Hit the road at 5am to beat the heat and to meet my good friend Matt on the stream Tuesday. The "Hot and Now"sign got me hot and bothered, so I swung in for a buzz while listening to Mountain Mornings on WNCW. Tony Rice was singing "Brown Mountain Lights" when I took my first sip.
Fuel. WNCW and the Filet Mignon of doughnuts.
The river was 60 degrees at 6:45 am and had plenty of water. The fishing was never hot, but did slow as the day grew warmer. I duped 6 into the net by 11:30, then hit the pavement home.
riverside shrooms
first fish of the day
Bonus time came after a phone call revealed I was free to 4pm! I swung off the road on the way home, under the steamy miday sun and wet my feet again. This stream was 70 degrees, the air temp was 90 degrees, and the fishing was TOUGH. The little guy below kept the skunk off. I left the water early in search of a watering hole. Thank you Highland Gaelic.
Early this week I made plans to take some guys to a swimming hole today. This morning I rose at a civil time, and we departed for the swimming hole at 9:30am. I threw a rod in the car just in case I got a chance to prospect the waters for bows and browns. I dreamed of finding a chunky brown in one of the deep holes. Third cast, I found the surprise below.
Wild Appalachian Brook Trout
I fished maybe 30 minutes between 11:30 and 1pm and landed 2 brook trout, a brown, and missed a few including 14 inch brown that ran under a rock and came unbuttoned. I'll be back to fish more and swim less soon I hope. Here are a few more pics.
Salamander Eggs. You can see eye balls and tails. Appalachian caviar.
the boys
colorful brookie. reds, black, blue, oranges, greens, and white.
I presume the water quality of this stream is great after finding these painted char. The one above looked aged, even though he was small.
PS. The fly in the fishes mouth above is a BH flashback CDC Pheasant Tail. I picked it up in Colorado, and it has been a great fly on wild streams.
I was at another Young Life property last week and weaseled in a little time on Crooked Creek that winds through the camp there. It's a tiny stream that carves it's way through thick willows and is full of beaver dams and little brook trout.
Here is a sample of a typical brookie from the stream.
Colorado Brook Trout
The highlight of what little fishing I did was putting two high school guys onto their first trout. They were both on the trip with me at camp, and even though we live near trout in NC, they had to travel to Colorado to catch their first. I had them dead drifting and skating a foam yellow sallie. They both missed a few fish, which was exciting in and of itself. We found a little run that had a number of eager brookies. After a few more missed hook sets, they both landed their first fish on the fly. They couldn't resist that sallie or trude skating across the top of the water.
Here are some more shots of the creek.
pool above a little beaver dam
light rain on a large beaver pond
another larger beaver pond
one of many crooked bends in Crooked Creek
I found a hitch hiker yellow sallie stone that rode back to the cabin with me.
Brook trout aren't picky. Great starter fish for any bigginers.
