dylar
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I spent the morning and much of the afternoon Tuesday helping a friend move into some new digs out in what can only be very generously described as BFE. Not one to let a trip to the boonies go to waste, I had packed some rods in case the move didn't eat up the whole day. It didn't, and I was able to squeeze in some fishing at the end of the day.
My friend's new place is near a larger wild trout stream that was once listed as NC public mountain trout water, but removed from the program due to "landowner concerns." And, indeed, much of the upper creek is sealed off behind gates, copious posted signs and obvious trail cameras. However, this particular river watershed has been gloriously generous to me over the years, so I decided to scout the creek anyway, and see if I could find a stretch to fish without getting the law called.
Churches pretty reliably won't run you off, so I made a beeline for X Creek Missionary Baptist Church. By chance, the pastor was out mowing the grass in front of the church. I asked him if it would be ok to fish around the church. Not only was it ok, but he told me the house next door was his, and the next one up the holler was his son's and I'd be welcome to fish the whole piece. Awesome! Now I had about a quarter mile stretch to fish, and that ain't nothing to sneeze at. To be sure, he still warned me about fishing up past his son's place. "The fella as lives up there don't take too kindly to folks what he don't know, and I'm fair certain he ain't up to no good anyhow."
When I arrived, the water was stained up pretty good from an early afternoon cloudburst. Not unfishable, but definitely running on the cloudy side of cloudy-clear. Water conditions weren't conducive to slingin' dries, so I started out fishing a nymph rig with a girdle bug under an inchworm squirmy (inchworms are the king of summer flies in these parts), and stuck a few of these:
I spotted several hellbender salamanders (a reliable sign of pristine or near pristine water conditions), which is unusual. They rarely hang out in the open where you can lay eyes on 'em in the day. This guy wasn't a big fellow by hellbender standards, but he was the only one in shallow enough to get a decent pic.
I passed a grassy, brushy spot next to the creek and saw something lovely. Normally, I don't take pictures of non-native plants, but foxglove is one of my absolute favorite flowers, and it is rare that you find it growing wild in North Carolina.
I was using a black New Zealand indicator to float my nymph rig and, as I was floating my flies through the tailout of a long pool, a large brown trout rose and gulped down the indicator. I hadn't been getting any love on the inchworm anyway, so I cut off the nymph rig and switched to hopper-dropper with the girdle hanging under the biggest, blackest Fat Albert I had in my box. Jackpot.
There are rumors of brook trout in the headwaters of this creek, so I drove up the valley hoping to find somewhere I could hop in for a minute and complete a slam, but I never found what I was looking for. I did find the previously mentioned gates, posted signs and trail cams. So I decided to head the opposite direction, down to the big river, and see if I could at least pick up a smallmouth or two. I tried poppers, streamers, craw patterns and crease flies, all without any success. I eventually fell back on chucking some hard baits with the gear rod, and finally stuck something. Just not a smallie. Not a terrible way to end the day, and I drove home with a smile.
Cheers y'all!
Dylar
My friend's new place is near a larger wild trout stream that was once listed as NC public mountain trout water, but removed from the program due to "landowner concerns." And, indeed, much of the upper creek is sealed off behind gates, copious posted signs and obvious trail cameras. However, this particular river watershed has been gloriously generous to me over the years, so I decided to scout the creek anyway, and see if I could find a stretch to fish without getting the law called.
Churches pretty reliably won't run you off, so I made a beeline for X Creek Missionary Baptist Church. By chance, the pastor was out mowing the grass in front of the church. I asked him if it would be ok to fish around the church. Not only was it ok, but he told me the house next door was his, and the next one up the holler was his son's and I'd be welcome to fish the whole piece. Awesome! Now I had about a quarter mile stretch to fish, and that ain't nothing to sneeze at. To be sure, he still warned me about fishing up past his son's place. "The fella as lives up there don't take too kindly to folks what he don't know, and I'm fair certain he ain't up to no good anyhow."
When I arrived, the water was stained up pretty good from an early afternoon cloudburst. Not unfishable, but definitely running on the cloudy side of cloudy-clear. Water conditions weren't conducive to slingin' dries, so I started out fishing a nymph rig with a girdle bug under an inchworm squirmy (inchworms are the king of summer flies in these parts), and stuck a few of these:
I spotted several hellbender salamanders (a reliable sign of pristine or near pristine water conditions), which is unusual. They rarely hang out in the open where you can lay eyes on 'em in the day. This guy wasn't a big fellow by hellbender standards, but he was the only one in shallow enough to get a decent pic.
I passed a grassy, brushy spot next to the creek and saw something lovely. Normally, I don't take pictures of non-native plants, but foxglove is one of my absolute favorite flowers, and it is rare that you find it growing wild in North Carolina.
I was using a black New Zealand indicator to float my nymph rig and, as I was floating my flies through the tailout of a long pool, a large brown trout rose and gulped down the indicator. I hadn't been getting any love on the inchworm anyway, so I cut off the nymph rig and switched to hopper-dropper with the girdle hanging under the biggest, blackest Fat Albert I had in my box. Jackpot.
There are rumors of brook trout in the headwaters of this creek, so I drove up the valley hoping to find somewhere I could hop in for a minute and complete a slam, but I never found what I was looking for. I did find the previously mentioned gates, posted signs and trail cams. So I decided to head the opposite direction, down to the big river, and see if I could at least pick up a smallmouth or two. I tried poppers, streamers, craw patterns and crease flies, all without any success. I eventually fell back on chucking some hard baits with the gear rod, and finally stuck something. Just not a smallie. Not a terrible way to end the day, and I drove home with a smile.
Cheers y'all!
Dylar
