Etowah River Georgia Fishing Report & Options for Selecting Flies: 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.
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
Striped Bass
Spotted Bass
Size
Small to Medium
Location
North Central Georgia
Nearest Towns
Dawsonville
Season
Year-round
Access:
Fair to Good
Non-Resident License
State of Georgia
Weather
National Weather Service Link
Seasons:
You can fish the stream anytime of the year.
Spring:
Spring is the best time of year for fly fishing the Etowah River because of the hatches.
Summer:
The stream gets too warm during the hot Summer.
Fall:
Autumn is a great time to fish. The fall foliage along the stream is beautiful. Brown trout spawn in the fall.
Winter:
Winter is the best time for fly fishing the Etowah River in its Delayed Harvest Area
Recommended Tackle & Gear
Fly Line:
4, 5 or 6 weight
Leaders:
Dry fly: 9 to 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 Supreme Four, Superb Five
or Ultimate Six
Fly Reels:
For 4/5/6 fly line
Fly Floatants and Misc Items:
Floatants, KISS Strike Indicators
Tools & Accessories:
Nippers, forceps, retractors, etc.
Copyright 2016 James Marsh
Fly Fishing On The Etowah River Georgia
The Etowah River starts in the Blue Ridge Wildlife Management Area near Dahlonega, Georgia. The stream is small and stocked by the state. It also has some wild rainbows. Below the Blue Ridge Wildlife Management Area, the stream is stocked for about eight
miles. It also contains some wild brown and rainbow trout. This section of the river is quite large and is best fished from a drift boat. It flows almost exclusively through private property. It’s only accessible at the bridges by boat or the bank. Fly fishing the Etowah
River provides a diverse range of species of fish.
There are three major tributaries in the Blue Ridge Wildlife Management Area. The West Fork of Montgomery Creek, Jones Creek and Nimble Creek. All three of these streams are small, headwater streams with some wild trout. The West Fork of Montgomery Creek (the Etowah River used to be called Montgomery Creek by some) is a very good little trout stream. It has a
series of high waterfalls. The entire length of the stream above the Forest Service Road 28 -1, must be reached on foot. It can also be reached from its headwaters from Forest Service Road #141 at one point. This stream has some wild browns that go as large as twenty inches. Its wild rainbows average a small size. The West Fork of Montgomery Creek isn’t stocked.
Jones Creek, also located on the BRWMA, is another small stream but it has a population of wild brown trout only. Although the browns average a small size, It’s still a good little trout stream to fly fish. It’s rarely fished by the locals simply because it doesn’t have stocked trout. Jones Creek can be accessed where Forest Service Road 28-1 crosses the creek. It’s small and tightly enclosed in most places but full of small, wild brown trout.
Nimble Creek is another small stream in the BRWMA but it’s easily accessed and stocked with rainbows. It has a few wild trout. Forest Service Road 28-2 follows along this one. Nimble Creek is worth little to the avid fly angler but Jones and the West Fork of Montgomery Creek are nice streams well worth fishing.
Amicalola Creek is a much larger tributary stream that flows into the Etowah River downstream of Dawsonville. It was mostly a canoe and rafting stream but it’s now
one of Georgia’s five “delayed harvest” streams. Its delayed harvest section is about 3 miles long. From November 1 through May 14, all trout must be released. The DH section is in the Dawson Forest Wildlife Management Area and runs from the Steele Bridge Road downstream to Georgia Highway #53.
As the water warms downstream from its headwaters other species of fish show up. Redeye Bass and Spotted Bass become the main species of resident fish. These
show up well upstream of Amicalola Creek but Amicalola Creek brings much cooler water into the river, although it isn’t cool enough to sustain a year-round population of trout. That’s the reason for the delayed harvest season. Striped Bass, Hybrid Bass and White Bass show up in the river mostly during spawning runs upstream from Lake Allatoona. The striped bass with the broken lateral lines are hybrids, or a mixture of white bass and
landlocked striped bass. All three species are fun to catch on the fly. Fly fishing Amicalola Creek can be lots of fun.
I should also mention that striped bass fishing below the dam at Lake Allatoona is also very popular. There are plenty of large stripers in the tailwaters.