Hookers Fly Shop and Guide Service. Your Smokies Fly Fishing Experience.

Guided Fishing Float and Wade Trips on the Tuckasegee River

Posted on April 5, 2013 by jasoncole

The past week at Hookers Fly Shop has been pretty busy. We have had several wade and float trips on the delayed harvest section of the Tuckasegee River. Not to mention plenty of anglers coming through the fly shop to gear up and pick up some of our Hot Flies. Hot flies for the last few weeks have been #8 Hot Head Marvins (all colors), #14-18 Rainbow Warriors, #10 Y2K, #10 San Juan Worms (pink, orange, red, flesh), #12-16 Natural Hares Ear, #12-16 Pheasant Tail Nymphs, #6-12 BH or CH Wooly Buggers (olive, black, brown, white) #16-20 Blue Wing Olives, #12-14 Quill Gordons, #12-16 Hendricksons and more.

Fly Fishing with kids on the Western North Carolina Fly Fishing Trail

With the recent April stocking of the North Carolina Delayed Harvest streams the fishing has been extremely productive. Close to 10,000 trout are stocked every stocking month. Many trips walk away with high catch rates as well as the Tuckasegee Grand Slam- Rainbow, Brook and Brown trout and some great memories that will last a lifetime.

Guided Fly Fishing on the Tuckasegee River

If you are interested in booking a wade or float on this beautiful river please contact us. We still have spring dates available for both wade and float trips on the Tuckasegee River as well as all of the other rivers we guide in our area. 828-587-HOOK hookersflyshop@yahoo.com Mention this post and receive 10% off any trip you book with us. Let Hookers Fly Shop and Guide Service take you on your next fly fishing adventure.

Nice Brook Trout on the Tuckasegee River

Another nice catch and release on the Tuckasegee River

Guided Fly Fishing on the Nantahala River

Posted on March 24, 2013 by jasoncole

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of guiding Gary and Emily on a full day trip on the Nantahala River Delayed Harvest section. The morning was overcast and cold and the fishing was fairly slow with only a handful of fish hooked and a couple of fish brought to the net.

Fly Fishing the Nantahala River

The afternoon was a completely different story. The bug activity in the afternoon increased tremendously as well as the number of fish rising to the surface. Gary and Emily both netted some very nice Brook, Rainbow and Brown trout, including several beautiful wild rainbows. Emily landed the big fish of the day, a 16″ brown. Gary caught fish nymphing, streamer fishing and dry/dropper. Emily stuck to nymphing most of the day but did have several fish rise to a #16 Blue Wing Olive. Both anglers also ended the day with a Nantahala River Grand Slam. What a fantastic day on the water here in beautiful Western North Carolina. Book your next fly fishing with us. hookersflyshop@yahoo.com 828-587-HOOK

Happy Client!

Hot flies for the day were: #8 Olive/Black Hot Head Marvins, #16 Orange Thread Frencies, #16 Rainbow Warriors, #16 Para Blue Wing Olive, #10 UV Olive/Black Bugger and #16 Just Add Water.

The Nantahala River is just a short drive from Bryson City, Cherokee, Andrews and our fly shop located in Sylva, NC. We guided the Delayed Harvest section from Oct.-June and the lower section all year except for the month of March.

Categories: Fly Fishing near Sylva North Carolina, Fly Fishing the Nantahala River | Comments Off

Tuckasegee River Fly Fishing Trips

Posted on March 14, 2013 by jasoncole

Right now is the time to book your fly fishing trip in Western North Carolina. With the recent March stocking of the Tuckasegee Delayed Harvest section the fishing over the last week has been fantastic. We have been out on float trips and wade trips as the water has been wader friendly in the am and higher in the pm. Last weekend I had the pleasure of guiding Ben and Mike on a full day and 3/4 day trip along the Tuck DH.

Tuckasgee River Fly Fishing

On Sat. we fished a section along North River Road, which is the lower section of the Delayed Harvest. Here Mike and Ben landed some high numbers and some decent fish in the 13-15″ range. Mike had the fish of the morning on but failed to get him all the way to the net. It was a large rainbow that looked to be around 17-18″. After cooking the guys a shore lunch and having a short break relaxing along the stream side we decided to head up to the island area along South River Rd. The fishing was still good but a little slower than the morning hours. The hottest fly of the day was an Olive/Black Hot Head Marvin size 8.

Nice Tuckasegee Brown

On Sun. I met the guys bright and early at their cabin and they fished the upper section of the DH along South River Rd. Ben and Mike put plenty of fish in the net including the big brown picture above. Again, the morning hours were fantastic and things seemed to slow around Noon. Overall fantastic day on the water with some great company.

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of guiding Lauren, David and John on a 1/2 day wade trip on the upper section of the Delayed Harvest. Lauren, who is only 13 years old, was the first in the water and she hooked into a nice fish on the first cast. Talk about the perfect way to start the day. John and David weren’t far behind and quickly got into several nice fish in the first 15-20 mins. David landed the very healthy rainbow pictured below. The trip was originally scheduled as a 3/4 but the wind picked up around 11am and it became too difficult to cast.

Nice Tuckasegee Rainbow

Categories: Float the Tuckasegee River, Fly Fishing Float Trips on the Tuckasegee River, Fly Fishing in Western North Carolina, Fly Fishing the Tuckasegee River, The Fly Fishing Trail, WNC Fly Fishing Trail | Comments Off

Hookers Fly Shop Gear Giveaway

Posted on February 18, 2013 by jasoncole

New Gear Giveaway from Hookers Fly Shop and Guide Service. We will be giving away a Hookers Fly Shop Logo Fleece Vest to one lucky winner and a secret prize to another lucky winner on Feb. 28th. All you have to do is go to our Facebook Page, LIKE, COMMENT ON and SHARE this post and Like or already be a fan of our page to be entered. Share as many times as you like between now and Feb. 28th for more chances to win. Good luck and Tight Lines.

Hookers Fly Shop Gear Giveaway

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Guided Fly Fishing Trips on the Tuckasegee River

Posted on February 18, 2013 by jasoncole

It was a fairly busy week for us here at Hookers Fly Shop and Guide Service, which is something that can be rare in the months of Jan. and Feb. I had the pleasure of guiding Brian M. on Thursday for a 3/4 day wade trip on the Tuck D.H. Brian put around a dozen or so decent fish in the net and had several more LDRs. It was a cold but very beautiful day to be on the water.

Tuckasegee Float Trip

On Friday, Clint guided Circe T. and husband on a half day on the upper section of the Tuckasee Delayed Harvest. They had a fairly good morning with several nice fish in the net including one big brook trout.

Happy Client on the Tuckasegee Delayed Harvest

Clint and I were both out again for a half day float trip on Sat. with a group of four from Atlanta, Ga. It wasn’t a great day as far as the weather with temps hovering in the low to mid 30s with high winds and snow. Everyone managed to get hooked up and land a few fish. Fun day on the water with a great group of guys regardless of the weather.

Hot flies for the week were: #8 Olive/Black Hot Head Marvins, #10 Yellow/Orange Y2K, #14 Orange Thread Frenchie and #14-16 Rainbow Warriors.

Fishing Float Trip on the Tuckasegee River

Categories: Float the Tuckasegee River, Fly Fishing Float Trips on the Tuckasegee River, Fly Fishing in Western North Carolina, Fly Fishing the Tuckasegee, Fly Fishing the Tuckasegee River, WNC Fly Fishing Trail | Comments Off

Smoky Mountain Trout Flies Giveaway

Posted on February 8, 2013 by jasoncole

We are giving away two dozen flies tied here at Hookers Fly Shop for our February Fly Giveaway. The winner will also receive a Hookers Fly Shop Travel Coffee Mug. We will randomly pick the winner on Feb. 15th, 2013. To enter: visit our Facebook and/or Twitter page and give us a Like and Share the Fly Giveaway post or a retweet the Fly Giveaway tweet to enter. Enter as many times as you like for more chances to win. Check back next month for our next giveaway.

February Fly Giveaway

Categories: Fly Fishing the Tuckasegee, Fly Fishing the Tuckasegee River, Hookers Fly Shop, The Fly Fishing Trail | Comments Off

Tuckasegee River Fly Fishing Report

Posted on January 27, 2013 by jasoncole

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of guiding William and Rusty on a half day wade trip on the Tuckasegee River Delayed Harvest. The generation schedule was not in our favor so we decided to stick around the South River Rd. area just above the island where it is still fairly easy to wade in high water. Both William and Rusty put a handful of fish in the net and hooked and missed several more. Most fish were taken on #8 Hot Head Marvins and #10 Fl. Yellow/Fl. Orange Extra Heavy Anvil Eggs fished under an indicator or Euro Style Nymphing. Almost every fish was pulled off the bottom. The delayed harvest section of the Tuckasegee is also part of the WNC Fly Fishing Trail. Click the link to read more on the WNC Fly Fishing Trail.

Rusty with a nice catch.

If you plan on wading this river during an East and/or West Fork release there are several wide sections of river that are not too difficult to wade. However, you should use extreme caution when wading in higher water. Click this link Duke Power on our home page to get the three day generation schedule for the East and West forks of the Tuckasegee.

Another happy client on the Tuckasegee River

Categories: Fly Fishing in North Carolina, Fly Fishing in Western North Carolina, Fly Fishing the Tuckasegee, Fly Fishing the Tuckasegee River | Comments Off

Winter Fishing on the Tuckasegee River

Posted on December 30, 2012 by jasoncole

We are only a few days into winter fishing here in Western North Carolina and I am pleased to report that the Tuckasegee Delayed Harvest is producing as good as it did October and November. I’ve been

Reed nymphing a run on the upper section of the Tuckasegee Delayed Harvest

out for the past several days guiding and fishing myself and the action has been really hot. On Saturday, I guided John C. and his 10 year old son Reed on a beginner fly fishing trip. We hit the water around 8am, which most anglers would say is too early for winter fishing but the Tuck is a tailwater. This means that on most days the water flowing through the Tuck is much warmer than most other streams in the area. This usually keeps the trout fairly active all winter long and it held true for Reed and his father. Reed quickly got into some fish by throwing Hot Head Marvins with an Anvil Egg for the dropper. John landed all of his trout on a #8 Olive and Black Rubberleg Wooly Bugger. Reed managed to land 8 or 9 trout included a double with a rainbow and brown landed at the same time. John brought 6 or 7 more trout to the net making for a fairly productive half day trip.

Today, I was able to get in a couple of hours on the river. Most of the fish I caught were hugging the bottom. Almost every fish came on a #12 Tungsten Olive Sexy Walt’s Worm. The last fish of the day was the beautiful rainbow pictured below. What a way to end the day.

Tuckasegee Rainbow

Hot Flies for the Tuck include:

#12-14 Walt’s Worms, #10-14 Y2K, #10 Anvil Eggs, #16-18 Just Add Water (UV Brown or Chartreuse), #6-12 Black, Olive, Brown or White Wooly Buggers, #16-22 Zebra Midges, #16-22 Blue Wing Olives, #10-12 Sucker Spawn, #10 BH San Juan Worms, #14-18 Rainbow Warriors

If you would like to book a float or wade trip on this beautiful river please contact us. hookersflyshop@yahoo.com or 828-587-HOOK

You can also follow us on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.

Categories: Fly Fishing the Tuckasegee, Fly Fishing the Tuckasegee River, WNC Fly Fishing Trail | Comments Off

Tuckasegee River Fishing Report

Posted on November 26, 2012 by jasoncole

The Tuckasegee River Delayed Harvest is still the place to fish here in the Southeast. Recent trips have netted plenty of rainbow and brook trout and the occasional brown. Several fish in the 18-20″ range were caught over the past week. On Friday, I guided Joel R., an offshore captain from Florida’s east coast. This was Joel’s first time fly fishing and he did exceptionally well. Joel ended up with close to 20 fish in the net including the grand slam for the day. Hot flies were a #14 Yellow PMX dry dropper rig with a #16 Just Add Water Dropper (Chartreuse), #8 Hot Head Marvins (Olive/Black) and a #8 Peach Bugger. Most of the fish came on the PMX and the Just Add Water.

On Saturday, I guided repeat client Earl “Purple Squirrel” B. The weather was definitely working against us. The morning started off very cold and extremely windy. Earl picked up a 15-16″ brookie within the first 15-20 mins of the trip but then hit a dry spell for the next couple of hours. Around noon we found a pod of hungry fish and Earl quickly brought 6 or 7 more fish to the net to finish out the day. Hot flies were a #16 Chartreuse Just Add Water and #10 Y2K and Yellow/Orange Anvil Eggs.

Today, I had a couple of hours to fish before opening the fly shop so I headed down to South River Rd. on the Tuck Delayed Harvest. I fished a #14 Jig Fly creation that I had worked on the day before. The fly turned out to be extremely productive. I ended up picking up about 15 on the jig fly and 6 or 7 more on a #16 Chartreuse Just Add Water. I quickly got my grand slamand even picked up two doubles. The best fish of the day was an 17-18″ bow and a 16″ Brookie.

"Tuckasegee Double"

Big Tuckasegee Rainbow

Categories: Float the Tuckasegee River, Fly Fishing Bryson City, Fly Fishing Cherokee, Fly Fishing Float Trips on the Tuckasegee River, Fly Fishing in North Carolina, Fly Fishing in Western North Carolina, Fly Fishing near Asheville, Fly Fishing near Bryson City, Fly Fishing near Cherokee, Fly Fishing near Dillsboro, Fly Fishing near Sylva, Fly Fishing near Sylva North Carolina, Fly Fishing near the Blue Ridge Parkway, Fly Fishing near the Smokies, Fly Fishing the Tuckasegee River, Hookers Fly Shop, The Fly Fishing Trail, WNC Fly Fishing Trail | Comments Off

Fly Shop and Guide Services near the Tuckasegee River

Posted on November 16, 2012 by jasoncole

Today, I guided Bruce O. from Atlanta, Ga. Bruce fished the lower section of South River Rd. and several sections of the delayed harvest along North River Rd. Bruce did really well with a dry fly dropper setup with a Tan Caddis and a #16 Just Add Water dropper. He landed between 30-35 before noon mostly on the Just Add Water. Several fish were also taken on the caddis and several fish were taken on a #12 Purple Squirmy Wormy. Bruce caught mostly brook trout and a handful of rainbow and brown trout. The big fish of the morning was a 18-20″ bow that put up a good fight and eventually spit the hook. The afternoon was not as productive as the morning but Bruce landed several more fish on the Tan Caddis and several fish on a #16 Rainbow Warrior. Overall a fantastic day on the water with some great company. I’m looking forward to spending a full day on the Tuck with Bruce and friends again tomorrow.

If you are interested in booking a wade or float trip with us please email or call. hookersflyshop@yahoo.com 828-587-4665

Categories: Float the Tuckasegee River, Fly Fishing Bryson City, Fly Fishing Cherokee, Fly Fishing Float Trips on the Tuckasegee River, Fly Fishing in Cherokee, Fly Fishing in North Carolina, Fly Fishing in Western North Carolina, Fly Fishing near Asheville, Fly Fishing near Bryson City, Fly Fishing near Cherokee, Fly Fishing near Dillsboro, Fly Fishing near Sylva, Fly Fishing near Sylva North Carolina, Fly Fishing near the Blue Ridge Parkway, Fly Fishing near the Smokies, Fly Fishing the Tuckasegee, Fly Fishing the Tuckasegee River, Hookers Fly Shop, The Fly Fishing Trail, WNC Fly Fishing Trail | Comments Off