'Hooch: Shakerag to Abbott's 01.30.11

Swamp Angel

Senior Member
Whooo-eeeee! We done had ourselves' a day! Lemme tol' you what! Meaux an' myse'f, we got in the 'Hoochee Queen an' took off from Abbott's to Shakerag shortly after one o'clock. Fer those of y'all familiar with the area, you know how the Duluth Highway (GA 120) bridge is 'bout a quarter mile or so nawth of the ramp there an' y'all prolly know how there's jes' a few rocks runnin' diagon'ly from the west bank toward the east bank jes' downstream of the bridge. . .

Well, it was here that we run across a young man running solo in a canoe with a trollin' motor and a little ol' (non-hound-dog-looking) Scotty-type dawg in the canoe with him. We was afeared we might swamp 'im when we noticed how he was bow high an' stern deep an' having a bit of difficulty with controllin' his craft. It 'peared that he was a-learnin' the same lesson I had learnt last year regardin' proper weight distribution in a small craft with a trollin' motor. Ya gotta keep it purt' nigh equaled out stem to stern in order to keep from goin' 'round in circles and gittin' stuck in one spot in rapid water.

But, pass him we did, goin' upriver and 'neath Duluth Highway, an' as we looked back to ensure that our wake didn't cause him no undue consternation, we see'd as he was alright. So we continued on toward Shakerag.

Now, at the first big bend in the 'Hooch, upriver of Duluth Highway, there's a couple big houses on the hill on the west side. I like both of 'em mighty fahn, but if'n they was mine, I think I have a half-a-herd of goats to mow the grass on the hillside. Ennyways, there was a 'nuther couple of small craft with two folks in each one that 'peared to be doing acceptably well since they wasn't lookin' to be in no hurry to move off'n that spot. There's a good undercut into the rocks on the west bank there, an good fallen timber on the east bank, so there's sho-nuff a good spot to be had if'n you're there at the right time of day when the ducks is a-gobblin' on the bottom with their tails up in the air. But seein' as the spot was claimed, me an' Meaux went right on upriver some more.

We got on up to Shakerag rock, which is Meaux's favorite spot, an' pulled up the main motor an' dropped the little troller. I made a few casts from the slack water behind Shakerag rock toward the east bank an' into the fallen timber there, bringing the line back in slowly 'cross the slow water and into the rapids when - boom - I got me a decent size 'bow.

I released her an' immediately went to castin' back to the same spot an' got a nuther good hit, but this one took off for cover and rubbed my hook loose in a bunch of that coarse, black tangle that one so often finds on his hooks in the 'Hooch. So I reeled in not a nuther 'bow, but a tangled mess of what me an' Meaux calls hippie-hair. Y'all know what I'm talkin' 'bout. . . It looks like the clump of hair off the top of a muppet's head from Sesame Street. I swear, I think Guy Smiley, and Bert an' Ernie mus' be bald by now!

Well, Meaux (bless her heart), starts the trollin' motor up an' proceeds to take us downriver and away from these productive waters. But she's mah wife, an' I love her dearly, so I jes' go with it an' figger that there's fish all along in here, so I'll jes' spend today looking to pick 'em outta other holes. Better that than to git Meaux in a fit.

'Bout fi'ty or sevunty-five yards b'low McGinnis Ferry bridge there's a 'nuther deep cut in the river by some good-size rocks that jut up above the surface. I made a couple of casts here an' got me a couple good, strong bites, but I didn't set the hook good, an' they got loose. To make it worse, I fully b'lieve that when they got loose, they 'mediately went an' tol' there buddies that there was a-sumpin' fishy goin' on, an' fer them not to bite nothin' that didn't look a hunnert-percent natural!

Word passed around 'mongst the fishes purty quickly, for I didn't git a 'nuther hit 'til we was within sight of the hoist by Suwanee Creek. But 'parently one of them 'bows didn't git the word. So I got me a 'nuther'n jes' nawth of Suwanee Creek, an' brought her to hand (as y'all experienced fly-fishermen say).

Well, Meaux an' me continued to drift an' fish on down toward Roger's Bridge. To be honest, I did a lot more driftin' than fishin' due to the fact that we had a good amount of a clear, mountain liquid on board the 'Hoochee Queen (an' it weren't water, if'n you know what I mean;).) But driftin' or not, I was a-castin' an' a-castin' hard as I could an' fast as I could. I just couldn't git nuthin' hardly to take a look at mah offerin's . . .'til I had a 'nuther nip of that secret medicinal recipe that made me slow mah retrieve down about a notch er two, er three, er mebbe even five. . .

The next one took me by surprise! I weren't even 'spectin' a hit. I was jes' a-castin' an' a-retrievin' without a care in the world - much less a thought of a fish. All-of-a-sudden. . . [tug-tug] I got a 'nuther'n on the pole, an' I commenced a reelin' as fast as I could 'til I realised that this 'n weren't no snit. Least ways, it weren't no noo-bie snit. She gave a pull this way an' I'd give a pull that, an' the drag would jes' be a-singin' as line peeled off. Oh, I was so 'cited I near wet mahse'f while I was a-fightin' her!

She run this way an' that. Up 'mongst the fallen timber an' then out into the channel. She run behin' a big ol' rock once also too! But I had her. I know'd it. There weren't not way she was a gittin' loose from me unless mah leader. . .

. . .Yup, that's 'zackly what happened. I done made too many casts without checkin' mah leader fer wear or damage, an' she done busted it clean in two! A 'nuther long distance release fer me. Consarn it! An' she was gonna be a good un also too!

Well, 'bout this time, I was beginnin' to notice that Ol' Sol was a-settin' low on the horizon an' we was still a good two miles upriver of Abbott's. So I looked at Meaux an' asked her if she was too set on makin' enny more casts today. She said she weren't too crazy 'bout enny more time on the water since it was gettin' dim an' she was gittin' hongry, an' the temp'rature was a-droppin', so we dropped the gas motor back in the water an' high-tailed it back down to Abbott's.

DNR was there at the ramp once ag'in, checkin' fer PDF's an' licenses an' trout stamps. They 'membered us from yesterday, an' we had a brief, but friendly chat.

I'm glad to see 'em there ag'in this year. I ain't seen 'em since early June of Last year, an' I was beginnin' to notice that there shore was a lot of folks settin' up lawn chairs on the ramps at Abbott's and Medlock fishin' with corn an' salmon eggs in artificial only waters. Y'all that don't fish the 'Hooch ain't got no idear how much DNR means to us that do fish this section of the river!

All in all, it was a good day. Seems that the best way to tempt 'em into bitin' was usin' wooley boogers, white streamers, silver spinnin' blades an' ennything else that reflected today's bright sunlight real good, or made then trout think of dazed, confused, an' perplexed shad.

The turbidity was between 2 an' 4 for mos' the day, which prolly accounts fer the fact that light colors an' shiny objects attracted 'em. But the bite, while improving, weren't great. This can prolly be attributed to a current high pressure system with lots of sunshine coupled with extremely low water temperatures in the 39 to 43 degree range.

In order to trigger a strike, one had to reel or strip their line very, very slowly. Mos' all my hits come from near the bottom, although I did tease one into hittin' near the top, but I had seen her swirl in the top water afore I made mah cast to her.

I hope all y'all had a fine weekend of fishin' since it warmed up a bit fer us over the past couple of days. It 'pears to look like showers an' high fifties fer Monday an' Tuesday, but the wizards' charts say that due to the moon phase, the next couple of days ought to be purty good. If'n you got faith in these snake-oil-medicine-men who make these crazy prognostications, then look forward to the next three days bein' really good.

Me? I gotta git back to work in Marietta tomorrow. So, I reckon it'l be Friday afore I git back out to mah beloved 'Hooch. It'll only be in the mid-forties fer a high on Friday, but I've fished in colder an' worse weather.

So, here's hopin' y'all had a good weekend of fishin', an' that next weekend brings better luck. An' fer those of y'all fishin' durin' the course of the week. . . go to [somewhere other'n heaven], 'cause I gotta work most'a this next week an' I can't be out there with ya!
 
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basser

Senior Member
I was out Sunday 1/30 as well. Casting was difficult due to the wind blowing hard at times right up the river. The wind made it difficult to see the trout follow a bait, but we did mange to catch and release several small brown and a bow on plugs.
 
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