NC delayed harvest stream report and questions

[Akflyguy]

Hey guys, first time posting on here but thought I had some useful info to share. My wife is new to fly-fishing as of this year and really wanted a rainbow so the weekend after the DH streams opened up we headed up north about an hour from Winston-Salem.

I honestly wasnt expecting much due to the urban location but after walking a bit and doing some scouting I was able to put her onto some nice fish swinging streamers. Water level was surprisingly cool (I believe it was high 50's) but pretty high and dirty.

This was my first time ever on this water and only my 3rd time fishing NC DH waters and we still managed to drag in and set free around 10 each in the matter of an hour and a half. I did a little nymphing (no ind.) and brought in a few but bright streamers were the most productive. I accidentally caught a catfish while my fly was in the water and I was releasing a brown?

After fly-fishing for nearly 10 years I can honestly say that watching my wife hook into a 14-15ish inch rainbow and watching it run for a waterfall, only for her to beautifully fight it and bring it to the net was one of my proudest moments. We are heading up to Cherokee in 2 weeks and I'm hoping to see how she handles some bigger fights.

My question....do most of the DH streams remain fishable once the bait slingers start doing there thing? I can give more details on the location through PM if anyone is interested, Thanks!

 

[c web]

Awesome! Glad you guys got into some fish!

Unfortunately no, most DH streams will be dry cleaned a few weeks after they turn to general waters. There is one DH stream I know of that has a very healthy native population but the natives are mostly 6 to 8" fish.

Oh and welcome to the forum!!

 

[ia_trouter]

Welcome to the forum and thanks for sharing the report.

 

[rc51sport]

Welcome to the forums! Great to have a new member so close. Great to see your wife enjoying the sport! I just recently got my wife into fly fishing. A couple weeks ago I took her out to my favorite creek for the first time, it was a blast watching her, especially when she fought a beautiful wild brown to the net! I love watching other people having such a great time.
Looking forward to some more local reports!


-Dan

 

[Akflyguy]

Awesome! I got my wife into it about 4 months ago and have mainly only fished local lakes for bass and bluegill up until a few weeks ago I took her to Alaska on vacation and shes been hooked(see what I did there�&#56832 ever since! On our vacation she landed a ton of stockers in the lakes but couldn't manage to hook up with anything in the rivers.

If you are ever around Kernersville let me know...I have a little known lake less than a mile from my house and we have had 50+ fish days just standing on the bank throwing dry's! The fish aren't typically huge but it sure is fun fooling them cast after cast and there are some 25"+ bass caught on occasion.

 

[JDR]

Once the C&R regulation has expired, the fish seem to go away. I remember two years ago I took my grandson fishing the morning C&R expired. Only children under 16 are allowed to fish until noon. As we were walking back to the water, we were passed by two parties coming out, that had one child and four adults (only to help the child catch a fish) and stringers of several trout. That kid (about 5) was apparently one helluva fisherman!

 

[olsaltydog]

First, welcome to the forum, a mighty fine entrance if I say so myself.

Second, congrats on getting the wife involved in the things you enjoy. I hope you two have a great time fishing together and her smile says it all. I am on the NC coast so I got hopes also of one day getting my wife and kids up to the mountains for some hiking and a little fishing, ok more fishing than hiking but pretty much doing what you got to do.

 

[Akflyguy]

First, welcome to the forum, a mighty fine entrance if I say so myself.

Second, congrats on getting the wife involved in the things you enjoy. I hope you two have a great time fishing together and her smile says it all. I am on the NC coast so I got hopes also of one day getting my wife and kids up to the mountains for some hiking and a little fishing, ok more fishing than hiking but pretty much doing what you got to do.

Thanks! Have you done any surf-fly casting out there? We are headed to ocean isle area in a few weeks and we were considering giving it a shot. I've definitely lucked out getting her involved, the first time she ever hit the water with me she saying how relaxing it was and that she didn't expect to enjoy it so much....now shes been looking at simms waders for 2 months. I may have created a monster haha. Between the 2 of us, we may need to turns going on trips, if she outfishes me one more time I may just quit:noidea:

 

[olsaltydog]

No, I am still learning fly fishing and will have to wait before I start casting into the surf. For now I am sticking with fresh water and inshore salt.

 

[mtnjefro]

I was on the Davidson this past weekend and was thinking the same thing. It seems all the fish had disappeared. I managed a brookie but this river is fished so hard that I was not sure if they were hiding or just gone way upstream. Also the part I was fishing is taken over by tubers during the day which leaves little fishing except first thing in the morning. I fished at 6am Saturday and it was nice and quiet when I went there at 7pm tubers were still going down the river and there was no way fishing would be productive for at least an hour. I still was not sure how many fish there were on this section but i sure did not see or catch any.

 

[jayr]

I was on the Davidson this past weekend and was thinking the same thing. It seems all the fish had disappeared. I managed a brookie but this river is fished so hard that I was not sure if they were hiding or just gone way upstream. Also the part I was fishing is taken over by tubers during the day which leaves little fishing except first thing in the morning. I fished at 6am Saturday and it was nice and quiet when I went there at 7pm tubers were still going down the river and there was no way fishing would be productive for at least an hour. I still was not sure how many fish there were on this section but i sure did not see or catch any.

The Davidson, like so many other streams that roads running along side of them, are notorious for being hard to fish in the warmer months because of this along with the added pressure of fishermen who take the path of least resistance.

There are many other streams in the area where a little driving and/or hiking will get you off the beaten path and into some very nice water. Same is true for the GSMNP waters and a lot others.

 

[mtnjefro]

I totally agree. I was there with my family for camping at the campground so of course i had to get in a few casts. The week before i fished south mills river a lot less crowded with fishermen but a lot of horses walking through stream so i had to retreat further down the river away from all the recreation.

Sent from my SM-G920T using Tapatalk

 

[flyminded]

The Davidson will kick your butt.

I usually fish it during the week, avoid the weekends, rainy days with a little color in the water even better. There are definitely fish in there, big ones at that, but it doesn’t give up it’s treauseres easy.

 

[kevind62]

Congratulations and welcome to the forum!

 

[samanich]

That’s awesome! I did my undergrad in WS at WFU. I did a lot of hiking around there but wasn’t I into fly fishing yet. I didn’t really think there would be too many trout fishing opportunities nearby. I would think you’d have to get further into the mountains for that but I guess I was wrong!

I just applied to Wake Med so I hope to be back in the area soon. I liked my time in that town.