Delayed Harvest Troutfest

Nathaniel, Asher and I had a big time catching trout in the North Carolina mountains last week. With photos being our main objective, we went for easy pickings, hitting Delayed Harvest waters on the Nantahala and Tuckasegee rivers and Big Snowbird Creek. All had gotten an initial spring stocking, so the trout were plenty plentiful, with a few large fish in the mix.

We experienced weather ranging from ice in line guides and snow falling to sunshine and high 50s, and generally enjoyed just exploring the areas. Adding intrigue, the three stream stretches we fished are all quite different from one another in character.

North Carolina's DH waters are open only to catch-and-release fishing with single-hook artificial lures from Oct. 1 until the first Saturday in June. For folks who enjoy fishing with artificial lures and don't mind putting them back, waters managed this way in several Southern states offer great trout-catching opportunities. Fly-fishermen make the most use of these waters, but spin-fishing is completely fine, as long as each lure in your possession is equipped with only a single hook, and no soft plastics have any scent or flavor.

My boys and I do our trout fishing mostly with hard baits, especially Rebel Crawfish and Tracdown Minnows, sometimes mixing in some small jigs or spoons when the fish want something different. Rebel Crawfish were easily our top producers last week. The most productive specific Rebel Craw model was a Deep Teeny Wee Craw, although Asher got on the big fish really well with a Middle Wee Crawfish one day.

One thing worth noting about DH waters. Because they are so productive, they are also extremely popular. If you decide to visit, do so on a weekday, if possible, and arrive early. By midday during the spring, accessible spots tend to fill up and the fish get much more wary.

A Dozen Delightful Days

Yesterday, I recapped half a dozen specific favorite fish from 2014, so today I thought I'd highlight a few of my favorite days on the water. When I looked back, though, I had a hard time narrowing it to a few. In fact, I picked a dozen, and I'd have a hard time ranking those, which only serves to remind me what a blessing it is to get to travel and fish and write fish stories for a living. And even with a dozen stellar days listed, I could have included several others. Listing is roughly in calendar order. Where a fuller post from the day exists, I've included "Blog Post" link.

Alabama Baitcaster Crappie - TJ Stallings and I spent a crazy fun day catching giant black crappie on Road Runner Rollin' Runners matched with 4-inch swimbaits, all on baitcasting gear with 14-pound test. Most weighed 2 pounds or more. Two broke the 3-pound mark. Blog Post

Bass Crazy Hobie Day - Nathaniel and I got to spend a couple of days with the Hobie Kayaks crew, trying out boats and taking photos, and enjoyed some seriously fast action bass fishing on private waters in South Alabama. In case you've ever wondered, fishing with your son, each in your own little Hobie Pro Angler, and catching more bass than you count, is seriously fun.

Wading the White - During last year's Gaston's trip, Nathaniel and I spent half a day fishing on our own, and as much as I always enjoy going out with the guides, there was something extra fun about wading shoals straight out from the resort, picking our own spots and catching a bunch of trout on Rebel Crawfish and Minnows and Ugly Bugs. Blog Post

Dry Run Farewell - No fishing for me on this outing. It was Nathaniel's final two-hour visit to his
favorite youth-only stream in Arkansas before he turned 16, and he managed to catch a huge and beautiful brown trout.

Niagara Slam - I mentioned this day with Capt. Frank Campbell yesterday because it included a brown trout that was one of my favorite individual fish from 2014. We mostly fished for smallmouths, and I'd guess we caught 50-plus fish that range from about 3 pounds to a weighed 5-15. Then, we put a cap on the day by running up the river and adding a steelhead and a lake trout.

Deadwood Finale' - Simple and fun. Wading right through Deadwood, South Dakota with friends from Cabela's and then exploring the canyon just downstream of town and catching more than our share of beautiful brown trout. Blog Post

Smallmouths in Sight - Clear, shallow water in the Sturgeon Bay areas and loads of big smallmouths absolutely locked in. Let's just say that we put the new Ugly Stik Elite outfits to a really good test that day!

El Salto, El Grande - This is another one I mentioned yesterday because it included my biggest largemouth in several years. Often you have to choose to go after numbers or target big fish. Paul Davis of Abu Garcia and I didn't have to pick on day one of my trip to Angler's Inn, which yielded 70 fish, including my 9-2, before lunch! Blog Post

Splendid Sequatchie - One of my favorite kinds of fishing is wet wading a cool-water stream for multiple species with spinning tackle, and the day I spent with Pat Roberson was that style of fishing at it's very best. We both fished with a single lure all day, and we caught countless fish and nine different species. Blog Post

Big Snowbird Plan Change - Nathaniel and I thought our day was done before it started when a muddy dirt road prevented us from getting to the delayed harvest section of Big Snowbird Creek. We instead waded a downstream section that probably hadn't been stocked for a couple of months, but the fish were surprisingly plentiful and quite cooperative, and we had the stream to ourselves. Blog Post

Asher's Birthday Outing - Asher and I only caught 10 trout in a pretty full day, but it was his first North Carolina trout outing, and it was just plain fun spending the day together knee deep in a stream. We also were celebrating his 10th birthday, so catching 10 fish was kind of cool. Blog Post

Ice Season Start - Going back only a couple of weeks, I quickly forgot about my nine bonus hours in MSP airport after I got on the ice with Jeff Sundin and Jon Thelen of Lindy. The first crappie came moments after I dropped a line in a hole, and the crappie/sunfish action never let up. The weather was also mighty nice, for ice fishing, and it was just plain fun being back out there. Blog Post

Trout Itch Worse

Big Snowbird Creek, near Robbinsville, N.C.

You know how when you scratch an itch it only gets itchier? Of course you do. Well. It would seem an itch to fish for trout is much the same way.

Last week's trip to western North Carolina included three marvelous days on the Nantahala River and Big Snowbird Creek. With the weather cooling a bit, leaves changing and North Carolina's delayed harvest season opening, I had been itching to get in a stream and to catch some trout. Those waters were soothing, while I was standing in them. However, the itch has been worse than ever this week as I've been sitting at the computer, writing fish stories, and I keep finding myself wading up stream in daydreams. Some streams are nearby and very familiar. Others are legendary waters much farther from home that I've never seen with my own eyes.

At the risk of making things even worse, I really need to get back in a stream next week, if not this weekend!

Double Ugly Rig

Trout I caught on a jig/fly tandem rig last week were about
evenly divided between taking the jig and the fly.

Fly-fishermen commonly use dropper flies, drifting a nymph beneath a bushy dry fly, a pair of nymphs or some other combination, and I've recently found good pond fishing success with by trailing a No. 10 or 12 Hare's Ear or other nymph behind an Ugly Bug, which is my name for any hair jig I tie. The idea of the rig is have something a bit smaller and freer moving trailing the Ugly Bug. When a fish turns on the bigger bug but resists hitting, the smaller offering behind it provides a second chance at an easier target.

Knowing I'd be fishing mountain streams last week, I tied up a handful if "Ugly Nymphs," creating buggy offerings from fur, feathers and No. 8 (the smallest size I had at the time) Daiichi Bleeding Bait octopus-style hooks. I didn't try them at the Nantahala because the stream was high and somewhat stained, so the fish were already in reaction mode. Big Snowbird was super clear, though, so after we'd fished a while I decided to tie a bit of 4-pound leader to the bend of my Ugly Bug hook and tie an Ugly Nymph to the terminal end. The one I chose was all peacock, with a narrow, peacock wrapped body and a few short strands of peacock hurl creating a tail. It looked buggy to me, but I'm not a trout.

Some fish agreed. Whether I caught more fish than I would have without it I really don't know, but my catch was split about half and half between the jig and the fly from the time I added the trailer, so I tend to think that at least a couple of those fish would not have hit the jig alone.

I've since gotten some smaller hooks of the same style, and I have some specific bugs in mind that I want to tie and try. In other words, the Double Ugly experiment has only just begun!

Better Bring the Gloves (or Stay Home)

Western North Carolina forecast calls for an overnight low in the bottom of the 20s or upper teens(possible record low for the date), ushered in by a brisk north wind. Chilly for standing knee deep in a mountain river, but I figure that's why we have quality cold-weather gear. I know Nathaniel can handle the cold because he spent a late November day out there with me five years ago, when it was 17 degrees at starting time, and he was only 10 years old at the time. And then there was the ice trout excursion in Colorado when the huge cold front pushed through!

I'm admittedly hopeful that today's forecast of afternoon rain and snow showers, followed by hard cold, will lessen the number of other folks standing in the creek. I don't really mind other folks, and I know they have every bit as much right to be in the stream as I do. Still, I can't deny that I prefer less company when I'm trout fishing.

Plans are to spend some time fishing the Nantahala River (which, of course, is a highly popular stream this time of year and doesn't lend itself to much solitude). We also plan to explore a section of Big Snowbird Creek that was just added to the Delayed Harvest program this year. I'm eager to visit Big Snowbird, which is located just outside of Robbinsville in Graham County.

All that said, we may not go at all. I'm still watching the ever-evolving forecast. I truly don't mind the cold, but I don't want to drive two hours to spend half of tomorrow sitting in a motel room, waiting for ice to melt on the driveway so I can fish a few hours.