New Year-Fish log for 2009

Nothing really that exciting to report. I decided to do a fish log of everything I caught last year. That will help me focus on what I want to accomplish this year. I received some fishy gifts for Christmas. My bro-in-law hooked me up with some flies. I used some gift cards to get some other items. Pliers, magnetic net release for my net. I've been wanting that for about 2yrs. I never seem to have the right fishing attire for the summer so I picked up a breathable long sleeve shirt by redington. Looking forward to see how that works. The weather has been ridiculously cold. The highs have been in the low to mid 30's. I have not even thought about fishing. That's not true, I can't not think about it. Let's just say it hasn't been a priority. For now I'm reminiscing about last years trips which is fun and making my fish log.

I never realized it until looking back at last year, my first fish of 09 didn't come until April. I'm sure I caught some blue gill but my best catch was my first carp.

4/2009
Bluegill, Crappie, Carp
Trout
Still no SHAD

May was great, lots of different species including my first striper.
5/2009
Bass, Bluegill, Trout, catfish, Striped Bass

The catfishing really came on in the late summer. I was never really good at catching them on a fly. They seemed to become really aggressive this time of year.
7/2009
Trout, bluegill, catfish

August provided really good fishing on the Eno.
8/2009
Shellcracker, sunfish, bluegill, bass, Catfish

In the heat of the summer the top water bass fishing really picks up.
9/2009
Lots of bass and gills.

The later the year got the less fishing I did, or logged at least. I think I did a lot of fishing at work and didn't write about it.
10/2009
Trout and gills

11/2009
Trout

Wow, looking back I didn't do as much fishing as I thought. Never made it to the coast and didn't fish the Eno nearly as much as I wanted too. The Neuse was rarely hit and I don't think I fished the Haw at all. I didn't get a chance to go after Smallies at all in 2009. That is unacceptable. This year I have a few things to accomplish.

Things I'd like to accomplish, I'd like to catch in 2010

• Red Drum
• Shad
• White Bass
• SMALL MOUTH-Definitely have to this year.
• Wild Trout in the small waters of VA
• Steelhead or Trout in Oregon
• Bowfin
• Get good at catching carp, possible catch of a Grass Carp
• Muskie on a fly or fishing rod in general

Looking at these most are kind of hard to accomplish without a personal water craft and some disposable income. I hope to have a few of these knocked off by the end of Summer.

In regaurds to climbing, I did a lot more than I thought I would last year . It was mostly pre summer but I'm happy with what I accomplished. This year I would like to hit Stone Mtn. I've never climbed it and the great arch looks like a fun climb. I'd also like get on Ship or Table Rock.

Watauga DH and White Buggers

That's really all you need to have a good time on a DH stream. I was turned on to white buggers by a friend that I fish the Neuse with. I never was a beleiver of using Wooly Buggers. I decided to try them a few times on a DH stream and now they are a must have in my fly box. The day on the Watauga was one of those perfect days you can script out but rarely get. No crowds, sections of river all to myself and plenty of fish. The water was gin clear flowing at a perfect rate, the fish were feisty and eager. On my second cast I was hooked with a nice brookie. Sometimes that is a bad omen, if you catch a fish that quickly it's usually your only fish. I figured I'd try this section on the other side of a huge pool I was working. While ducking under a log I managed to soak my pack. Right after I remembered my cell phone was in the pack. It was wet but not drenched, the screen still had a display and it seemed to have survived. I took some more pictures through out the day and caught some beautiful brookies. They didn't have much fight in them, but what they lacked in vigure they made up for in displaying various fall colors. They had and orange tint to them with bright white stricking lines on their fins. One brook was probably the prettiest I've ever caught, obviously displaying spawning colors. I took a picture but it seems my wet cell phone was messed up enough that the pictures didn't take. I was able to get a pick of a nice brook before the dunking.I fished for about 2hrs and it was one of the most productive days I've ever had. I caught nearly 20 fish and at least missed that many. The last fish I caught was on a dry and that was icing on the cake. The water was so clear you could see the trout swimming and how they behaved as they chased a bugger. It was one of those days you dream about. Experiences like this keep you coming back and make up for the ho-hum skunk days.

Mitchell River

I've heard about the Mitchell River many times but have never fished it. The reports were always so so. The reputation for the river was that it was beautiful but poached heavily. The stocking for delayed harvest was Oct 3, with only 2-3 days of fishing pressure some friends and I figured we had a good chance at a lot of fish. We headed to the river with mixed expectations, if the fishing was bad we'd head to Stone Mtn. The fishing was supposed to be better there and the fisherman I went up with had more experience on that water. My friends favorite spot was pretty vacant and only showing one parked car. As we got our gear together more cars were showing up. I was told this river can be crowded. We worked our way upstream from the parking area. The river was very scenic, there is a farm that surrounds the river and gives you a very rural feeling. The water was very pretty and clear but low.

We started fishing at about 9am and it was very slow. For a river that was stocked a few days beforehand it seemed to be lacking fish. I worked different sections, fast runs, slow runs, slack water. No hits not even a darting shadow from my poor wading. The slow fishing was making us all lean towards leaning leaving and going to Stone. Just before we made the commitment to leave one fisherman with us found a consistent run. I dropped in downstream of the run and my other friend worked the one just above me. They turned out to be the best places to fish for the day. The issue with the fish seemed to be depth, they were holding really low in the water. The flies that seemed to work best were bead headed pheasant tail nymphs and copper johns. There were definite zones where if you cast too far or too short you weren't catching a fish. If you cast in the 5ft zone and the fly was at the right depth you caught a fish every time. It was a little strange to go from no fish to a fish every couple minutes. Some fish were back to back and my friend and I often had fish on at the same time or one right after another. When the fishing slowed the solution was to switch flies. Though my buddies caught small mouth I was only able to catch trout and a small chub. Being perfectly happy with that, I worked the run until it couldn't produce any longer. I had caught at least 7 fish out of the same run and missed or had on at least that many. It was probably one of the best producing spots I've ever fished. The other areas of the river continued to be slow.

We did find a spot where fish fed on the back side of the bank, behind a tree. They were hitting the surface and looked to be taking bugs. I made one of my best casts of the day by bouncing my caddis off the tree and instantly the fish behind the trunk charged and nailed it. I believe this fish had been caught before, instead of heading towards the surface or faster water, it smashed its face along the bottom, rubbing against rocks, obviously trying to dislodge the hook. It was a fat brookie, obviously feasting off of bugs that fell in the water from the tree. At the back of the run another fish was rising steadily. I through the same caddis in its vicinity and had my second brookie. That is my favorite kind of fly fishing. Seeing a trout rise, making a good cast and hooking the fish.

We ended the long day with all of us catching a good amount of fish. I was spent, I felt like I had fished every inch of the river, I think I had. My only complaint about the fishing was these trout seemed to have no fight in them. Once they were hooked, even the larger trout gave a few shakes of the head but were always reeled in easily. There was no crazy runs or terrifying moments where a trout heads for submerged branches.

Overall it was a great experience. I'm not sure if I'll hurry back to the Mitchell but I'll definitely fish it again.

Fish Log Sept 14

Fished the pond by my work and the ones close to my house. Bass are still holding shallow. I have gotten a few on the gully fish. I walked around the pond at work and saw a something that made me extremely happy . A CARP! It was cruising the shallows. I saw it again today and it was tailing pretty good. I threw a nice bead headed bugger at it. My line twitched, I wasn't sure if the fish was on. I put some tension on the line slightly the fish slants and then bolted. I think it spit the fly just as I was putting tension on the line. I didn't see the carp again and had to resort to catching feisty gills. I also with the help of Preston classified bluegill as the most agressive fish. I used to think bass were very agressive. It's been my personal experience that bass are pretty lazy. Trout are more aggresive than bass. Maybe bass are smarter, I don't know but they haven't been the easiest fish to catch this year. Especially the larger ones. The Smallie Trip is next weekend and I plan to have lots of pics for that report. I also hope to have a carp pic.

Another delemma I have is figuring out whether to fish a certain pond or not. The sign says the pond is for residents only and the fishing is catch and release. I fit one of those criteria. Usually something like this wouldn't bother me, I'd just fish and not care. But I know how I get when someone fish's the pond by my house and I can tell they are not a resident. The pond by my house is for residents only as well. I don't really get mad and tell them to leave but I kind of feel like they are taking advantage of me. It's strange, it's not my personal lake. I guess I just feel I pay to the HOA that maintains it so in a round about way it is mine. I'm explaining all this to justify why I'm feeling a little guilty about fishing this other pond. I may fish it again but not for awhile. I really do take posted places seriously. Trespassing is not only againts the law but it is disrespectful.

Strange Bass Behavior

Or maybe this is normal bass behavior and I've just never seen it before. The nights have been getting colder, but the daytime average temperature has been in the 80's. I went fishing at a local pond by my house at around 8am. I was trying the gulley fish for the first time. After the second cast I had a little bass on but he came off quickly. While I worked my way around shore I saw bass here and there, then as the sun rose higher in the sky and I could see further into the water I noticed something strange. I've seen bass hold close to shore, but never this close. The shoreline was outlined with boulders to protect it from erosion. The bass were literally in the crevices of the boulders. Sometimes there would be a small school of 5-6 bass in inches of water. Just enough to cover them. I can only imagine they were getting into the warm water. Later in the day I saw some cruising, at one time there was a school of 20. I cast my gulley to them and they scattered in all directions. I gave the gulley a twitch and I saw a shadow dart from the side to inhale it. It was my first fish on the gulley. I was surprised by the take, if I was further away I'm not sure I would have seen the fish take the fly. Or been in a good position to set the hook. I hunted more bass along the shoreline and had many more hits and misses. The fish just weren't super aggressive. The gulley might have been a little to big for them. Right before I left I saw some more bass cruising. I cast again and they disappeared. Made a twitch of the fly and a shadow slowly rose to the gully and GLUMP! The fish was caught. I'm looking forward to trying this fly some more. I can't say it works better than a popper or other flies. But I can see why it works. I also can't wait to try this pond again. It seems like the perfect place for my favorite type of fishing, sight fishing.

The Eno Never Disappoints

I have some friends that are somewhat new to fly fishing and I've been filling them in for months on how great the Eno is. They decided to accompany me this morning to see if the reputation is deserved. I tried going to a place that I went a few weeks ago. I couldn't find it and after a few twists and turns we ended up on a section I've never fished before. The parking lot was small and the place didn't look like it see's too much action. I wasn't sure if that was good or not. Jen headed down stream, while Claudia and I worked our way upstream. It wasn't long before small fish started to play with the flies. We were using poppers and I imagine the fish were small or they were fisherman wary bass. The bass in the Eno have a skill of swimming ever so gently up to your fly and kiss it with the slightest touch. I had a few decent hits but I couldn't seem to hook anything. As we moved up stream I saw a spot that looked promising, made my cast and had a fish take the fly almost simultaneously with it hitting the water. The water was so clear I couldn't tell if it was a fish or what. It was a strange view, it almost looked like my fly was being dragged around beneath the surface by an invisible force. I set the hook and saw a nice green flash. I figured it was a roanoke I became excited and really tried to work the fish. As it swam in front of me I could see the big blue mark on it's gill. The signal of a bluegill. My mind had a hard time processing this, because this fish was bigger than any bluegill I have caught before. As it came closer it seemed to get even bigger, it didn't fight that much until it was about a leader length away. Then it was a project landing the fish. I really needed a net. I usually don't catch anything that requires a net in the Eno but this was an exception. I finally wrapped my hand around the fish's gut and pulled it out of the water. It was a thing of beauty.This was by far the biggest sunfish I had ever seen. It was a really healthy fish. This fish was wide as it was tall I did some research and found this fish is a red eared sunfish alos called a shellcracker. After releasing the fish I tried around the area where it was caught. Nothing else even sniffed my fly. Claudia and I decided to check on Jen.Right as we walked up Jen was pulling in a little sunfish. She had caught quite a few and found a honey hole. I had Claudia work the back of the hole to see if she would have luck there. It wasn't long until she had a sunfish of her own.The fishing slowed down a lot. The water seemed to get shallower. I decided to be a good samaritan and pull and old raft upstream that was deflated and draped over a tree. While dragging it back I kept asking myself why I picked it up. The raft was really heavy and waterlogged. We all had a really good time exploring the area and catching some fish. The Eno never disappoints. This is probably my favorite place to fish in the Raleigh area. I'm going to hit this river again in a different spot next month.

Trying to Fish on Vacation...

My week of vacation first started out with me forgetting my pack at Lake Crabtree. I thought it was never going to see it again. I had to pick up my mother from the airport and the lake was on the way so I decided to swing by and see if I can get a miracle. Well god had one in store for me because as I walked to the waterfront I could see a blue through the grass of my fly box. I then saw my chest pack lying on the beach by the canoe launch. It was virtually out in the open and all of my gear was untouched. I decided to press my luck further and fish the same spot I had caught a catfish the day before. I lucked and hooked up with another cat using the same fly. I didn't have time to keep fishing I had to leave and pick up my mother, but it was a great day none the less.
I went to Galax, VA to visit family and was able to check out the Little River and Little Stoney Creek. My cousin owns some land by the Little River. It is a beautiful section and my cousin said there are plenty of smallies and rock bass.I got in the water and worked my way upstream. I had plenty of good chances and holes that looked promising but I didn't get any bites or see any action. Things got worse as a family decided to tube down the river right in next too me. I couldn't blame them, the day was amazing and if I could I have I would have done the same.

My mother, wife and I checked out Little Stoney the next day for a hike. Once we were a decent distance from the parking lot I started to work the water.This was short lived. After about 10 casts I heard a loud thunder clap and I knew my time was limited. We made haste and went back to the car. I pretty much realized when on vacation with family the fishing opportunities are hard to accomplish. Time with family is more important but I was happy to get the short amount of time that I did on the water. I hope to hit the Eno next and have a report of catching a Roanoke Bass.