Author: Jimmy Jacobs
Publisher: PEACHTREE PUBLISHERS, Jan 2007
Binding: Softcover
ISBN: 1-56145-403-6
Synopsis
Completely updated, to include 5 new streams & revised info on 73 other creeks, rivers, & ponds. Addresses all 3 fishing methods - bait, spinner, & fly - also describes history & variety of trout. Offers plenty of tips about equip & techniques for the best results. Detailed maps & directions as well as the special regulation governing each stream. 19 maps, 18 B/w photos; 5x7 inches, 240 pgs.
More Information
This comprehensive guide, now in its third edition, provides extensive yet easy-to-read information not only about how to catch trout, but also about fishing locations in Georgia and how to get to them. The book now includes photographs and has been completely updated, to include five new streams and revised information on 73 other creeks, rivers, and ponds.
Addressing all three fishing methods--bait, spinner and fly--the guide also describes the history and variety of trout. Jacobs offers plenty of tips about equipment, tackle and techniques for the best results. The book includes detailed maps and directions as well as the special regulations governing each stream. Whether a novice or a seasoned pro, any trout fisherman hoping to land this delicate and elusive quarry will find Trout Fishing in North Georgia a valuable resource.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jimmy Jacobs is a lifelong resident of Georgia who has spent the past 25 years exploring the state stream by stream. He holds a degree in journalism from Georgia State University and is an editor of Georgia Sportsman, Alabama Fish & Game, and Florida Fish & Game magazines. An avid fisher, hunter, and hiker, Jacobs has written over 50 articles on outdoor sporting, receiving the Excellence in Craft award for magazine writing in 1990 and 1991 from the Georgia Outdoor Writers Association. Jacobs is the author of Bass Fishing in Georgia and Trout Fishing in North Georgia.
REVIEWS
"An essential companion for anyone who wants to explore the trout fishing of the region. Anyone thinking about a trout fishing expedition to North Georgia would be well served by throwing this fine guide in the glove compartment."
Southern Living
"...a wealth of well-written lore and practical wisdom from long-time, avid trout fisherman Jimmy Jacobs."
Georgia Journal
EXCERPT
Although I grew up in Atlanta, deep in the heart of Dixie where the largemouth bass is king, I spent my youth reading the likes of Corey Ford and Ted Trueblood. I voraciously devoured outdoor magazine tales of rising trout, hatches matched, and hook-jawed, brutish brown trout. While my classmates neglected their studies to dream of hawg-sized bass inhaling plastic worms, my own daydreams revolved around visions of delicate trout rising to a perfectly cast gray hackle peacock in a stream barely wider than a footpath.
In spite of this natural inclination to cold-water fisheries, I one day discovered myself to be a college student without ever having actually caught or even fished for a trout. Even sadder, all my dreams had revolved around names like the Beaverkill, Yellowstone, and Au Sable. I was in my early twenties before I discovered that members of the trout family made their home barely 60 miles north of me in my home state.
Once I made this discovery, however, I dedicated myself to their pursuit with a passion. Although I had been fishing for bluegill with a fly rod since my early teens--as practice for the day I would challenge the trout for which that gear was intended--I opted to use ultralight spinning gear on my first trout ventures in Georgia.
On a bright April day in 1971, I traveled to Cooper Creek, north of Dahlonega, for the opening day of trout season and the beginning of what has become a lifelong quest for me. My first day on the water I joined the elbow-to-elbow crowd on that heavily stocked and fished creek. The roads were like crowded parking lots, the anglers were out in force, and the fish were reluctant to strike my small spinners. By the end of the day I had managed to land one 7.25-inch brown trout. I had also fallen victim to an affliction from which I hope never to recover: I am a trout-fishing addict. For that I make no apologies.
Probably the most frustrating part of my own introduction to trout fishing in Georgia's mountain streams was the sheer lack of solid information about those waters. Even if you do find the creeks on a map, your problems are not over. All trout water in Georgia is not the same. Streams have very different personalities. Some are perfect for fly casting, while others will drive you to distraction if you tackle them with a long rod. The latter, with their canopy of overhanging foliage, just beg for an ultralight spinning rig.
All too often, I have met folks in Georgia who profess to be trout anglers. Upon closer questioning, they finally admit to being Cooper Creek anglers or Tallulah River anglers or connoisseurs of some other single stream. Usually their single-mindedness is the result of lack of knowledge about other streams available in the state.
Early on I also stuck to a couple of favorite streams, but eventually I began to wander. On many days I spent more time looking for a certain stream I had set out to fish than actually fishing it. Other times I had to consult maps at the end of the day to figure out that I had been fishing on a creek other than the one for which I had set out.
It was in hopes of saving some other angler problems such as these that I began to put Trout Fishing in North Georgia together.
Since the first edition of this book appeared in the spring of 1993, I have discovered two important facts about trout fishing in Georgia. The first is that nothing remains static. Highways change, landmarks disappear, new regulations are approved, and even the number of streams on public land changes. In recent years the Department of Natural Resources has purchased a number of tracts of land for public recreation.. Several of these contain trout streams that were formerly off-limits to the angling public. This edition continues the updates of the list of public trout water begun in earlier editions, and notes the changes in rules governing some of the creeks.
The second fact I became aware of was that in spite of three decades of wandering Georgias mountains, there were still creeks I had overlooked. In traveling the state and speaking to sportsmen's clubs about this book, local anglers have also pointed out to me some streams that should have been covered.
In this third edition, five additional streams have been added. The conditions, management schemes, or directions for another 50 waters have been updated.
Even though I have the same natural desire as most fishing enthusiasts to keep my favorite streams to myself, I also know that wild places exist only where there is a constituency that wants them to remain wild. I hope the readers of this work will join me in appreciating these waters and protecting them for the future. That will suit me fine as long as we all do not pick the same stream to fish on the same day next season.
