Low Down Browns

Even this trout noodler caught fish in the low down water conditions.

I was able to fish the Davidson with three great friends today.  Charles Terry, Craig Humberd, and Matt Sloan (listed in order of least poisoned by the state of SC to the most severely poisoned by SC). The company was better than the fishing, and the fishing wasn't too bad.  The water was real low (40 cfs) but the temp was in the low 80's.  Within an 45 minutes on the water, we had all landed fish.

A brown Craig brought to hand

The red midge was pretty productive up until 10:30 or so.  At this point, fish started rising, feeding on presumably midge emergers.  Nearly 3 hours later I found a soft hackle midge emerger pattern that had instant results, and... then proceeded to lose that fly to a nice fish I had already landed. It squirmed out of my hand, and broke my tippet.  Smooth Jones, smooth. A tiny black caddis emerger picked up a few more fish before the day was over. Me and the crew hooked many more fish than we landed.  The low water allowed the fish to flail and unhinge easier.  Nonetheless, the fishing was better than I expected for mid-August after a super hot month.

PS. A Cindy Mathis-Loi look alike out fished the four of us combined in 2/3 of the time on the water. Shera of fly fishing, tell me your secrets!