Fly Fishing For Rainbow Trout In The Pisgah National Forest, video taken from a recent fly fishing trip I took in the Pisgah National Forest near Asheville, NC.
Despite the rain last week I managed to get out on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday I woke up and check the USGS stream flow data and was a bit disappointed that many of the streams looked as if they would be blown out. I decided to head over to the smokies and fish up high. After driving out there and ariving at the trail head I realized that I had left my knee brace at home. The stream I had planned to fish was 3 miles in one way. I reluctantly decided that I should make other plans not having the brace. I probably could have done it but didn't want to risk it being solo, nor was I looking forward to the pain I would have been in with out the brace. I went with plan B, it was still a remote section of the park and required some hiking but nothing to the degree of my first option. To be honest with you it just felt great to get out. The stream was expectedly high and fishing proved difficult. I caught a few rainbows but the water was tough fishing. I kept moving upstream and eventually approached water that was running high but clear. I ended up catching a fair number of rainbows, two brookies and an unexpected brown. The following day I went hiking with the family. I wish I had brought some rods, but it was good to get out and revisit a watershed and trail I haven't been on in a while.
Location: Great Smokey Mountain National Park Blue Line
Date:09/20/2009
Stream Details: Secluded 3 plus mile hike in, water very high and stained.
Weather: Raining
I probably should have gone fishing the day before but at the time that weather forecast predicted more rain for Saturday with it looking better for Sunday. As it turned out there was barely any rain on Saturday and when I woke up Sunday morning and checked the radar pretty much all of the western part of the state was under some shade of green. I picked a spot that looked like it would have the least amount of rain for the day. I can't say if I made the right or not in regards to rain but I think I made the right decession.
The spot I picked was actually a place I had never fished before but one that I have had my eye on for many years. I figured that even if the rain had washed out the creek, it would still be a good time to scout it out for future trips. I gathered up my rain gear, a 2wt fiberglass rod, the usual fishing essentials and headed towards my destination.
Location:Slough Creek in the Yellowstone National Park
Date:08/10/2009
Stream Details: The first meadows
Weather: Sunny, warm, breazey.
Water Condidtions: My first time there, I would say good flow for August. Water was very clear sporadic size #20 PMD hatches.
It is about a 3 mile hike from the Slough Creek trail head to the first meadows. I got a later start in the day than I had wanted to. It was probably about 9:30 AM before I made it to the trail head. I spoke with some backpackers how said there was a Grizzly in the second meadows that had been harassing people. I didn't think much of it at the time and geared up for my hike in. Armed with my Scott 9' G 5wt, hundreds of flies and plenty of water began what I hoped would be the last leg of my quest for a Yellowstone Cutthroat. I started off making quick time up the trail and things had began to warm up. I quickly started to wish that I had not worn my waders. As I usually do, I sucked it up and continued up the mountain. The trails and grade are quite different from what I am used to in North Carolina. The grade was not all that steep but it kept going and going and going. I eventually crested the peak of the trail and got my first glimpse of the valley that holds the meadows.
I was not alone in the first meadows. There was a group of Frenchies who were also my campsite neighbors along with a few others through out the day. Fishing proved to be more difficult than I had thought it would be. I was able to sight fish with out a problem. Many nice size cutthroaghts, but none would take any of my offerings. A lot of this is probably due to the fact that these fish has seen quite a few flies by this time of the season. From what I heard the creek had cleared about three weeks prior. So most of them likely already had sore lips.
Surprisingly to me there was very little insect activity or hatches. I tried a variety of dries all of which were rejected. A few close looks but no takes. I tried various hoppers in different sizes and they simply spooked the wary cutthroats. In fact just about anything that wasn't natural spooked them. I began to worry that I might get shut out, or that I simply wasn't prepared for fishing out west. Fianlly a small hatch of PMDs came off, which of course was the one pattern I was least prepared for. I had a few patterns that could pass but I really needed a sparsley tied 18 or 20 PMD. I trimed down a 16 and started getting some strikes. The fishing reminded me very much of the Davidson in North Carolina or South Holston in Tennessee in the sense of how technical and matching your pattern to what the fish were feeding on. After fishing extremely hard and many gentle acurate casts I finally hooked up with my first Oncorhynchus Clarki!
It is about a 3 mile hike from the Slough Creek trail head to the first meadows. I got a later start in the day than I had wanted to. It was probably about 9:30 AM before I made it to the trail head. I spoke with some backpackers how said there was a Grizzly in the second meadows that had been harassing people. I didn't think much of it at the time and geared up for my hike in. Armed with my Scott 9' G 5wt, hundreds of flies and plenty of water began what I hoped would be the last leg of my quest for a Yellowstone Cutthroat. I started off making quick time up the trail and things had began to warm up. I quickly started to wish that I had not worn my waders. As I usually do, I sucked it up and continued up the mountain. The trails and grade are quite different from what I am used to in North Carolina. The grade was not all that steep but it kept going and going and going. I eventually crested the peak of the trail and got my first glimpse of the valley that holds the meadows.