Thanksgiving Trout

This Thanksgiving I was fortunate enough to have an entire week without hospital responsibilities and great weather to boot. No better time to go fishing.

First I drove west from Charlottesville and met up with Pat & Taylor to fish the Jackson River about 15 miles north of The Homestead Resort. Taylor's dad had added around sixty big rainbows to their stretch of the river a few weeks before, so we spent the whole day catching them on various bugs. Though certainly not the purest form of fishing, it was still provided good practice in fighting and landing big fish. We were also surprised to catch some big 12" fall fish as well.

After settling back in to Georgia for a few days, Steven Pruitt and I finally made a day trip happen after many missed promises. Steven and I went to high school together and were roommates at the University of Georgia. While I worked briefly as a maid at Yellowstone National Park during the summer before medical school, Steven worked as a fly fishing guide at Turpin Meadow Ranch in Moran, Wyoming, which is just north of Jackson. In retrospect Steven probably had the better gig. Anyway, last Wednesday we fished the Toccoa River in the town of Blue Ridge, Georgia with our dads. The weather was not nearly as warm as we were anticipating, and on the way up there was some doubt about the point of even going. But we finally made it and started fishing not long after daybreak below the Blue Ridge Dam. We had the section of river to ourselves for the whole morning, which indicates how cool the weather was considering that the parking lot is often full of vehicles. Steven was fishing about 100 yards below me when I looked up to see him fighting a fish. He yelled upriver for me to come that way so I casually walked over to the river's edge. He again yelled and I then realized that he must have a big fish on and needs help landing it. Sure enough it was a big healthy rainbow that took a size 16 prince nymph from beneath a submerged log. It was a great fish and definitely worth fishing in the cold all morning. And to think that we had questioned making the trip.

After stopping by the local fly shop and filling up with some hot barbeque, we headed upstream to fish the Toccoa River above the dam. The water was relatively high but still very clear and the sun was finally pushing the temperature into the tolerable range. We fished various patterns for several hours with no hookups and finally called it quits in the early afternoon. Another fisherman pulled up just as were breaking down our rods. After correcting our strategy for this section of the river (he strongly favored fishing woolybuggers through the deep holes) he showed us the Oyster bamboo fly rod that he crafted as part of a rod-building class in Blue Ridge. The classes take you through every step of the rod-making process over the course of two weekends or one full week, and in the end you have built your own bamboo rod.

On Thanksgiving day my parents and I went back to fish the Toccoa above the dam, but this time we went several miles father upriver to fish a stretch near the Benton MacKaye Trail, which is named after the Harvard educated conservationist who originated the idea for the Appalachian Trail. Like the AT, the BMT begins at Springer Mountain and works its way north through gentle mountains of Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina. It crosses over the Toccoa River via a 265 foot swinging bridge, the longest of its kind east of the Mississippi River. The area is beautiful, but the water produced only one 10" rainbow that took a caddis pattern. There are almost certainly more fish to be caught here, and it's worth the drive just to see the bridge.

I was driving back to Charlottesville on Friday afternoon, which ended up being the mildest day of the entire week. The sun was out and it looked like a perfect day to be on a body of water. Unfortunately I was stuck in my truck, driving up I-81 knowing that Mossy Creek must be covered up with bugs right now. Serial calculations on my phone showed that I could be in the parking lot by 4:00 PM, which would only give me one hour of fishable daylight at best. What the hell, I thought. It's better to fish for one hour and watch the sun set on a farm than to have it go down behind me while driving east on I-64. So I drove the extra 20 miles and watched the sun set and missed several fish rising to a BWO. Well worth it. The weather on Sunday was nice as well, and I couldn't resist going back to Mossy to make a more thorough attempt to catch fish. There were two guys in the parking lot getting ready to leave, and one of them introduced himself as James Garrison. In addition to religiously fishing Mossy and nearby streams, he also contributes to the blog Fly Curious. I caught a few small browns on BWOs but couldn't convince any larger fish to rise.

All in all it was a week of good weather and even better fishing.

North Fork of the Moorman's - 11/6

I took advantage of the great fall weather to head out to the moorman's river on a tip from the Albemarle angler guys. Brent and I got to the river around 9:00 and I was blown away by the fall colors. It was prime time for the leaves, but fortunately they didn't cause too much trouble on the water. We took the right at Sugar Hollow reservoir to the north fork and pulled off at the second obvious pull out.

I caught the only fish of the day on a #16 orange/yellow Stimulator right next to where we left the car. It ended up being the biggest brook trout I've caught and it was fun having a dry fly take

so late in the season. The amazing colors on these brook trout have really won me over. Even though

they are the runts I've really enjoyed fishing these small streams. That being said we fished hard the rest of the morning with stimulators, dry-dropper rigs, and nymps, without another bite. Overall the water was pretty

low and there weren't many good holding places (at least that were obvious to me!) The banks are also pretty rugged and makes sneaking pretty tough. I'd really like to solve the puzzle on this river because it's so close, but I left not feeling confident that there were a lot of fish to catch. If anybody has any advice on what to try let me know I'd love to go back.

Rivanna River, Charlottesville

Long-time follower, first-time blogger

Pat, Taylor and I have been enjoying some much-needed time on the water since finishing our surgery rotation in early October. We continued this trend on Thursday afternoon after getting the nod from our resident. We headed to the Rivanna to try our luck at pulling out a bass on a fly. It was a great cloudy afternoon and all three of us had success as soon as we could get our gold Kreelex patterns in the water. We caught fish steadily until dark, and Pat hooked up with the biggest fish of the day that ended up breaking his bug off before he could land it. A fifteen minute drive up 29 is well worth the effort to spend an afternoon catching some of these little guys.

I went back on Sunday afternoon after getting a lot of rain on Saturday. The river was moving a lot of water through and it was pretty tough to wade more than about ten yards from the bank. Fortunately that was all it took because I caught fish steadily until it was too dark to see what I was doing. More smallmouth, bluegill and the occasional crappie.

South Fork Mills River, SC

After a month of long shifts and scenery that included the confined walls of the OR during my surgery rotation, nothing could have been more what the doctor ordered than a day on the river. I recently moved to Spartanburg, SC for my third year rotations, and had yet to do anything in the way of wetting the waders since doing so. But today was a welcome day of exploration of my new local waters.

From Spartanburg, it's a short, easy drive on 26 to the rivers of Western NC. In another sense, you can basically throw a stone from Asheville in any direction and be in some good trout water. In fact, the few guys I ran into today stated that Western NC is fly fishing heaven.

I started the morning near Saluda, exploring the Green River. This is a tailwater probably best known for its Green River Gorge section called the Narrows, which is popular with kayakers. The two main access points are from a spot called Fishtop Access east off exit 59, and another from Big Hungry Road off exit 53. I was all set in my mind for taking on the Gorge section, but when I talked to the helpful guys in the Curtis Wright fly shop in Saluda, they informed me that due to the water release, I had better steer clear as it can be a dangerous section to fish. The river drops 900 feet in about 1/2 mile, making for some challenging pool fishing, but more importantly the unpredictable water release simply makes it a dangerous area for fishermen. I'll have to learn more about this, because I have heard some good things about the fishing in this section despite the difficult access.

So, the guys in the shop helped me out with a NC license, a map, and sent me on my way to the South Fork Mills River. This river, along with many other notable North Carolina streams like the Davidson, Looking Glass Creek, Avery Creek, and the North and West Forks of the French Broad River, can be accessed from route 208 past Hendersonville near the town of Brevard. The access for the S. Fork Mills River is from Turkey Pen road off 208, which is an immediate dirt road from the highway that takes you back a few miles to the river trail head. From there, you must hike about a half mile to the river to a wooden bridge, and from there it's best to follow the trail upstream (for as far as 12 miles if you like). I caught about a half dozen wild rainbows, the biggest being about 12 inches, during my few hours on the river. The guys in the shop told me that the river is actually known for its abundance of wild browns, which not surprisingly tend to be a lot more difficult to catch, especially in the low, clear fall conditions. For those of you more familiar with the Virginia streams, I would best describe the South Fork Mills as a slightly wider, flatter grade mountain stream that holds its share of bigger trout, with the chance for some nice browns.

After a successful first time on the South Mills, I decided to check out what all the fuss was about with the Davidson, which is about 10 minutes down the road on 208. The description would be about the same as that of the South Mills, although the access is much easier. The river essentially parallels route 276, and for that reason, along with its stricter catch and release rules, it is a much more popular river. I have read that due to the special regulations, the trout are in particular abundance here and can reach fish-tale size. Any conversation about North Carolina trout fishing apparently includes the Davidson, and certainly I am looking forward to finding a less popular time to go so I can have those big browns to myself.

The following are links to Davidson River Outfitters (intersection of 208 and 276), and the Curtis Wright Fly Shop:

http://www.davidsonflyfishing.com/

http://www.curtiswrightoutfitters.com/

Mossy 10/16/11

Kyle and I crushed it at Mossy this past Sunday. Despite a bluebird sky, we did well on the surface as well as with nymphs. The browns took humpies with copper john/pheasant tail droppers all day like the world was about to end. We didn't catch any hogs, but we landed some beauties in the 12-14 inch range, mostly in the riffles. Fish were definitely paired up and tailing; looks like the spawn is on at Mossy. I fall in love with that creek a little more each time I visit.

Fishing Report: Upper Rapidan River

This past weekend I was fortunate enough to have my first fishing trip of the fall. The weather was perfect with a mild breeze sending an early batch of chlorophyll-less American Beech leaves sailing.

I dabbled in tossing nymphs for only a few minutes before I saw a single dark mayfly; Enough incentive for me to throw on a newly tied Parachute Adams. Ten minutes later I was hooked on to a very fat, very lively Brooke trout that managed to drag me down two pools (that's what happens when you insist on using 7x tippet in the Park.)

Lately I've been finding myself doing less fishing when I go fishing. This time was no exception. After catching enough trout to healthily pad my ego I spent the rest of the afternoon vegetating before having to return to the hustle and bustle of life.

All in all, a wonderful day to be out on the river.

Rivanna Largemouth 9/2011

Greg and I spooked out the Rivanna below the dam on the north end of Charlottesville this week. We found a mediocre bite until about 530 when the largemouth really turned on. This is one of the few spots on the Rivanna where we regularly catch largemouth bass as opposed to smallies. We mainly used silver and gold standard floating Rapalas, but I'm sure if we had been fly fishing we would have had great success with kreelex or any wooley bugger pattern. We should have another couple weeks of great bass fishing left this season before the bite cools off with the weather. Get out there and take advantage of it!