CLARKESVILLE, Ga. --- Eddie Michael has a simple recipe for trophy trout.

"They're a lot like cattle," the Clarkesville, Ga., outfitter said. "As long as there's grass in the pasture, they'll stay."

Although the comparison was in jest, the fish are truly big. But they don't get that way by accident.

Michael owns a mile of fertile bottomland along the Soque River, where he manages one of north Georgia's growing number of private catch-and-release trout programs.

"We got rainbows, browns, even some native trout," he said, whipping a limber 5-weight like a sorcerer swishing a magic wand.

The rules are simple: flyfishing only, usually with barbless flies; and everything must be released to fight again.

"We ain't going after dinner here," Michael said. "People come out here to enjoy themselves and have fun."

Just because a stream holds trophy fish, it doesn't make them easy to catch, said Crawford McConnell, of Appling, Ga., a frequent client of Michael's outfitting company, River North Flyfishing.

"Sometimes you have to try a lot of different flies," he said. "There are days when you can't put a bait in the water without a strike, and sometimes you can't get them to bite anything."

Trout, even the sneaky big ones, rely heavily on food sources from their home streams. A hatch of midges, stoneflies, caddisflies, mayflies and other natural insects often dictates what will work.

"The old expression is, 'match the hatch'," McConnell said. "They weren't kidding."

The Soque is one of the major areas in Georgia where fee-fishing trout operations are thriving, said Jeff Durniak, regional fisheries supervisor for Georgia's Wildlife Resources Division. "There are about a dozen in the state and several on the Soque," he said.

From a biological standpoint, trout can reach 20 pounds or more if streams and rivers. In Georgia, however, such progress is often limited by drought and warmer temperatures. "We are on the southern end of their range," Durniak said.

Nonetheless, there are lots of anglers willing to pay handsomely for the opportunity to pursue a trophy fish -- even if it originated at a hatchery, he said.

"These fee-fishing opportunities are still a great challenge," Durniak said. "These are highly educated fish that can practically receive the Orvis catalog right back at you."

Michael's meandering segment of the Soque is shaded by trees to keep water temperatures low, and protected by private lands on both sides. A goat named Julie lingers at the gate to deter trespassers. Aside from blue herons and an occasional river otter, the fish have few predators.

"If you leave them alone, they can grow 2 pounds a year," Michael said. "There aren't too many places you can go to fish for trout that big."

Private streams managed for larger fish are among few opportunities for anglers to catch trophy trout in Georgia, according to the Department of Natural Resources, which operates an extensive stocking program that puts eight to 10-inch fish in many public waters.

Those public fisheries are mostly put-and-take streams, where anglers can use any baits and are allowed to keep their catch.

The state fisheries office sums it up this way:

"Georgia's approximately 4,000 miles of trout streams are relatively unproductive when compared to streams found in other parts of the country. This is, in part, due to the calcium deficient soils found in north Georgia. Therefore, to meet the demands of over 100,000 trout anglers, stocking and special regulations are used on some streams to maintain acceptable catch rates."

Some special regulation public streams do have trophy programs. For more details, visit the Georgia DNR Web site, www.gofishgeorgia.com and click through to "fishing opportunities" and then "trout fishing information."

More information on Michael's outfitter is at www.rivernorthflyfishing. com.