A day of Dries

Today was one of those days where you didn't see a soul out there. I had the entire section of water all to myself. Brooks, Bows and Browns welcomed me and were more than willing to take an Elk hair caddis. The gear for today was my Orvis 3wt, CFO I lined with rio selective trout. The catch for today was a 20" Brown which exploded to the surface and almost took the CFO to the backing. If I had to pick a perfect day, today would be in the top five ranking. Tight lines... enjoy!

Ps. Forgot to mention in my previous post, I was privledged to see a Red Tail Hawk flying with a Trout in it's claws.. beautiful, wish I had the camera ready!

A quick stop

My son and I were close to a favorite section of water today so who could resist the temptation of stopping especially since he asked and was supplying the ride! Been a while since I was in the jeep without the top. Sitting back and letting him do the driving for a change was a welcome change too. I think he enjoyed driving the old man around so we utilized the last couple of hours of daylight. Seen some HUGE hatches however, the temps dipped low for the last couple of days so the fish seemed to enjoy a lazy evening on the bottom. Once again a black Slumpbuster proved to much for them. All stock Brooks today, total of four in the last couple of hours.

Brookies!

A visit from @365flyfish #1

Early this morning me and my son received a special visit from my friend (and yours) Austin from 365flyfish.com and Twitter @365flyfish. We had a great time on Wilson Creek today and learned real quick that indeed all are equal on Trout waters, well almost everyone. Seems today was my son's day for bragging rights as he landed one after the other. Myself and Austin done well too I must say but Aron had the bigest smirk today. Rain set in about 3 pm or so however, that did not stop us, nothing a wading jacket couldn't solve. We ended our day on the stream right about 0-Prune-Thirty... you know that time when your wet fingers don't resemble a normal part of your anatomy?

It was a great day and even better fellowship! The Brookies were tearing it up again today with the usual stockers and a few small Browns. I'll let the pictures do the talking from here... Cheers!

Ps. Austin, Thanks for coming up and for the survival bracelet. Hope you enjoyed and can't wait to have you back. I'm not sure if I can fit in the same house with Aron and his head after today..lol

A visit from @365flyfish #2

Chasing Brookies!

Decided to get out this weekend and chase the Brookies! This had to be the best dry water action I have seen this year. Brookies jumping out of the water nipping at everything. To watch them frolic the stream run from ene to end and side to side was awesome, it was almost like they didn't have a single care in the world. Today I would imagine you could just throw a leaf out there and catch one. Funny how mostly they spook and hide but today they were so inviting.

The weather was great and nobody was around. Most seem to fish the large pools just sitting and watching a float indicator, not me I love to work the tighter part of the streams that sooner or later open up to beautiful slicks of still water with small runs. Hope you too had a chance this weekend to get out and enjoy this beautiful spring!

My EPIC FAIL!

Sometimes... You just have to laugh it off. Just when I thought I mastered not using a net. I would say she went between 18-21 inches easily. Fun day regardless, 3 hours 11 fish. For some reason, I don't think this will make a good video for the Simms website..lol

Look close!

Snake wrestling a 10-11" Brook trout for dinner.

My day out!

Being I am going back to work tomorrow after a 90 day break (health issues) I decided to fish one of my favorite delayed harvest streams and one wild stream. Temps got to 91 with a cool breeze. Usually I don't count fish an productive days sso after thirty I stopped. Many stockers earger for a dry with a midge dropper. I also enjoyed drifting a midge (green or black) on its own at the surface, they can;t stand that! While being the crane while perched on a rock in the middle of the stream staying very still I noticed at least another dozen fish slowly heading my way. Yes be the crane.. it works..lol

While casting I noticed a splashing noise, it was a huge water snake with what appeared to be a 10-12" brook trout in its mouth. I got a short video and this still shot of the excitment! Damn Snakes!...lol

Great day, I'm ready to get back to work now... I think?

Ps Seen total of three snakes today, going to be a wicked summer!

Pss. Funny, on the way out I seen some waders and boots apparently someone threw out in the middle of nowhere. Guess they wore them out good enough..lol

1st Wet Wade of the season, WooHooo!

First wet wade of the season! Grabbed the Simms guard socks, lanyard, rod and left the waist pack in the truck. What a beautiful day to be out there. I was in such a hurry to get out there I forgot my themometer...sigh! After a great day I decided to visit the family and old homeplace. I was greeted by cherry blossoms and yellow bushes in full bloom. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Ps. Tip flex 3wt with a beautiful Orvis CFO 1 got a good work out by a handful of fiesty lil Brooks today!

Wet Wade 2

Wilson 4/3/2010

Today I fished Wilson Creek in Mortimer, NC. What a superb day it was, lost count after 50 fish. All stockers mostly brook with some Browns and Bows but hey who's complaining.. it was good!

Dry droppers with small #24 size midges worked well. Beadheaded stones done very well in the runs. Temps were in high 60 with a slight overcast... Perfect. I also took small WD-40's applied floatant to them and drifted them, they slaughtered the fish who couldn't let a tasty little emerger pass along the surface. Sage 9ft 4wt casts effortlessly with the Abel loaded with Rio gold. Getting warmer I can see, had to whipe my brow several times.

Opening day for Hatchery supported waters was today. Many worm dunkers sneaking into the Delayed Harvest section with their rooster tails, corn and worms. They kept the Game Wardens very busy. Took some pics and a couple of simple vids, thought I would share. I'm outta here, this pups tired! Enjoy...John

Ps. Two things.. One I am sorry for the low quality of todays pics. I did not take my HD camera and used thaa *&^% waterproof door stop. Two.. yes I dropped that little fish after I almost burried the dropper in my palm...ouch!!

Wilson 4/3/2010 #2

The Davidson River

You never expect to catch a fish on the Davidson, so when that happens your not surprised. When you catch a fish on the Davidson, you simply celebrate. Why do I say that you ask? Well these fish are more than likely the smartest, well fed, use to people and seen every trick under the sun trout on the east coast, I would assume. They get a daily feeding from the Hatchery when they flush the tanks of fish pellets and on any given day they see atleast 100 anglers easily and turn there noses at anything larger than a size 24 red midge for the most part. So with that said, your more than likely to get taken to school by these monsters.

When you arrive your greeted by Johns rock and some of the most beautiful scenery there is to offer. A welcome center with educational exhibts are there also with some very helpful staff. Upon gearing up me and my son Aron went directly upstream to the humble hole as its known. It lived up to its name as we seen over a couple hundred fish all with only one thing in mind, enjoying the sun and laughing at the flyfishermen! Later that day we ended up down in the slick (stiller waters) and took a chance at some submarines lingering about. Here is where the old smart fish most being well over 20" love to play with you. I had two big browns that I figured to go easily over 25" swim so close to me that I could almost feel them. One was so close I could see his jaw opening and closing like he was panting or maybe he was thinking my ankle was lunch?

Lunch time! Still no fish we decided to join the Davidson river social club for tips on how to catch these beasts. One thing this place isnt short of is advice on how to catch fish and that advice always leads to the small red midges. I am not a very big fan of sitting in one place for given amounts of time watching a float indicator so After a lunch only Rachel Ray could be proud of (sausages, beans, crackers, apples and drink) we decided to go further down stream to fish maybe a less pressured fish, that didnt work either.

Once down stream we did get some top water action along with some fish hungry for some price nymphs. I had my 6x snapped easily in a run and alot of short strikes, still no fish. Dry droppers worked well on getting some attention. We had a great time and fished until dark enjoying good talks, short strike excitement and the surrounding beautiful sights.

We were exhausted and chilled out on the picnic tables near the parking lot. My son thanked me for taking him to a river that is on the Trout Unlimiteds top 100 and that he learned alot. At that moment I remembered that it wasnt fish I was actually after, it was the making of a memory that my son and I will have for a life time so in that, we caught a days worth.

Feeding the Trout at the Hatchery

The Davidson 2