Tuesday, January 24, 2017

A Day At Fern Valley On The Soque

I would guess that Greg Morgan of G.R. Morgan Outdoors and I have been talking about getting on the water together for several years and it's never worked out since we could never get our schedules to jive.  With my family out of town last weekend, it was the perfect opportunity to jump over the state line to Georgia to spend the night at Greg's house and then up early the next morning for the easy hour plus run up to Fern Valley On The Soque


Greg has guided nearby properties on the Soque River for several years but lately has been spending more time at Fern Valley On The Soque.  This property is owned by Glad and Marty Simmons and he's enjoyed a great relationship with them as they continue to enhance their property with new sections of water to fish.  Greg was excited to show a newly opened addition to Fern Valley with a long meadow section just downstream that is a mix of pools and riffles in a wooded area surrounded by pastures.

We decided to spend the morning on the meadow section and geared up at the cars, let the pups take a run, and then walked down to the river.  It wasn't long before we saw trout (some of them very large) fining in the pools.  We took turns working our way downstream before working upstream.  







I started the morning with a sparkle minnow casting it down and across the stream which got a follow from a large rainbow that turned away but committed on the next cast with an eat.  Nothing like a twenty plus inch rainbow to start off the day.  The rest of the morning was a mix of rainbows and brook trout which were all eager for a streamer.  This is a very visual fishery where you can not only see trout holding in the pools and riffles but also can watch as they react (or not) to a streamer. 





We continued to work our way upstream and it was a mix of singles and few doubles to make things interesting.  Around noon we returned to the cars for lunch, let the pups run again, and then drove up to Fern Valley to spend the afternoon there.

The water in the Fern Valley section is more mountainous and rocky with deep pools.  Walking along the river it was easy to spot trout throughout the river.  Where streamers were the ticket on the meadow water, a small dry fly with a soft hackle dropped off the back was the preferred setup for the afternoon.






We ended the day going back to streamers but they didn't get much attention.  It was getting late in the afternoon and I had three hours home to drive and work the next day.  All in all a great day on the water and I appreciate Greg for the invitation to show me just one of the places that he puts clients on fish.

Over the years I've fished a few different private water properties and I have to say that Glad and Marty Simmons run a top notch operation.  We spent some time speaking with each of them and it was evident that they love their little place in the woods and continue to work hard to make sure that the experience is exceptional for those who visit.

Looking for a great day on the water?  Give G.R. Morgan Outdoors a call and consider spending the day at Fern Valley On The Soque.

3 comments:

RalphsFlyBox said...

Great looking water. Always nice to find quality water this time of year. Thanks for sharing it with us.

BobT said...

I cannot stand hearing or reading about "private water". If more and more water becomes inaccessible it will ruin the sport and leave it for a very few as in Europe.

Gregg said...

Surprising, reading this from Idaho. All wild trout, I hope.

Gregg