Taking it In

It was nice to escape the ridiculous temperatures in Raleigh by heading to the mountains. Even there the temps were higher than normal. Every day was nearly 80 degrees which is really abnormal. My family went up to spend the weekend with the in laws. I really had no agenda. I knew I was going to get on some trout water but I wasn't positive on where exactly. My brother-in-law and I checked out an unknown stream then hit a wild section we almost always fish close to his house. It is always good and it was nice to just wet wade and leave the waders at home. The creek is very scenic and there were plenty of pools like this one.

Fly selection doesn't matter much on these streams. Don't get me wrong you can't use just anything. But any humpy, caddis, camparadun style fly in sz14 should do pretty well. I also nymph this creek which my brother-in-law thinks is crazy since the average depth is about 2ft. I find many times it is more productive that dry fishing. I have to use an indicator or my fly will get hit about 40 times before I realize it. Most of these fish average around 6-8inches and they are FAST. They have to be to survive in this tight water. I managed to catch a few up top and a lot more by nymphing. I hooked one fish that was around 11inches. It thought it was 20 and tried to go over a small spill way and into another pool. The fish have a lot of fight in them and they know how to use the current. My goal was to take a lot of scenic pictures of this creek but my camera battery died after a few pictures. This was a common theme all weekend. I figured it was gods way of telling me to stop taking pictures and just enjoy the scenery and fish. Which is exactly what I did.

The next day was a family day and on Monday I got a pass to fish in the morning. For some reason again I made my way to a wild creek. It wasn't really by plan I was going to fish a section I usually love fishing on a near by river but I wanted to check out this creek I have heard about but never fished. The creek follows the road and there were some beautiful sections but the water looked skinny. I wasn't sure if I was in the mood for stealth fishing. I like being able to cast and I'm not a huge fan of duck and cover fishing. It has its place and sometimes I'm all about that. But usually I prefer open space with room to cast and chances at really big fish. I was going to pass on this creek all together but one section really called to me. It was close to the road and I figured it had probably been hammered but it was so pretty I wanted to check it out anyway. I geared up and made my way to the creek. This was by far one of the most beautiful creeks I have seen. Just enough water to hold decent fish and nice plunge pools and cascades that seem to go on forever. There wasn't many foot tracks or trash. I only saw deer tracks which made me even happier. I finally turned the corner and got to the section I was looking for. The picture doesn't do it justice at all. Not even close. The camera is not the greatest point and shoot and it was all I had.

In the background you can see the water sliding down the rock and into the pool. I figured it was carrying bugs and fish were just waiting at the edges of the riffles. My guess was right and after missing about 10 hits I finally caught the usual wild fish from water like this.

Again the coloring of the actual fish is lost in the picture. The fish had a lot of pink and orange on its under belly. I'm not sure if the fish were spawning but many of them that I caught had a lot of orange on their belly. I did get some bigger fish but again the camera battery died. This was the second camera to do this. I had to spend the rest of the morning enjoying the creek. I could have stayed on this creek all day but I promised my wife I'd be back at a certain time.

I wanted to check out one of my favorite spots before I went back. On my way over I ran across this rat snake sunning himself.

If you're wondering how I took this picture after just saying my other two cameras had dead batteries, this was taken with my cell phone. I would use the same camera for fish but I tend to drop things in the water. Pliers, flies, weights, nets, reel.... Worried the snake was going to get run over I tapped its tail with my hand.

It wasn't really impressed by that and seeing it coiled I went from a big strong oh it's just a snake guy to a scared little wimp. It really frightened me how quick the snake went from being sprawled out to strike position. I knew the snake wasn't poisonous but in my head when I touched its tail I never thought it would defend itself, I figured it would be scared and just slither off. The unpredictable behavior had took me by surprise. I never made it to the spot I was intending to go. I got distracted by some water that looked like it might hold smallmouth. I didn't catch anything but I am blaming it on being the worst time of the day to fish. The sun was high in the sky and the weather was really hot at that point. Well hot for Boone. It is nice to have a new creek to add to my list of places I will definitely fish again. I'll also be back to test this smallie spot. I did see a silhouette of a bass but I couldn't tell if it was a largemouth or smallie.

Labor Day Weekend In Boone, NC

My mother in law is visiting form Utah and this weekend the family headed up to Boone for some fun. The goal this weekend was to try a section of trout water I have never fished before. It was a wild section that a buddy had told me about. Supposedly it was hardly ever fished and had pretty easy access. My brother in law Russ hardly ever gets out on fishing adventures with me. Fortunately he was able to sneak away early in the morning and we were off to chuck some feathers.

On the way up to the creek we noticed the water was very low. The area around Boone has not received very much rain. The rivers and creeks were the lowest I had ever seen them. Watching the creek get smaller and smaller as we gained altitude did not make me optimistic about our day. Some of the sections almost looked dry. After some navigating we found our location geared up and started rock hopping. I hiked up and got my first good look at the creek.I'm not a huge fan of low pocket water fishing. You have to be very stealthy and you really only get one or two casts at a pool. That's if you don't spook the fish first. Many pools were too shallow to hold any fish at all. This made the fishing even more difficult. Russ and I were almost racing to pools. What ended up happening is we would take turns at some of the better ones. There were some surprises. I found one pool that was right out of a dream. I've been hearing a lot about pink flies working in wild water. I decided to try a fly called Eggi Wan Kenobi.There was a rock in front of me that looked like a good spot to hold a fish. I cast over the rock and saw what looked to be a 15inch trout. That trout would be decent on any water but in this creek that was a monster. It moseyed over and sucked in the fly. I set the hook saw a few flashes and the fish breached and just snapped the fly off. It was my fault. After seeing the low water I tied a horrible knot figuring most of the fish I'd catch would be six inches at most. I quickly tied on another Eggi and cast into the pool again. There was no action and Russ was closing in. I cast at the far side of the pool where I was sure there was a fish. My line jerked and I set the hook. A short fight later I was landing my first wild trout in this creek.It was decent size considering the creek we were fishing.The day went on pretty much the same. Skip any water that wasn't eight inches deep and cautiously fish pools. There were some pools that made you just enjoy how perfect they were. The way the moss covered rocks were laid out. The water slowly falling from the head of the pool then flowing through the rocks but slow enough to mirror the surroundings.It's beauty like this that makes you happy to just be there. Fishing is secondary.Even with pools like this the fishing was slow. I spooked a lot more fish than I caught. It was nice to know about this creek. I'll be coming back again. The water levels can only get better. Some sections were one log jam or moved rock from having the flow of water stopped.

The next day the family went to Tweetsie and I had fun with my family going on some of the rides.My daughter seemed to dig the go cart ride. At Tweetsie we have to ride the carousel. It's one of my wife's faves as well as my daughter.I can't wait until my baby is old enough to go fishing with me. She loves the outdoors and it's only a matter of time.

That afternoon I got out to one of my favorite sections. It looked a lot different from my last visit. The trail was totally over grown and there was no sign it even existed. I figured this was a good thing. Hopefully less people had fished there. I had to bush wack and slide under some briers and brush. I came to the edge of the river and just stared into the crystal clear water. The first fish I could see were the schools of chub that are common in the summer. As I watched longer I noticed in this one pool right in front of me there were sunfish, trout and even a smallmouth bass. I tried my best to move slowly and try to rig my line up but I spooked most of the fish in the pool. I waded out into the river and tried the sections that are usually productive. I caught a beautiful sunfish right away. Softhackles seem to work the best on this river. I think it's because of the heavy caddis population. Even the Eggi Juan Kenobi didn't work as good as your average run of the mill softhackle. The fishing was slow but I was able to manage one trout. I was happy trout survived this hot summer. Russ told me the water temperatures had been pretty warm. This brown bolted out of my hands and didn't seem fatigued at all.It was a great weekend. There was some quality time with the family spent cooking together and having fun at Tweetsie. Then there was time for fishing and Russ was able to get out with me. The fishing was definitely quality over quantity.