Fly Fishing » Fly Fish SC

SC Trout Stocking and Decent Fishing Potential

Mar 102012

A couple weather systems have passed through the area the last few days, but things are shaping up for a great weekend. Water levels are slightly below average, and trending downward, so conditions should be relatively clear. The temperatures expected this weekend are also indicating this may be an excellent time to get some fishing in. Looks like highs in the low mid 60s Saturday and Sunday, with lows staying just above freezing. The potential is certainly there.

The SCDNR stocked quite a few trout this week. Over 11,000 to be exact. These were placed into streams like the North and Middle Saluda, Big Eastatoee, Chattooga, Little Eastatoee, Little Canebrake, and Rocky Bottom. With conditions such as they are, wild trout may also be up moving around, so there should be lots of opportunities.

Bring all the usual flies. Para Adams, BWO, assorted nymphs, buggers, caddis, you name it. Its March out there, and fishing will begin improving dramatically starting about right now. Have your 6x tippet handy if water conditions prove to be really clear. The skies will be clear, and foliage is still sparse except for a few evergreens, so be prepared to keep it stealthy this weekend.

Flypacking Results For The Weekend of 4/16/10 – 4/18/10

Backpacking, Camping, Fly Fishing No Responses »

Apr 212010

My combination fly fishing backpacking trip went really well. I hit the wild trout waters Friday afternoon and the action heated up quickly. It seemed to be one of those times when you could throw just about anything at them and they would take it. I landed eleven Rainbows that afternoon, all caught on dry flies, and released.

Saturday I headed up to some remote wild water to take a shot at some Brook Trout in a little stream I had never fished before. I had to hike about a mile to get to where I wanted to start working the creek, and it didn’t take long to get on a few Specs. I caught eight in a fairly short section, and then decided to make the climb back out, which reminded me that I’m not quite in the shape I used to be in. Burned the legs up coming up out of that particular area.

Wild Brook Trout. Guess they can't always be trophies.

Saturday night got a little dicey. The temps. dropped down below freezing where I set up camp, and during the night the wind kicked up to what must been at least 40 mph. You could actually hear the wind gust coming down through the valley. It would begin as a low roar in the distance and intensify as it got closer, and then it would rock the tent as it blasted by. It was more like sleeping at the end of an airport runway. I checked the weather before I left out, so I lashed my tent to a tree on the windward side for a little more stability just in case. Good idea I have to say.

It was good to setup the eggplant. Been a long time. You can see my rope to the right.

Sunset Saturday night

Sunday morning was pretty chilly, and I packed my stuff up while the wind was still kickin’ it. I fished one more stream on the way out and finished the weekend with four more Rainbows.

Sunrise Sunday morning

Best Flies Of The Weekend

Fly Fishing Purist vs. Maybe Not so Much

Fly Fishing No Responses »

Mar 022010

I read a lot about fly fishing purists and their refusal to use certain types of flies or lures in their fishing endeavors. Two of the most commonly debated flies are the San Juan Worm and the Egg pattern.

I consider myself to be at least a semi-purist( I guess that’s similar to being semi-pro ). I say that because I have never used the egg pattern, but on a recent fly fishing trip to Pisgah National Forest, I gave the San Juan worm a try. In fact I used the San Juan worm with a Red fox nymph dropper. I have to say that the Rainbow trout I caught on this setup were all taken with the nymph dropper and none on the San Juan Worm. That being the case, granted this was only one outing, the San Juan did not prove itself to be so effective that it should be considered too easy to catch fish with. It was no magic bullet in this case.

Rainbow trout caught and released on Red Fox nymph dropper.

I’m sure it will work, but on this trip it did not work for me even when fished without a nymph dropper. Some of the hang up may be that the San Juan is very easy to tie, requiring very little fly tying skill to produce. If we can tie flies to imitate other natural creatures like grasshoppers, mayflies, caddis flies, and insects in various stages of maturity, then why should a worm be any different?

I haven’t tried the egg pattern, and more than likely I won’t. That’s the semi-purist in me I suppose. There the again, the egg pattern is one of those extremely easy, quick tying, low skill lures. It’s my belief that that is where the disdain for lures of this type really begins. Tying traditional and newer more contemporary flies can take a lot of skill as well as preserving the traditions of fly tying that began several hundred years ago. My opinion, use whatever lure you like as long as it falls with the legal to use category for the designated stream you are fishing.

Fly Tying When Tying Time is Tight

Fly Fishing No Responses »

Jul 052009

Every once in awhile I find I need a shortcut to get a few flies tied quickly. I’ve listed the first of a little series I’ll probably do on this below.

Let’s say you need to tie some standard dries like an Adams for instance. The most trouble I tend to have is with using hackle tips to form the wings. I usually fumble around with these a bit, so I devised this little shortcut.

The simplest method I’ve come up with is to extend the tail fibers far enough up the hook shank to at least create the illusion of wings.

Here are the tail fibers wrapped up the shank to the wing position, then tied in an upright fashion.

After getting the butt-end of the tail fibers into the upright position, you basically dub and hackle the fly as usual.

This is the dry fly after the easy wings, dubbing, and hackle have been tied into place.

You can see in the next picture, that I spread the fibers out in a fan-like shape, which mimmicks the sparkle dun or emerger type wing.

The head on picture shows the fan shape of the fibers.

I don’t use the ‘easy wings’ technique all the time, I still believe in preserving the traditional methods, but this is useful in a pinch and can easily be adapted for use with the Adams and March Brown dry flies.