The river was slow and deep. Fast current upstream rolled out slowly over a very long, deep, boulder-lined trough. The current had eroded sand below the boulders, making it even deeper. Eerie shadows swayed side-to-side in the deep water. Large rocks at stream level lined the canyon on one side. It had all the earmarks of a great trout hole.

Ken Morris took his time as he stood on the rocks. He looked at the #12, bead-head, olive Woolly Bugger at the end of his leader. A good fly for big trout. But how to fish it here? Suddenly there came a voice from behind. "How are you doing, Ken?" It was Jimmy Harris, who owned the Unicoi Outfitters Shop at Helen, Georgia. Ken replied, "Nothing yet. But this looks like a good hole. Any suggestions?" "Let me see what you are using", Jimmy replied helpfully. Jimmy looked at Ken’s rig and pulled some 4X leader material from his pocket and tied on an extra two feet, to make a full 9 feet of leader. Then he wrapped some lead strip around the leader. "This trough is eight feet deep", said Jimmy. "You need the extra leader and about the weight of four BB shot to get the fly to the bottom. Now cast upstream and steer it through those big boulders down there so that it sinks clear to the bottom. Watch the indicator for any un-natural movement at all, a dip, a drag, a dart sideways, it all means a take", he added. Ken knew this and nodded.

It was Ken’s first fly-fishing trip for fresh water trout. Ken had come to Helen, Georgia with Tom Logan, Frank Marston, Tony Cox, and myself, all of FBBF. Tom Logan, a senior wildlife biologist for Florida Game and Fish, who really knows his stuff, had led the trip here. Ken was an experienced salt-water flats fly-fisherman, but fly-fishing for fresh-water trout was a whole new ball game to him. Ken had read up on it, and he tied all his own flies. But there are things you only learn by being there and doing it. Ken came to fish and watch and ask questions. That is how you improve as a trout fly-fisher. So Ken appreciated Jimmy’s help.

Just a little about the stream. Nacoochee Bend, a stretch of the Chattahoochee River, offers Trophy Trout fishing at its finest. Jimmy Harris, also a local Orvis dealer, manages the fishery. Fishing is limited to catch-and-release fly-fishing with barbless hooks. Permits are $90 a morning, $150 a full day. This accounts for the very low fishing pressure on the stream. All of this spells TROPHY TROUT. I mean it, folks, we’re talking about trout fifteen inches MINIMUM. And eighteen inches up is common. Tom Logan hooked one about thirty inches long on this trip. So we are talking about BIG TROUT for the Eastern United States.

Ken cast upstream and steered the Woolly Bugger through the trough and out. Nothing. A second cast also yielded nothing. "Cast again", said Jimmy. This time the cast went a little farther upstream. The Woolly Bugger went much deeper this time, through the boulders and close to bottom. In the dim light down there, a dark shadow rose, sucked in the Woolly Bugger, and sank back again. Suddenly the indicator dipped three inches. Instinctively Ken lifted the rod softly and set the hook.

The deep trough came to life fast. At first, it just felt solid to Ken. Had he hooked a rock? Then the "rock" moved, with a roll. No question, Ken was fast to a big fish. But there was no aerial acrobatics at all. Instead, the huge fish stayed deep and shook his head furiously as he bulldogged back and forth around the boulders. It was one hard rush after another. And another, And another. And another. Ken kept a tight line, held his breath on every rush, and hung on as best he could. This fish was so big and heavy that Ken could not move him or steer him at all. Ken thought, "How can I ever get him in? Suppose he goes around a rock. Suppose he takes off downstream. How do I stop him? I can’t even move this fish one inch any way at all, he’s so big. He’s totally out of my control. About all I can do is hold on and hope for the best."

Then came Jimmy’s reassuring low voice. "You’ve got a whopper, Ken. Just keep a light tension on him. Let him do what he wants. Don’t try to stop him or hold him or pull him. You can’t do it anyway, he’ll break off. Don’t worry if he runs out of the canyon. We’ll follow him if he does. You’ve just got to wait him out till he gets tired." Ken thought "It’s sure great to have this guy in my corner at a time like this. I like Jimmy more already."

After several minutes, the huge fish was finally tiring. He was yielding a little. But he was still full of life. The runs were getting weaker, thank goodness. "But when would he ever run out of steam?", thought Ken. Fortunately he stayed in the trough. Ken gingerly guided him to the surface. Now Ken could see the shine of the fish as he came in on his side. Ken swung the rod to the right and steered him to the sandy bank where Jimmy waited with the net.

It was finally over. Jimmy carefully slipped Ken’s net under the exhausted fish. Ken looked in awe at a very fat brookie. The brookie lay bent in Ken’s sixteen inch trout net, with his tail sticking out. Jimmy slipped the Woolly Bugger out as Ken beamed. Jimmy said, "Ken, this brookie will go four pounds." If only we had a picture of this beautiful fish. I had a camera, but unfortunately, I was upstream playing a big rainbow of my own. Sorry about that, Ken.

The only thing left was to release the trout. Jimmy massaged the spent brookie for a minute, so as to revive him. Then the brookie swam slowly out of Ken’s net. As he left, he swished his tail farewell as if to say to Ken "Thanks for not killing me. Next time you come to Helen, please come back to my canyon and we will meet again. Goodbye, friend." That is why trout like fly fishermen. The more trout you release, the more and bigger trophy trout there are to catch. That is why Nacoochee Bend has so many big trout and they are getting bigger.

Ken told this story to the five of us standing in the parking lot across from Unicoi Outfitters. (Bill Bell and Pat Farrell had joined us there.) I asked Ken, "What are your feelings now?" His reply was "I can’t wait to come back." I think that was the feeling of us all.

For three days fishing some really pristine trout streams, we did well. Tom Logan caught fourteen and lost five, including a thirty-incher. Frank Marston caught one and lost four. Tony Cox caught four. Ken Morris caught one and lost one, a pretty twelve-inch rainbow that hit a dry fly. Yours truly caught four and lost two. A number of the caught-and released fish were fifteen inches and up. No fish were killed or injured, and all were released. All this good fishing is only 6 ½ hours drive from Tallahassee.

By the way, Tom Logan is talking about leading another trip there in the fall of 1999. More about the rest of the excellent trout fishing in and around Helen in the June Newsletter. Any takers? Needless to say, Ken was the first to sign up. What do you say?