S.Trutta
06-04-06, 05:49 PM
Well, the misses and I spent a long weekend in Brevard for our one year anniversary and she was sweet enough to let me check out the fishing scene! I have never fished this area of NC before and didnt know too much about the area before we got there. Stopped in at the Davidson River Outfitters, got my new license, bought some local patterns and was ready to fish. The cabins we stayed in outside of town just happened to be on the East Fork of the French Broad near the DH water, so i fished for about 2 hours Friday night, in between some brutal thunder storms. Landed 7, 5 bows, 1 brown, and 1 brookie. Got 2 on a small yellow stimulator, a handful on a small BH PT, and the last fish right at dark on a BIG yellow drake, about a 14 inch bow. Not bad considering I had never fished there before and didnt know the water. Saturday we went sight seeing and looked around in shops all morning and into the afternoon. She turned me loose about 2pm and I headed for the Davidson about 3-4 miles up from the shop below the junction with Avery Creek. My first impressions of the stream are that it is absolutely beautiful and pristine looking, but boy where the tubers, swimmers, and BBQer's out in full force. I fished for a few hours, landing 5 small wild bows 5-8 inches, missing a few others, and I think i lost/missed 1 decent brown. I think the smart browns wanted nothing to do with eating with all the people on the water. When my wife picked me up we continued up the road a ways and found ourselves at the fish hatchery. I walked over to the bridge and looked in, and literally did a double take as I saw a pod of big fish in clear view, with nobody in sight. My first thought was that this area wasnt open to fishing, but then I saw a few signs that pointed . The water was gin clear and VERY low, so i had on 6x fluro and a small griffiths gnat. There were a few fish sipping, and a few casts in I had a plump 11 inch brown. A few minutes later and I had another about the same size. This brought a few people over to the bridge to see what was going on, right when I hooked a giant brown that exploded out of the water and then charged downstream. I fought him gingerly for 5+ minutes, and finally landed him with no net. I didnt get a picture or lay a tape to him, but he was 20-22 inches for sure, and very fat. I went back up to the spot, thinking the fish were too spooked to hit, but to my surprise a few casts later I had a violent splash, and I was hooked into another good fish. This one I landed right by the bridge and my wife was able to get a quick photo before release, a bow about 18 inches...
http://thumb12.webshots.com/t/63/63/6/59/29/2962659290073356712Rtkjex_th.jpg (http://community.webshots.com/photo/2962659290073356712Rtkjex)
We called it a day, went back and cleaned up, and then had a really nice dinner at a neat little restaurant downtown. Those big fish had me scheming all night, so I got up really early and was on the water by 6 this morning to fish for a few hours before my wife woke up. I caught a decent brookie a little upstream of the bridge, and then sight fished for and caught another beautiful rainbow, this one just a smidge under 20....
http://thumb12.webshots.com/t/63/163/0/91/59/2789091590073356712HcOLer_th.jpg (http://community.webshots.com/photo/2789091590073356712HcOLer)
Just before it was time to go I was fishing an innocent looking riffle downstream from the bridge when my indicator stopped and looking like I was stuck. I shook the rod to free the fly and felt a violent lunge, and watched as another HUGE brown, this one the biggest I'd seen, jumped, landed on my tiny tippet, and busted me off. I laughed out loud, reeled my line in, and headed back to the cabin. All in all we had a wonderful time in Brevard, it was beautiful scenery, good food, great company, and the fish cooperated as well. Next time I'm up that way I want to spend more time fishing for the Davidson's wild brown that arent near the hatchery, those fish are entertaining up there, but Id rather have a few 13 inch wild browns anyday. Any body else every see that maddness at the hatchery?
Rich
http://thumb12.webshots.com/t/63/63/6/59/29/2962659290073356712Rtkjex_th.jpg (http://community.webshots.com/photo/2962659290073356712Rtkjex)
We called it a day, went back and cleaned up, and then had a really nice dinner at a neat little restaurant downtown. Those big fish had me scheming all night, so I got up really early and was on the water by 6 this morning to fish for a few hours before my wife woke up. I caught a decent brookie a little upstream of the bridge, and then sight fished for and caught another beautiful rainbow, this one just a smidge under 20....
http://thumb12.webshots.com/t/63/163/0/91/59/2789091590073356712HcOLer_th.jpg (http://community.webshots.com/photo/2789091590073356712HcOLer)
Just before it was time to go I was fishing an innocent looking riffle downstream from the bridge when my indicator stopped and looking like I was stuck. I shook the rod to free the fly and felt a violent lunge, and watched as another HUGE brown, this one the biggest I'd seen, jumped, landed on my tiny tippet, and busted me off. I laughed out loud, reeled my line in, and headed back to the cabin. All in all we had a wonderful time in Brevard, it was beautiful scenery, good food, great company, and the fish cooperated as well. Next time I'm up that way I want to spend more time fishing for the Davidson's wild brown that arent near the hatchery, those fish are entertaining up there, but Id rather have a few 13 inch wild browns anyday. Any body else every see that maddness at the hatchery?
Rich