gtsingle
10-23-06, 12:08 PM
I apologize in advance for the long post, but this was a great trip and I felt the need to wax eloquent. The weather cooperated, the leaves were changing and the fishing was great.
Thursday morning I headed N.W from Asheville alone well before light, up and over the Parkway and down into Yancey County. It was still dark when I arrived about an hour later. The tribs of the S. Toe were smaller water than I had thought from the maps, so I tied on some smaller tippet and a 16 EHC using my car’s dome light and hustled into my waders. I think my third cast found the rhododendrons, so I was (thankfully) forced to calm down and enjoyed the sunrise while tying on another...this time an 18. I worked my way up two smaller streams catching a few little guys. As you can tell from the pics, it was still pretty dark:
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k98/gtsingle/10-22-2006-19.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k98/gtsingle/10-22-2006-18.jpg
The slow start was due in part to my ratio of snags that spooked the pool to successful drifts. Is there anything more frustrating than having to wade through a new, promising pool after snagging at the head of it on the first cast? Depending on my mood and if possible I intentionally and discretely broke off a couple of times if I could see my fly and grabbed it later as moved up, just to preserve the pool. Further up, there was a little more casting room and it got interesting. I caught several of these feisty guys:
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k98/gtsingle/10-22-2006-21.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k98/gtsingle/10-22-2006-12.jpg
The pools got deeper and I had more luck on the usual assortment of droppers, sized 16-22, depending on type, too.
At about 9:30 or ten, I decided to head back down to the bigger water of the S. Toe. I could see a big long pool from where I parked and got set up, and there didn’t appear to be any rises or hatches, etc. It was pretty overcast and threatening to rain, so maybe that’s why I had the entire river to myself, even given its easy access and picnic tables. That, and it was Thursday. One guy drove buy and said that the river had been up two feet as recently as the day before, even though it seemed to be running pretty clear. I had seen a lot of posts at the SE Fly-fishing Forum re: recent huge floods that had wiped out larger fish, so I didn’t have high expectations. I started out with my favorite rig of EHC and a BHPT dropper.
This is what I was looking at as I first headed upstream:
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k98/gtsingle/10-22-2006-08.jpg
The water changed dramatically over a half mile stretch from long slow pools to riffles to deep swirling holes, so it was a lot of fun, using several diff techniques, some a lot less skillfully than others! Between 10 and 4 I must have caught 25-30 fish, ranging from fingerlings up to 14”.
Here’s a nice representative one:
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k98/gtsingle/10-22-2006-07.jpg
And this was an ideal grassy lunch spot:
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k98/gtsingle/10-22-2006-10.jpg
Of those caught, I would say I caught 4 or 5 rainbows to every 1 brown, and all but 3 or 4 were on the EHC, not the dropper, so after a couple of snags and one monster break-off I would fish the dry exclusively for a bit. The rainbows were completely out of control. I think it was a combo of their feisty nature, the fact that it had absolutely poured a day or so ago, and the sun was out, warming up noticeably from the chilly morning, but not directly on the water. They were hitting the caddis so hard, several completely cleared the water on the first strike! Of course, this meant I had a couple shake off, but man, that’s what it’s all about. An absolute blast on the 3wt. After wading above and below my car, I caught a beautiful 14” rainbow that I could have sworn was a monster. He hit the nymph being drifted through a deep hole and almost into a tree-top. It took some effort, and I had to stick the pole under water and follow him below the top to keep from getting broken off. Once I got him out the open though, he started performing. It seemed like ten minutes but must have been 40 seconds of flips and runs from one side of the river to the other. Absolutely fantastic. I was literally whooping and cheering him on. OF course, I forgot to take a picture of him, but just as well. It must have taken me 5 minutes to get him revived, but he finally swam off, looking fine, straight back to the tree-top. After that encore, and in a personal fishing first, I shut it down EARLY to headed back to Asheville for dinner and a well-deserved beer.
Friday was downtown Asheville quality time, but I was back at it on Saturday, with my wife along.
We headed SW towards Brevard and that entire area at daybreak. We started out well up the Davidson and its tribs since there were some cars in the lower turnouts. Shocker. I had a lot of luck catching both rainbows and browns and some of its tributaries. In about 3 hours, I think I caught 15 or so. Again, using the EHC, a larger Adams, and various droppers. Not a lot of pics of fish, but they were all in the 8-14” range. Nothing huge, but nice for as far up as I was.
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k98/gtsingle/10-22-2006-06.jpg
After a quick lunch in Brevard, we returned, but stopped lower on the Davidson to hit some of the larger water. In this picture, you can barely see her book where she is resting against the tree by the water.
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k98/gtsingle/10-22-2006-03.jpg
I fished below and above her for a couple of hours and caught a couple more nice ones and found a deep pool that drove me crazy. I must have hooked 7-8 times with NICE rainbows….bringing some almost to my feet before they shook loose. I simply could not bring one to hand out of the hole. Sometimes, Im sure I was striking too late, but othertimes, I just couldn’t keep the line tight, what with their runs right at me and then acrobatics. I would estimate the nicest one at 20” minimum. My 3 wt looked like a horseshoe. They were absolutely destroying a size 16 BHPT and CopperJohn. they had zero interest in a larger Hares Ear. By the end, one nymph was basically reduced to a hook and a bead. It will make a great walleye jig, Im sure. We were pretty deep in the valley, so it got darker and colder earlier, and my fishing partner got chilly. So, we headed N. and caught the sunset on the Parkway headed back to Asheville before a final dinner downtown.
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k98/gtsingle/10-22-2006-02.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k98/gtsingle/10-22-2006-01.jpg
It was a great weekend.
Glenn
Thursday morning I headed N.W from Asheville alone well before light, up and over the Parkway and down into Yancey County. It was still dark when I arrived about an hour later. The tribs of the S. Toe were smaller water than I had thought from the maps, so I tied on some smaller tippet and a 16 EHC using my car’s dome light and hustled into my waders. I think my third cast found the rhododendrons, so I was (thankfully) forced to calm down and enjoyed the sunrise while tying on another...this time an 18. I worked my way up two smaller streams catching a few little guys. As you can tell from the pics, it was still pretty dark:
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k98/gtsingle/10-22-2006-19.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k98/gtsingle/10-22-2006-18.jpg
The slow start was due in part to my ratio of snags that spooked the pool to successful drifts. Is there anything more frustrating than having to wade through a new, promising pool after snagging at the head of it on the first cast? Depending on my mood and if possible I intentionally and discretely broke off a couple of times if I could see my fly and grabbed it later as moved up, just to preserve the pool. Further up, there was a little more casting room and it got interesting. I caught several of these feisty guys:
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k98/gtsingle/10-22-2006-21.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k98/gtsingle/10-22-2006-12.jpg
The pools got deeper and I had more luck on the usual assortment of droppers, sized 16-22, depending on type, too.
At about 9:30 or ten, I decided to head back down to the bigger water of the S. Toe. I could see a big long pool from where I parked and got set up, and there didn’t appear to be any rises or hatches, etc. It was pretty overcast and threatening to rain, so maybe that’s why I had the entire river to myself, even given its easy access and picnic tables. That, and it was Thursday. One guy drove buy and said that the river had been up two feet as recently as the day before, even though it seemed to be running pretty clear. I had seen a lot of posts at the SE Fly-fishing Forum re: recent huge floods that had wiped out larger fish, so I didn’t have high expectations. I started out with my favorite rig of EHC and a BHPT dropper.
This is what I was looking at as I first headed upstream:
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k98/gtsingle/10-22-2006-08.jpg
The water changed dramatically over a half mile stretch from long slow pools to riffles to deep swirling holes, so it was a lot of fun, using several diff techniques, some a lot less skillfully than others! Between 10 and 4 I must have caught 25-30 fish, ranging from fingerlings up to 14”.
Here’s a nice representative one:
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k98/gtsingle/10-22-2006-07.jpg
And this was an ideal grassy lunch spot:
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k98/gtsingle/10-22-2006-10.jpg
Of those caught, I would say I caught 4 or 5 rainbows to every 1 brown, and all but 3 or 4 were on the EHC, not the dropper, so after a couple of snags and one monster break-off I would fish the dry exclusively for a bit. The rainbows were completely out of control. I think it was a combo of their feisty nature, the fact that it had absolutely poured a day or so ago, and the sun was out, warming up noticeably from the chilly morning, but not directly on the water. They were hitting the caddis so hard, several completely cleared the water on the first strike! Of course, this meant I had a couple shake off, but man, that’s what it’s all about. An absolute blast on the 3wt. After wading above and below my car, I caught a beautiful 14” rainbow that I could have sworn was a monster. He hit the nymph being drifted through a deep hole and almost into a tree-top. It took some effort, and I had to stick the pole under water and follow him below the top to keep from getting broken off. Once I got him out the open though, he started performing. It seemed like ten minutes but must have been 40 seconds of flips and runs from one side of the river to the other. Absolutely fantastic. I was literally whooping and cheering him on. OF course, I forgot to take a picture of him, but just as well. It must have taken me 5 minutes to get him revived, but he finally swam off, looking fine, straight back to the tree-top. After that encore, and in a personal fishing first, I shut it down EARLY to headed back to Asheville for dinner and a well-deserved beer.
Friday was downtown Asheville quality time, but I was back at it on Saturday, with my wife along.
We headed SW towards Brevard and that entire area at daybreak. We started out well up the Davidson and its tribs since there were some cars in the lower turnouts. Shocker. I had a lot of luck catching both rainbows and browns and some of its tributaries. In about 3 hours, I think I caught 15 or so. Again, using the EHC, a larger Adams, and various droppers. Not a lot of pics of fish, but they were all in the 8-14” range. Nothing huge, but nice for as far up as I was.
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k98/gtsingle/10-22-2006-06.jpg
After a quick lunch in Brevard, we returned, but stopped lower on the Davidson to hit some of the larger water. In this picture, you can barely see her book where she is resting against the tree by the water.
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k98/gtsingle/10-22-2006-03.jpg
I fished below and above her for a couple of hours and caught a couple more nice ones and found a deep pool that drove me crazy. I must have hooked 7-8 times with NICE rainbows….bringing some almost to my feet before they shook loose. I simply could not bring one to hand out of the hole. Sometimes, Im sure I was striking too late, but othertimes, I just couldn’t keep the line tight, what with their runs right at me and then acrobatics. I would estimate the nicest one at 20” minimum. My 3 wt looked like a horseshoe. They were absolutely destroying a size 16 BHPT and CopperJohn. they had zero interest in a larger Hares Ear. By the end, one nymph was basically reduced to a hook and a bead. It will make a great walleye jig, Im sure. We were pretty deep in the valley, so it got darker and colder earlier, and my fishing partner got chilly. So, we headed N. and caught the sunset on the Parkway headed back to Asheville before a final dinner downtown.
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k98/gtsingle/10-22-2006-02.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k98/gtsingle/10-22-2006-01.jpg
It was a great weekend.
Glenn