Blue Ridge Mountain Fishing Report May 8th, 2008
May provides anglers with some of the most beautiful days of the year and some of the best fishing opportunities. May is the last month until October that Delayed Harvest streams are catch and release and they are loaded with fish. Two great DH options are the Watauga River outside of Boone and Helton Creek on the Virginia North Carolina border in Ashe County. Both of these rivers have been having good hatches with a grey caddis dominating the bug mix. For anglers intent on catching trout on dry flies now is the time. Both tent wing and elk hair patterns in #14 and #16 are effective. Other insects include an assortment of mayflies and stone flies in various colors. Yellow and green stone flies in sizes #16 and #18 have begun to hatch and will continue to be a good fly to use through June. We have a great CDC Yellow sally pattern at the shop that matches these little stoneflies perfectly. The parachute adams in all sizes imitate all of the darker color mayflies including the large March Browns and is a must have in your fly box. Yellow mayflies have also started to come off through out the day and can be imitated with sulpher and PMD patterns size 16 and smaller. If you are not in the mood for fishing dries there are several good nymph patterns that have been working. March Brown nymphs can be a bright green color and are all over our streams this time of year. A size 12 olive haresear is a great pattern for this type nymph. Other important patterns include copper johns, pheasant tails, micro mays, and tellicos in all sizes. The flies mentioned above will also work very well on the Hatchery supported streams which have been on fire the last few weeks. Even though bait fishing is allowed on these there are still plenty of fish to be caught with a fly rod. Next on the list is the small wild streams which have been fishing just as well if not better than the larger rivers in our area. Remember that large bushy dry flies will be your best bet. Important patterns include elk hair caddis, Royal Trude Coachman, Tennessee Wulff, and orange and yellow stimulators. Both wild rainbow and brook trout streams have fished incredibly well this past week and are sure to please all the way through the dog days of summer.
The Tennessee tail races are living up to their reputation this month providing plenty of action to those with the proper fly selection. The fish on the South Holston have been taking various nymphs in the morning and feeding on dry flies in the afternoon as the bugs begin to come off. Sulpher nymphs, blue wing nymphs, micro mays, and midge larva flies will work great from size 16 to 24. Sulpher hatches have been sporadic in the morning but have been heavy before dark. CDC sulpher dries and emergers should be used during this time of day. If you get some cloud cover during the day get ready because the blue wing olives are going to start hatching. BWO parachute and CDC patterns will work as well as emerger patterns such as RS2 sizes 18 and 20. Also there are still some midge and black fly patterns hatching at the top. The Watauga river is also fishing very well with Sulphers hatching and a strong focus on midges. Late in the day a sulpher spinner fall is possible. 30+ fish days are the norm not the exception right now.
May is also a fantastic time to smallmouth fish. Our smallmouth trips have been producing some solid fish and some very high numbers. Streamers have been working well in several colors and they are beginning to pay attention to poppers. However next month will provide better top water action. On one of our recent trips over 40 fish were landed. If you are looking for a hard fighting fish on a fly rod look no further than the river smallmouth.
The fishing is truly incredible this month so stop by the shop if you need any pointers or need that certain fly. Enjoy the Spring!
