Catahouchi on OLN?

Was sick with food poisoning yesterday, so I sat home in front of the tube
all day, between trips.., well you know.

Anyway, I happened across the Fly Masters flyfishing competition on OLN
which was some sort of SouthEastern regional qualifier. In any case, the
river they were fishing was the Catahouchie (I think) in the northern part
of Georgia. For some reason, I am a bit skeptical of their catches - one big
football shaped rainbow of about 22 inches immediately comes to mind, in
addition to several in the 14 -18" range. I'm guessing they were stockers,
and most likely, placed there specifically for the show, er competition. Am
I way off base, or are big fish like that common in that river?

Jim Ray
(thinking something smells fishy)

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From: "Jim Ray"

Anyway, I happened across the Fly Masters flyfishing competition on OLN
which was some sort of SouthEastern regional qualifier. In any case, the
river they were fishing was the Catahouchie (I think) in the northern part
of Georgia

For some reason, I am a bit skeptical of their catches - one big
football shaped rainbow of about 22 inches immediately comes to mind, in
addition to several in the 14 -18" range

I'm guessing they were stockers,
and most likely, placed there specifically for the show, er competition. Am
I way off base, or are big fish like that common in that river?

I didn't see this episode, but I caught a Northeastern qualifying round from
Spruce Creek in PA a few weeks back. A number of the fish caught were 18"+ with
the largest at 26". Most of them had no fins, and were rather pale in color.
Turned me off completely, and I haven't watched an episode since.


George Adams

"All good fishermen stay young until they die, for fishing is the only dream of
youth that doth not grow stale with age."
---- J.W Muller

George Adams wrote:

I'm guessing they were stockers,
and most likely, placed there specifically for the show, er competition. Am
I way off base, or are big fish like that common in that river?


I didn't see this episode, but I caught a Northeastern qualifying round from
Spruce Creek in PA a few weeks back. A number of the fish caught were 18"+ with
the largest at 26". Most of them had no fins, and were rather pale in color.
Turned me off completely, and I haven't watched an episode since.


Similar thing on the show that took place in Colorado and I had the same
reaction as you.

Willi

Willi wrote:

George Adams wrote:

I'm guessing they were stockers,
and most likely, placed there specifically for the show, er
competition. Am
I way off base, or are big fish like that common in that river?



I didn't see this episode, but I caught a Northeastern qualifying
round from
Spruce Creek in PA a few weeks back. A number of the fish caught were
18"+ with
the largest at 26". Most of them had no fins, and were rather pale in
color.
Turned me off completely, and I haven't watched an episode since.



Similar thing on the show that took place in Colorado and I had the same
reaction as you.

Willi



I had the same reaction as all of you. I thought the whole thing was
rigged with big hatchery fish......that was until they came to my home
state of California. A couple quarter finalists were skunked, and the
big fish was 14-16". FWIW, the East Walker River they fished produces
some large wild fish, but not on that day, or to those "expert" fly
fishermen. This is not to say something fishy wasn't going on at the
other locations.

brians

brians wrote:



Similar thing on the show that took place in Colorado and I had the
same reaction as you.

Willi



I had the same reaction as all of you. I thought the whole thing was
rigged with big hatchery fish......that was until they came to my home
state of California. A couple quarter finalists were skunked, and the
big fish was 14-16". FWIW, the East Walker River they fished produces
some large wild fish, but not on that day, or to those "expert" fly
fishermen. This is not to say something fishy wasn't going on at the
other locations.

The fish in CO didn't look freshly stocked but they were caught on a
private ranch that's VERY expensive. I'm guessing they feed the trout there.

Willi

"Jim Ray" wrote in message
news:ItKEb.1318$gD1.317@fe01...

Anyway, I happened across the Fly Masters flyfishing competition on OLN
which was some sort of SouthEastern regional qualifier. In any case, the
river they were fishing was the Catahouchie (I think) in the northern part
of Georgia. For some reason, I am a bit skeptical of their catches - one
big
football shaped rainbow of about 22 inches immediately comes to mind, in
addition to several in the 14 -18" range. I'm guessing they were stockers,
and most likely, placed there specifically for the show, er competition.
Am
I way off base, or are big fish like that common in that river?


That was the Upper Chattahoochee River. I think the section they were
fishing is a private section which has some big fish. There are several
places in North GA, most of them private, which have big trout in them. Most
of the those stretches give the fish supplemental feedings.

The upper part of the Chattahoochee has some born in the stream fish, but it
is supplemented by stocking programs and most of the big fish were stocked
at one point. Unicoi outfitters was on the credit list and they used to, and
I assume they still do, control one of those private supplemental feeding
sections. They have a web site so you might want to give them a call.

Well, in spite my utter lack of spelling skill (something grade school
teachers also identified), Wayne was able to identify the river in question.
Watching a fishing show this morning filmed at another place in Georgia
(Oconee?) left me with the same impression - very big rainbows with rounded
over fins looking way too well fed for a diet of mayflies, nymphs, minnows,
etc. Somehow it doesn't look like much fun catching someone's pet fish. (The
choice of flies was a major clue: fisherman 1 to fisherman 2, "You still
using that little yellow puffball?".)

Thanks,

Jim Ray

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"Wayne Knight" wrote in message
...

"Jim Ray" wrote in message
news:ItKEb.1318$gD1.317@fe01...

Anyway, I happened across the Fly Masters flyfishing competition on OLN
which was some sort of SouthEastern regional qualifier. In any case, the
river they were fishing was the Catahouchie (I think) in the northern
part
of Georgia. For some reason, I am a bit skeptical of their catches - one
big
football shaped rainbow of about 22 inches immediately comes to mind, in
addition to several in the 14 -18" range. I'm guessing they were
stockers,
and most likely, placed there specifically for the show, er competition.
Am
I way off base, or are big fish like that common in that river?


That was the Upper Chattahoochee River. I think the section they were
fishing is a private section which has some big fish. There are several
places in North GA, most of them private, which have big trout in them.
Most
of the those stretches give the fish supplemental feedings.

The upper part of the Chattahoochee has some born in the stream fish, but
it
is supplemented by stocking programs and most of the big fish were stocked
at one point. Unicoi outfitters was on the credit list and they used to,
and
I assume they still do, control one of those private supplemental feeding
sections. They have a web site so you might want to give them a call.

Hello
I have fished on the upper Chattahoochee river several times and my
guess is that these guys were fishing Nacoochee Bend, a private
stretch that is supposed to be trophy water. I've never fished on it
and the only way that you can is through Unicoi Outfitters (and they
were mentioned on the show). I believe that it was for real but hey
what the hell do I know.

Jonathan Milton


"Jim Ray" wrote in message news:ItKEb.1318$gD1.317@fe01...
Was sick with food poisoning yesterday, so I sat home in front of the tube
all day, between trips.., well you know.

Anyway, I happened across the Fly Masters flyfishing competition on OLN
which was some sort of SouthEastern regional qualifier. In any case, the
river they were fishing was the Catahouchie (I think) in the northern part
of Georgia. For some reason, I am a bit skeptical of their catches - one big
football shaped rainbow of about 22 inches immediately comes to mind, in
addition to several in the 14 -18" range. I'm guessing they were stockers,
and most likely, placed there specifically for the show, er competition. Am
I way off base, or are big fish like that common in that river?

Jim Ray
(thinking something smells fishy)