On the recent Memorial Day Holiday, I decided to get out and do some fishing. I figured the big rivers were a bad choice—tubers, swimmers, and kayakers would be out in force. I was certainly right about that, as every bridge over a river revealed a ton of people enjoying the water.
On this holiday, as I do with most holidays, I decided I needed to get out…way out. WMA’s, or Wildlife Management Areas are typically my holiday fishing spot of choice. Most of the time, they are difficult to access, very remote, and not very well known.
Wildcat Creek is no exception.
While it is a part of the Amicalola river system, it resides on the Dawson Forest WMA, and can only be accessed by a very poorly marked forest service road. The road dead ends into some primitive camping areas, and then a decent hike is required to get to Wildcat.
This is just the type of place one needs to go for a holiday fishing trip.
A Physical Anomaly
While Wildcat Creek does flow into the Amicalola river, it is marked by a very interesting oddity. It is always 10-12 degrees cooler than the Amicalola—even at the fork where the two streams meet.
As such, it is hospitable to sustaining wild trout year round. In fact, if it were not for Wildcat, the Amicalola would most likely not be able to sustain trout at all. Where the Amicalola is stocked throughout the year, Wildcat receives no trout at all.
Add this all up—small stream, difficult access, remote location, wild trout—and you have a perfect place to go on a holiday and probably not see another soul. Sounds like my kind of day.
The Fishing
Once I was sufficiently out of cell phone range (finally!), I couldn’t wait to get in that water. Waders on, boots on, flies on, and I’m ready to go.
Typical of small mountain streams, there would not be much casting going on during this trip. No traditional casting anyway. Most of the time, I was casting from my knees making very small roll casts to the clear pools holding wild trout. The difficulty in fishing a stream like this is getting within range without scaring the fish.
If you can accomplish this, you then have the added task of getting your fly in front of them without the fly line spooking them as well.
The Big Payoff
So what did all this effort yield? One fish, and it wasn’t a trout…
No, I managed to accidentally catch a species of Darter about two inches long. Luckily, I was able to land that monster without a net.
There is a bigger picture here, though. Sometime toward the end of the day, I sat down in the river, with the cool water passing over my waders providing relief from the 95 degree heat. I sat there for a long time, watching, and listening.
I saw a snake on a log hanging over the water doing his own fishing. I saw squirrels at play in the canopy above me. I saw the elusive wild trout darting along now and then in front of me. I saw beautiful flowers and trees, heard beautiful birds chirping away.
I didn’t see anyone else. I didn’t see any litter. I didn’t hear my phone ringing. At the end of the day, isn’t that what this is all about?
See ya on the water…