The Heat Is On!

Well, May has come and gone and all we can say here at Headwaters is WHEW! We had a very busy last half of the month, so much so that I haven't been able to get away to fish much myself. I did fish the main stem of the French Broad one afternoon last week and landed a bunch of small wild rainbows, all on yellow sally nymphs. And I hit the Davidson a few times at dusk and managed to land some nice brownies on sulphurs and Cahills, but the water is brutally low again. A 3-weight and a 12-foot leader really helped, though I still put down more fish than I landed. As I write this, it's 90 degrees here at the shop (!!) , with no significant rain in sight until late this week. Water levels are holding above 2.05 feet on the French Broad, which is an improvement over last summer at this time. Still, it looks like we're in for another droughty summer, which definitely has its pluses and minuses.

On the plus side, lower water levels force trout to pod up in the deepest water available to them, which means where you find one trout, you'll probably find more. As the water warms, oxygen levels drop, so don't neglect the faster broken water (riffles, heads of pools, etc.) Surprisingly large rainbows, in particular, will hold in such places because there's more oxygen and plenty of food. On the negative side, you must play and release fish quickly to avoid stressing or killing them, especially once the water temperatures get in the upper 60s. Right now, temps on our most popular streams are still holding in the low 60s, but they're rising fast thanks to the hot weather. If we get a bunch of afternoon thunderstorms, that will certainly help keep water and oxygen levels where we need them well into July. I'm doing my rain dance every morning, believe me.

Water levels certainly weren't an issue when guide Freddie Raines and I took Tom P. from Atlanta and his two fishing buddies up to the private waters for a day of mountain trout fishing on the 15th. It rained lightly all day and the fishing really turned on as a result. Freddie and Tom fished to a gigantic brown they saw eating behind a drop-off, trying "everything but the kitchen sink." Eventually, the fish opened its gaping maw and snarfed a golden stonefly nymph, but spit it instantly. Tom landed numerous beautiful 'bows out of the same pool, however. After lunch, his friend Rick hooked a beast of a rainbow that went shooting downstream with me chasing after it with my net. The pic is on our "Wall of Fame" if you want to check it out.

On May 17, Steve M. from Milledgeville Georgia, and his son, Charles, booked a day on the private waters. Steve broke in a brand-new Scott E2 5-weight with style, landing several nice rainbows in the morning and a creel full of nice trout (metaphorically speaking) in the afternoon. Not to be outdone, Charles stood downstream of his dad and wore them out pretty well himself, even though he'd never picked up a fly rod before. It helped that Charles is a former pro baseball catcher, who was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds. Talk about hand-eye coordination!

Over the next two days, I took Curt H. and Ed B. from Florida to the private waters, and they had a blast. We caught some fish on top, which is always fun, but most of the fish ate sulphur or yellow sally nymphs fished deep. On May 24, we hosted a group of 7 anglers headed up by angler extraordinaire Pam J. from Atlanta. This group all attended NC State together in the 1970s and it was so much fun hanging out with their Wolfpack. Pam and her friend Nancy fished with me on the private waters, and they took to nymphing like a hummingbird to nectar. I didn't count, but they landed more than their "limit" by threefold. The others split up on the East Fork with guides Freddie and Mac Marett (who manned up and took three people) and despite quitting early, everyone caught some fish and had fun. The group stayed in some of our cabins at our Adventure Village, which they enjoyed thoroughly.

Mac and Matt Canter ran two All-Day Schools on the 25th and 26th, teaching their clients how to choose the right flies, present them accurately, mend line, set the hook, and play their fish. The East Fork fished great for both guides, who did well on an assortment of dries and nymphs, including sulphur nymphs, partridge & yellows, and PTs. On the 27th, Freddie took Bud W. and his fishing buddy D.J. up to the private waters on a day that threatened with thunderstorms. They slayed them on Harrop's soft hackles, woolly boogers and a CDC sally imitation that Freddie ties. Freddie said the wild fish, which make up probably 50% of what we catch usually, were really amped up and jumped on any good drift. On the 28th, I took Harry H. and his fishing buddy Sam H. from Atlanta down the Tuckaseegee on a float trip. We lucked out with the generation in the morning, but the water soon dropped to run-of-river flows and we squeaked by the islands just in time. The fish were definitely looking up, despite very off-color water conditions. We got lots of strikes on Chernobyl ants, Hopperstones, and Streambank Hoppers, and more than a few eats on yellow sally and Copper Johns dropped off them. We fished some tiny terrestrials on 6X to a bunch of rainbows sipping in a filmy back eddy below Webster and got several of those guys to eat, as well. Best of all, the predicted thunderstorm never evolved, so we floated most of the day in cool-ish, overcast conditions.

We ended May with a slew of private and public water trips, including three days of fishing with Jim M. from Florida. Jim sampled the private waters with me on two days, breaking his biggest-ever fish record on Day 2 with a 19-inch rainbow, and on the East Fork with Mac in between, where he got to catch some nice brook trout on top using his spanking new Scott E2 4-weight. Guide Sam Aiken took Gary and Cathy G. from Naples, FL to the East Fork for an All-Day School. From the sounds of it, they learned a lot from Sam and had a great day of fishing in the mountains of Western North Carolina. Now that tourism season is here, it pays to book your guided trips at least a week in advance. We are already fully booked up for the Fourth of July weekend on the private waters, for instance. Another reminder: Delayed Harvest ends this Saturday (June 7), so prepare yourself for more challenging fishing conditions after that date. We've already run a few wild brook trout trips, and those streams will continue to provide plenty of great trout fishing through the dog days of August for those willing to hike off the beaten path.

Tight lines!
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