Spring (and Rain) Is Here!

It was only a few months ago we were bemoaning our drought conditions, but how quickly things change! According to state rainfall records, the southern mountains of NC have seen 1.26 inches more precip than normal over the last month, though we're still 13 inches down for the year. Fortunately, NOAA's "U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook" for March through May predicts that "drought is likely to improve, impacts ease" throughout the Appalachians. It's pouring here at the shop as I write this, and the French Broad and Davidson Rivers have not dropped below their normal (median) flows in weeks. All good news for trout anglers, especially heading into the height of our best spring fishing.

We've enjoyed the fruits of all this rain during our guide trips thus far in March. On the 6th, I took Dickie B. from Louisiana out to a local Delayed Harvest stream and we pretty much caught fish at will all day, except for a few places where we got in directly behind someone. It was a beautiful spring day in the high 50s and the fish really turned on in the afternoon, when the water temperatures climbed a few degrees. The water was cranking thanks to a major flood event the day before that brought the French Broad mainstem in Rosman up to 4,000 c.f.s.! But the river dropped quickly, and the high waters scoured out a lot of the sand and sediment that had built up in some of the bigger pools. We lengthened our leaders, crimped on a ton a splitshot and just kept casting. Dickie landed a huge brook trout with a vibrant orange belly at our first stop, and consistently landed 10-12" rainbows throughout the day. A Morrish Hotwire Caddis was the fly du jour, although we caught fish on black beaded Princes, PTs and Mercer's Trigger nymphs, too. Dickie owns several restaurants back home and I was pleased that he thought my homemade turkey sandwiches were up to snuff.

On the 8th, I went fishing with Darrell B. from Highlands/Atlanta on the Davidson. The water level was the best it's looked in a long time and the rocks had that freshly scoured look that they get after a big flood event. Darrell landed about a dozen fish, including a 20-inch brown, on a variety of midge patterns, and broke off at least that many on 6X. Not bad for a guy who has fly fished only three times. We even got to fish some dries late in the day, when a bunch of BWOs starting drifting downstream. With the water as high as it was, the drifts were difficult, but Darrell eventually got the hang of mending and stuck a few fish on Hi-Vis Baetis parachutes and Comparaduns before we had to call it a day. I fished the D on my own several times since the water came up and it has done me right each time. I got into a killer Quill Gordon hatch on the 9th, where the fish would only eat nymphs and emergers but never really came up to eat a dry. But I landed four fish over 17 inches that day, and a handful of 12-15 inchers. None of these came from the hatchery stretch, by the way, where I've witnessed some truly unethical fishing practices in the last few months. There's one guy who spends hours doing the San Juan Shuffle and fishing straight downstream to fish eating the midge larva and other bugs he kicks up, often hooking fish right at his feet. If you did that kind of thing on the San Juan or the Frying Pan in Colorado, you'd be tarred and feathered by fellow anglers, but somehow the local hatchery crowd seems to tolerate such cheating. What ever happened to the concept of "fair chase?" On a happier note, the flood waters blew out some trees and log jams on the D, opening up some new water.

Rain was in the forecast yet again as guide Freddie Raines took Chris F. from Chicago over to the East Fork on the 15th. Chris works for a company that has offices in Charlotte, so he made a long weekend out of his business trip and drove on up. He and Freddie got about four hours on the river before lightning started zig-zagging and thunder boomed. They high-tailed it back to the shop and hung out next to the woodstove, while Freddie showed him how to tie some knots. Unfortunately, the rain and thunder only got worse, so that was it for fishing. But Chris had a great time and caught a bunch of nice trout, including a chunky rainbow that broke him off and then ate another of Freddie's nymphs several drifts later! There's nothing a guide loves more than retrieving lost flies.

We had to cancel or postpone a few trips on the 16th due to still more heavy rain, but David and Martha M. from Florida were able to re-schedule their trip on our private waters for the 17th, when the day dawned sunny and temps climbed into the upper 50s. This was David's second trip to our leased water, but Marty's first time and she gave the fish up there a run for their money! She landed the first fish of the day, a 12" wild rainbow that jumped twice, on a PT nymph, and then hooked a tank that sat on the bottom like a rock and refused to budge. When it finally succumbed to rod pressure, the fish took off downstream and wrench the hook out. Bummer! David hooked (and eventually lost) three monsters at the first pool we fished, including a 19-inch beast of a rainbow that used the fast-flowing current to pull out, but we netted two good rainbows in the 15-inch class. At the next pool, David and Marty both landed a nice rainbow and David hauled in a beautiful wild brown of 12" on a Hogan's S&M nymph. BWOs, brown stones, and the occasional Quill Gordon were starting to fly at this point, but the water was cooking and we had to get our drifts just perfect to get strikes. Several fish tore downstream into whitewater and pulled off, but that's the price you pay for fishing in high water, I guess. We broke for lunch and then returned to one of my favorite spots on the private waters, where Marty jumped a huge rainbow that spit the fly and then successfully landed two more. Meanwhile, David netted a pink-flanked 17-inch bow and numerous smaller fish that fought like twice their size. This trip was a birthday present from Marty and from the grin on his face at day's end, he had an excellent B-day!

On the 18th, Dan and George H. from Nashville enrolled in our 3-Hour School of Trout, and despite a 30% rain chance and predictions of 59 degree temps, we ended up casting in drizzling rain and 43 degrees. (Are you seeing a trend here?) Anyhow, they were troopers, especially George, a 5th grader on spring break who was suffering from a cold. We got to fish a stocked pond towards the end of the school and George landed three 12-inch rainbows, besting his Dad's two trout. We lunched together on some delicious hot chili with cornbread and then learned some knots by the warmth of the fire. All in all, not a bad way to spend a chilly, rainy day in the mountains of North Carolina.