Toccoa Bend Fishing Community - Trout fishing in Toccoa Bend
While fishing on the common property of Toccoa Bend is encouraged and open to all property owners who are up to date on their annual dues, the extended fishery along our private properties complete more than 1.5 miles of fishing access in Toccoa Bend. Signs are frequently displayed that declare private property boundaries and restrictions to fishing by passing boaters, so everyone should know their whereabouts on the riverway. Fishing licenses and trout permits are required for fishing the private waters of Toccoa Bend.
Wintertime is a key period for fly-fishing in Toccoa Bend, proven here by resident angler Bob Borgwat. Catch and release fishing is strongly encouraged by the Toccoa Bend Fishing Community to help protect this remarkable fishery.
Photo courtesy of Bob Borgwat.
Both rainbow trout and brown trout live in the Toccoa River. Both species are stocked in the Toccoa River at the Rock Creek Road bridge by state and federal fisheries agencies. Brown trout generally are stocked only as fingerlings - about 3 to 4 inches in length; rainbows are commonly stocked in sizes ranging from 9 to 12 inches. Larger - sometimes much larger - individual rainbow trout are stocked on occasion by the agencies, but these are relatively few compared to the more numerous small rainbows. State and federal stocking of the river is accomplished by the Chattahoochee National Forest National Hatchery on nearby Rock Creek. Please visit its website at http://www.fws.gov/southeast/ChattahoocheeForest/
Trout are a fish that associate themselves with currents. Unlike fish in a lake that tend to cruise the water in search of food, trout in a river or stream take station alongside and within currents and pools to take advantage of the foods - aquatic and terrestrial insects, and baitfishes - that are carried to them by the currents. That's one reason fly-fishing techniques are so successful in trout fishing. There simply is no better way to present "natural" prey/insects to a trout than to do so by fly-fishing with imitating fly patterns. Trout also readily take small spinners, spoons, jigs and other artificial baits that mimic the natural foods they eat.
Look for trout at the head of pools; in long troughs (or runs) deeper than the surrounding water; at the base of shoals; along undercut banks; at the edge of an eddy (where it meets the main current), and alongside, behind and even in front of logs, large rocks, boulders and other natural obstacles to the river's flow. Warm water - 68 degrees and up -- will slow the bite, as will extremely cold water - 42 degrees and colder. The prime water temperature range is 48 to 62 degrees and occurs on the Toccoa River in Toccoa Bend from October through January and again from March through May. Look for fish in the well-oxygenated riffles and runs during the warmer periods and down in the deepest, slowest holes during the colder months.
Fly-fishing methods are best with 7.5 to 9 foot 3-weight to 5-weight outfits. Spin-tackle anglers do best with ultra-light spinning tackle, 5-foot rods outfitted with small reels loaded with 4-pound test monofilament lines.
Trout fishing takes place year round in Toccoa Bend, but the TBFC appeals to our neighbors to curtail their trout fishing when the river's water temperature rises to 70 degrees and warmer (please see the "Current Issues" page of the Toccoa Bend website for the latest river/fishing advisory). State fisheries biologists confirm that trout "go off feed" when the water is 70 degrees or warmer to avoid spending more energy to feed than the energy they consume in the effort. Warm water also holds less dissolved oxygen ("air" to fish) than cold water. Rainbow trout need 4.5 parts per million of dissolved oxygen to survive, and 6.5 parts per million of dissolved oxygen to successfully reproduce. Brown trout, which are found in the Toccoa River in numbers much lower than rainbows, need DO levels slightly lower than rainbows to survive and reproduce.