We have gotten pounded by rain this month.  We have had over 12 inches of rain in Asheville, NC  as of May 29.  A lot of people have called to ask us whether or not we can still fish and if we have any tips for how to successfully fly fish when the waters are raging.  There is a point where we just cannot safely or productively catch trout on the fly, and we have cancelled several trips for that reason.  The good news is that the Delayed Harvest and Wild Water trout streams in our area clear fast and while they may stay high you can catch trout.  When you have high water the fish look for slower spots.  That means they go to the bottom of the rivers or the side.  We either add a ton of weight and dredge the bottom with stonefly nymphs and worms flies or we put on a shallow dry and dropper rig and fish the eddies along the edges of the river.  In the spring trout metabolisms are at their peak and so are the aquatic insects hatching.  We have yellow sallies, cahills, small blue winged olives, drakes starting, some salmon flies, and assorted caddis.  The high water knocks a bunch of nymphs off their perches and the water is full of food.  The other advantage of high water is that the fish usually can’t see you coming.  Rough water is hard to see through and its very noisy so sneaking up on trout is usually much easier in high water.  We typically catch fish on high water within 20 feet of us.  You can also fish with pretty heavy tippet.  Typically in Pisgah National Forest and other Streams around Asheville we use 5x and 6 x tippet.  When the water is high we can use 3x and 4x.  That makes fighting trout in rough water much easier and we lose many fewer flies.  The photo on this post is a 7 day history of the Davidson River.   It’s a stream that clears very fast and as soon as you can safely wade it fish are on the banks feeding.  Give us a call if you ever need a guide to show you some of the high water techniques listed above.

www.browntroutflyfishing.com/wadetrips

Summer fly fishing in Asheville, North Carolina can be very fun but knowing where to go is very helpful.  Delayed Harvest waters are opened to catch and kill on the first Saturday in June and as a result we don’t have many catch and release streams with high fish numbers during the summer.  We spend a ton of time guiding on the famed Davidson River during the summer.  The Davidson River Fish Hatchery creates a super cool sight fishing opportunity and while the trout are very selective they absolutely can be caught.  We spend hundreds of days each summer up there and are happy to show you some of our tactics.  We also spend a lot of time fishing all of the small branches that feed all of the delayed harvest streams we guide during the cool months.  The small feeder creeks hav

e small fish but they are full of beautiful wild rainbow trout, brown trout, and at the top native brook trout.  No one will give you names of their favorite wild trout stream, but exploring unkown water is half the fun of hiking in and fishing wild trout streams.  Thirdly we still fish the delayed harvest streams.  A week or two after bloody Saturday the fish that survive the harvest will come out from under the rocks and start to feed again.  The state also sneaks another stocking of trout into DH streams mid summer and the bait dunkers are all gone by then.  Asheville has great fly fishing during the warm months but having some local expertise to get in the right spot can be a huge help.  Give us a call if you want some guided fly fishing help this summer or anytime.  803-431-9437

www.browntroutflyfishing.com