A Crappie Day of Fishing

One of my goals this year was to catch at least one fish a month. I had a open slot at a private lake called Clearwater but it was cancelled due to snow. This has been the coldest winter I have experienced since living in NC. I tried to fish the Neuse last weekend but it was way too high. I received an e-mail this week from a friend who fishes the Neuse regularly. I had to read his e-mail a few times cuz I couldn't believe he said he caught over a dozen crappie the same weekend I was at the river. It seemed impossible, but then again this was John.

I call John the Neuse Master because he knows every submerged rock and log on the Neuse river. He is a pleasure to fish with and enjoys the company of other fisherman who have a passion for fly fishing. He invited me to check out one of his secret fishing holes.

I was looking forward to this all week and when I met with John, I was eager to get on the water. When we first walked to the river it looked just as high as I remembered. I was wondering where we were gonna fish. I started to think maybe John has some technique I have no idea about. We hiked for a bit and came to a huge eddy where the river current swirled inland and made its own small creek. The casting conditions were tight but manageable. It looked really fishy and it didn't take long to catch my first fish. I couldn't land it and after few seconds my line shot out of the water fly less. Figuring out how to detect the strikes and the right retrieve was challenging. I found that whenever my fly felt like it was dragging on the bottom that's when a fish was on. I wouldn't officially know until I lifted the rod and it would start to bob. My best retrieve seemed to be half to foot long strips of line. The first fish I was able to land looked a little strange to me. It was pretty white for a crappie. Once I got it closer John yelled, "that's a white bass." My first white bass! I've been wanting to catch one of these for a while. It wasn't a monster but still a trophy to me. I happily let him go and it wasn't long until I had my first crappie.Most of the fish I caught were around this size. We spent the rest of the morning missing and catching fish. I caught a few really nice ones. I lost the biggest of the day when it ran into some submerged brush right at my feet. I tried several things to get it out but it was too deep and I had to snap the line. Often we were surprised with fish this size it was an awesome day. I'm looking forward to coming back. I finally have something to fish for in the winter. While we were fishing we were visited by an otter which was icing on the cake. I'm always amazed at how much wildlife there is on the Neuse.

Another lesson learned..

We finally had some 60 degree weather here in Raleigh. I decided to try my luck fishing for some crappie on the Neuse. I had not white flies so I stopped by the Great Outdoor Provision to get some White Buggers. Of course they were out, they've been out for awhile and I had to get a clouser type substitute. Little did I know this all was a waste of time. Since the weather was so nice the usual places people stop to hike around falls lake and the dam were jam packed with cars. It was pretty rediculous. I found a place to park and rigged up before looking at the water. That was my first mistake. As I drove up I glanced at the river a few times and I saw what looked to be good places where ice was still on the water. After I started to make my way to the river I could see the white wasn't ice but foam. The river was moving at break neck speeds. The usual places where I walked were under a good 3-6 ft of water. It was pretty spooky actually. One slip and you'd be downstream in no time. I knew pretty much my fishing day was over. I made some futile attempts to fish some eddies but it was pretty much a joke. Next time I'll make sure I check the water flows before heading to the river. It hasn't rained much in the last week so I figured the water would have been down. I guess I didn't think about all the snow that's probably melted up north.

Girls can Fish?

On my facebook I saw an update from Korker talking about a girl named April Vokey. There was a pic of her holding a huge steelhead and it looked like the stereotypical advertising shot. The model holding a fish, probably never has touched a rod before. I looked at April's website and realized my first impressions were not even close. She definitely has a passion for fishing and a appreciation for other women interested in the sport. Her blog is a good read and her pictures aren't hard on the eyes either. To find out more about her and her fishing adventures check out. http://flyaddicts.com/flygal/

Wilson Creek

Some friends invited me to go fishing with them on Wilson Creek yesterday. I have heard a lot about this creek but never had a chance to fish it. It was going to be new to all of us. There was high expectations as our group received detailed instructions of specific fishing spots and flies. The weather had warmed up some from how its been recently. There was still reminants of snow on the sides of the road. We drove past the hatchery supported section and decided to try our luck on the delayed harvest water. As we were gearing up it started to rain. The clouds didn't show any signs of it lightening up. We made the best of it and got ready to head down to the creek.
For the amount of rain that was coming down the water was really clear. Usually it becomes murky from run off. The rain made it difficult to see the bottom but when it stopped you could make out ever rock and feature. I couldn't see any fish at first. As I walked around and got my fish vision back I started to see more. There was a lot of fish in this creek. They didn't act dumb like stocked fish, even though they were. I tried different wooly buggers and only got a few follows on a olive one. I worked different areas for awhile then went over to talk to a buddy who was doing pretty well. He showed me the rig he was using and gave me a different kind of indicator. The flies he was using was an egg pattern with a sz16 pheasant tail as a dropper. That set up made all the difference. Literally, five minutes after I set up my line I caught 2 fish. I continued to miss some fish and hook a few here and there. The suprise of the day was hooking up with a big brook. I was pretty far out in the stream and I think he thought I was a rock because he swam towards me a few times while trying to run. I knew if I fought him much longer he might break off so during one of his swim by's I tried to net him. I missed the first time and he took off behind a rock, I was anticipating a snap of the line. Luckily he came back around the rock and swam at me again. I was able to net him up this time. It was a really nice fish, probaly 18inches and near 3lbs. The fish did some barrel rolls in my net which made it really hard to get out. Its mouth was entangled in the net with the flies. I almost thought of just cutting the line. I eventually got him loose and he was released unharmed. I got a pic before letting him go. That made my day and I was feeling great until.........

When fishing you never really worry about things until something unexpected happens, about 5min after catching the brook, I slipped on a rock and took a swim. I din't go all the way under water but I pretty much did a dog paddle and kept my head above the water. When I got my feet back under me, water had gone in my jacket and down my waders. It was in the mid 40's outside and raining. No place really to dry off except back at the car. I've read many stories of hypothermia and I didn't want to be in one of them. I got my friends keys and went back to the car and assessed the situation. I knew my day of fishing might be over. When I got to the car and stripped off my soaked jacked I realized my chest waders had protected most of my core. The water that got in came in through the neck of my jacket. My left arm was pretty wet too. I had decided to wear two shells that day. I think that really helped. I wasn't freezing or really cold. I hung out at the car for awhile then realized I was gonna live. Put my freezing wet jacket back on and soaked gloves. with in 30min I was feeling totally fine and warm.

The fishing slowed down but the rain picked up. It was kind of miserable at times. You couldn't get comfortable. The rain would slow down you'd start to feel warm then it would start pouring. It didn't matter what you were wearing you were gonna get soaked. Even with the gray and rain the river had some awesome scenery.

The rain finally chased us off but not after a good day of fishing. I had a great time with the guys I went with. On the way home we were planning our next trip. I look forward to many other trips and shared stories. Hopefully with less swimming on my part.

This trip was a chance to try my new Olympus WP550 waterproof camera. I was really impressed with how it filmed underwater. The bad part is in the rain you can't clean off the lens properly. Everything I had was soaked so there was nothing to use to wipe away the water drops on the lens. It still took decent pictures and I'm happy with the camera. Below is a movie I took of releasing a little rainbow.

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.