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.
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!
