Mike McGee holding up a couple of his 30 fish day with Bill Strickland on an early summer float trip. Starting June 4th we will be floating the Tennessee Tailwaters and taking advantage of cold water and lots of dry flies. If interested in learning more about floating the S. Holston or Watauga Rivers give us a call in the shop. 1 – 888- 861 – 0111
A lot of people look at the summertime as a time to play and in tube in the rivers of western North Carolina. Not realizing what a great fishing opportunity they are missing. While the great hatches of May have given way to hot humid days of June, the fishing is still great, if you fish at the right time of day with the right flies.
The best trout fishing in the summertime occurs in early morning and late afternoon. Stoneflies will emerge most of the summer in the late evenings through the night. Anglers wanting to cash in on large trout actively looking for food need to fish from first light to about 11 am with stonefly imitations like a Kevin’s Stonefly, Bill’s Provider or Superfly. What most anglers do not realize is that a stonefly inhabits the deep clear runs and then crawls out on the surrounding rocks and hatches from its case and flies off. So true stone flies are only available to trout as a nymph or as a dry that gets blown back into the stream. Yet I see countless fishermen using dry stonefly imitations and wondering why the fish are not taking them. The trick to being successful with your stonefly imitations is to fish them on the bottom of the river. If you are not bouncing on the bottom then you are not in the zone where the trout are looking for stoneflies.
If you have to fish in the middle of the day, then terrestrials are the fly of choice. Ants, beetles, and worms are mainstay of a trout’s diet in the summertime. These patterns can be exceptionally effective after a light afternoon thunderstorm when the rain tends to knock a lot of ants and inchworms into the river. Anglers wanting to capitalize on this should cast there flies up under the overhanging limbs and bushes where the trout will be waiting on any morsel to drop into there feeding lane. The best flies are furry foam inchworms, green leaf hoppers, The Hot Creek Special, Texas Piss Ant and Kevin’s Caterpillar.
If you get caught fishing after a large storm and the water is high and muddy. Remember that trout have difficulty seeing your fly in the water so they have to find it by feeling it. Large black or other dark colored flies, with large rubber legs or flies tied out of marabou or rabbit strips are the most effective. The best flies are size 2-4 bunny leeches or bitch creek nymphs. The most common mistake I hear of in muddy water situations is that people try and fish 5-6x tippet. With muddy water trout cannot see your tippet, if you switch to 10-12 pound test fluorocarbon this will save a lot of heartache when you hook that monster trout.
In low clear summertime water trout are especially spooky, anglers should watch their wading being certain not to kick rocks, or run waves through calm holes of water. These vibrations will spook trout well in advance of the angler.
Good Fishing
By Kevin Howell
Owner and Guide Davidson River Outfitters
888-861-0111
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Guide Landon Lipke holding a trophy brown trout than William Reinecke lured into the net. If you want to find the big brown trout on the Davidson River Private Water, then book Landon on a half day trip bc he wont tell anyone where they are otherwise……………….not even Walker and Bill !
What a great way to get warmed up for Spring fishing! Starting February 1, 2011 through February 28, 2011 buy a 2 person half day guided trip on the DRO private water for the price of a 1 person half day. That’s a savings of over $100 and a great way to get back into the swing after a cold winter. This promotion is blog specific so you must notify that you want the blog promotion at the time of booking in order to receive your discount.
Tight Lines!
Come joing us November 6th & 7th for the Western North Carolina Flyfishing Expo. See new products for 2011, discounts on 2010 gear, fly tying demonstrations, fly casting, and more.
As we change into a fall fishing pattern there are several things that fishermen can do to increase there catch through out the day. That may be slightly different than the techniques that they were using for summer time fish.
Fishing is good throughout the day, you do not have to fish early or late. Trout will feed all day as they are trying to feed up for the winter, and for spawning in late November in our part of the country.
Terrestrials are a very good fly to use in the fall. However fishing an ant or beetle or hopper in the early morning when it is cool and they are not as active is probably not going to produce as many fish as if you fished the same fly later in the day.
Go big or go home, large trout especially browns like to make a good meal out of eating smaller fish this is especially true in the fall a large trout is capable of eating another trout half his size. So fish large streamers yes even in clear water for larger browns and rainbows.
Fishing dark colored mayfly nymphs and caddis pupas in the morning are a good choice. Then transition to the dries as the day warms up.
Do not be afraid to impair action to your fly until the water gets below 50 degrees. Fall trout tend to more aggressive, so skating flies, stripping flies, or adding some type of movement to your fly may result in more aggressive strikes.
