The lower portion of the Chattahoochee River is hot right now. I had the opportunity to fish it recently, and got some really good information to pass on.
If you are local, or if you are planning to visit Georgia and fish the river, it is important for you to know the water release times of the river. When they are releasing water and generating electricity, the river will rise dramatically, and make fishing it very difficult.
The DNR has a hotline set up with that information, and can be reached at 770-945-1466.
Always check the water release times before fishing.
The Lower River
The lower river has some excellent fishing right now, and has been much more productive than the area just below the dam. Whitewater Creek Park has the best access whether you plan to wade the river, or launch a kayak or float.
Sandy Point has also been very good as of late.
Reading The River
The lower Chattahoochee will give you plenty of opportunities to practice reading a river. Look for large rocks sticking out of river at angles. They will be sitting perpendicular to the current, and will create several areas that act like undercut banks.
Fish love to hide under these, and I was able to coax a rainbow trout out from his spot and onto my fly.
Another very productive area of the river will be current seems that end in large pools. Cast upstream and allow the current to take your fly into the pool. Make sure your dropper is a wet fly like a copper john, and watch carefully for your line to start moving.
This strategy allowed my to pull a nice little brown trout on a parachute adams with a copper john dropped off of it.
Best Fly Patterns For The Chattahoochee
Several different fly patterns are working right now. An Olive Wooly Bugger with a Red Shaky Worm dropped about 12-14 inches works very well in stained water.
The aforementioned Parachute Adams with a Copper John or other nymph dropped is another great combination as the sun gets higher and the Mayflies are all over the place.
Around 3pm-5pm the Blue Winged Olives (BWO’s) will start to hatch. This is definitely the time to switch, as the fish will start feeding on BWO’s like crazy.
The action on the ‘Hooch is really starting to get exciting, so if you are in Georgia, let us know.
Hopefully, we will see ya on the water…
[…] my most recent trip fishing the Chattahoochee River, I had several run ins with NCN. Most specifically, I had run ins with his Labrador Retriever. I […]