, since his belly's
rubbing gravel.

"And right now, I'd be tossing a size 14 egg fly or a # 10 black woolly
bugger as my first fly, with my favorite #14 nymph or wet fly 18 inches
off the back.

"Egg recipe; 1.5 inches of light colored (apricot) yarn on top of hook
shank. Thin piece of red yarn on top of that to create eye. 5 wraps of
thread to lash onto midpoint of hook shank. Then pick up both ends of
yarns and tie a "parachute" post, like you were tying a dry fly. Cut
vertical yarn post off about 1/4 or 3/8 inch long and let it splay out
into a mushroom or half an egg on top of the hook. Cement the post.

"The fish don't seem to mind that it's only half an egg, and you can tie
a bunch quickly. You're gonna need a bunch if you 're fishing them deep
enuf and also sharing a few with streamside newbies. And for these
Toccoa tips to help your success rate, you owe me that one favor of
passing your skills along to a new angler. Be the hero.

"Good luck. Put your camera in a ziplock bag, maybe two!
www.gofishgeorgia.com"

“Dredging” for DH Trout

In December DNR’s Fisheries Supervisors for North Georgia’s east and west regions – Wayne Probst and Jeff Durniak –spent a Saturday afternoon on the Delayed Harvest Section of the Toccoa doing some “research” on the fishery. Jeff said, "Research is a tough job, but somebody has to do it.”

While several fishing methods will catch Delayed Harvest (DH) trout, Jeff has perfected a technique aptly labeled “Dredging.” After seeing a demonstration of deep dredging by Jeff, Wayne tried his hand at it. “It really felt awkward at first,” Wayne said. “But after a little practice, I began getting the hang of it.” Jeff’s dredging technique worked for Wayne – he ended the day with 22 fish brought to hand – and it works for a lot of folks who have been fortunate enough to encounter Jeff and get an impromptu lesson on a trout stream. Taking off his waders stream-side at the end of this day, a fellow stopped on the road and yelled to Jeff, “Hey man, thanks for the tips. I caught some fish and had a blast today!”

Jeff is very willing to share his expertise with new-comers to trout fishing because he wants them

On the Toccoa – Where East Meets West: DNR’s north Georgia fisheries supervisors from the east and west regions -- Jeff Durniak (left) and Wayne Probst -- compare notes after a day on the stream

to become successful anglers. He explained, “If they try flyfishing on a DH stream and don’t catch anything or just catch one or two, many will get discouraged and go on to something else. But if they can catch a few fish, they’ll get excited about trout fishing. These folks will be your new TU members; they’ll be the new people who show up at work days to move rocks during a habitat improvement project.”

The best thing a TU member can do to promote trout fishing in Georgia, Jeff continued, is put a rod in the hands of a new fisherman and teach them how to fish. Delayed harvest is the perfect opportunity for doing this. DH is like training wheels for those learning to trout fish, Jeff said.

When Jeff and Wayne were on the Toccoa in mid-December, the weather was perfect, the water was crystal clear, and the fish cooperated. They waded the middle section, near the power line, landed about 50 rainbows to 16 inches between them, and missed a lot, too. Water temp was 43F at 11AM and rose to 46 around 3PM.

Jeff’s favorite set-up this time of year is an egg pattern with a prince nymph dropper and enough split shot to get the fly down. Jeff speculates that present-day hatchery-reared rainbows might retain some genetic tendency to eat eggs during this time of year, a carry over from their ancestors in the Pacific northwest who followed the salmon upstream. He said he’s found egg patterns work good until March, then insect activity picks up and the fish key in on more traditional patterns and ignore the eggs.

Honestly, Jeff said, the fresh stockers aren't picky. Woolly buggers and egg flies, either one with a prince dropper, work well. On this day on the Toccoa, Jeff reports that he and Wayne caught most of their fish dredging deep on an upstream cast and dead drift. “We used 1 to 3 size B split shot and some really big strike indicators in the heavy water. In shallow areas where we could even see the fish, the bugger /prince did OK when fished downstream and stripped back, but we caught more fish bumping the bottom on the upstream casts. Around 4 PM as the sun fell, the river's switch turned off for me, and I struggled to catch a few more as I made it up to the canoe launch. We enjoyed running into several more anglers who also did well, and meeting DNR conservation ranger James Keener during his streamside patrol.

Here’s Jeff’s advice for cold weather fishing:

For the new folks, may I offer this winter recipe to help you through a fun but challenging season for Georgia trout, hopefully without breaking your dwindled, post-holiday bank account. There is not one "right way" of fishing. However, this way has worked for me and maybe it will work for you, too. And don't worry, it gets a lot easier in the spring, when the water warms and the fish will chase your offering. Here we go:

Obtain at least 3 of each of these flies:

#10 black woolly bugger

#14 peach egg fly

# 14 prince nymph

# 16 hare's ear nymph

#18 pheasant tail nymph

#18 pheasant tail- soft hackle wet fly

(No beads on the flies.)

Get a few 7.5 foot 3 X trout leaders and two spools of tippet (5X and 6X). Get 2 or 3 sizes of split shot: 1) the tiny shot, like Dinsmores, 2) size B, 3) size BB. Buy a few strike indicators.

Arrive at stream at 10 AM and fish til 3 or 4. Tie 18 inches of 5X to your leader's 3X end. Add enough shot above that knot to let your fly tick-tick along the stream bottom. That may mean one tiny shot or 4 big ones, depending on the water depth and speed of each pool or run. Tie the bugger, egg, or prince to the 5X tippet end. Put your strike indicator way up your leader, toward your fly line. The length between the indicator and your fly should be at least 1.5 if not 2X or more the water depth of the spot you're fishing. Adjust as needed for each pool or run.

Toss this combo upstream at a 30 degree angle 3-6 feet above where you think the fish are holding and let it drift, drag-free, back down toward you. If you bump the fly along the bottom in a spot where fish are (slower areas during winter), you may get some hits. The strike indicator will show you those bottom ticks and the strikes. With the bugger, after your fly drifts downstream, well past you, twitch your rod tip and strip the fly back upstream in 6 inch strips.

Now here's the secret weapon. Many of our trout in these catch & release waters have, indeed, been caught and released. They smarten up and avoid big flies and beads, unless the water's muddy. You'll have better success if you tie on 12-18 inches of 6X to the bend of the hook of the first fly and then tie on one of the small flies on the list, above. Start out "big" (size 14 or 16) and, if you don't get strikes, substitute the smaller flies. Sometimes I'll even go down to a #20 p-tail or soft hackle, but it's hard to hook fish with such tiny hooks. Roll cast or water load. Try not to false cast or do it minimally, as the fish are not in the air or trees, the branches and tangles are.

As a resource manager and fellow angler, each year at this time I often hear anglers' comments about their reduced catch rates. Their stated reasons often include "lack of stocking" and "poachers." Based on my experience, the reasons are more often: 1) released fish "smartened up" from their earlier experiences with you, 2) lethargic fish due to cold water, and 3) the angler's fly or lure not being down where the fish are, since those fish are not gonna come get it like they did in November, when the water was warmer and they were naive.

The "tiny fly off the back" technique works for me in these clear waters where the fish are now experienced and cold. Maybe it will work for you, too, if the water's 40F or warmer. If it does, you'll notice that you'll catch some more colorful and harder fighting fish - the

earliest stocked veterans or even the wild fish. The fresh stockers

will still slam your gaudy bead fly, egg or Y2K.

PS- there is no substitute for the experience of a "guide" or mentor.

Upper Toccoa Stream Flow: While there’s a gauge on the Upper Toccoa at the DH section, it’s been inoperable for several years. However, Col Mike Maginn points out that the TVA does operate a stream gauge at Dial with cubic feet per second data available online. Go to http://lakeinfo.tva.gov/htbin/streaminfo and look for the Toccoa listing about half way down. While fishing is still possible, Col. Mike says wading become pretty treacherous when flows exceed 470 cfs, and as the flow increases from there, wading becomes more and more chancy.

Be sure to check Unicoi Outfitters’ website site for up-to-date info. on the Upper Toccoa DH at http://www.unicoioutfitters.com/toccoadh.html