Monday, November 9, 2009

Watauga DH and White Buggers

That's really all you need to have a good time on a DH stream. I was turned on to white buggers by a friend that I fish the Neuse with. I never was a beleiver of using Wooly Buggers. I decided to try them a few times on a DH stream and now they are a must have in my fly box. The day on the Watauga was one of those perfect days you can script out but rarely get. No crowds, sections of river all to myself and plenty of fish. The water was gin clear flowing at a perfect rate, the fish were feisty and eager. On my second cast I was hooked with a nice brookie. Sometimes that is a bad omen, if you catch a fish that quickly it's usually your only fish. I figured I'd try this section on the other side of a huge pool I was working. While ducking under a log I managed to soak my pack. Right after I remembered my cell phone was in the pack. It was wet but not drenched, the screen still had a display and it seemed to have survived. I took some more pictures through out the day and caught some beautiful brookies. They didn't have much fight in them, but what they lacked in vigure they made up for in displaying various fall colors. They had and orange tint to them with bright white stricking lines on their fins. One brook was probably the prettiest I've ever caught, obviously displaying spawning colors. I took a picture but it seems my wet cell phone was messed up enough that the pictures didn't take. I was able to get a pick of a nice brook before the dunking.I fished for about 2hrs and it was one of the most productive days I've ever had. I caught nearly 20 fish and at least missed that many. The last fish I caught was on a dry and that was icing on the cake. The water was so clear you could see the trout swimming and how they behaved as they chased a bugger. It was one of those days you dream about. Experiences like this keep you coming back and make up for the ho-hum skunk days.