Great Day Exploring in the Mountains-more pics added

[NCHillbilly]

Yesterday, I decided to branch out a little and fish some new water. Drove an hour and a half north and east into an area I have never fished before.

Breakfast of champions:



After some windshield time, I arrived in a rugged, beautiful, isolated area, with a multitude of clear, cold streams draining some of the highest mountains in the east.

First thing, I hiked back into the watershed of a small tributary stream, hoping to find some native specks.

When I found these Mayan ruins, I thought I had somehow wound up in the Yucatan:



I soon heard running water, and broke through the rhododendrons into a beautiful small creek. Looks like speck water!



Except that I caught four of these out of that first hole:



I fished about a quarter-mile up the creek, and veered up a smaller tributary that emptied in. Still rainbows in every hole, no specks.

I decided to do some more exploring, so I hiked back out and drove on up the watershed on a little gravel road. Found a trailhead on a bigger stream, and set out upstream. This was an absolutely beautiful stream. I would have enjoyed it even if the fish hadn't been hitting.

 

[Nicodemus]

Beautiful water and countryside!

 

[whitetailfreak]

Now that's a good day!

 

[4HAND]

Man what a pretty area! Wonder what those ruins were?

 

[NCHillbilly]

Everything was lush and vibrantly green. Mountain laurels, bluets, and other things were blooming along the stream, and colorful butterflies were fluttering around everywhere by the thousands:







How was the fishing, you ask?

It was fantastic. Almost every hole yielded one or more colorful 8"-11" rainbows:



Along with a good many brilliantly-colored browns:





I even caught one bonus, beautifully colored 8" speck, which I wasn't expecting in water this size:



I fished a yellow Stimulator until the fish literally chewed the hackles off of it and thought I was doing great, but after I tied on a big Charlie's Whopper, I started really catching fish. This is one of my favorite flies, there's just something about it that fish can't resist this time of year. I had to remove it from several with hemostats. They wanted that bug.



I soon got lost in the running water, scenery, great weather, and colorful, feisty fish. These fish on average were some of the most colorful and lively trout that I've ever caught. Every rainbow would jump repeatedly, and even the browns and the speck jumped at least once. A 10" fish felt like it was much bigger. Very, very game and strong fish. I very soon lost count, but I am not exaggerating at all when I say I bet I caught a hundred trout. And almost every one of them would have been a legal keeper, almost no little 5"-6" dinks.

Before I knew it, I realized that I was probably three miles upstream from my truck, and shadows were starting to lengthen. I came to this big, deep hole, and got no hits on the dry fly.


I tied on a Prince nymph, and made two casts into the swift tongue of water at the head of the pool. One cast yielded a 10" rainbow, and the other one an 11" brown. I thought that was an excellent stopping point, so I clipped the fly off and bushwhacked up the mountain to an old gated FS road, and started the long hike out, tired and tuckered, but happy and fulfilled. It was just one of those perfect days that come along ever so often. And all day, I never even saw a sign of another fisherman. This is one of the best days of fishing I've had in a long time. I needed that.

Fin.

 

[Mr Bya Lungshot]

Ironic to see a wild sign in the wild huh?
I ran across some old signs this past year on a wma. A few were from the late 60’s early 70’s and I instantly knew then I was in the right place.

 

[natureman]

Nice photos of your trip.

 

[jbogg]

That is a great day in anybody’s book. I love exploring new ground as well, and that’s what I have really come to like about public land. A seemingly limitless number of ridges to explore in what I consider the most beautiful ground in the whole country.

 

[Cmp1]

Gotta love the NC mountains,,,,great pic's and great trout,,,,

 

[NCHillbilly]

Gotta love the NC mountains,,,,great pic's and great trout,,,,

Yep, this time of year makes up for the months of frozen, gray cold, for sure.

 

[Nicodemus]

Those pictures take me back 45 years, fishing the Pisgah National Forest.

And even further back fishing the Soque River and staying at the Mark Of The Potter in Habersham County Georgia.

To be able to go back in time just once......

 

[blood on the ground]

Absolutely beautiful place there sir! Congratulations on a great day trout fishing also!

 

[NCHillbilly]

Those pictures take me back 45 years, fishing the Pisgah National Forest.

To be able to go back in time just once......

And this just happened to be in the PNF. Our public land here is truly a treasure. Between the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests, and the GSM National Park, there are millions of acres of beautiful, wild country to explore, hunt, and fish. My county is probably over half public land.

 

[Cmp1]

Yep, this time of year makes up for the months of frozen, gray cold, for sure.

Yep,,,,

 

[kmckinnie]

Thanks for sharing. ?

 

[strothershwacker]

The woods and waters is where man was meant to live. Shame we've boogerd that up & now only get to visit. Great pics NC!

 

[trad bow]

Thanks for posting the pictures. I’ve got to get back up there and sooner than later.

 

[Rabun]

Can't think of a better way to recharge the old mental batteries! Thanks for taking us along. Some beautiful fish you brought to hand!

 

[lawnman]

Jealous here! Great pics. May I ask you flyrod weight and length when fishing these little streams?

 

[NCHillbilly]

Jealous here! Great pics. May I ask you flyrod weight and length when fishing these little streams?

I was using my ancient 8' 3 wt Redington that day. Good all around rod. I recently got a 10' 3 wt that I'm liking more all the time. A 9' 3 wt would probably be the best of both worlds, but they're hard to find without spending a fortune. Anything shorter than 7 1/2'- 8' is about worthless on small streams. Too many conflicting currents and rocks to create drag, and you're often roll casting, flipping, or bow and arrow casting, all of which don't work well with a shorty.