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.

Labor Day Smallies

I've been really eager to catch small mouth bass lately. I was told of a place near where my brother-in-law lives that has a good supply of them. This Labor Day, my wife and I headed up to Boone, to visit the family and get in some fishing. The weather was perfect. There has been some decent rains recently and the River level was at perfect depth. We weren't the only ones enjoying the river, there were canoers, kayakers and people tubing. We shuttled some friends to a put in and surveyed the water while they were getting ready. The scene made me antsy to get my fly rod out. We drove to anther put in and decided to start our fishing from there. The water was cool and clear, there were flowers blooming on the banks and insects buzzing around birds singing. Everyone was enjoying the day. Russell was able to catch a little sunfish right off the bat. We figured this had to be a sign for a great day. The ticket for him was a black ant. That fly was the fly of choice for the day, I was reluctant to tie on the same pattern. I went with a popper, white bugger, and hopper with a san juan dropper. I had no luck with any. Russell was doing well catching fish here and there. There was lots of cover on the banks, perfect for holding fish. The cast was usually done from the opposite side of the river with a presentation of a bug falling off the overhanging branches.
Russ, continued his good luck catching a red eye, then a few casts later, his first smallie of the day. I was happy for him but getting a little irritated. This was his fourth fish and I still had yet to catch one. We came to a section that was very calm and had pine trees towering over the water. I figured fish might wait for bugs to fall off the trees. I threw a popper near the bank and instantly had a strike. I missed the first few hits but later was able to manager a red eye. I was happy to get the skunk off for the day. I figured the fishing would pick up. We worked our way upstream but the fishing was slow. We saw a group of paddlers heading are way and knew they'd probably disrupt the water enough to spook any fish. I decided to head back downstream to the parking lot, for fun I tied on a clouser I made from a fly tying class I took a few months ago. I messed round swinging it in the current. I looked at a tree near a bank that had a eddy underneath baring its roots and creating good cover. I threw my clouser in there and swung it away from the pocket of water. To my surprise I had a hit. I kept thinking, "please be a smallie, please be a smallie." Sure enough it was. I can't describe to you the rush you feel when you catch a fish on a fly you tied. Especially in a situation where everything comes together. You pick the cover, throw the proper cast and your fly tricks the fish. It really makes fly fishing addicting. I was so proud of myself I had to take one more picture. God blessed me with that fish but decided to let that be my limit. The paddlers were splashing and causing a commotion anyways. We decided to head back and fished the parking area with no success. It was a great day. I think Smallie fishing will be my summer fishing when its too hot for trout. They are really fun to catch. The thing I found while fishing for them is you need to be on your game. They hit just as fast, if not faster that trout. If you have a lot of slack line in the water you will miss them for sure. Red eye, also known as rock bass are no slouches either. They hit flies with such ferocity you can't help but appreciate their intensity. They are small fish and must figure what ever they hit they have to kill fast, so when they hit your fly, usually half their body breaches the water. It was one of those perfect weekends, where Kristin and I had time to fish and spend time with family.