Chatooga over the weekend

Saltwater Fly-Fishing
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First of all, thanks to all who helped out with my last minute trip to the cold trout waters of the upstate. It sure helped out this normally salty fly tosser to connect while up there.

My wife, myself, and our lab headed up to do a little camping and spend a weekend together before I head down to Antarctica for the winter. It was a dreadfully cold forecast, but she said she still wanted to go, so we did… It was forecast to be in the low 20s, but I’m not sure how cold it actually was.

So we hit the road Friday after work, and after a quick stop to meet SC90210 and grab some gear he lent to me, we were off to Seneca to stay in a hotel since we didn’t want to hike in in the dark. Early the next morning we drove to the trailhead and hiked the 1.5 miles or so to the river and picked out a good campsite. With the tent erected, the site organized, and lots of firewood gathered, it was time to don the waders and try my hand at the fishing.

I suited up and hit the water, to find another guy throwing the fly just downriver from me. I waited for him to approach and asked how he was doing. There were 3 in his party and they had caught one fish each since 10am, it was around 2pm. Not having a great outlook, I headed around them and downriver a bit. Well, I had the lucky hand because I caught 10 rainbows and one brownie in a very short time. Two of the other fisherman watched me catch about 6 of those fish and could not believe I was doing so well… beginners luck? I missed more strikes than I’d like to admit, I think more than a few were from about 3’ of badly curled leader that I could not get to straighten out in the cold.

I fished until almost dark, and then it was time for a warm fire, stew, and sleep.

The next morning I had similar results with fish rising to both my dry fly and taking nymphs on the dropper. I caught 13 rainbows and one brownie Sunday morning, and at around 15 or 16", that brownie was the biggest fish of the trip by far. Again, I missed plenty of takes. It was fairly cold, a

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very cool

He took the bait like a jugbelly redfish on an olive and white clouser.

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very nice! great lookin brookie as well. Did you stay with the Stimulator dry most of the time? The guides freezin is a biatch. there is smething called Stanley’s Ice off paste that works great. i would think vasoline would work but i think it has petrolium which would prob destry flylines.
I used to have a honey bear in my camping pack for a different reason. cough :clown_face:. Great lookin lab

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quote:
Originally posted by scotty d

very nice! great lookin brookie as well.

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Shows what I know… I didn’t even realize that I caught a brookie! I think I was too concerned with getting a quick pic and release to realize. That, and I really don’t know much about coldwater trout.

quote:

Did you stay with the Stimulator dry most of the time?

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Yep - it was producing so I stuck with it. I tried a wooly bugger out for a short time and had a couple of missed strikes, but I was enjoying fishing the dry/nymph combo better so I switched back.

quote:

Great lookin lab

Thanks!

Pillage and plunder with a 9wt and a fist full of clousers.

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Another fantastic report from the Jerms! You are getting dangerous with that flyrod. Congrats. Glad you and the wife had a great time.

Gator Killer.

He took the bait like a bonnethead on a day old crab…

2005 236 Sailfish
225 Yamaha 4-stroke

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jerms, looks like you had a great time. There were new leaders and tippet in the vest, you should have helped yourself to them. Enjoyed seeing you and BJ in our neck of the woods for a change. You will need to come by the house next time because Taylor was very, very upset that “her” jeremy wasn’t coming to see her.
That campsite looks familiar so I went back and found that’s where we camped in 2007. In fact, most of those pics looked familiar, even makes me want to go wave the stick a little, except I don’t have any wader boots that fit. Don’t forget about plans for next Spring. We will need to talk about the “guest” list :wink:. Good pics as usual.

I ain’t as good as I once was, but I’m as good once, as I ever was.
Toby Keith

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Good fishin or bad fishin…there is something to be said for those cold water streams this time of year. Looks like a good time.

“The probability of someone watching you is proportional to the stupidity of your action.”
AB

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Man I used to fish that place almost every weekend in college. I liked leaving from the hatchery, hiking to the confluence of the east fork and the chatooga, and then heading up towards Ellicot rock. Thats seclusion. Also a buddy caught a 4-5 brown in the east fork one evening at dusk. Man you wanna talk about a beutiful fish.

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Jerms, you need to get in touch with me before you plan another trip up there as I used to fish the chattooga a good bit while i was at clemson. I"ll point you to some areas that are much better than others as they are more off of the beaten path and frequented less by anglers, some guides I knew up there took me too and the great part is they are pretty easy to get to.

Sails Pitch
196 CC Sea Pro
150HP Yamaha
“Get Hooked On The Sails Pitch”
[img=left]http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m257/TripleTail/Picture4.gif[/img=left]

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3tail - I’ll definitely do that! My next trip won’t be until spring as I’m headed wayyyy south for a couple of months.

I can’t wait to head back up there!

Pillage and plunder with a 9wt and a fist full of clousers.

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jerms, sounds good hit me up when you get back, you should do well in spring up there as we usually caught more fish that time of year. Have a safe trip.

Sails Pitch
196 CC Sea Pro
150HP Yamaha
“Get Hooked On The Sails Pitch”
[img=left]http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m257/TripleTail/Picture4.gif[/img=left]

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Great report. Why are you going so far South?

Nice having the wife take pictures of you while you fished.

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quote:
Originally posted by shallowskiff

Why are you going so far South?

I’m working in Antarctica for a few months.

Pillage and plunder with a 9wt and a fist full of clousers.

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Working doing what?

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I am a product tester for The North Face, Marmot, and various other companies.

Well, I wish… I am actually an Air Traffic Controller.

Pillage and plunder with a 9wt and a fist full of clousers.

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quote:
Originally posted by Billder

Working doing what?

He’s a fluffer for the ice men down the way…

xHCFKx
“There’s gonna be a fiesta…”

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quote:
Originally posted by scotty d

I used to have a honey bear in my camping pack for a different reason. cough :clown_face:. Great lookin lab

And what did you use that Honey Bear for?

Annoy a Liberal, Work Hard and be Happy!!!

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quote:
Originally posted by StretchArmStrong
quote:
Originally posted by Billder

Working doing what?

He’s a fluffer for the ice men down the way…

xHCFKx
“There’s gonna be a fiesta…”

Frosty the snowman.

Originally posted by reel-boy

“Lucky, I mentioned bacon bits and got banned”

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Hey jerms,

What area did you put in to hike?