Cohutta

jigman29

Senior Member
Thinking of branching out and exploring some new country. Anyone tell me if the cohutta wilderness has any wild trout fishing? Not looking for exact locations just wanting to know if it's worth exploring or not. Thanks in advance.
 

whitetailfreak

Senior Member
Good fishing for wild trout on Conasauga and Jacks Rivers. Both are within the wilderness area and will require some hiking to get to the best waters. Conasauga is my home turf, so let me know a little closer to your trip and I'll point you in the right direction. I would suggest an overnight backpack trip.
 

jigman29

Senior Member
Good fishing for wild trout on Conasauga and Jacks Rivers. Both are within the wilderness area and will require some hiking to get to the best waters. Conasauga is my home turf, so let me know a little closer to your trip and I'll point you in the right direction. I would suggest an overnight backpack trip.

Message incoming
 

ripplerider

Senior Member
It's definitely worth exploring if you have the legs for it. I always did better in the tribs than in the rivers themselves. P.m. coming in the morning, it's late.
 

Bream Pole

Senior Member
fished years ago. Jacks and Conasauga most beautiful pristine fishing waters in Ga. Worth the trip if catch nothing. Do need legs though.
 

b5fish

Member
I camped and fished every weekend I could last summer in Cohutta. Has become my favorite place in Georgia. The fish spook easy but will suck down a yellow stim (thank you NC hillbilly for that info). Also there are a million creek chubs that are fun to catch too. The trails are steep but it filters out most people which is why I enjoy it so much.
 

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GLS

Classic Southern Gentleman
Before the road closures, we'd hike into Penitentiary Branch on the Jacks and fish up and down and make it a three day trip. It wasn't a place to day fish unless you liked to walk up and down for hours in one day with your heart in your throat. The road closures have made the hike in considerably longer. It was loaded with small native 'bows and browns. There's a small book called I've Had a Millionaire's Fun, the Mose Painter Story. Mose and his relatives worked for the company that logged the Jacks and Conasauga way back when. In the 1950's, he had access to the privately (at that time) owned 6000 acres surrounding Beech Bottom on the Jacks. The book speaks of the fishing back then and it bordered on the incredible. I haven't been back since the roads were closed and that's been a long time ago. Gil
 

ripplerider

Senior Member
Penitentiary branch was my favorite access too back in the day. The road closure added 3 miles to a 3.5 mile hike. I once caught a fat 12" brown out of Penitentiary branch itself right above the trail crossing. He tasted good cooked in tinfoil in the embers of the fire! I always caught the most trout out of the feeder streams rather than the river itself. River was full of redeyes though.
 

DannyW

Senior Member
I used to fish Cohutta quite a bit...from about 1980 - 1995 I would go on a couple 3-day trips every year...then kids happened, and I have not been back since.

The Conasauga and Jacks were my favorites but nearly all of the smaller tributaries have fish in them, if you have the patience to fish them. On a typical morning I would slowly walk upstream making short casts at all parts of the stream, sometimes you get a fish in a 6 inch deep riffle (I called the technique "dry-cleaning the stream") and might get 100 or more rises/strikes, and catch maybe 15-20 fish. The fish were always small, they would range 7-9 inches with an occasional 10-12 inch fish. I think my largest ever was 13" but it was the challenge, and the thrill of having a fish hit a dry fly on top, that kept me going back.

I release all I caught except for a couple to be cooked in tin foill over the fire for supper. And occasionally we would pan fry them in oil...the fish were so fresh they curled up like banana peppers.

As others have said, Cohutta is not really a day-fishing place. It's much better suited to going in with a backpack for 2-3 days. And it's tough...get into shape or you will regret it. And finally, be careful! It's easy to slip on the rocks and if you break an ankle 3-4 miles down in the Conasauga drainage, it's going to be a really bad day for you.
 
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