Foscoe Fishing Company’s Fly Fishing Blog
The Foscoe Fishing Company Blog is the perfect place for us to share our adventures with you. Our guides take great joy in their job (if you were an avid fisherman wouldn’t you like to get paid to do it on a frequent basis?) and recounting adventures of the day is one way to share the joy.
We would also love to hear from you! Feel free to contact us and tell us your story. Send in your pictures, too, we’ll be happy to add them to the blog.
Caddis on the Watauga
The past week has seen a return of caddis on the Watauga tailwater. I spent yesterday evening fishing dries to rising fish and was rewarded with a 17″ wild rainbow and several smaller fish for my efforts. The afternoon bite has seemed to be better, but the recreational release tends to hamper angler’s abilities to fish late into the evening. Most of the best dry fly opportunities and nymphing runs are not accessible to wade fishermen, so anglers should check with the shop for float trip availability.
Wednesday 25 2010
Fished some small streams last Wednesday and had great conditions on a half day trip. Water levels have been good due to recent rainfall and cool nights have also helped cool the water. We started fishing a good looking run in the morning catching some small but beautiful wild trout and then spotted a nice fish holding on the bottom of the run.
We fished to this fish for a while with no luck and changed flies three or four times. Finally, I decided to go small and put on a size 22 midge and boom, fish on! This fish was a nice rainbow around 18″. We continued to catch wild fish the rest half of the day. Its a great time to take advantage of some good fishing so call us to book a trip today!
August 23 2010 Fishing Report
After such a hot, dry spell, the high country has received a noticeable amount of rainfall and much cooler temperatures. This combination has made for some productive fishing! Good numbers of fish have been caught locally on various small streams. The preferred method of fishing when water levels are high and off colored is to nymph with the standard two fly dropper nymph rig. Its not a bad idea to go a few sizes larger during these conditions. Also, a smaller “dead drifted” woolly bugger can trigger some awesome strikes! Come take advantage of some great fishing opportunities in the high country today!
Muddy Waters
I have had a lot of people coming into the shop the last few days worried the rivers are too muddy to fish. One thing to remember is that trout are mostly visual feeders, even if the water is muddy they will still feed as long as they can see. The way I judge water color is by how deep you can see the river bottom. If you can see about a foot down chances are you will have good fishing. Fish similar water to what you normally do but size your flies a little bigger. It might even be a good idea to try some streamers. So don’t be afraid of a little mud, get out there and see what you can find you might be surprised.
Good luck!
matt
Low water fishing tips
When summer is here and the rain isn’t don’t worry, fishing can sometimes be more productive. Yes, you need to move to the headwaters where the water stays cool. We all know trout need cold clean water so when we have lower than normal water levels trout can be found more concentrated in the deeper pools where the sun cannot penetrate or in deeper runs and riffles where the water has higher oxygen levels.
Look for feeder creeks coming into the main river these are typically spring fed and offer a cool refuge for trout. Smaller nymphs are geneally the rule of thumb; we recomment a size 18 (sometimes a size 20) hares ear in natural. Terrestrials and yellow or dun mayfly patterns work well on top also. Always be conscious of the water temperatures, if the water is too warm the fish can’t always recover from the stress of the catch and release so bring a thermometer.
Always remember to quickly release the fish and try whenever possible to remove the fly without taking the fish out of the water. The less stress you put on the fish the better chance they have of being caught another day! Our high elevation offers some excellent headwater stream fishing throughout the year.
