Fly and Gear ordering and delivery: We can get flies to you within two to three business days from the time you place your order via Priority Mail. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Please see the bottom of this column for ordering options.
We also have custom Perfect Fly selections in 3 different price ranges for this stream that come with or without fly boxes. They make excellent gifts. Click Here To Order or Call us at 800 594 4726 or email us at sales@perfectflystore.com.
Type of Stream
Freestone
Species
Brown Trout
Rainbow Trout
Size
Small to Medium width/40 miles long
Location
Northwestern South Carolina on
Georgia state line
Nearest Towns
Clayton, Georgia
Cashiers, North Carolina
Season
Year-round
Access:
Good but hiking required most places
Non-Resident License
State of South Carolina
State of Georgia
(Either state will work for the main stem by not the tributaries of the opposite state)
Recommended Tackle & Gear
Fly Line:
5 or 6 weight
Leaders:
Dry fly: 9 & 12 ft., 5 or 6X, Nymphing:
71/2 ft., 3 or 4X, Streamers 0-2X
Tippets:
Dry fly: 5 or 6X, Nymphing: 3 or 4X,
Streamer 0-2X
Best Fly Rods:
Perfect Fly Superb Five or Ultimate Six
Fly Reels:
For 5/6 fly line
Fly Floatants and Misc Items:
Floatants, KISS Strike Indicators
Tools & Accessories:
Nippers, forceps, retractors, etc.
Fly and Gear ordering and delivery:
Email us at (sales@perfectflystore.com) with the dates you will be fishing and we will send you a list of our fly recommendations. We can get flies and gear to you within two to three business days from the time you place your order via Priority Mail. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Your can also call us at 800-594-4726 and we will help you decide what flies and gear to use. All orders are shipped free in the U.S. If under a $100 order requiring Priority mail is a charge of only $8.10. Orders over a $100 are shipped free via Priority Mail.
Copyright 2013 James Marsh
Chattooga River Fishing Report – 12/18/24
The stream is flowing at a normal level with clear water. Good hatches are taking place. Our pre-rigged in tandem midge larva and pupa flies are working good here as well as our sculpin streamers.
Stream Conditions:
Rate: 544 cfs
Level: 1.77 ft
Afternoon Water Temperature: 40
Clarity: clear
USGS Real-Time Stream Flow Data at Clayton GA
7 Day Weather Forecast: (click the link below to get more detailed weather information)
Recommended Flies:
Brown Sculpin and White Belly Sculpin and Articulated streamers, size 6/4
Black Matuka and Olive Matuka Sculpin, size 4/6
Aquatic Worms, size 12, pink, red, and others
Midges: Cream and Red (Blood) midges sizes 20/22, larva, pupa and adult. Our larva and pupa midge flies, pre-rigged in tandem, are very popular here. You can fish them under a strike indicator keeping the larva fly near the bottom. https://perfectflystore.com/product/pre-rigged-tandem-midge-larva-pupa-tippet
Blue-winged Olives: size 16, nymphs, emergers, duns, spinners
Winter Stoneflies; size 16/18, nymphs and adults
Perfect Flies are designed and tied to to imitate and behave like the natural foods the trout rely on to survive as much as possible. The more your fly looks like and moves through and on the surface of the water like the real things, the higher your odds of success.
Strategies, Techniques and Tips: There are stocked trout in the delayed harvest section and they will take the generic trout flies readily but those that have been there a few months, holdovers and wild trout are familiar with the natural food in the stream. That is why we recommend our Perfect Flies over the generic fly patterns. We sell the generic fly patterns but our Perfect Flies, or specific imitations, provide higher odds of catching both types of trout.
Fly Fishing the Chattooga River South Carolina: This beautiful trout stream, a National Wild and Scenic River, starts in Cashiers Lake in North Carolina. It has a lot of small tributary streams in the North Carolina mountains before it reaches the state line of Georgia and South Carolina. It flows near Ellicott Rock, a boundary marker from the corner of the three states. From there is flows along the state line of Georgia and South Carolina.There are only two roads that cross this stream below the North Carolina line. They are approximately fourteen miles apart. You can access the stream from Burrells Ford Road or state highway 28. It is truly a remote stream. There are some very good trails to follow the course of the river from, but hiking is the only way to access much of the stream.The headwaters of the stream in the North Carolina area consist mostly of fast moving pocket water. The lower section slows down a little with some large pools with riffles between them.This river was where the movie “Deliverance” was filmed. It is a popular kayak stream and can be crowded in places with kayaks during the summer, but not anglers. Because of its remoteness, It is not heavily fished at all.There is a relatively new delayed harvest area provided by a joint effort between the States of South Carolina and Georgia. It starts at the highway 28 bridge and goes upstream for two and one-half miles. It is heavily stocked with trout.The “harvest” season last from May 15 through the end of October. Any other time of the year, it is delayed harvest regulations. It is based on the successful North Carolina Delayed Harvest program.If you enjoy hiking in a wilderness setting, you will love the Chattooga River. If you want to fish areas of the water that isn’t fished often, all you have to do is do some serious hiking. There are miles and miles of the river that sees few anglers, even during the prime season.Short, upstream cast are all that is needed for most all of the fly fishing. You do need to dress properly to blend in with the background, get drag-free drifts to catch the wild trout. If you imitate the most plentiful and available insects, nymphs and hatching insects, you will usually have a very successful day of fishing. Don’t forget, fly fishing the Chattooga is also much about the overall experience and that’s a sure thing.
Chattooga River Fly Fishing Guide: Fly fishing the Chattooga River requires some hiking. The delayed harvest season offers a good chance to teach beginners how to fly fish. They will catch some trout and they can learn to hook, fight and land fish, some of which may run as large as twenty inches or better. The lower section of the river can get a little on the warm side in the summer, so the delayed harvest section is taking advantage of this. The stream is very wide in the Delayed Harvest area.The best wild trout fishing exist between the North Carolina State line and Burrells Ford. There are a few tracks of private land downstream of the Highway 28 bridge, but other than that, the entire river lies within the Chattahoochee or the Sumter National Forest. The state stocks the trout fingerling from Burrells Ford downstream for about five miles. In that area of the stream, there is plenty of food for the trout to eat but there are not many suitable spawning areas for the trout. Since the river is a freestone stream, the water levels vary with the rain. In the lower section in the delayed harvest area, there are some long, deeper pools and the water can be to deep to wade in many areas if it rises much. It is a good idea to get the water levels if you question the conditions. Real Time Stream Flow Data near Clayton, Georgia. If the water level is over 2.0 feet, you probably need to wait to fish that area of the stream. If you enjoy being on the water by yourself, then this river can provide plenty of it. It just takes a little hiking to do it. It is one of the southernmost trout streams that exist. You can choose to fish for the stockers in the Delayed Harvest Section, or to fish for the wild, streambred trout and native brook trout. It is one of the best trout streams in the South.
Chattooga River Hatches and Trout Flies: Our information on aquatic insects is based on our stream samples of larvae and nymphs, not guess work. We base fly suggestions on imitating the most plentiful and most available insects and other foods at the particular time you are fishing. Unlike the generic fly shop trout flies, we have specific imitations of all the insects in the Chattooga River and in all stages of life that are applicable to fishing. If you want to fish better, more realistic trout flies, have a much higher degree of success, give us a call. We not only will help you with selections, you will learn why, after trying Perfect Flies, 92% of the thousands of our customers will use nothing else. 1-800-594-4726. The Chattooga River is a low to medium gradient stream with a very good population of aquatic insects. The first insects to hatch are the little Winter Stoneflies. They hatch from January through the month of March. Imitations of the nymph work good during the cold winter. The next stoneflies to hatch are the Little Brown Stoneflies. They start hatching about the end of March and last until the end of April. Blue-winged Olive are the most consistent hatch throughout the year on the Chattooga River. You will start to see some hatches about the middle of February and they will continue off and on throughout the entire year. Blue Quills will start to hatch about the middle of February and last into the first of April. They are usually very large hatches that are very consistent. About the same time you will begin to see the Quill Gordons. Mid February will also bring about one of the largest caddisfly hatches of the year – the Little Black Caddis or Brachcentrus species. The Hendricksons start hatching near the last week of March. They are fairly short lived. The normal hatch last for only about a month. This hatch is normally fairly good on the Chattooga River. It has a lot of moderate flowing water with a suitable habitat for the Hendricksons. March Browns will begin to hatch about the middle of April. The hatch last until the first week of June. Much more consistent are the Light Cahills. They start about a week or two after the March Browns and last as long as three weeks, depending on the elevation. The middle of April will bring about a hatch of the Short-horned Sedges. These are very small black caddisflies that are quite abundant. About the same time you should notice the first hatches of the Green Sedges. They hatch everywhere there is fast water for over two months but never in large quantities. This stream has some Cinnamon Sedges. They are not heavy hatches but they exist in quantities sufficient to interest the trout. In the middle of May, Eastern Pale Evening Duns will start hatching. Most anglers call these Sulphurs but the true Sulphurs will not start to hatch for another couple of weeks. Both of these hatches are usually fairly good. The Little Yellow Stoneflies, called Yellow Sallies will start around the first of May and last until mid July. The Golden Stoneflies start hatching around the first of June and last about five weeks. The Little Green Stoneflies start about the last week of May and last until July. By the middle of August, hatches of Mahogany Duns will begin to occur. This hatch last for as long as two months. Also by the middle of August you should start seeing some Needle Stoneflies in the headwaters. From the middle of May until the middle of November, a long period of time, you will find hatches of Slate Drakes occurring. These mayflies hatch out of the water but never in large quantities. Imitations of the nymphs and spinners can be important.The Great Autumn Brown Sedges, start hatching at night by the first of October and last into the first of December. During the month of June, grasshoppers, beetles, ants and inch worms, all terrestrial insects, become important food items for the trout. There are few hatches occurring, so most anglers start using imitations of these terrestrials. The inch worms, or moth larvae, are especially important due to the large numbers of them in the forest of the park.In addition to the terrestrial and aquatic insects, there are a lot of other foods for the trout. Small Crayfish is one of those items. Another one is Sculpin. The Black Nose Dace is another baitfish that is important. Streamers imitating these and other minnows work great especially when the water is slightly off color. I didn’t mention it above, but midges are abundant throughout the stream. They can be very important when the water is cold and nothing else is hatching. Imitations of the larva and pupa will catch trout anytime of the year. Craneflies are everywhere water exist. The larva and adults are important insects to imitate. Hellgrammites, or the larva stage of the Dobsonfly, is another abundant insect.We recommend our “Perfect Fly” imitations. They are the best, most realistic flies you can purchase. They are also the most effective flies you can use anywhere trout exist They have proven very effective on the Chattooga River. We hope you give them a try.