It's Worth It

Many fishing trips have a lot of uncertainty. There's always concern about other anglers getting to the water before you. Will the weather hold? Are the conditions going to be right? Usually there's a long drive involved and you just don't know how things are going to be until you get there.

Even after you get there and things seem right there are still doubts about the fishing.

I cast into each pool with hope that a fish will be there.

More often than not nothing happens.

Every once in awhile you get lucky.

In between fishing spots you fight moving rocks and spider webs so thick they should be called spiders ropes.

Even with all the effort and trouble. It's worth it.

Winter Fishing

A lingering cold has kept me from wetting a line in over a month.  I had the Christmas week off and I saw a break in the weather.  I started sending the word out to see who else was interested in going.    I wanted to try a wild stream I had never fished before.  Another member of the club I had not met before agreed to meet me on the stream.  This is always an interesting arrangement.  You really put trust in a lot of things.  First being on time.  Nothing is more annoying than waiting for people.   The second is can you tolerate the person?   Luckily this guy was on time and a pleasure to fish with.  We tried what I like to call the sucker pool first.

  It's a place right off the road and it always has a few nice fish in it.  This section is hatchery supported and it must be where most of the fish are dumped in.  The fish get educated quickly and the ones left ignore any of your offerings.   Sometimes you get lucky and a fish will strike but it's rare and you have to be ready at all times. We discussed a plan for the day while watching the fish move out of the way as our flies drifted by. We'd hike up a wild section and if it wasn't good we'd try another stream. I was eager to get the hike started just to warm up. The air temp was 26 degrees and even in multiple layers I was chilled. After a few glimpses of the creek and the first wild trout sign I didn't think about how cold I was anymore.

I kept moving upstream trying to keep a decent distance from Jason so I wouldn't spook the water he was going to fish above him. The trail would change from a well traveled path to what looked like a deer trail. There were multiple obstacles where you had to duck under a tree or climb over logs. It's always fun to walk on the edge of a steep hillside putting all your trust in a 2inch diameter branch holding all of your weight. Now and then I'd cough and be reminded I probably wasn't totally over this cold yet. The ice in the guides reminded me of the temperature too.

The best cure was to keep looking at the view and pushing on. The fishing made me forget about everything and for the first time in awhile I could just relax and take it in.

 

There was so much fishy looking water but I couldn't even see any signs of fish. Not even shadows darting away as I stalked small pools.

I knew the fish had to be there but where were they? I tried many different combinations. A dry and a nymph, two nymphs, streamers, egg patterns. Nothing seemed to work.

I worked my way back and met up with Jason. He said he managed a couple fish and he hadn't hiked nearly as far. I was looking to move to another creek but after a brief discussion we decided to explore this creek more. There were multiple trails that ran along the stream and we found if we kriss crossed the hiking was a lot easier. As we got higher the water looked better and better.

The fishing continued to be ice cold. Jason had a stream thermometer and said the water was 40 degrees. There were no bugs in the air and we both figured the fish had to be deep. It's tough to fish heavy with a lot of weight when the average depth is about a foot in a half. We still tried of course. How could you not with water like this.

Eventually it was enough. I was tired of hiking and tired of going through the motions. I couldn't see the fishing getting any better. No matter what we did or where we fished there was no action. The hike back we still hit the spots that just looked too good to not try one more time. Back at the car we worked the sucker hole again. I talked about a section that was good to me in the past. There wasn't much daylight left. There were cars parked near the stream and after talking to some other fisherman we found they were having similar luck. Then as I was walking downstream I ran into two more. These guys said they had been catching fish all day. They told me of a place just upstream and explained that all the fish were up there. You always have to wonder when someone you don't know gives you a tip.  Are they helping you or helping themselves? I guess it's the skeptic in me that thinks that way. I've heard stories many times about fisherman telling people the wrong location of where fish are just so they won't fish "their" honey holes. I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and headed upstream. What did I have to lose? Sure enough just like they said above the first rapid I started to see fish. There had to be 50-70 fish in this long calm run.  Some of them monsters.   Jason had already found the place before I got there. The fish were hitting something tiny off the surface. I started with an egg and a nymph. The fish would follow the egg but never commit. These fish had seen everything and we got the familiar feeling like when we fished the sucker pool. The fish continued to feed off and on on the surface which gave us hope. I think I tried about 20 different flies and my leader was getting down to the heavier section. I was tired and felt lazy. I didn't want to tie on more tippet. We knew if we could just throw something these fish hadn't seen before we'd probably have success. I started throwing multiple streamers and the fish would follow but never strike at the fly. Then I noticed something.

I was fishing a pink and white clouser with red eyes. If I let the fly sink to the bottom the fish would swim over and inspect it. Once I lifted the fly and gave it some action it seemed to turn the fish off. The big trout were super interested when the fly dragged across the bottom. Maybe these fish had some how learned that if food is just settling on the bottom it most likely isn't attached to anything. I tested this theory and on my second cast one of the largest trout in the pool made it's way towards the fly. The light was fading to where I could see the fish but I couldn't really tell where my fly was. I watched the fishes body language and it was definitely in attack mode. I thought I saw the fish make a move like it was hitting and turning. I went to set the hook and my fly shot out of the water. Did the fish hit it? I knew I didn't have that many casts left before dark. I cast again and let the fly crawl on the bottom. The big trout again started to follow. The fish followed the fly probably 15 feet or so. I saw the fish almost go into a carp feeding position with the head down and tail up. The head slashed then turned and I saw my fly line jerk. I set the hook and saw the fishes head shake. I yelled to Jason "get the camera ready!" I expected a long fight because I was using a 3wt and this fish had to be close to 4-5lbs. The fish never did any drag singing runs. It thrashed and bulldogged near shore far enough away to where I couldn't net it. I put constant pressure on the fish. I felt confident the heavier section of the leader would hold fine. I was more worried about the knot I tied on the fly and my issue grabbing the net. I just received a new rubber net for Christmas and the bungee thing had been giving me fits all day. The net was constantly swinging around banging my feet and getting caught on branches. I had a difficult time holding the fish with a lot of pressure and reaching behind myself to get the net. I did get the net and missed the fish about 3 time before I finally slid the fish in. I ran over to Jason and he never knew the fish I hooked was one of the larger ones in the pool. He snapped a couple pics and the fish was released. What a way to end the day.

Hot Day

To say today was hot is an extreme understatement.   By the time we started fishing is was close to 100degrees.  The heat was relentless and so were the bugs.  From time to time you'd see glimpses and experience what you were looking for the whole time.

An escape from all things that bother you. Serenity. It's what people spend most a lot of their life looking for and what most fly fisherman find on a stream. The day didn't yield a lot of fish or amazing stories but  I still had a great time and found joy in the little things that some times get missed when you're not looking.

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.