Jacob Eanes: This year has held many unexpected surprises for us all! 2020 brought volatile politics, disastrous weather and a deadly plague amongst other things. While we humans have struggled in many ways to cope with this strange year, fish swim on much the same as they did before. While many folks were denied the ability to fish, I found myself blessed with ample time and opportunity to responsibly recreate with my finned friends.

The first half of the year was the “season of the wild Rainbow” as I christened it in my mind. Whether I was purposefully targeting them or not, wild Rainbow trout kept manifesting on the end of my tippet. I’ll be honest, of the three salmonids that are reasonably common in my native Southeast, Rainbow trout excite me the least. It’s not that I find them underwhelming. They are beautiful, hard fighting and extremely fun to pursue. Comparatively though, Rainbows are ubiquitous in my neck of the woods. Wild Browns and native Brookies are around but the Rainbows have generally outcompeted them and are now far more prevalent in most of the waters that I fish. In the early months of 2020, I caught most of these Rainbows between Ellijay, Ga and Andrews, NC. I worked on honing my euro-nymphing skills and many of these trout fell victim to my first forays into tight lining. My fishing came hand-in-hand with exercising my dogs and exploring beautiful places with my girlfriend. I caught three wild ‘bows that were all particularly notable in their own way.

Out of a very small creek between Ellijay and Blue Ridge, I caught a spectacular fish that measured more than twice what the average fish in this stream typically stretches out to. I caught a heavily spotted, kyped male in a small plunge pool just below a miniscule waterfall. This male was probably about 14 inches long and was a shock to me as it was several inches larger than any fish I had ever even seen in this miniscule brook. He chomped down on one of my favorite nymphs, a yellow CK.
Perhaps one of the most brightly colored Rainbows I’ve ever caught I pulled out of a North Carolina stream that I had bushwhacked miles upstream for. Unfortunately, this was a stretch of stream I associate with wild Brook trout so, though radiant in his post-spawn colors, this bright fish was somewhat disappointing to me.
Finally, in one of the most technical and pressured small streams of north Georgia, I pulled out an 18+ inch Rainbow. I caught this brute on 6X tippet and on a size 22 dry fly. I stalked this fish for nearly an hour and it seemed a miracle to me when I finally hooked it. Amazing fish for so many reasons, one of my proudest catches of the year for me.

After my seeming inability to escape from Rainbow trout early in the year, I made it a point to target different species and new water bodies. Over the next months I caught native southern Appalachian Brook trout, wild Browns in skinny tributaries, Black Crappie from Lake Nottely and many others. I caught my first White bass as they were engaging in their spawning runs and moving out of Lake Allatoona. I sight casted to tailing Redfish in the marshes of North Carolina and I swung baitfish patterns to Georgia Shoal bass looking for hearty meals. One of my greatest triumphs of the year though was discovering the Common carp fishery here on Lake Nottely. This was a top bucket list item for my year and I was thrilled to discovery the vitality of this overlooked fishery here in my new home of Blairsville.

I first found the carp here in mid spring as they were staged up in and around creek mouths. Over the next couple months I targeted these carp in shallow water both in the main lake and in its smaller tributaries. Sight casting to these fish was absurdly fun as I was pursuing 2-7 pound carp that proved routinely capable of putting myself and my tackle to the limits. I caught these fish on nymphs, crawdads and, most excitingly, dry flies! Some of these big picky feeders refused to eat flies larger than a size 16. This made for exhilarating and often heartbreaking fishing as I would pick my targets from a distance and hunt them as individuals often without success. Carp fishing was one of my favorite fishing challenges of the year and I can’t wait for spring and summer now to target these underappreciated fish again!

This year, outside of Georgia, I fished in Orlanda, Laguna Beach, Wilmington, Charlottesville, Idaho Falls, Ennis, Carratunk, Harwich and a few others besides! On these trips I caught many new firsts and personal bests. In 2020, I caught 9 species of game fish that were new to me. Striped bass and Common carp were my two favorites and will hold a special place in my memories of 2020. Though this has been a year of uncertainty, I attempted to make the most of it for myself without causing any undue negative externalities. I found great fishing and made lasting memories with friends and family while out on the water.

Collin Fuller: Most people would agree that 2020 was odd to say the least. For our generation, it’s like nothing we’ve ever experienced before. But even with socialization and travel cut to a minimum in the early months of the virus, I still found myself taking advantage of the situation and would end up having one of my greatest years to date.

After getting married in February, my wife and I found ourselves spending the following week in South Caicos for our honeymoon on what we would later find out to be one of the last international trips to the island due to the shutdown. The fishing was spectacular due to its separation from normal tourist attractions and activities. With the help of our incredible guide, I was able to add bonefish, barracuda, and various snapper species to my list. Upon returning to the states and receiving the news about the upcoming restrictions, we knew it would be a challenging year but vowed to make the most of it, and that we did.

One common theme I found myself resorting to this year was flexibility. Sometimes we get so in tune with what we want to do that we forget to be flexible and enjoy the good in what seems like a disaster. This was apparent in late June when plans to fish with Adam Hudson at Blue Line Co. fell through just a few days out due to COVID. We were super bummed and every plan we scrambled to put together just would not work out. After hours of phone calls and research we ultimately decided to bail and settle on a quick trip to the panhandle of Florida. With no real plan in place we drove 8 hours to Laguna Beach to see what Florida had to offer. We would spend 15 min looking at ramps across the panhandle each morning and go on to have killer days catching busting Spanish Mackerel, loads of Speckled Trout in the bay, and a handful of new species in the swamps of Holmes Creek. This trip forced us to be flexible and allowed us to take a step back and enjoy the little things. As a very “mission” oriented fishermen, I would find I had to remind myself of the real purpose behind the trips I had planned for the year and take it in stride.

I was able to travel out west a few times during the summer and fish with old friends and knock off a few new species along the way as well. One of my favorite memories this summer was fishing my first ever alpine lake in Glacier National Park. With the help of friendly intel I was able to catch my first ever Yellowstone Cutthroat in one the most beautiful places I’ve ever been to. No pressure and little human foot traffic made for an incredible day and is something I hope to do more of in the coming years.

Overall 2020 was a stellar year and one I will look back on for many years. I was able to catch 22 new species with Great Barracuda being the most fun and surprisingly challenging. With a handful of fishing trips already planned for 2021, one can only hope 2021 will be as productive as “The Year of COVID”.

Hindsight 2020