Hiwassee River Guides: High Water Brown Trout on the Toccoa River.

Tailwater Browns in the North Georgia Mountains.

The Toccoa River lies just a little south of the state line in North Georgia, but it is only a short drive for many anglers in east Tennessee.

The Toccoa Tailwater starts at the base of TVA’s Blue Ridge Dam and flows north to the town of McCaysville, GA. This is probably the best tailwater trout fishery in the state of Georgia. On average,the Toccoa is a much smaller river by comparison to any of the other TVA tailwaters, but what it lacks for in size it makes up for with fish. From midges to mayflies there is a nice variety of bugs in the river. There are roughly 16 miles of trout water from Blue Ridge Dam downstream to Copper Hill, Tennessee. There are 5 Public access pointsspread out from the dam downstream to Copper Hill.

( 1:Blue Ridge Damm, 2:Tammen Park,3:Curtis Switch(bridge parking),4:Curtis switch(TVA launch),5:Horshoe Bend park )

My preference for fishing here is by boat. It gives anglers the option for float fishing while traveling down river, along with a chance for wade fishing as well. Let me say that most people who fish the Toccoa have a preference for low water flows. There are two main floats on the river with the first being from Blue Ridge Dam downstream to the Curtis Switch access. (7.2 miles) The second is from Curtis Switch downstream to Horseshoe Bend Park in McCaysville, GA. (6.5 miles). Both sections fish very well and at times one section can fish better than the other. The river does receive a lot of fishing pressure as it is one of only a couple tailwater trout fisheries in the state. The water flow at low water conditions on average is fairly slow with a lot of subtle riffles & shoals, along with some deeper pools. When the generators are running, it’s a different story and anglers should not attempt towade fish here on high water. No matter the time of year there is always a good opportunity to catch some very nice rainbows, browns, & brookies.

On another note, many anglers will say that you cannot catch fish on high water flows here. While in truth it does make the fishing a little slower at times, but this is when the big fish come out and play. Leave the 4 & 5 weights alone and break out the big sticks. A good 7 or 8 weight rod loaded with a 250/300 sink tip depth charge line will usually do the trick. Look through your box and find a few of the biggest, ugliest flies there and your set. I personally love this type of fishing. It’s more of a quality over quantity game, and if you don’t mind working for larger fish then this is a trip worth looking into.

I recently had the opportunity to fish with an old friend on the Toccoa. We planned a high water float and went to work pulling some fairly large streamers. Overall it was a successful day, we caught a few fish, told some bad jokes, and had a good time.