Float Trip on the Dan River

A few club members and I did a float trip on the Dan River last weekend. We hired a guide and for many of us this was our first experience with one. The guides main background was with conventional tackle and he was up front about that before hand. What I suspected was that his knowledge of the river is really what we were paying for. The guides name was Gary from Froggy Waters Outdoors. he seemed to know the river like the back of his hand. Whenever he said "usually fish hold around here" someone in our group caught something. We all kind of questioned Gary's comment to our group before the float about us catching over 80 fish. It didn't take long before we realized we were going to make that mark and do even better. Of course it's not all about the catching and we made sure to enjoy the river and take in its scenery. 

It was a gorgeous day and even though the water was low the clarity was perfect. The river had various sections. Some were dead and silty with hardly any features. Others were rocky with ledges and looked similar to rivers you'd find at higher elevations.

The fish did cooperate and I had some luck with a new fly. I have been hearing a lot lately about a fly called the Kreelex Fly. It's supposed to be good for smallies and trout that are keying in on bait. This is what I tied up for the trip.

The flies worked pretty well. I wasn't sure if it was the fly or just the flash that was getting the fishes attention. 

Most of the fish were caught with the kreelex flies or crayfish patterns. The rest were caught using spinning gear. Mainly beetlespins.

Everyone had an awesome time and it was one of the best float trips I've ever been on. 

Gary definitely gave us plenty of time on the water. He was very patient and always made sure we were having a good time while also keeping us safe. 

I'm not sure how the day could have been any better. The weather and water were perfect and everyone caught fish. We are already talking about scheduling the next trip to this river.

Here is a video I made. I'm not really in love with the helmet cam view.

Kopec Travel

Some people are just lucky bastards. I've fished with Brian a few times and he is a really fun guy to be around. He lives a pretty exciting life and as of right now he's traveling the world and documenting his experiences. This is a pic that he took yesterday while swimming with humpback whales. 

Check out his blog and see what he's doing next. There's one thing for sure it won't be dull.

Bait Patterns

I spent a little time tonight tying bait patterns. These were tied with EP Fibers. I tried different profiles. A bluegill type profile and a thicker and thinner minnow type. I'm still learning how much material is needed for each pattern. A little goes along way.