Stinging Lips on the Eno

Took the kids back to where it all started for me fly fishing in this area. I have plenty of posts about the Eno and I think this trip the kids are starting to realize why I like it so much. 

My daughter didn't care about fishing and spent most of her time using her hat as a seining net.

My son was eager to fish more than he's ever been. 

The Eno is a great place for beginners. The current is fairly mild and the water is knee deep in most places. The sunfish are always happy to hit flies.

It's also a great place to hike with old homestead features and bridges.

It was great to get away and forget about this virus stuff for at least a few hours. 

The distraction was welcomed and we look forward to more days like this.

New Places

A member of the fishing club posted a trip for a new section of the Haw river I have never fished. There were promises of big bluegill a pound or bigger. I'm always skeptical of these types of claims especially with out seeing evidence. The place was a good distance away and I probably wouldn't have gone if a friend hadn't agreed to carpool with me. The section we were fishing ran right through a neat part of town. It was a mixture of other rivers closer to home but seemed to be more clean. The water was low and boulders stuck out like islands. We entered the river and kept walking upstream towards the dam.

From Summer2011

There's always an eerie feeling when walking close to a dam. I always look for escape routes in case there's an all of a sudden release. This dam doesn't do scheduled generations and I'm sure if it did plan a release it would be highly publicized. I felt safe but not too safe. The pools near the damn were stagnant and filled with algae. I tried my luck where there was at least a little flow. I rock hopped and got in position to fish poppers under the shade. There were fish hitting the surface for what looked to be midges. I switched up and went to a crawfish pattern. While kind of just slowly stripping the fly in I felt resistance. The fish didn't fight that hard and I didn't quite recognize it at first.

From Summer2011

I have never caught a crappie in the summer. I thought the water was too warm for them. I've always heard where you find one there will be more so I kept working the section this fish came from. I thought I had a few more hits but no more fish came to hand. I tried various other spots and met up with a friend. He told me about a mayfly hatch that was going off downstream. Apparently bluegill were stacking up against the bank and gorging themselves. He kept trying to talk to me about fishing in the mountains and other places and I tried to be polite while hiking fast but my main focus was getting to where this hatch was. I worked my way to the section he talked about and I did see bugs coming off the water. I have never heard of mayflies on the Haw. I didn't believe it when he first told me. The bugs did look like small sz14 rust colored mayflies. My first cast hooked a nice fish but it came off quickly. The next few other casts resulted the same. I decided to put on a bead head soft hackle. That was the ticket. I either had a fish or hit on every cast. The bluegill ranged in size from a small 4inch fish to the monsters that were rumored to be here.

From Summer2011

My buddy caught a bluegill that was even longer. We spent the rest of the morning just working the bank and catching one gill after another. I couldn't have asked for more. It was a great trip and I'll definitely be back to check this place out again. When we got off the water we ate at a general store that had great sandwiches. We discussed what kind of mayflies those might have been. I started to talk about how I thought there weren't any mayflies around and maybe those were caddis. Then I glanced at the window.

From Summer2011

Eno Morning

From EnoJune2011

I got an earlier than normal start this morning. The idea was to beat the heat and maybe take advantage of a thunderstorm that came through last night. I had the trail to myself and I think I was the first person to hike it. The reason I think this is because I went through about 100 spider webs that crossed the trail. It was annoying and at first, I would stop to brush myself off and look for hitchhikers. I tried to use my rod as a web breaker while walking the trail. I still found a few. This was a section I had never fished before and I was really hoping to catch a Roanoke Bass. They've eluded me for along time. The advice I was told is look for rocks.

From EnoJune2011

That's what I did. I tried to work pools where the end of a riffle would slow down. The water was so clear I could watch the action of my fly and see how the fish were reacting. In no time I had the most abundant fish on the Eno.

From EnoJune2011

This river is the perfect habitat for sunfish and they thrive. Almost every eddy and pool has panfish in it. The great thing about the Eno is the variety. I saw a few large mouth bass while going from pool to pool. The bass were the biggest I had seen on the Eno. Some looked to be near 4-5lbs. I had a few bass rise to my fly like a submarine surfacing from the depths. They would get close enough to touch the fly to their lip then they'd veer off. The sunfish were so active it was hard to target big bass with them hitting the fly as soon as it hits the water. While working under the trees close to the bank I caught the biggest green sunfish I have ever caught.

From EnoJune2011

The coloring on the fish was unbelievable. My favorite thing about these fish is blue lightning on their gill flaps.

From EnoJune2011

The fish was fat obviously eating well. As the day went on I caught more of the same. The greens were really tight to shore.

From EnoJune2011

I continued to catch sunfish and bream and started to work my way back. I started to just hike and take in the views.

From EnoJune2011

From EnoJune2011

There was a small waterfall that I passed earlier but on my way back I had to throw a cast in. I was rewarded with probably the prettiest sunfish of the day.

From EnoJune2011

The walk back to the car was filled with nature watching. There were families swimming in the river and playing. People walking their dogs and running. It seems everyone was taking advantage of the beautiful day. The skinks were out in force too.

From EnoJune2011

Gills you can lip

You know a sunfish is a good size if you can lip it. A friend invited me to a pond where he said there are huge bluegill. He showed me the location before hand and when I first viewed it via google maps I figured it was going to be a nasty rancid smelly type pond. It was quite the opposite. The water was clear and had looked almost pristine. It wasn't the type of gill water I'm used too. I didn't see any craters that signify the sunfish had started bedding. The shallows seemed to be a shelf that dropped off immediately. The water was very dark and it made the bottom invisible to make out. I cast a couple times at a log then I saw a shadow come up and inspect my fly. It was the usual shape of a gill and it sucked the fly in. After it turned and I saw the bright flash of orange and the mass of the fish I could see it was a good size.The fish wasn't really long but it was tall and fat. One of the biggest gills I have caught in awhile. I caught a couple more but the bite slowed down after that. There were fish busting shad in the shallows but I couldn't get them to hit anything I was throwing. The weather was at the peak of a high pressure system. I caught a few much bigger than the one in the picture. The pond was also full of grass carp. I tried casting at a few but they weren't interested. I mostly just spooked them and saw their mud cloud as they bolted into deeper water. This pond is way to good to only fish once. I'll definitely be back.

The Eno and Friends

After a stressful work week I couldn't think of anything better than to get some time on the water. The theme was gonna be easy. Simple wading, aggressive fish and scenic water. The Eno fit these requirements perfectly. I met up with some friends I hadn't fished with in awhile and we were on the water early. The water seemed cool for the air temperatures we've had lately. There hasn't been many days below 90 degrees in the last two months. There has been some rain lately and I can only assume that's what cooled the water. It seemed to be around 70degrees. The Eno is not only filled with sunfish but also these guys.They make you really look at where you are sticking your hand. This was one of the smallest snapping turtles I've seen. The first hole we tried was a place that is normally productive. There's submerged roots and overhanging branches with a run providing oxygenated water that riffles into a deep pool. It's one of those spots you couldn't have made any better if you designed it yourself. Even with all of those features the fishing was pretty slow.We worked various sections and there were strikes here and there but we didn't see the usual ferocious eruption strikes sunfish provide. There wasn't even many follows or denials. I did have a surprise fishing a olive wooly bugger pattern through a pool. I had a nice tug on the line and I thought maybe this was my first Roanoke Bass. It wasn't meant to be and as the fish came close to the surface I saw the whiskers that can only signify a catfish. The coloring of the fish was pretty vibrant.Catfish are funny creatures. Mostly they are caught by accident while fly fishing. There isn't much of a technique to catching them. I almost always catch them on a dead drift. They don't hit particularly hard but they bull dog and stay on the bottom after they are hooked. The fishing picked up soon after the catfish. Most of the fish were caught on poppers. I don't really think the Eno can be beat for top water popper fishing. It's pretty difficult to not catch a sunfish if you work the banks with over hanging branches and cover. I messed around with the waterproof camera some more on this trip. I love the quality of the underwater video that it takes. The downside is it doesn't take great photographs. You have to hold perfectly still to get anything clear. The video here is of an average sunfish you catch on the Eno.