When it comes to great fishing and beautiful weather, we could not have asked for a better weekend. Both Saturday and Sunday were in the 60’s, and the fishing was fantastic. On Saturday, Hookers guides Clint Holcomb and Jalen Morton had repeat group of five anglers out on the Tuckasegee Delayed Harvest. Everyone put plenty of fish in the net and judging by the smiles on their faces, they had a blast. We look forward to fishing with these guys again in the future.
Fly Fishing the Tuckasegee River
On Sunday, I decided to take advantage of my day off and fish with my oldest son Jadon. There is nothing more rewarding than spending the day fly fishing on a North Carolina trout stream with my children. We fished most of the day on Straight Fork in the Smokies. The action was pretty much nonstop. We landed plenty of wild bows and wild browns. There were several hatches throughout the day, including Caddis, Quill Gordons and Midges. We caught fish on Black Elk Hair Caddis and a variety of nymphs. Hot nymphs of the day were #16 Jig Hares Ear and #16 Jig Frenchies fished under the Caddis. We also picked up a few fish on large stonefly nymphs.
Fly Fishing in the Smoky Mountains
In the late afternoon we decided to fish the Cherokee Trophy Section. While we didn’t catch as many fish there as the we did in the Smokies, we did manage to get some pigs in the net. Pictured below is Jadon with a beautiful rainbow. Large Stoneflies including #8 Gummy Jig Stones and #8 Hot Head Marvins were the ticket here.
Fly Fishing on Ravens Fork
On our way back to the car we decided to make a few more casts at the Job Corps Bridge, and boy am I glad we did. Maybe four or five casts in, I hooked in to a massive rainbow. A couple of minutes into the fight we netted the 24″ beast pictured below. What a fantastic way to end a beautiful day on the water with famliy.
Beautiful Ravens Fork Rainbow Cherokee NC
Beautiful Ravens Fork Rainbow
Today, Clint and I were out on the Western North Carolina Fly Fishing Trail with two groups of new clients. Clint spent the day on the upper section of the Tuckasegee Delayed Harvest along South River Rd. He reports over 30 fish being put in the net, with plenty more LDRs (Long Distance Releases). Hot flies were #10 Black Girdle Bugs, #16 Rainbow Prince Nymphs and #14 Soft Hackle Pheasant Tails. His clients also caught the Tuckasegee Grand Slam (Rainbow, Brook and Brown).
New clients and father and son Dave and Eric started out the day on the lower section along North River Rd. The action here was hot as soon as we stepped into the river. Eric landed a small rainbow on his first cast and ended up with several more rainbows and browns throughout the morning. Dave also put several rainbows and browns in the net. Most fish were taken on #14 Jig Frenchies, #8 Hot Head Marvins and #10 Yellow Sucker Spawn. We ended the day on Dillard Rd. where Eric put a couple brookies in the net to give him the Tuckasegee Grand Slam for the day. Fantastic day on the water with some wonderful company and beautiful springlike weather.
Nice Tuckasegee Rainbow