Streamer Rod and I floated the Toccoa on Black Friday from Curtis Switch to Horseshoe Bend. We arrived at the put-in around 9:00 a.m. and it was cold. I rigged up my 5 weight with a nymph I used on the Little Red River earlier this month - some type of scud pattern. Rod rigged up a 5 weight with a nymph and his 8 weight with a gigantic articulated streamer.
We worked our way down past the waders at the put-in, one of whom reported catching 16 plus inch trout, and spawning browns. As we worked our way down, we stopped at various shoals and we were both able to pick up a variety of browns and bows. I had great luck using two of the sow bug patterns from the Little Red River. Towards the middle of the float, I switched up to a mini-bugger and landed a plethora of rainbows. Rob caught a few on the articulated streamer, and more on his five wt. with traditional flies. The highlight of the trip was a fish we didn't catch. At one spot about 1/3 of the way down, Rob got out of the boat and started pounding the bank with his streamer. A gigantic 20 plus inch brown came off the bank and nailed his streamer. Unfortunately, it didn't stick. We spooked another nice 18 plus inch bow a little further down. The river seems about as healthy as I've ever seen it. The fish are spread throughout the river, and there are fish of all sizes therein. We finished the float at dark with about 30 fish between the two of us. A great trip!
