Brookie TR

Finally able to post up a TR.  Managed to get out this morning for about 3 hours and hit a nearby brookie stream.  This stream gets hammered by people on the weekends, but since it was a Friday I thought I'd try my luck.

Stream temperature were chilly when I first started wet wading, but got better as it got closer to noon.  Water levels were still looking good from all that rain last week and the brookies were aggressive today.  I managed to catch a good amount, but most had no size to them.

I came to this pool above and it looks like TU or something came through and built this dam to create this really nice pool.  I was throwing a stimi and it got crushed by a 9 inch brook trout.  It wasn't so much the length, but the girth on this trout that amazed me.  Unfortunately as I was fumbling for the camera, he slipped out of my hands and shook out the hook.  Kinda disappointing that the big fish of the day came off without a picture, but oh well.  Here are some pictures from today.

My Brookie Stream

I call it my brookie stream since it is the stream that means the most to me here in Virginia.  It gets very little fishing pressure due to the difficulty to reach the stream and it is the stream where I caught my first wild brook trout and ultimately feel in love with bluelining.  I went out this morning with a guy I met and had a much needed day of wild brookies.  The water levels were just perfect from all the rain that hurricane Irene gave us and the good water levels also made the trout really active.  I brought 6 to hand and had countless hits and LDR's.  The guy I fished with caught 8.  We were only on the water for a couple hours, so we had good  numbers for the time spent. 

This brookie was the biggest I caught today and is a really good trout for this creek.  He was around 8 inches and really smashed my stimulater.  The brookies in this stream are really strong and meaty trout.  It's refreshing to see a stream do so well and the brook trout really thrive.  So enough of the talking, here are some pictures of the trout I caught, the stream, and some underwater shots.

Hope you all enjoyed and more bluelines to come soon!

Rain+Dry Flies=Good morning

Don't have class till 3 so I decided to hit a pond before the rainy week begins.  Was able to fish from 10 to almost 1.  Rained pretty hard towards the end of my outing but the bass and panfish started slamming topwater flies so I toughed it out for another hour.

Notice the still water in this picture

And the not so still water in this picture

I haven't posted up a report here in a while, so here are some pics from a couple local Lynchburg ponds I've hit up.

Nothing spectacular, but they are fish and enough to hold me over until syllabus shock is over and I get back in the routine of classes.

This is a picture of a back of a car that made my night!

And today I went down to the James river with my brother to fish a little and cook a few brats.   Made my first fire using a flint so that was a first for me.  Nothing big today at the James, but just wanted to get out and pester a few bass and gills with the fly rod.

The dreaded hike back to the jeep........Boy am I getting out of shape.  My freshman year in college when I still wrestled and was in shape this hike was nothing, but now that I'm in my senior year and have been out of wrestling for two years, I hate the hikes back.

Moccasin Creek Venting

Warning, there is lots of venting in this post, so your warned.

I was not even going to post a report for this trip, but thought I would so if anyone thinks of visiting the creek I fly fished……they will stumble upon this and change their minds!  I finally had time to make a two and a half hour trip up to North Georgia to hit a wild trout stream, so after doing some research on Moccasin Creek, I thought it would be a winner of a choice.  Here is an excerpt from a website I found.

“The stream within the Lake Burton Wildlife Management Area can be accessed via the Hemlock Falls Trail. Above an area of water falls, Moccasin Creek contains wild rainbow and brown trout and there are some below the falls where the stream flows though a gorge. The stream flows though a valley. This is a very nice area to fish but requires a little effort to reach.”

Wild Rainbows and Brown Trout below the falls, Brook Trout above the falls, and requires effort to reach?  Sounds good right….. WRONG.

So after a two and half hour drive to the stream I hike in and the stream is gorgeous, I’ll give it that.  Immediately felt like I was back where I belong and started fishing up the stream.  After about 3 pools with no hits, no rising trout, and no sightings of trout I knew something was wrong.  Sure enough, about three hours later I am way above Hemlock Falls on Moccasin Creek and I spot two poachers with their spinning rods and creel bags!  That explained everything!  As I walked by them as they fished, I thought I’d at least be polite and ask if they caught anything.  One of the guys looks at me with a dirty look and spits his dip spit in the creek and looks the other way.  I rolled my eyes and continued ahead.  I was hot, but I just bit my tongue and left after another thirty minutes due to breaking my fly rod shortly before running into the poachers (That did help to how I was feeling).  But the stream is not hard to get to at all like the websites say.  There were people swimming in the creek and people hiking all over the place!  Had a huge flat trail and I guess for Clarkesville, Hemlock Falls is their local swimming hole.  If you are looking for a wild trout stream, do not go here! To many tourist and looks like the stream gets hit hard!  I didn’t have a miserable time though, I did enjoy being out on the side of a mountain stream and besides the two goobers fishing in front of me the whole time and the broken fly rod, it was fun.  I did getting some waffle house for breakfast and boiled peanuts on the trip back, so that’s a win in my book!  Here are some pics:

The Two Goobers truck bed had a container of worms in the back, guess they are poaching regulars!

Good Mood Food

Broken Fly Rod....UGH

Summer Time Warmwater

Here is a little update and pictures from some warmwater pond and lake outings in July.  Been pretty busy with work and an online class, but still have been able to get out to fish about 3 to 4 times a week.  On the exception of Saturdays, all of my fishing has been done in the evening right before dusk, so I have been throwing a lot of topwater to gills and bass.  I've gotten into some big bream and a lot of bass.  Have yet to catch a bass over two pounds yet this summer, but still hoping I can make it happen soon.  Here are some pictures from the last two or so weeks.

Thanks for reading and I promise I haven't turned into a Warmwater only fly fisherman!  Living on the south side of Atlanta for the summer makes heading up to north Georgia bluelines hard when you also factor in the full time job and an online class.  It's killing me.  But planning on heading up to the mountains of North Georgia next weekend for a much needed day trip.  Till then I have a little mountain stream with 6 inch brookies on my mind!  

Take care, Jacob