My last brookie outing was on what for Georgia is a pretty open stream. A few days ago I visited a more typical brookie locale. I’d never fished it before, but I’ve meant to for a while. Took my Diamondglass 605, although I really knew better; left a couple of shorter rods in the car, but I hadn’t fished the Diamondglass all year, and it’s a pretty good bow and arrow caster. Sill, a shorter rod would have been able to maneuver better, and is really the better brookie default here, at least until you know the stream. But I’ve always enjoyed fishing the Diamondglass, so just took it. There are actually some TU type structures in this stream’s open stretch where it could actually cast, but I didn’t get anything out fo there, just spooked a few.
Did get a pretty nice one (for GA) from under an overhanging root a little upstream of there.
I decided I didn’t really want keep crawling around, which any further exploration would involve, decided “mission accomplished,” and decided to head back to the car and go over to bigger water.
Actually, three weeks earlier, I’d intended to fish that brookie stream, but didn’t; there were some campers at the trail access, and our brookie waters get enough attention as is, without me showing folks any reason for special interest. That day I ultimately didn’t mind moving, getting several nice fish for the water I did fish, including this one.
I went to the same area, but the fish I got didn’t equal that one, much less the much bigger one that had broken fresh 5X.
That’s a nice stretch of water, but I may need to leave it alone for a couple of months. My cheap alcohol thermometer showed 68 there, and 64 over on the brookie water, so we’re pushing stress levels. Part of that is the hemlock die-off over the last 20 or so years; I’ve fished this stream often and 25 years ago, this run was shaded all year. (I didn’t take a temp three weeks ago.)
For a few years, hemlocks were down, often blocking the stream and creating some pools that pushed the banks out, but it seems that the last couple of winter/spring flows have blown the logs out, and the open pools often remain, without as much in-stream cover. I’ve been told that air temps this year are actually lower than usual, but I don’t think water temps have really reflected that, although i don’t have data.
There might be a few cooler streams at higher elevations, and we’ve got a couple tail waters, but I’ve always preferred wild streams. Of course, we’re at the southern end of wild trout streams, so things can get marginal. We have some nice stream bass fishing, but rain effects continue on those flows longer than on trout water, and we’ve been getting some rain. Still there are options, and I’m happy for the fishing I’ve been able to do this year. And fall’s a wonderful time to chase trout around here.