Amanda and I made a quick trip to North Georgia this past weekend for a Spring visit with the Fam. The Bear on the Square festival in Dahlonega and fishing at the cabin were top priorities. We enjoyed Dad’s bluegrass band so much over New Years, we had to come see them play on the square.

Leaving Louisiana shortly after 4am, put us at the cabin in the afternoon, with plenty of daylight left. Making the most of it, I jumped in my waders, tied up a streamer on my 6wt and set out for the creek.  Dad has been sending me fantastic reports ever since opening day, so hopes were high that it was still fishing well. This area of North Georgia has received a good amount of rain as of late so water levels were at a pretty good level, despite the higher levels, clarity was pretty good too. It didn’t take long to get into the fish. Trout were aggressively slashing at the streamer I was throwing, something Blake tied up that I hear we will have an SBS on pretty soon. By far the most aggressive trout were the browns.

This rare brookie came out of the water to eat the fly on the first pass. I missed him then, but stuck him on the second swing.

Continuing upstream I was raising trout in pretty much every likely spot, catching a few of them, but missing a good many. Their average size was around 16″, so the day was going pretty well. Throw a rainbow in there for the slam and my day was going damn well. Still, it was the browns that stole the show.

I’ve never caught this many browns at the cabin. I’ve got a feeling they were a few more stocked in here than usual and the streamers were getting their attention a little better than dead drifting nymphs. I ended my Thursday with an 18 and a 19″ brown and you couldn’t wipe that shit-eating grin off my face.

That 19″ had a bit more color than the other browns and even had a slight kype to him, I don’t think he was a recent stocker. A Sweetwater 420 was the perfect way to end the day.

On Friday a cold front moved through and brought along with it heavy rain at times. I hesitated to fish early, but eventually made it out. Water levels were rising throughout the day and fishing wasn’t as easy as the day before, but trout were still caught and I even missed one brown that was every bit as big as the 19″ the night before. By the end of the day the water was high and brown, I had one last eat in the evening, but couldn’t get him in hand before he broke me off on a log.

Got out again on a chilly Saturday morning before Bear on the Square. It was a beautiful, bluebird day, but that didn’t translate into fishing success. I flogged water all morning and all I had to show for it was one follow, one eat, and a few scenic shots from the creek.

The morning skunking didn’t sour the whole day though as we made our way to the festival and got to hear some great local bluegrass and see the rest of Georgia Roussel clan. I’ve got some video to edit down, but for now hope y’all enjoy the pics and the report.