Stone Mountain State Park, a favorite destination of campers, hikers, and rock climbers, also boasts a number of miles of trout fishing opportunities. The best known trout fishing is conveniently located along the main road through the park in the East Prong of the Roaring River, which is dedicated as Delayed Harvest. However, the park also offers several other trout fishing opportunities, including fishing for wild trout in Garden Creek.
Garden Creek, which enters the East Prong of the Roaring River near the Garden Creek Baptist Church (which, incidentally still meets there periodically), is easy to overlook.
The stream actually visually seems smaller here than it does upstream. A gate across the trail (which is not shown on the park map) that leads upstream and a Wild stream designation sign show the way. While the lower reaches have a few trout and some nice pools, you will fairly quickly reach an impassable (as far as I can tell) portion of the stream as you fish upstream. Taking the path upstream, however, provides several miles of good trout fishing. The lower portion of the trail diverges slightly to the right, heads up a long, steep hill, follows an open area underneath the power lines, and descends slightly back to the stream. From this point, the path follows the stream more closely for another 3 miles or so before reaching the waterfall and the nice pool below it, crossing the stream 18 times on the way. Above the falls, the path becomes very steep, and I find that it is generally not worth the effort. For reference, it takes me about 1 hour 10 minutes to walk straight back to the car from the falls at a brisk pace.
I have primarily caught brown trout throughout most of Garden Creek, with an increasing percentage of brook trout up to the falls. Above the falls, it appears to be entirely a brook trout stream. As its Wild designation requires, anglers must use single hook aritifical lures (including flies). The stream has enough pooling to offer lure fishermen decent opportunities, but the fly fisherman who can make casts in tight spaces will probably fare the best in the stream's runs and pools.
On our most recent visit to the stream in mid-April, we had a great day of trout fishing with ample action on mayfly dun fly patterns and a variety of lures. Nephew Tommy started the day off right, even before we headed up the trail, by catching a fat stocker in the East Prong behind the church. After hiking upstream to where the path re-joins the stream, we continued to have hits throughout the day on both flies and lures. My son even caught his first wild brook trout on a fly.
There were some modest hatches of mayflies, stoneflies, and caddisflies throughout the day, and even a giant red crayfish. The trout had plenty to eat, and they were taking advantage of it. Hoof prints in the sand gave evidence of the large deer population in the park. We progressed up to the ninth crossing, only half way to the falls. Plenty of good fishing left for next time, and only a 35 minute hike back this time.
