When you Forget the Most Important Tool

Good buddy and fishing guide Clint Holcomb offered us another chance to go on another float down the river this past Monday. We had the day off of class due to the holiday, and I was all for going fishing instead of going to class. We woke up Monday morning late and dragging behind, as usual. We dropped the boat in the water right around 11 and planned to fish until dark. The temps were going to be a little higher than the past few days so we hoped for some active fish that would cooperate. We began our journey down river and fished a shady section of the river which was much cooler than the rest of the river and as we expected it to be, fishing was slow. We picked up and did some skipping around until we hit a the section where the sun had already been beating down for a few hours and BAM! the fish were on. There was a light black stone hatch going off and also a very light caddis hatch as well which made fly selection very easy. We used some heavy black stones to get down followed up by some smaller flies with hot spots to gain the attention of the fish. As it always tends to do, my phone was ringing off the hook from people back home telling me about the ducks they got that morning or how bad their hunt was, so I handed my rod to Clint for the time being and on his first cast he gets a double, two very hungry and aggressive rainbows I guess! Clint and Jared continued to pull fish after fish out and I was content just watching, something that I enjoy often. I enjoy watching because I am a big believer in the saying, "Watch and Learn." We made our way a little further down river where Jason, owner of Hookers Fly Shop and fantastic guide, was just finishing up a half day wade trip. We had forgot a net when we left the access area. Out of all pieces of equipment and tools to forget, I would say that a net falls among the top 3 when fishing from a boat. Thankfully Jason still had his in his car from the day before and was kind enough to let us borrow it. The place where we stopped was a long run with a swift drop off that made it very deep in one spot. We pulled a few fish out on the nymph rods and then as things slowed down on the nymphs I grabbed the streamer rod and began swinging... On my third cast, I was stripping the streamers through the deep section of the run and from behind a big rock there he came! Mr. Brown decided that it was lunch time and got every bit of it! The Fight was on! It's a good thing that we got a net because without it I have no idea what would have happened! The Brown was absolutely beautiful and put up an awesome fight! That folks is why I love, and always will love streamer fishing more so than any other kind. The Brown pushed in between the 21 and 22 inch mark and had a set of shoulders like an NFL linebacker, truly an amazing fish! We fished the rest of the day and caught many more fish and had a great time! The good Lord definitely blessed me with an amazing fish and it's days like this that I will always remember!

Living the High Life

Today was a day that I will never forget, I got to float the river for the first time. Clint was generous enough to invite my roommate Jared and I for a half day of just hanging out and fishing on his float boat. I have to say that wade fishing will never be the same again, floating can definitely spoil you. The weather was against us for the most part with freezing cold temperatures and winds that seemed to blow straight in our face no matter which direction we turned. However, fishing sounded a lot better than laying around on the couch all day. We put the boat in the water around 11 a.m. and we were off! We were all fishing nymphs under indicators since that's what most of boat fishing is, and I started off with a Walts Worm and a fire orange Frenchie. We realized quickly that the fish were going to be slow to take anything and were very sluggish. The water was extremely cold for a tail water and the fish were definitely feeling it, strikes were subtle and fishing started out very slow. We worked our way down river and came to a deep run where I was then throwing a streamer just to see if we could get any follows at all. Mr.Brown decided that it was lunch time and slipped out from behind a rock and slammed it...FISH ON!!! We floated our way on down river and got to a couple spots where the trees didn't shade the river so much and were able to get into some numbers. Probably the second or third fish we caught one big enough where Clint was able to pump its stomach which revealed a few small stoneflys. We switched over and tied on a few stoneflys and that is when the numbers game took off. We went from hole to hole catching them here and there which overall added up to 30+ fish, not bad for a cold winter day. I was even able to get on the paddles and row a little bit which turned out to be a lot harder than what I thought it would be. Overall it was an awesome day and a great experience. If you have always wanted to do a float trip I highly recommend booking a trip with either Clint or Jason through Hookers Fly Shop.

It's Okay to Have a Bad Day

Yesterday after getting out of class I decided that I was going to head out and fish the Tuck even though both forks are under a heavy generation schedule, wading was going to be hard and limited in most places. Jared headed down river while Clint and I went further up stream to a section that is not so deep. I started out fishing two tungsten bead nymphs to try and get down to where the fish were at. Clint hopped in and immediately started catching fish (as always). If you have ever had a desire to do a trip through a fly shop or do a float trip, I highly recommend booking either Clint or Jason through Hookers Fly Shop. Both are fantastic anglers with similar fishing styles and will definitely put you on the fish. The link to their website is displayed to the right on my page... Anyways... I however was slow to even get a strike, I missed two fish right from the start. I was having trouble getting flies down to where they really needed to be. I am currently in the process of revamping my fly boxes so I was lacking my anchor flies that I normally use to really get down deep with. I seemed to be in some sort of bad luck streak, It seemed as if everything was not going my way! When I did get strikes, the fish would somehow spit the hook. I was getting beat by the fish so I went back to what I know! I tied on a big bunny strip streamer and to my surprise I finally hooked up on one and landed it. I was way behind both Clint and Jared. I caught a few more and then the phone started ringing, It was Clint who was down river and he told me that he had the fish of the day on and that I needed to get there quick! I ran down river and he had hooked into big sassy! It was probably around 21" or better and was definitely a beautiful brown! Clint called it quits after that one and I continued fishing with my bad luck still hanging around. Although I was having a bad day, I was just glad to be out there! Sometimes its not all about catching fish and I try and tell myself this from time to time. Instead of focusing on catching fish I decided I would shift my focus to working on different casting methods, drift methods, angles, and all sorts of things. I figured if I couldn't really get into the fish I would at least use the time to try and improve my skills. I continued to work on things the rest of the day and just so happened to end up getting into a few numbers as well. Overall Clint and Jared had most of the luck catching around 60 fish combined while I ended up with 13. Moral of the story is that it's okay to have a bad day, slow down, keep your head up, and use the time wisely to work on techniques and skills! Don't think for a second that you're the only one who ever has bad days because I can guarantee you that everyone has bad days!

Back in Action

After being home on break for nearly three weeks I finally have made it back into my temporary (maybe future) home of Cullowhee NC. For the past three weeks all I have thought about was making it back into the rivers and feeling the tug that all of us crazed fisherman desire. The plan was to stop at the Davidson on the way back to school and fish for half of the day and then truck it to Cullowhee to fish the Tuck with Jared. However, the rain decided that it wanted to hover over the Brevard area so I decided to drive on past the exit and make it a full day on the Tuck. I pulled my truck into the first pull-off I saw. I didn't care that it wasn't the best hole on the river...I just wanted to FISH. Leader, indicator Line, tippet, dropper, and flies, all went on probably faster than they ever have before. I walked down the river a little ways, hopped in, made a cast into a run and BAM! First cast was a hook-up with a small rainbow and it sure felt good to be back doing one of the things that I love the most. I made my way up stream hitting every run and pocket of water pulling fish out left and right. Not long after I had hit the water I heard Jared let out a little rebel yell, I looked up and noticed that he was hooked up with what appeared to be a really nice fish. While Jared was fighting his beast, I happened to hook into one of my own. I felt the pop, saw the indicator line jump, set the hook, BAM! Fish takes off and the lovely sound of that Lamson drag began to click click click away. Both of us now had nice sized on and were running all over the river trying to keep up with the fish. We just so happened to land the fish around the same time. Jared's fish took the length win while mine took the girth win, I'll take that I guess. I began to make my way up stream while Jared stayed further down. I caught many more fish including a few beautiful brown trout and more rainbows than what I could keep count of. I was walking back down the road when I noticed something funny. I saw Jared, slack line, no fish on, running through the river as fast as he could back and forth... I thought to myself, "what in the world could he possibly be doing." When I got down to where he was at... he told me the story. He was fighting a fish when the line snapped (One of his famous knots of course) and the fish was swimming around with two flies and Jareds strike indicator. While Jared was telling me this story I just so happened to look down and see this little orange strike indicator moving through the water. Here comes Jared running through the water, makes a long reach and somehow he did it! Jared caught his broken off fish by hand. At this point were running a show on the river, even cars had pulled over to watch and see what Jared was doing (Poor Jared). Overall, fishing was excellent and between the two of us we managed to land 100+ fish. Another blessed day of fishing where the good Lord was looking out for us!