Winter Fishing Advice

Fly fishing in winter is what separates the casual fly dunker from the stalwarts, the fair-weather fisherman from the hard-core trout bum. And yes, it often distinguishes the crazy from the sane. Let's face it, it takes a certain amount of mental instability to crack through ice, wade into 40-degree water and break ice out of your guides all day long. But there are distinct advantages to such craziness.

For one, you can fish in virtual solitude, even on notoriously crowded rivers like the Davidson. I fished the 'D' three times in the past two weeks without seeing another soul, much less another angler. My secret? I avoided the hatchery stretch. About 95% of the Davidson is abandoned during the winter and the fishing can be great. I caught several fish over 17" above Looking Glass last week, all on midge pupa and tiny Baetis nymphs. Never saw another angler. Most of my fish were in slow-moving pools or the outside seams of languid runs. Some ate BWO dries on top (a #20 Lawson's Thorax Baetis worked great), but most ate a #22 Cardinal Midge or a #24 Gnatty Bumpo on the bottom. Use enough shot that you're ticking occasionally and set on any little thing that looks odd. The takes in such cold water are very, very subtle. Another tip - there are a bunch of spring holes on the Davidson, where the incoming water is significantly warmer than the prevailing current. Where you find springs, you'll generally find willing takers even on bitterly cold days. How do you find these spring holes? Wet wade the river in the summer and you'll find spots that are distinctly cooler than surrounding areas. Such areas are treasure troves in the winter.

We've been hearing a lot about Delayed Harvest streams like the East Fork and Little River being "poached out" lately. This happens every winter, it seems. People go over there, use the same flies and techniques that worked for them last spring or fall, catch little to nothing and then chock it up to poaching. There's no doubt that poaching (and mishandling by law-abiding anglers) have thinned out the populations some, but our guides haven't had any trouble putting rank amateurs onto fish on the E. Fork, Little River or the Tuck this winter. We haven't fished the N. Mills, but get away from the campground and I'll bet there are fish to be had. The key is changing from a "freshly stocked" mindset to a "holdover" mindset. Forget woolly buggers and other streamers stripped upstream. That will produce the odd suicidal brook trout, but most DH fish have become too educated for such shenanigans. Likewise, leave the #12 Princes and #14 Red Fox Squirrels at home and tie up some #18 A.P. Nymphs and #20 TB black or green Copper Johns. Not only are these more likely to be taken by holdovers jaded by the old standbys, they more accurately represent the size, color and silhouette of naturals found this time of year, which are primarily small and dark. Check out our winter hatch chart for more insight. If you're still not hooking up, try trading out that giant red Thingamabobber or yellow yarn pom-pom for a small white football indicator. DH fish can and will become indicator-shy. With the water so clear, 6X tippet helps, too, though 5X usually is fine if you're getting good drifts.

We still have two spots open for our British Columbia destination trip, scheduled for Aug. 15-22. With our partners at Home Waters Guide Service in Fernie, Headwaters Outfitters is offering a special package rate: 6 nights of lodging in a luxury condo, with private baths and river views, and 5 days of guided fishing for cutties, rainbows and bulltrout, plus three squares a day and transportation from the airport in Kalispell, MT -- all for $1,800 per person (based on double occupancy, excluding taxes, tips and licenses.) If you've ever wanted to catch 30+ cutthroats in a day on dry flies, or tossing hoppers to 20-inch rainbows on a private ranch in Alberta sounds like fun, you need to get in on this trip. We have a great group of anglers signed up, so the company should be as fine as the fishing. Call Than for details at (828) 877-3106.

We have a bunch of special events coming up, most of which are totally free! On Feb. 12, we're sponsoring a special showing of "Red Gold," a documentary film by Felt Soul Media that follows Alaskan fishermen as they fight an open-pit copper and gold mine proposed for the headwaters of two Bristol Bay trout and salmon rivers. It starts at 7 p.m. and the film (in Surround Sound!), popcorn and candy are all free. Great footage of grizzlies, salmon runs and big rainbows being caught on the fly. Our free fly casting clinics are totally full now, even though we just added 12 more spots/2 more dates last week. But we still have room in our free "Guide Flies" fly tying classes. On Feb. 13, smallmouth guide Michael Sprouse will demonstrate how to tie his own "Mike's Hellgrammite," as well as the trusty Clouser minnow. All the materials necessary to tie the flies will be available for sale in handy pre-proportioned packets, but you don't have to tie along with Mike - just come and watch. There's still room in Mac's muskie fly class on March 113, too. You need a rotary vise for that one. Call to reserve a spot either day - (828) 877-3106.

Tight lines,
Than

Our Best Summer In Years

Good news for anglers considering a fly fishing trip in the mountains of Western North Carolina: the state this month officially lifted our three-year drought advisory, thanks to over 15 inches of rain we've received this spring. It appears we're now back into our typical summertime pattern of afternoon thundershowers, which will keep flows and dissolved oxygen levels high enough for good fishing all summer. Our guides have muddled through three straight summers of brutally low flows and high water temperatures, so needless to say, we are all stoked for a summer of normal stream conditions. Pack your raingear and head up here to Appalachian's temperate rainforest - the fishing should be great!

We've had a busy -- and somewhat strange -- spring that started out with kickin' hatches of Quill Gordons, Hendricksons, Blue Quills and March Browns. But then the hatches during the day seemed to peter out when the mercury shot up into the mid to upper 70s, which is unseasonably warm for April. We're currently seeing good sulphur hatches, particularly on the Davidson, and modest yellow sally and golden stone hatches on the North and West Forks of the French Broad. Some Light Cahills are hatching at dusk and there have been some Yellow and Green Drakes emergences and spinnerfalls on some of our siltier stretches, but nothing like years past. It may be the last three years of low water and higher water temperatures hurt the bug populations somewhat. But it appears like the worst drought in NC history had at least one positive impact: we have more young-of-the-year and advanced fingerling trout in our rivers than I can ever recall. All of which means our next three years of fishing should be fantastic as these youngster grow to catchable size; plus, in the meantime, it means lots of prey for the larger trout. We've been streamer fishing with white Zonkers, small white bunny leeches and baby rainbow Clousers with great results.

Other good patterns to try right now are Yellow Lab Trout Retrievers, purple and yellow Sparkle Princes, and when the water's up and murky, a #8-#10 Bitch Creek or Red-Bellied Yuk Bug with a Y2K dropper is the way to go. Make sure to hit the slower moving outer seams and along the banks when the water is up.

Despite some poaching, our local Delayed Harvest waters are holding their own as we reach the end of the catch-and-release period. The May stocking included more rainbows and browns than we've previously seen, and a good portion of them are bigger than the 10" brookies that got stocked all spring. The Little River is fishing better than we've ever seen it, but we've gotten several reports that the North Mills is being heavily poached. We still have a week of catch-and-release regulations remaining on DH waters (they open up to general harvest on June 6), after which your best bets will be the Davidson, small wild streams, or booking a day on our private stretch of the North Fork. Our private water is fishing well, with lots of wild fish being caught and at least a few big boys making it to the net every trip. With water levels up where they are, all signs point to a banner June, July and August.

Tight lines,
Than

Spring Has Sprung

You don't need to set foot in a stream around here to know that spring has sprung. Daffodils are blooming along the roads, and deep in the woods, hepatica, bloodroot, and trout lily leaves are poking up out of last fall's leaves. Bugs are flying, too, including decent hatches of Quill Gordons, Blue Quills, black caddis and Blue-winged Olives. You can also tell that spring is here because we've seen a lot more traffic on our streams and in the shop. After a long, cold winter filled with depressing economic news, it's good to see people are still willing to support local businesses like Headwaters. We appreciate everyone who has come in or taken a guide trip with us.
We started the month of March out on private waters, guiding Paul T. and three friends on the Farm stretch of the North Fork. The fishing was good, despite water temps in the low 40s. Black caddis pupa and clinger mayfly nymph imitations were the top sellers. On the 8th, I took out repeat client Mark S. from Nashville and we netted several dozen fish over the course of the day on Bird's Nests, Hotwire Caddis nymphs and Bloom's Soft Hackles, among others.
On March 17, I got to take my favorite repeat clients, Dave and Marty M. from Florida on a trip to the East Fork, which was low and clear but fished well. Dave hooked up 10 trout in the first hole he fished, including a 17-inch brown that dragged him 25 yards downstream. Meanwhile, Marty and I snuck up on a bunch of risers in the head of a big pool upstream. They were pounding Quill Gordons and a few Blue Quills and we had fun hooking up a few on both a Parachute Hare's Ear and a Hare's Ear dropper.
The next day, I was tickled to take Don P. and Steve F. up to our private waters, where we spent the morning perfecting our dead drifts and hooking a slew of nice-sized rainbows on a variety of nymphs, including Karnopp's Keystones and San Juans. Thanks to higher water levels, most of the bigger fish we hooked pulled out or broke us off on limbs that had washed downstream, but it was a thrill to watch the larger fish take off up into the whitewater.
This past weekend, guide Mac Marett and I both had trips on public and private water. Mac took out Sid J. and his son on the private waters, where they wore them out on clinger nymph patterns and even streamered up some fish. On the 22nd, I took one of my favorite clients, Jimmy L. from Florida up to the Farm and we were blessed by an awesome Brachycentrus hatch in the morning that had all of the fish in our first pool suspended and feeding actively. We had to tinker with the weight and depth, but after we dialed in, Jimmy hooked more than a dozen trout, including an 18-inch wild brown with bright red spots. Just as we were preparing to move upstream, a sharp-shinned hawk buzzed by his rod tip and divebombed some songbirds in the rhododendron across from us. He must have hit his mark, because feathers flew, literally.
We're getting a good soaking rain as I write this, and temperatures are forecasted to climb into the 60s all next week, so we couldn't ask for better fishing conditions heading into April. All of the Delayed Harvest streams will get another stocking in early April, and our private waters are fishing very well. If you're in town for a trip, come check out some of the special closeout deals we're having on fly rods from Thomas & Thomas, Wright & McGill and Redington. We have a couple of sweet 7'6" 3-weights that would be perfect for brookie fishing this summer.

Tight lines,
Than

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!
Than

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.