Fly Fish SC

Well well, here we are again. Another week has rolled by like a #14 caddis on the Chauga on a summer afternoon. I guess that means relatively smoothly. Looks like things may get slightly more turbulent over the weekend, but we’ll be throwing darts to determine what conditions will really be like this weekend.

The Upstate area will see a 50% of scattered thunderstorms tonight and 60% on Saturday. As of 2:00 pm EDT Friday there appears to be just a touch of light rain on the radar in the vicinity of the Walhalla State Fish Hatchery. Nothing else going on at the moment until crossing the border into north GA, where some scattered showers look a little heavier.

Temperatures will be nice at least this weekend with highs in the 80s and lows in the 50s. Of course it will get a little cooler as you gain elevation. Highs will actually be around 70 degrees on the East Fork Chatt. near Sloans Bridge Rec Area and about the same over on the Whitewater River near Bad Creek. The trick will be whether it rains enough to create a washout. This is where we throw our darts. As it stands right now, the Chattooga is about 500 cfs below average, so there’s room for rising water. Too much though, and it could get really muddy. Once again, we’ll have to wait and see.

The SCDNR stocked over 10,000 trout into hatchery supported water this week, so there are fish out there to be caught if you’re into that kind of thing. Some of the stocked waters included the Chattooga, Chauga, and South Saluda rivers, as well the Lake Hartwell tailwaters, and the Little Eastatoee.

I’d arm myself with about the same flies as last week. Parachute Adams, March Browns, elk hair caddis, maybe some soft hackle emerger patterns, and of course some nymph patterns. Pheasant tail or hare’s ear, something along those lines. If you don’t have any soft hackles, just leave the floatant of your dry flies and fish them that way if they aren’t rising. Once again, if the water gets up and off color, woolly buggers, San Juans, and maybe even a zonker down on the Chattooga may make good options. The same should almost hold true for wild trout if that is your preference. As usual, I like to keep my fly sizes a little smaller for the wild trout.

Take a good look at the radar before heading out this weekend, and keep an ear and an eye out for approaching storms.

We have certainly seen some warm days this week, with highs temps on Thursday around 80 degrees in some areas of the state. It will cool down some this weekend but still remain somewhat Spring-like. There may however be some ominous weather on the horizon. The chance of rain really picks up in the Upstate tonight through Saturday. Rainfall amounts could reach upwards of three inches.

Water levels are really low right with the Chattooga running at less than 400 CFS, so some rain is good thing, but it could blow things out for the weekend. As usual, we’ll have to wait and see how accurate the weather forecasts are. With the timeline being under 24 hours, I would expect predictions to be pretty close.

Some trout stocking did take place during the week. Over 6,000 fish were added to the Chattooga, Chauga, and East Fork of The Chattooga. Some of those trout were also placed into the South Saluda and Lake Hartwell tailwaters.

Its anybody’s guess what conditions will really be like this weekend. May as well have an assortment of flies if fishing is possible. I’d say predominantly nymphs and buggers, but a few parachute Adams and some small ek hair caddis might come in handy. If the water rises, but remains fishable, the San Juan worm may also be a good choice.

Sunday may prove to be the best bet for fishing. If the water is in fact up, some of our wild water may recede more quickly than rivers like the Chauga and Chattooga. Places like The East Fork of the Chattooga around Sloan’s Bridge or possibly some of the smaller streams in Jocassee Gorges would be good places to look into.

The good news is, we had a fairly substantial trout stocking during the week by the SCDNR. They placed over 7,000 trout, some of which were stocked into a combination of the Chattooga River, East Fork of The Chattooga River, Little Eastatoee, Rocky Bottom, and the Chauga River. Things head downhill a bit after that.

Looks like rain in the forecast all weekend, however Saturday doesn’t look too bad for the Pickens, SC area with a 30% chance of rain and no major amounts predicted. Possibly up to one tenth of an inch of rain during the day on Saturday. The chance of rain increases to 100% Saturday night and Sunday with maybe up to around another inch of rain during that period. It may not be a wash, but depending on what really happens, waters may get high and muddy or they may rise a little and be a touch stained. We’re pretty much throwing darts at the conditions this weekend.

Highs in the low to upper 50s with overcast conditions almost guaranteed, could be just about right for BWOs to pop off. Parachute Adams or BWOs may work if the water doesn’t jump too much, otherwise its nymphs and buggers. If the water does get murky but not crazy high, it could be a good time to hit the Chattooga DH with some big buggers or bunny leaches and see if some big browns feel like stalking some prey while the getting is good for being sneaky. If its only stained, think about bead-head nymphs and San Juan worms, or a San Juan with a nymph dropper. Be prepared to mix it up some this weekend.