4/21/2011

River now has receded back to normal levels.  The fishing has been exceptional.  Fish have been gorging on worms and bugs dislodged.  Many fish in the 24+ range.  I expect heavy hatch today and steady dry action now.  Post your fishing reports!

4/16/2011

Wow!  River swollen and disgorging lots of debris.  We had a gorge clean-up planned for today but that's been taken care of!  Fishing will resume soon.  Past week action has been good to very good with traditionals working.  Here's a very large brookie taken early in the week from the main river and nicely released to my favorite spot.

4/4/2011

Nice storm passing through.  What's it going to do?  Yesterday fish were active.  I predict fish will be tougher today.  We'll work on wind casting this evening!

Alec Sarwas had a 25 fish day yesterday with lots of browns on Hares Ear and Wooly tandem in DH.  His last fish of the day was a 21" Brown going 3-4 lbs on brown wooly.  His camera failed him ("batteries in the wrong way" was the excuse) but he did have a witness!  Good job Alec.  Hope you get 'em again today.

April 3, 2011

Bait-chunkers and spinners pretty much had their 2 day rape yet left complaining "not enough fish to kill!"  I don't dispise someone who wants to keep and eat, if needed, but most of these fish will be thrown aside or left to freezer burn.  What a waste!  Glad it's over, or just getting started (again) depending on how you look at it, I guess.  Some things are too good to be left alone by man.  I understand the wardens were busy.  If the folks who descend on the river during April are such sports-minded folks, why so many violations? 

Still, here's a picture of a very fine young man who passionately fishes the right way with an awesome catch.  True to form, I had to torture him to get him to tell me the story (yeah, right!), and he was ever so happy to tell me what fly he was using and where the fish was caught (yeah, right, again!).  Nice catch and release, Aaron Moore (20" Brook in DH caught 4/3/2011 estimated 3-4 lbs.).

Regulations

There is a formal "process" for the public's affecting formation of the regulations governing fish and game.  If anyone is interested, give me an email and I'll shoot you a copy of the file.

While it would be nice to have certain changes in the regs, many are "out of our reach".  For instance, it is doubtful we could ever get DH water boundaries extended to include the now Hatchery-Supported section of Wilson Creek.  But, we might be successful in getting the regs changed so that DH waters are "fly-only", and/or do not open in June to "take" status.

I think this is worth pursuing.  I will speak about this in our next meeting.

March 26th, 2011

Next meeting April 4th to feature "CASTING" on the beach.  Bring your gear.  Let's attempt to meet as early as possible.  Come directly to the Dance Hall area and proceed to the beach.

Fishing very good trending to excellent.  The weather fluctuations are making the fish unpredictable (who cares?).  C-Bo, Alan, and John have been see stinging quite a few fish lately!  They look like they know what they are doing so I am leaving them alone (probably couldn't keep up with 'em anyhow).

Wet Woolies in brown or olive #12 followed by #12-14 BH Stone or BH Pheasant-tail working well in tandem rigs.  Some quill gordon hatching with BWO and soon caddis (down here working, anyway). 

I'll have pictures on the next posting.  Send me what you have if you want your mug out there.

Reminder - Gorge Clean Up on April 16th meet at Visitor Center 10am.

Striper Trip to Roanoke Rapids anyone?

I've got a guide friend keeping May 8 (leave in the am and fish pm) and 9 (fish am and leave pm) open for a fly fishing group, if anyone is interested.  The cost is about $200, depending on #.  We can get an additional boat, if needed.  3 max per boat.  I've made this an annual event and it is awesome!  A "must" trip of a lifetime.  Visit www.pamlicoguide.com and click Roanoke Rapids for more info.  We'd be fishing with Capt. Beckwith.