Unicoi Outfitters

As we finally close the door on this odd year, all of us at Unicoi Outfitters Fly Shop in Helen and the UO General Store in Clarkesville would simply like to say thank you. Please accept our heartfelt appreciation for your patronage, your fish stories, your smiles, and especially your friendship. We could not have made it through 2020 without your tremendous support for your local fly shop and its newly birthed sister store in Clarkesville. We wish you all the best in the ...new year, one filled with great hope, an improving economy, and better health security for all of you, the extended members of our UO family. Of course, we don’t want it to curtail your stories of the number and sizes of fish caught, so keep up the great work of embellishment. After all, we’ve made a nice 25-year career out of our exceptional optimism. With your support, we now aim for 25 more! From owners Jimmy and David, manager Jake and his store staffs, and our fine roster of UO guides, thank you deeply! Stay safe, distant, and optimistic as we celebrate this true milestone in our lives. Happy new year and God’s speed to each of you fellow flyfishing fans.

Ladies, Check out this great opportunity on January 4 to join the zoom conversation and ask your own questions about flyfishing!

Thanks to everyone for our great December conversation, three things I wish I knew when I started flyfishing. Here’s our last installment, courtesy of our 3 vets. The Unicoi Guru, owner Jimmy Harris: 1. As soon as possible, go out with someone who knows how to flyfish. Not a friend who claims to have been flyfishing for 10 years but only goes twice a year but someone who KNOWS how to flyfish. 2. Be patient. Recognize that you have chosen to fish using a technique that in...Continue reading

We lost a good friend today. Phil Niekro was one of the most congenial, funny, and caring people you would ever meet. He loved fishing and the camaraderie found only among anglers on the water. He will be missed.

Really enjoyed hosting Miss Mayfly Women’s Waders on their photo shoot at Nacoochee Bend. Tap photo to watch.

A new video has just been posted on our YouTube channel. Chasing shoal and Chattahoochee bass on the upper Chattahoochee River near Helen with Jake Darling of U...nicoi Outfitters. To view the action, click the link on our home page at ontheflysouth.com. Unicoi Outfitters Alpine Helen White County Convention & Visitors Bureau

Congrats to our good friend, Ted, as he takes the helm of the Georgia Wildlife Resources Division on December 1st! http://georgiawildlife.com/georgia-dnr-announces-ted-will-n #unicoi #outdooradventures #keepemwet #flyfishing #dryflyfishing #flyfishinglife #flygirlsfish #wandernorthga #whatgetsyououtdoors #catchphotorelease

Unicoi Outfitters Fishing Report - 11/6/20 www.unicoioutfitters.com The weather is great and streamflows are dropping, so it’s a fine time to wet a line. It looks like we’ll be dry til at least Tuesday, and the warm days will keep afternoon stream temps up in the fifties. Expect big crowds, esp on prime weekend days and times, so make plans to avoid them and stay safe. Go on a weekday if you can! If you’re a rookie fly flinger, don’t miss our post and video this week on the...Continue reading

We hope those prior directions are helpful. Practice this drag-free drift technique a bit and it should work as well for you as it does for Sautee! Good luck. Call us (706-878-3083) or stop by the shop if we can help you further. #unicoi #outdooradventures #keepemwet #flyfishing #dryflyfishing #flyfishinglife #flygirlsfish #wandernorthga #whatgetsyououtdoors #catchphotorelease

While fresh stockers in Delayed Harvest streams are easy, they will smarten up quickly. Then you must have a good, drag-free drift. New fly fishers, here are your steps to success via a drag-free drift this fall: 1. Tie on one or two of your favorite flies (see our prior list) 2. Add just enough split shot a foot above the first fly to drift it along the bottom. Carry several sizes of small shot (#4, #1, B) to match depth and velocity. 3. Add a strike indicator up the leade...r from your first fly, at a distance of 1.5 times the water depth. Adjust the indicator often to match the depth of each spot you fish. (Airlock indicators make this quick and easy) 4. Study the pool briefly and predict where you think the fish are holding. 5. Sneak up to the pool slowly, like a heron, and get in a good position to make a short upstream cast and get a good drift. 6. Make a short (5-15 feet) cast upstream, toward your opposite shoulder. Aim for the seam where slower water meets the fast main current. 7. As your indi drifts downstream toward you, strip in fly line and raise your rod to gather slack and keep most or all of your line off the water. 8. Ensure your indicator drifts naturally: match the leaves and bubbles around it. Make sure you don’t have a downstream U shape of fly line or leader in the water, which catches the current and makes your fly travel faster than naturally drifting food. 9. Put 2-3 good drifts through one spot or lane, then take a few steps and try another piece of the pool. We call this painting the pool as you cover the water with good, short drifts. 10. Instead of casting farther, move your body and keep the casts short. Why? Long casts cross multiple currents and it’s hard to get a drag free drift when your line catches those currents. 11. Set the hook any time the indi pauses or jumps. Hooksets are free! 12. We like to set the hook with a sidearm, downstream wrist snap. If we yank the fly out of the water, it will snag behind us in a low, streamside bush and we can retrieve it. Upward hooksets leave many more flies up in the trees! 13. Get your net and your camera ready! UO buddy Sautee demonstrates for you. Good luck! #unicoi

Today’s video, continued (part 2). And here’s a link to an oldie but a goody: a video of the complete operation, so ride along with the feds and fish! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4vSdxcYqn0... #unicoi #outdooradventures #keepemwet #flyfishing #dryflyfishing #flyfishinglife #flygirlsfish #wandernorthga #whatgetsyououtdoors #catchphotorelease

An hour later and your correspondent was reporting from the eastern front. It was a longer, (15 mile), remote battle line along Unnamed Border River, so the USFS Air Force was called in to assist ground troops from SCDNR’s Clemson and Walhalla Hatchery divisions . At the end of a long afternoon, it was: Mission accomplished! So go get ‘em. And remember to release them in those DH reaches. Just be careful and check the USGS river gauge for Chattooga at Clayton before you c...ome up here. Why? The river’s still running high and may remain above your personal safe wading level for another day or two. Again, call our fly shop (706-878-3083) if we can help with vital intel and ammo for your own river assault. Good luck! Hint: suggested ammo is in my November column in The Angler magazine. https://shoponline.unicoioutfitters.com/?source=facebook (Video Part 1 of 2 to meet IG’s one minute limit) #unicoi #outdooradventures #keepemwet #flyfishing #dryflyfishing #flyfishinglife #flygirlsfish #wandernorthga #whatgetsyououtdoors #catchphotorelease

This is Dredger reporting from the front lines. In a highly coordinated plan of attack today, land, sea, and air forces accomplished their mission: the wide distribution of targets for the kickoff of your Delayed Harvest trout season. With boots and boats, trucks and buckets, and even choppers, fish hit the water. Please join Unicoi Outfitters in thanking our natural resource agencies and their partners for a job well done today! They are: GADNR, SCDNR, USFS- Sumter and Chatt...ahoochee National Forests, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff at Chattahoochee Forest (Rock Creek) National Hatchery, and the three local Trout Unlimited chapters: Blue Ridge Mountain (Toccoa R), Gold Rush (Ami Creek), and GA Foothills (Smith Cr). We have live footage of your troops in action. First, enjoy a snippet of GADNR and its masked GA Foothills vols attacking Smith just before noon. Then tune back in to this channel for a front seat at the big border assault! As always, call (706-878-3083) or email the Unicoi Outfitters staff if we can help you with hot flies or fishing tips this DH season. Good luck as you socially distance astream. https://shoponline.unicoioutfitters.com/?source=facebook #unicoi #outdooradventures #keepemwet #flyfishing #dryflyfishing #flyfishinglife #flygirlsfish #wandernorthga #whatgetsyououtdoors #catchphotorelease

Welcome to the kickoff of Georgia’s Delayed Harvest trout season. If you’d like to give flyfishing a try without breaking your bank, start out with a quality combo kit like this Echo package or the Orvis Encounter series. Watch our future posts for instream tips and techniques. In fact, there is fresh intel posted today in The Angler magazine’s Atlanta edition, which is trout-heavy. Check out Delayed Harvest University for some tips before you wet a line this week. https:...//coastalanglermag.com/e-magazine/atlanta/ Call or visit either our Helen (706-878-3083) or Clarkesville (706-754-0203) store if we can help you line up for some fall trouting fun. Good luck!

Unicoi Outfitters Fishing Report - 10/30/ 20 www.unicoioutfitters.com This week’s theme is drying out and cutting out. Our skies are blue, the winds are down, and we have a nice, dry week ahead of us. That’s good because north GA is cutting its way out from Zeta’s impacts. I did my stream conditions circuit this morning and drove past three sites with downed powerlines in just the short stretch from Unicoi Lake to Smithgall Woods. Conditions are still tough up here, so ...Continue reading

The good news from Helen is that a) we still have a roof, b) there are no holes in it, and c) the river only creeped up one back step. Therefore, all of your coveted fall flyfishing supplies are high and dry and await your perusal when we reopen tomorrow morning. The bad news is that we should all sideline ourselves for safety, for a few days, and allow Zeta’s 4-6 inches of rain to run-off toward Lake Lanier. Hooch-Helen gauge: https://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/uv?02330...450 We’ll keep you posted on post-storm stream conditions. The UO staff would also like to thank our local, state, and federal workers who are clearing roads and restoring power to our north GA neighborhoods. At least a dozen trees had already been cut and cleared from Highway 75, between Cleveland and Helen, this morning, allowing Wes to check the fly shop. Kudos to these support workers who keep our lives and livelihoods going. We hope that all of you are safe and sound, and a bit lucky like us! We’ll see you when our streams subside. You’re always welcome to shop us online, too! Best wishes for your own quick recoveries and speedy cleanups. https://shoponline.unicoioutfitters.com/?source=facebook #unicoi #outdooradventures #keepemwet #flyfishing #dryflyfishing #flyfishinglife #flygirlsfish #wandernorthga #whatgetsyououtdoors #catchphotorelease

Update: both the Helen and the Clarkesville stores will be closed today due to bad road conditions from downed trees in the region. We do hope that all of you are safe and sound. #unicoi #outdooradventures #keepemwet #flyfishing #dryflyfishing #flyfishinglife #flygirlsfish #wandernorthga #whatgetsyououtdoors #catchphotorelease

Due to the impending tropical storm, we have decided to delay tomorrow’s opening of our Helen store until at least 11AM. The opening might be even later if road conditions are bad. Please consider calling the store (706-878-3083) before driving up to see us. Be safe yourselves as you prepare for Zeta. We look forward to seeing all of you on the other side of the storm. #unicoi #outdooradventures #keepemwet #flyfishing #dryflyfishing #flyfishinglife #flygirlsfish #wandernorthga #whatgetsyououtdoors #catchphotorelease