Fun Day on the Eno

I couldn't get anyone to fish with me today. The weather was so beautiful I decided it was too good to pass up and just went by myself. Today was the day to hit the Eno. After viewing maps and figuring out where exactly I wanted to go, I figured the Cole Mill section would be the easiest to get too. After a quick 40min drive I was at the Cole Mill parking lot and putting on my waders. I asked someone how far the water was, they said it was about a stones throw. I eagerly grabbed all of my gear and walked down the trail. The guy wasn't joking the river was literally 100ft from the parking lot. It wasn't moving too fast and I could tell from the view between the trees that it wasn't deep.

I saw a few hikers and while I made my way to the water I came upon this guy





I forgot this time of year the question is not whether or not you're going to see a snake, it's how many are you going to see. I stepped into the water and scared the snake away, I watched for it out of the corner of my eye while looking for water that looked like it could hold fish. I found lots of pockets but nothing really deep. I went with a emerger pattern and drifted it threw a few runs, instantly a little fish tagged it and came off before I could bring him in. There was a lot of grass on the bottom but only in certain sections. The water was clear but had a tint too it. It reminded me of beer.

I spotted a decent pool that had to hold fish in it. After a few casts I caught a little sunfish. Then noticed that on almost every cast some fish would look at my fly, minnow, sunfish, little bass. The bass seemed to pick at the fly but would never take it. I caught a few more sunfish then moved to deeper water. It was here that I caught a decent sized one.


The Eno has a nice path and there were plenty of hikers enjoying the day as well. There were so many that if you needed to relieve yourself it would be hard to find a private place to do it. The path is well worn and gives a good view of the river the whole time. I spotted some decent large mouth bass and sunfish. I fished a few more sections and lost some decent fish. The key to catching anything seemed to be placement of the fly. I don't think it really mattered what you were using or presentation. It seemed to be the cast that was the most important. The sunfish seemed to key in on the fly after it was falling in the water.

I'll definitely be back to this river. It's too close and good a fishery to pass up.