The Davidson River

The semester came to an end last Friday and Christmas break is finally here. After a weekend with family and my brother graduating, I finally found time to hit the water. Monday, on my way home from Cullowhee, I was able to make time to stop at what is my favorite fishery in North Carolina, the Davidson River. With its undercut banks, deep pockets, swift runs, great hatches, beautiful water clarity, and majestic browns, the Davidson is like no other fishery. I could go on and on about its attributes, for days probably. The Davidson is a lot of things, especially tough at times. When I arrived at the river the temperature was still in the mid 20's with the water temps hanging out in the mid to high 40's. I knew the fish would most likely be lethargic and that it was going to be tough to get them to eat anything. After stopping at the fly shop and satisfying a few needs and wants, I headed on up the road full of both confidence and uncertainty. I had spent the day before my trip hanging with good friend Clint Holcomb, an excellent guide and fisherman from Hookers Fly Shop of Sylva NC, trying to soak up any knowledge that I could. We had spent time talking flies, leaders, presentation methods, and anything else that two fishing bums might talk about. Needless to say, after a few short hours of talking, my confidence level was at a high. I had already made my mind up before arriving at the river that I was going to deploy the nymphing tactics that I had learned from Clint the day before. I put on my waders, my boots, my pack, and rigged up my rod with what was easily the longest leader and connection knot combo that I had ever fished with.. I started out fishing with two hares ear nymphs, one olive, one black, with a soft hackle collar. I worked my way up stream, hit run after run, pool after pool, and nothing was happening. The fish were way more sluggish than what I had expected them to be, stuck to the bottom and very slow with their movements, if they even moved at all. All of my excitement about fishing quickly turned to frustration and determination. I made my mind up that I was not going to leave until I caught a fish! The temperature was rising quickly which left me with the hope that at some point that day the fish would become a little more active. After fishing the lower section of the catch and release and coming up empty handed, I decided that it was time to move further up stream. I parked at the hatchery and slid down the bank into the river. The temperature was now hanging around the upper 40's and things started to look up. First cast into a deep pocket of water and BAM! I hooked up with a decent sized rainbow but after a quick run, the hook slipped out and I was still at a big whopping zero for the day. The next cast I got hung on a submerged log. I made my way over to the log to free my flies and I noticed it looked as if the log was moving. I broke off a small limb during the process of freeing my flies and realized it was covered in caddis larvae, the breakthrough I needed! I quickly switched my flies to two peaking caddis variations and BAM, it was on! First cast with the caddis flies and I caught a beautiful brown. The rest of the way up stream I was catching wild rainbows here and there. Overall, I ended up fishing for about 4 hours, caught and released one brown trout and seven wild rainbows, yet another successful Davidson River fishing trip.

The images below are just some pictures from Monday's trip, and previous trips to the Davidson.

Streamers, Streamers, Streamers

Its day 2, going on 3, of blown out rivers and streams due to the rain that is currently making my life miserable.  I'M READY TO FISH AND BE ABLE TO TELL YOU ABOUT IT...It is easy for me to say that of all the different types of fishing out there, streamer fishing is by far my favorite. I could always go out and tie on a dry-dropper or a double nymph rig, fish the main runs, and pull out the numbers that most people desire or dream of, but that's not me. Don't get me wrong, I love to go out and catch the numbers, but what I'm after is the one trout that the "numbers" fear. I want the fish that others are afraid to be around! Yes, its capable to catch that fish on nymphs, but to me it is no where near as fun or exciting. Streamers imitate the bait, and like that bait, they get chased down and munched on! One of my favorite things about streamers is that you can pick apart the water with your casts. You can fish the banks, the main runs, you can fish them anywhere and at whatever distance it is you desire. When these big fish chase, sometimes just a follow-up or a second glance is all that is needed to get my blood pumping. When these big fish chase and take, there is no other feeling like it! It is an action from the fish that is sudden and violent. It feels as if the rod is going to be jerked out of your hand and is often followed by the sound of the drag while line is ripping off of your reel. My favorite fish to sling streamers at is definitely the Brown Trout. Browns to me are among the top athletes in the rivers of WNC, they are quick, agile, and violent. They are the ultimate ambush predator that will eat almost anything! What I love so much about these fish is that one second they will be peeling line off of your reel and the next they're out of the water thrashing around...ANYWAYS...It's the follow up, the violent action of the fish, and the reaction in the rod that will forever make streamer fishing my favorite!

When I tie streamers, all of the rules go out the window! My streamers are often times unique, definitely far from text-book fly patterns! They usually start out with a little bit of this and that and end up with a whole lot of this and that. I tie my streamers with many different materials, many of which that would never be thought of being put together in the same fly. I like to catch fish with a little shoulder on them so why shouldn't I add a little shoulder to my flies! I'm here to tell you that its okay to throw the rules out the window every once in while, you never know what your going to end up with!

I've Never Had a Bad Day of Fishing

Priorities priorities priorities...Exactly what I hear on a daily basis from my parents... They often ask me whether they are paying for me to get an education or paying for me to fish all the time, I just laugh and say that the education is just an added bonus. I was talking to my roommate the other day and we both agreed that we have never had a bad day of fishing when we were supposed to be in class....Mom, Dad, if your reading this, try not to have a heart-attack. It's true, I have skipped class on many occasions to go fishing when I couldn't imagine sitting through yet another minute of boring lectures on things that I will never use in my life. Fishing just seems much more rewarding and is definitely a whole lot more fun. It would usually start by my roommate sending me a text message saying, "Wanna Fish?" and it always ended by packing up our things and trying to quietly get up and slide out the door without being noticed or causing too much distraction. In fact, some of the best days I can remember on the river were when we were supposed to be in class, high number catches, big fish catches, I have never been disappointed!

Anyways!!

The river conditions for today, and probably for the next few days, are going to be fairly poor. The rain has moved in and made some of the smaller rivers turn that chocolatey milk color that all fisherman just love! Hope you can feel the sarcasm. The Tuck is now under a heavy generation schedule for the next few days meaning the river will be high and hard to wade. If that's not enough to deter you,  the water is starting to turn a little murky from the rain as well. I have retired my afternoon to my humble abode to sit and tie some flies for when the water is back to normal! Have a great day everyone and God bless. I wish you the best of luck on your next fishing adventure!

Where the Passion Begins

As a kid I can remember running down to my dad's building in the back yard where all of the fishing rods were stored along with the tackle boxes. I was not worried about all of those rods hanging on the wall, I was worried about mine, a blue fishing rod with a push button reel with a simple bobber and hook rig ready to catch whatever was willing to bite....Yep, Dad was taking me and the big brother fishing!!!! I can remember piling in the truck with my older brother scrunching in the middle not being able to sit still the whole way to the lake being so excited that I was going fishing. This was not the first time I had ever gone fishing, just one of the first times that I can remember! To make a long story short, I blame my Dad for starting something that has continuously grown into what it is now, AN ADDICTION!!

I have fished many different places in my life and caught many different species. Little fish, medium sized fish, big fish, huge fish, I have caught them all. ANYWAYS, The year was 2011 and I was about to accomplish what I hold as some of the biggest accomplishments in my life, get accepted to college and graduate high school! I was accepted to Western Carolina University and Appalachian State University, both full of wilderness, new people, and new experiences. I made the decision to go to Western Carolina University to study Criminal Justice and Parks and Recreation Management. On my way to Western for move in day I of course made sure that I had plenty of room for my fishing rods. I was now in the land of trout, trout, and more trout. Driving by the rivers around school I noticed people fly fishing, their line dancing back and forth and stretching out across the water in almost art-like form. Fly fishing was something that I had only done once before in my life at the lake with one of my cousins to catch bream. Being the avid fisherman that I was, I immediately went back to my dorm room and began reading whatever I could find on the internet that had to deal with fly fishing. Just a few short weeks later, while fishing with my brother, I hooked into and landed my first trout on the fly. It was a rainbow trout, nothing sizable, but I was ecstatic. It was this little event that would change not only my fishing experience, but my life forever. ITS TIME TO FAST-FORWARD...

 Here I am now, just 2 short years later. My love for fly fishing has grown into an addiction, a passion, a way of life. I have read the books, read the articles, listened to the experts, but I have found that nothing is as good as experience...I taught myself how to fly fish through self experience, I just went fishing...A LOT...every day really. My cast is not expert, but it is mine and it fits. My flies that I tie are not textbook, but they are by-products and creations of my own imagination, interpretations, and imitations that come to life in my mind when I see the real thing on the river. I have never taken a casting class or a tying class, I am where I am now through trial and error...believe me there has been plenty of error. I could go on and on but what I am really trying to say is that there are some things that you just can't learn from a book or an instructor...YOU JUST HAVE TO GET OUT THERE AND FISH FISH FISH!!!!