Friday, October 3, 2008

Upper Chattooga

It is finally beginning to feel like fall. The water is cooling down and the fish are becoming more active. So last weekend I decided to try fishing one of the South Carolina trout streams, the Chattooga River in Oconee County. This was my first time to fish the Chattooga, in fact this was the first time I have fished "seriosly" for freshwater trout in my home state of South Carolina. I was pleasantly surprised.
I parked at Burrells Ford Bridge and hiked and fished my way up stream to a point called Ellicott Rock (about 3.5 miles). Ellicott Rock is a stone marker at the point where North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia all intersect.


The Chattooga is a hatchery supported river with the South Carolina State hatchery located on the East Fork of the Chattooga. The Chattooga is known for having very large brown trout, some up to 27 inches!


It is also famous for being the location where the hit movie "Deliverance" was filmed.


I did not catch any large brown trout but I did catch one small brown and a couple of nice 11"-12" rainbows.


I am trying to learn to fish using nymphs. So this day was nymph only day. I caught all the fish using a #20 WD40 nymph.


Here is a nice paw print left in the sand near the waters edge. It is from the black bear which is native to this area.

4 comments:

  1. Hi David:
    Looks like a nice and pretty mountain stream.
    If it contains good browns, I love to fish it.

    In October 18th, a FLYRODDERS magazine will have a tenth year anniversary festival at Shishidome Fishing Area. They asked me to present a stand at their flea market. I will join them to sell my books and some used fishing tackles I don't need anymore. Some of my young fishing friends are going to help me there. I hope the weather will be fine.

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  2. There are monster sized browns in the Chattooga. I want to try again for the big ones.
    It is quite an honor to be asked by FLYRODDERS to present a stand. You have a reputation in Japan as an experienced fly fisherman.
    I bought a new Simms G3 fishing vest and I have the Kawano Club badge on the front. I think it will bring me luck!

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  3. Monster browns!
    What an attractive and deluding word for fisherman!

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  4. I recently watched a television show about the White River and Little Red River in Arkansas where the world record brown trout was caught in 1992. It was 40 lbs 4 ounces! Maybe I should go there?

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