2006 Archived Reports

December 28 - The trout fishing has been great at Callaway. Strangely enough, the wonderful weather has not really hurt the fishing. And on some days we could have been in t-shirts.

I fished today with Scott E. and his dad, Bruce. Bruce had the big fish (we think)....

...but Scott was hard on his heels.

If you haven't tried the trout at the Gardens, you're missing a treat. These fish are big, healthy, hard-hitting and high-flying.

December 9 - We've been managing to catch a few of those fish with stripes over the last week or so. We're fishing the river between West Point and Columbus, but not in the usual places. There is still little water flow so the fish are behaving differently - they aren't congregating in/below the shoals but are generally more scattered. Bob K was up from Florida to get away from all that balmy weather and landed his first ever striper on the fly.

Bob was fishing with regular Tom T who has caught plenty but still likes `em just fine. Ever the gentleman, Tom made sure his fish was smaller than his guest's.

The fish are doing different things this year in the low water, or at least we're catching them in different places. In some ways, it's more like lake than river fishing. For the last week we've even been seeing busting fish and some birds leading the way.

December 2 - Fished with the Flint River TU Club at Callaway today. Great guys, great fish and a great time.

November - The month was wide open, with Callaway ponds being the hot ticket.  The shad stocking of a couple of years back is really beginning to show up on Mountain Creek Lake - calm mornings are finding hefty bass busting shad and looking for all the world like schools of stripers as they boil the surface (Mountain Creek is the big lake where you can rent jonboats and fish on your own).

And now the trout have been stocked in 3 of the Callaway lakes. We have landed a couple of the big ones (in excess of 5 lbs), but between landing and being careful not to hurt `em, it's tough to get a photo. But even the smaller fish are fun, feeling their wheaties in the cool water and usually taking to the air.

October 22 - In my Monday report, I mentioned that the fish at Callaway were beginning to eat topwater bugs. That turned out to be pretty prophetic today when this guy blew up on Janet's chartreuse stealth bomber.

October 16 - The temperatures are falling, but Flint River fishing is still hot! The shoal bass are eating big buggers and RLD's, along with chugging stealth bombers.

And the leaves are starting to color on the mountain ridges (yes, that's right - mountains, if small ones). So the river is prettier than ever. Hurry, we have only days left over here.

And there's more good news. Last week at Callaway we started to see the bass and bream turning on to fall. For the first time since early summer, we were getting significant numbers of fish on topwaters right through the day. The cooling waters have apparently got `em on the feed.

October 6 - Got on the Flint today again with long-time customer (and excellent angler) David P. from Atlanta. His co-worker Alice joined us. David again (like last Oct) caught a big shoal bass. This old troutboy from Colorado has a definite thing with these shoal bass.

Not to be outdone, in spite of being new to the fly rod, Alice landed a couple of shoalies and beaucoup red-breasts.

September 29 - It's been another great month on the Flint. Even with a couple of heavy rains, the river stayed in great shape for the most part.

I truly love the Flint (it's been my home water for over 20 years now) and always enjoy fishing it. But  I've really had fun this last week, fishing with some great folks....Dan H. from Newnan hit the shoals with me on his first trip to the Flint.

Dan's a long-time fly anglers and at 74 had been away from the sport for several years. But he slayed the fish with his new Hardy and Hexagraph.

Then I fished with David and his son David. Neither had ever used the fly rod before, but they took to it quickly. Young David is only 12 and I'd been a little worried if he'd be ready to use the fly. Ha! That turned out to be a big joke. In less than an hour he was into fish and booming big casts. A natural-born angler, this one.....

Then yesterday I got out with Russ K. and Scott B. Scott is a transplant from Colorado; and though Russ had had him out to some bass ponds, he wasn't real sure about the warm-water fishing thing. I think we may have moved a few steps in that direction. And I wish I could have gotten some of his comments on tape - "It's like trout fishing for bass", "Man. they sure do pull", and my favorite, "There is one under every rock, if you get the fly there!"

August 31 - The Flint is still on, maybe even getting better as the water level comes up a bit. Don't get me wrong though - its still low-water conditions and the water is very clear. It's necessary to approach the water carefully - some hints here.

Callaway fishing is picking up a bit too with the cooling temps and rain. It's still best early and late in the day, unless you get lucky with some cloud cover. But it will be turning on in a big way soon, as the fish sense the coming fall.

August 19 - `Fished the Flint with Bart & Robbie, a couple of Bama boys that had striper fished with me back in the winter. I'd told `em how great the Flint was, so they came to see for themselves. At right is a closeup of the fly (a stealth bomber) that Bart was fishing (you can see it better in this photo - and note the flashtails here). Bart was counting - he landed 11 shoal bass and numbers of fat redbreasts; all but one took the stealth. The Flint is awesome - the heat of August, low water, bright sun, and fish on topwater all day long!

August 16 - Well, you know what they say....when the fishing gets tough, the pros........change species.

`Fished today with Steve Walburn, editor of Saltwater Fly Fishing magazine and who, by his own admission, "will fish for anything." We had some fun over on the Coosa catching gar and spots.

August 13 - `Slipped off to the river with my friend Paul for a quick morning trip. We caught some small spots and skipjack, but Paul got the fish of the day. Those are some ugly dang shorts however!

August 6 - Fished the Flint today for the second day of the Callaway Fly Fishing School. We had 6 complete novices on the water and everyone caught fish. The red-breasts were in a slight majority, but several shoal bass were landed. And one real nice one got away. The water is low and clear, but the fishing remains good. Personally, I love the low-water conditions.

August 4 - Finally they have repaired one of the generators at West Point Dam and have begun to generate power again. This is important because the surge of water during generation stimulates the fish downstream. So today, after a morning trip at Callaway, Jeff and I hit the Hooch for the late evening release. Fishing was pretty tough and we only managed the one fish pictured below.

July 15 - In addition to the Flint, we're catching plenty of fish at Callaway. Naturally, the fishing is best early and late in the day. But today, surprisingly enough, we took fish on top in the bright, hot sun  way through mid-day. What did they eat? Guess.July 11 - We're still fishing the Flint and doing good in spite of the heat. The river's as low as I've seen it in years, but the shoal bass are still eating. Sunday I had Ken & Dave there and along with several nice shoal bass. they took literally dozens of feisty redbreasts.

After a morning on the Flint, I spent the afternoon with Jimbo Meador as he demo'ed the new Heritage kayaks. These are very cool sit-on-top kayaks, designed for and perfect as fishing vehicles.

July 2 - We fished the Flint today (day #2 of the Callaway Fly Fishing School). The water was very low and very clear, but our new students did good. Everybody caught fish under very technical conditions with spooky fish. Good job, guys.

June 29 - `Had a real treat today. My old-time fishing bud, Norman,  came to town - he's been in CO for about 7 years and that's how long it's been since we fished. Capt. Jeff from Coosa River Drifters offered to guide us down the Coosa - not being complete idiots, we took him up on the offer. It was a fine day - mucho fishes including Norman first gar, goods friends and beautiful water.

June 8-11 - The FFF conclave at Callaway was great. If you missed it, get it on your calendar for next year (June 7-10, 2007). A busy weekend, but I got out Sunday to fish with Beth & Julie. Beth's a Callaway vet, but it was Julie's first time at the Gardens. I think she'll be back -

June 6 - Fished the Flint with Dave & Michael K today. This may be my favorite place in the whole world. And though it was Dave's first visit, it moved up pretty high on his list - this giant shoal bass had something to do with that.

May 26 - We've fished the Flint a couple of times this week and it's into a typical summer pattern - low. clear water with spooky fish. It can be tough fishing but it's great fun, requiring thoughtful approaches and careful presentations. But the rewards are nice fish suddenly blasting from under a rock ledge in skinny water.

May 4 - Here's a guy who's picture has been on this web-site dozens of times over almost that many years. And he's almost always holding a big bream, so why change now...

Bill recognizes the bream as maybe the world's greatest gamefish, and loves to fish for them in the Spring at Callaway. We caught a few on the tarantula, some on the Tokyo Spider, and plenty on the RLD. And finally, at dusk, Bill had to eat his words (disparaging comments about a "fully-pimped" version of Stealth Bomber) as he took bass after bass after bass off the bank.

April 28 - I've been in north Georgia for the Georgia Outdoor Writer's Annual Conference yesterday and today. ` Managed to get in a little fishing this morning at Hiawassee River Trout Lodge. I occasionally forget how much I like trout fishing - it's nice to be reminded.

April 24 - Fished with Sam C and his dad today. We fished the `Hooch in Columbus as Mr. C regaled us with tales of his fishing offshore of native England for conger eels and other exotic species. Not to be outdone in his new homeland, Sam added a fly-caught gar plus hybrid bass and skipjack to his tally today. Tally-ho Sam - a Columbus slam!

April 21 - `Finally got in a day at Callaway for the first time in  a couple of weeks - it seems like everybody been wanting to catch stripers, skipjack and shoal bass (and who could blame `em). But it's springtime at Callaway and it doesn't get much better than that. Bass chasing bait on the bank, and big fat 10" & 12" bream bedding up. Today Johanna, a novice female fly angler, out-fished all 3 of her experienced male co-anglers.

April 16 - `Been fishing the Flint & the Hooch this week. The Flint is starting to turn on, and the Hooch around Columbus has been red-hot for hybrid.

And we have really been having a blast catching those "smaller" fine cousins of the mighty tarpon on 3-weights.....

April 7 - `Had a day off for the first time in 2 weeks - nothing to do but go fish. With trips booked for Sat & Sun, and knowing the crowds on the river above West Point will probably be epic (if rain doesn't blow the river), I headed south to Columbus. The hybrid are eating down there too, with the side benefit of many slash-hitting, leaping skipjack. Oh, and some of you wanted flies for shad & skipjack...

March 31 - It's happening pretty much everywhere right now. This week we fished the Flint, Callaway, and today the Hooch above West Point. The hybrid & white bass are running on the Hooch, the bass are eating at Callaway, and the Flint's shoal bass are moving to the shallow rocks. Ah, spring...

March 1 - Got a busman's holiday today and hit the Hooch. Water was way up and the fish were eating. I got plenty on a big deceiver and then switched off to a crease fly - they ate it too...

Feb 24 -  `Had a double special treat treat today. My old fishing pal Jason managed a day off and came to fish. Jimmy Harris of Unicoi Outfitters had invited us to come up and fish some of their north GA water. Unfortunately, Jimmy was leaving on a "business" trip (Argentina??), but Rex Gudgel carried us over to a private area Unicoi guides on called Frog Hollow. I figured "like, yeah, trout - no problem - I'm a striper fisherman!" Well, Frog Hollow has some trout bigger than a lot of stripers. And they're eating #18-22 midge larvae that need to be fished on 5-6x tippets. It took us warm-water guys a few break-offs, but we finally got the hang of it. More details...

Feb 8 -  Fished with Roy & Hap today on the Hooch. Roy has fished all over, but Hap's a little new to the fly - mainly small pond bass & bream. We're drifting over a deep slow section of the river below some shoals, and Hap's stripping in a big deceiver kinda' casually. Suddenly a big stripe appears and just sucks the fly down. Next thing you know, line's flying off the deck and the fish is downstream and into the backing. Hap plays him like an old pro, palming the reel and then gaining line. Way to go, Hap!

Jan 30 -  Wow! It's been quite a week/10 days, and Monday was just as good (not many people can say that). in fact, all last week (plus today) we have just banged the fish down on the Hooch.

Pete E. from Anniston was here with Andy B.  from Cartersville, both old hands with the striped fish, and they spanked `em on Thursday.

George & Janet P. from Macon were back and we caught `em eating on top. The hot fly was a Davy Wotten injured shad pattern, but pencil poppers also worked.

Then Tom A. from Macon and his business associate, Chris, from England were here - Chris got his first ever fly-caught fish (a fat hybrid) plus a number more for he and Tom.

And today, Tom T. from Atlanta was here again - he nailed many "dead-drifting" crease flies. They didn't want it stripped or popped, but just drifted with a little twitch. In almost every case they would swirl on it once and then, if you could control yourself and not rip a hook set, they'd come back and eat it on the second pass.