The Rabun County TU chapter is fighting hard to keep scenes like this from occurring on the upper Chattooga River. Photo by Kevin Dallmier.

Designated by Congress as a Wild and Scenic River for its outstanding scenery and its value in terms of recreation, wildlife, geology and culture, the Chattooga River offers five-star trout fishing in a truly primitive setting. Since access to those sections of the river that offer the best trout fishing has been an on-your-own-two-feet proposition, the upper Chattooga is a favorite of gone-native anglers looking for solitude and stream-bred trout in wild conditions.

The river begins its journey high in the North Carolina Appalachians and travels a rugged 50 miles before ending in the still waters of Lake Tugalo. For much of its course, the Chattooga forms the state line between South Carolina and Georgia.

The entire watershed was heavily logged around the beginning of the 20th century, which brought serious erosion to the river valley. The U.S. government started purchasing land soon after the logging and began reforestation, along with erosion and fire control.

In the 1920s, the Georgia Power Company began to purchase most of the remaining private land along the main stream up to 14 miles above the State Route 28 crossing, with plans to construct several hydroelectric impoundments. Fortunately, those plans were eventually abandoned.

During the Great Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps worked to restore and protect the watershed, including constructing the nearby Wahalla Fish Hatchery in South Carolina. The states that shared the river managed it as a trout fishery from Ellicott Rock down to the U.S. Highway 76 bridge. The fishery was outstanding as long as the water stayed cool, with high catch rates of large trout in a backcountry setting.

Movie buffs may have scouted the Chattooga River and not even realized it. The movie Deliverance was filmed on the lower Chattooga, and that section remains as rough and remote as it was when film crews had to use rafts to get on location three decades ago.

The river is split into several management sections. The upper section from Ellicott Rock to SR 28 is of most interest to anglers. Ellicott Rock, the boulder that marks the point where Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina all meet, is named for Andrew Ellicott, an early 18th-century surveyor assigned the job of surveying this rugged area of Southern Appalachia. This stretch holds the best trout water on the whole Chattooga. Downstream of SR 28, the river becomes marginal trout water, and redeye bass are much more common.

As things currently stand, boating is prohibited above the SR 28 bridge, giving anglers an oasis from the heavy whitewater rafting pressure the river receives. Since this area upstream has the best fishing, and the area downstream of the highway the better white water, this management approach has worked well over the years. The section of river above SR 28 can be further divided into distinct areas in terms of angling potential. Burrells Ford breaks the upper river into two sections -- wild trout fishing north of the ford and stocked waters to the south.

THE FISHING
May is a great month for fishing the Chattooga. The cold downpours of spring have begun to taper off, and the mountains are abloom with new life. Unlike many Southern trout streams, the Chattooga supports good numbers of insects, and produces some heavy hatches during the spring. Flyfishermen should plan their trips to try to be there when the hatch is on and the trout are in a feeding mood.