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Fly Fishing Report On The Toccoa River Tailwater In Georgia

Toccoa River Georgia Rainbow Trout

Fly and Gear ordering and delivery: We can get flies to you within two to three business days from the time you place your order via Priority Mail. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Please see the bottom of this column for ordering options.

We also have custom Perfect Fly selections in 3 different price ranges for this stream that come with or without fly boxes. They make excellent gifts. Click Here To Order or Call us at 800 594 4726 or email us at sales@perfectflystore.com.

Type of Stream: Tailwater

Species: Brown Trout (Stocked/holdovers)Rainbow Trout (Stocked/holdovers)

Size: Medium

Location: North Central Georgia

Nearest Towns: McCaysville

Season: Year-round

Access:Poor, only 5 access points

Non-Resident License: State of Georgia

Seasons:                 
The Season runs year-round
Spring:
Spring is the best time because of its hatches.
Summer:
Summer is a good time to fish the river because it stays cool from the discharges all summer long.
Fall:
Fall season is a great time to catch the large brown trout and is overlooked by many anglers.
Winter:
Trout can be taken on all but the coldest days of winter on imitations of midge larvae, pupae and sometimes, the adults.

Recommended Tackle & Gear
Fly Line:
5 or 6 weight
Leaders:
Dry fly: 9 & 12 ft., 5 or 6X, Nymphing:
71/2 ft., 3 or 4X, Streamers 0-2X

Tippets:
Dry fly: 5 or 6X, Nymphing: 3 or 4X,
Streamer 0-2X

Best Fly Rods:
Perfect Fly Superb Five or Ultimate Six
Fly Reels:
For 5/6 fly line
Fly Floatants and Misc Items:
Floatants, KISS Strike Indicators
Tools & Accessories:
Nippers, forceps, retractors, etc.

Fly and Gear ordering and delivery:

Email us  at (sales@perfectflystore.com) with the dates you will be fishing and we will send you a list of our fly recommendations. We can get flies and gear to you within two to three business days from the time you place your order via Priority Mail. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Your can also call us at 800-594-4726 and we will help you decide what flies and gear to use. All orders are shipped free in the U.S. If under a $100 order requiring Priority mail is a charge of only $8.10. Orders over a $100 are shipped free via Priority Mail.

Copyright 2013 James Marsh




Toccoa River – Fly Fishing Report (Tailwater) -03/03/24

Conditions are still very good. The stream is flowing at a normal level and clear. Good hatches continue to take place.

Stream Conditions: Afternoon Water Temperature: 52 (lower section)
Clarity: clear
Release Schedule:

TVA Release Schedule Blue Ridge

7 Day Weather Forecast:  (click the link below for more detailed weather information)

MCCAYSVILLE WEATHER

Recommended Trout Flies:
Midges: Cream and Red (Blood) midges sizes 20/22, larva, pupa and adult. Our larva and pupa midge flies, pre-rigged in tandem, are very popular here. You can fish them under a strike indicator keeping the larva fly near the bottom. https://perfectflystore.com/product/pre-rigged-tandem-midge-larva-pupa-tippet

Brown Sculpin and White Belly Sculpin and Articulated streamers, size 6/4
Black Matuka and Olive Matuka Sculpin, size 4/6
Blue-winged Olives: size 16, nymphs, emergers, duns, spinners

Blue Quills: 18 nymphs, emergers, duns, spinners

Little Black Caddis: 18, pupa, adults

Little Brown Stoneflies: 12, nymphs, adults

Fly Fishing the Toccoa River Georgia: Many Georgia anglers think the lower Toccoa River is one of the best tailwaters in the South. At the time this was written, a new dam was under construction that everyone thinks will improve the fishing over what it has been in the past. That’s saying a lot, if it turns out to be true. There are about fifteen miles of good trout fishing waters below Blue Ridge Lake. It extends down to the Tennessee state line where the name of the river changes to the Ocoee River. Fly fishing the Toccoa River from the bank is limited because the river flows through private property. Access is provided at parks and road crossing. We have fished this stream on two occasions without a boat and still done very well. We have drifted it several times and always caught plenty of trout. It has a lot of trout that probably only average about 12 inches but there are also some very large holdover trout in the stream.The Blue Ridge dam changes pace in a heart beat and this stream borders on being dangerous. It is much better to fish it from a boat than wading. The water levels can change fast. It’s really a small stream, width wise. Long and very deep pools and a lot of rocky shoals also make it difficult to wade. You can’t wade it if the water levels are high, of course. Most of the trout are browns. There are rainbows but probably only about a forth of the population are  rainbows. These trout act more like a wild trout than they do stocked trout. They are stocked as fingerlings, so they have to learn much the same way a wild trout learns.  They can be picky and very selective, unlike most stocked tailwaters. Again, the big advantage the way I see it is the very good dry fly fishing almost year-round. There are not many days of the year you cannot catch trout fishing a dry fly. Now, I don’t have anything against fishing below the surface at all, but it is certainly an added attraction to have dry fly fishing available.

Toccoa River Tailwater Fly Fishing Guide: At the time this was written, It had been some time since we have fished this tailwater. It’s a great medium size stream to fish provided you fish it from a drift boat, or at least some type of boat. I mention that because there are only five places you can access the fourteen mile long stream to fish it wading or from the bank. One thing we like about the stream is the fact dry fly fishing can be very good. While many tailwaters are very good streams, for the most part, most of those in the Eastern United States don’t have very much dry fly fishing. In general they have few aquatic insects that hatch on the surface of the water, and many of the ones that do, have hatches that last only for a short length of time. Most of the fishing is done with midge imitations or streamers. Of course this isn’t true of all of them. Some have excellent hatches and this is certainly one of them.Even though the dry fly fishing can be great at times, most of the productive fishing is still done fishing flies near the bottom. Heavily weighted nymphs work most anytime and produce good size trout. Streamers are also very effective on the brown trout, especially when the water is slightly off color from heavy rainfall. As mentioned in the introduction page, these trout can be selective towards certain insects. Imitating those that are most plentiful and those that are about to hatch is necessary at times to produce the best results possible.Although I’m not a big fan of strike indicators, they will work on the Toccoa River tailwater most of the time. Double and tandem rigs are popular. Probably the best all around strategy during the winter is to fish imitations of midge larvae. If they are hatching you should use imitations of the pupae. Most of the midges we noticed were light green or cream color.Swinging a streamer will probably produce more larger trout than anything. Day in and day out, provided nothing is hatching, I suggest you fish either a stream or a nymph as close to the bottom as you can keep it.

Toccoa River Tailwater Hatches and Trout Flies: Our information on aquatic insects is based on our stream samples of larvae and nymphs, not guess work. We base fly suggestions on imitating the most plentiful and most available insects and other foods at the particular time you are fishing. Unlike the generic fly shop trout flies, we have specific imitations of all the insects in the Green River and in all stages of life that are applicable to fishing. If you want to fish better, more realistic trout flies, have a much higher degree of success, give us a call.  We not only will help you with selections, you will learn why, after trying Perfect Flies, 92% of the thousands of our customers will use nothing else. 1-800-594-4726. The Toccoa River is different from many tailwaters in that you can be assured of several hatches throughout the year that will provide good dry fly fishing. Blue-winged olive hatches of several different species will be taking place on cloudy days early in the year even in January. These hatches can occur all the way into the middle of April. There’s also a Fall hatch that starts in October and last for most of the rest of the year. Little dark brown winter stoneflies also hatch throughout the Winter. You have a very good Little Black Caddis (Brachycentrus) hatch that takes place in the late Winter. It usually starts in late February and last through March. These caddisflies hatch almost like a mayfly, meaning midstream on the surface. Dry fly fishing can be great when they are emerging and later on in the day when the female deposit their eggs. Spring brings about several hatches not common to many tailwaters. March Browns start hatching in mid April and last for about six weeks depending on which section of the tailwater you’re fishing. There are some areas of the Toccoa River tailwater where Hendricksons hatch in decent quantities. This occurs in late April and May. Later on in the year, starting as early as late May, Eastern Pale Evening Duns hatch. These are called Sulfurs by the locals. The true Sulfurs hatch in June and on into the first of July. There are also a few Light Cahills that hatch on the Toccoa River. This takes place in June. You have several more small hatches of mayflies that should hatch during the year according to stream samples we took a few years ago. Spotted Sedges and Cinnamon Sedges are common, mostly Cinnamon Sedge. Little Sister Caddis cover the water at times. The Spotted Sedges and Cinnamon Sedges start as early as late May and last almost all Summer. The Little Sisters start in June and hatch into mid July. Now, that I have said all that, you should be aware that the mighty midge is still a big producer on this stream. They hatch year-round. Streamers probably produce the largest trout. Imitations of crayfish and sculpin should work great, the crayfish for large browns and smallmouth bass. During July, August, and September, don’t forget about terrestrial insects. Imitations of ants, beetles and grasshoppers all work at times.Remember “Perfect Fly” has specific imitations of every aquatic and terrestrial insect that hatch in the Toccoa River tailwater in their various stages of life. If you haven’t already tried them, you certainly should.