DH Fish

I made a commitment to myself to start a new style of fishing reports this year. I'm going to try to hide the exact location to where I recently fished. The reason for this is I've noticed great fishing water is over populated as it is. The internet already provides all the information most people need to find most of the decent fishing locations. Even though I've made this decision in this next report I'm revealing everything. Mainly because these places are no secret.

Stone Mountain
My friend Bill and I took a week day off to head up to Stone Mountain and try our luck. This was my first time fishing there. From what Bill informed me on weekends you can rarely find a good spot to fish. This place is the closest trout water to most of mainly populated cities in North Carolina. On the way to the DH section we got our first glimpse of the creek. It looked like most of the trout streams I've fished. When we reached a parking area there was one other vehicle and we could see some people in the water.

I set up my line with something I've only used one other time. It was an indicator that pretty much resembles and works like a bobber. I scrambled into the water and tried to find the best sections to fish.

Basically every section looks like it can hold fish. The creek is full of runs and pools that probably after a good stocking hold a fish. I stepped in at a run where I figured there had to be at least one fish.It only took a few casts to land my first little rainbow. It didn't seem to want to leave me just yet after releasing it. It stayed by my wading boots for a few minutes.



I was able to catch more fish through out the day. They made me work for them but with the right cast and a good drift most of the time you'd catch a fish.


In a few hours the creek went from a private place of solitude to a competition of who can get to the best fishing hole the quickest. When I lived in Boone I never noticed how crowded DH streams were. Living in Raleigh only really allows me to fish on weekends so I get a taste of how the DH normally is. I'll just be blunt, weekend fishing DH streams sucks. I guess DH streams are the first choice for trout fisherman looking for a quick fix. The result is combat fishing.

Watauga DH

Over the weekend I fished the Watuaga DH. This picture shows about the farthest distance I was from another fisherman. When I first got to the stream I was the only one in the water. Within 20 minutes looking both ways up and downstream there were other fisherman. I really don't understand why there are so many. Around Boone there is like 100 miles of trout water. March is off limits for fisherman to fish hatchery supported trout waters. This makes Delayed Harvest streams fished even harder.