Spring into Summer

Spring Into Summer

 

A lot has been happening over the last several months.

The 17 year cicada, Brood II, has been hatching in the south, and I’ve chased after smallmouth on the James River in Virginia and Carp on Belews Lake in North Carolina with large Cicada Patterns.

 

We floated the James from Lynchburg down about eight miles to the next state boat ramp which is located above Joshua Falls. The James was rolling high and mighty on my first trip and not too many fish were boated, but by the next week the level was down to a more normal flow and many smallies were taken including a 20” brute.  Although this smallie took a Gurgler, I noticed that it had a cicada in its gullet, and perhaps we should have stuck with that pattern.

 

 

 

 

 

Then I got a call to go carping! I was a little skeptical, but met a couple of internet “friends” at the boat ramp during some sketchy weather brought to us by a tropical depression. We motored around the lake shoreline looking for cruising carp, most were Grass Carp, but we also had a number of shots at Common Carp, the more aggressive of the two species. Luck over skill brought this 34” beast to the next and gave me a new appreciation to perhaps the largest fresh-water species that can be caught on a fly rod. The second crap trip was filled with frustration as a number of fish were missed but at the end of the day everybody had boated some fish and I also caught two catfish on the surface as they too were looking for the Cicadas.

 

https://vimeo.com/68186784

 

The TVA has been dropping the lake levels to normal summer pool from the excess highs that the strong spring storms brought to the southeast, finally giving us a few wading opportunities on the South Holston River. The Sulfur hatches, E. Invaria , have been magnificent, and the trouts, while not always easy, have been gorging themselves on natures bounty. The rainbows were plumped up with their bellies filled to the gills.  Many anglers had the same idea and hit the river during the low water wading opportunities. The crowed conditions forced me into unfamiliar waters, but I managed to find fish in areas that I hadn’t caught fish before. The conditions changed throughout the day and many different patterns were used as the nature of the hatch changed with the pulse of the dam’s generation.

 

Next up was a visit to a friend’s place in the NC high country were we hit the small headwater creeks for some rainbows and browns in a remote and beautiful setting.  These trout were eager to hit large hopper and stimulator patterns and were fun to catch as they hit the fly with lightning speed and required quick reflexes to hook.

 

Now we’re headed into July and the dog days of summer, will my local streams be fishable soon? Or will the daily thunder storms keep them high and muddy, with the TVA and Corps of Engineers running water to keep the lakes below full pond.  This might be the summer of the small creeks, or perhaps more carping and smallmouth action. I’m not sure what opportunity will pop up next, but I’ll be ready.

 

As always, check out the BRFFF http://www.brfff.com/forum/ for full Woolly Bugger Trip Reports, and much, much, more!