Since that cold snap killed all our coastal action, Jason and I decided to "head for the mountains" and see if we could get our hands on our first freshwater stream trout...
The plan was, to head for Atlanta, visit Dustan and Deano, and do some 'yak fishing on the upper Chattahoochee River. We struck out Friday evening, and shacked up with Dustan, to be ready bright and early Saturday. As of Thursday afternoon, the 'Hooch was looking good, but by Friday night, the decision to release water from Lake Lanier had ruined our plans...We never even unloaded our 'yaks.
Plan B was stream fishing, and Dustan had smartly reserved us some space at Dukes Creek...
Dukes is a BEAUTIFUL place, especially for a guy who has never been mountain stream fishing. As for the fishing, well, it's TOUGH! The place gets heavy pressure, and the fish have seen it all.
We hiked that creek for three miles, and all we had to show for it was this little guy, that Dustan got on a teeny tiny Rapala...
Battered, but not broken, we headed for a second stream, known as Smith's Creek. Again, lots of hiking, and lot's of fishing pressure. The stream starts at the dam, at Unicoi State Park.
This was to be my lucky part of the trip. On my second cast at Smith's, I wound up hooking this nice little Rainbow...
At 41 years old, I have my FIRST freshwater stream trout!!
It wasn't long, and I got this little Brown...
I gotta say, that these fish are BEAUTIFUL! The photos don't really do them justice. I also consider myself fortunate to be a total Trout Googan, and catch two fish on a very heavily pressured creek.
I got some funny, down-the-snoot looks from some of the "real trout guys" with my tiny spinning rod, and size 1 Rapala. I made one "pro" mad as hell at Smith's. He saw me catch my first fish, as he was diligently but unsuccessfully trying to get a presentation into a tough spot. I made a wide circle and came up about 75 yards downstream of him, and that's where I got the little Brown. He saw that too, and that's when he stomped off toward the parking lot. It's fun to be a Googan sometimes...
We tried one other spot, with the hopes of getting on some bigger numbers. It's on the Chatahoochee, and that's all I'm gonna say. We were sworn to secrecy by the guy that tipped us off, and it's such a good spot that I don't want to "burn it".
We caught 8 nice ones, in about an hour of non-stop furious action!
Here's my best one of the trip, and I'm told that it's a big one...
So, even though we did not get to 'yak the Chattahoochee, I am very satisfied with my first Mountain Trout Trip. The fishing is like nothing I've ever done, and the streams are an absolute treat for any outdoor guy. Any time I find myself near an opportunity like this, I'd definitely do it again. But I'm sure I'll never become a "serious" Fly/Trout/Stream guy.
In this arena, Googan's good enough for me...
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I'm moving to NGA. Wife has been bugging me about getting up closer to the grandchildren. Even have the town picked out. Just need to sell my home here and go 
U14.5
T120
Of course, with the way he spells he probably thought it read "no phishing". 
