Foscoe Fishing Company Guide - Foscoe Fishing
Foscoe's Fly Fishing Tales
Follow along with Foscoe as he shares his flyfishing adventures in the freshwater streams of North Carolina and Tennessee. Foscoe posts to this blog regularly so be sure to check back often or subsribe to our newsletter for digest updates.
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.
3rd Annual Foscoe Fly Fishing Festival – August 14, 2010
We are extremely excited about our Fly Fishing Festival Saturday, August 14th from 11:00 am – 4:00 pm. We will be offer casting clinics all day, free seminars, fly tying demonstrations, raffles and food. There will also be a kids corner for the children. The seminar titles are, Smallmouth fishing in the region, tailwater trout techniques and small stream fishing. Please come by the shop for all the festivities! E-mail or call us with any questions at 828-963-6556. Hope to see you there.
Schedule of Events Finish reading this tale >>
The Death of Delayed Harvest
With Delayed Harvest waters turning over to Hatchery Supported soon, the yearly trout slaughter is upon us. The first Saturday in June marks the end of the catch & release single hook regulation on Delayed Harvest (DH) waters. At noon, the DH waters will revert to Hatchery Supported regulations. No lure restictions (bait), no size limit, and a 7 fish creel limit.
The state says that DH streams are managed like this because the stocked trout would not survive the summer. Personally I disagree with this. DH waters do have a lot of stocked trout that may or may not survive, but there is also a large number of stream born wild trout in the water too. I am a firm believer in catch and release fishing, especially for trout.
If you insist on keeping fish, please be responsible and take no more than you are going to eat. If you see someone in violation of these regulations, report them to the Wildlife Resource Commission 1-800-662-7137. Poachers are bad news for all anglers, and it is our responsibility to protect and conserve our fishing opportunities in the High Country.
Fly Fishing Schools
With fishing picking up and trout on the rise, now is great time to take a school and learn how to fly fish. Earlier this week we did a 2 day school with a gentleman from Greensboro.
We had a great time learning the ins and outs of fly fishing, and an awesome time on the river the second day. There was a lot of insect activity on the water with an abundance of large mayfly nymphs, as well as some small yellow sallys hatching in the morning.
Hellbender on the Fly
Nasty Hellbender
When you get tired of catching trout in the stream, and the smallmouth are not biting yet, its time to pursue the elusive hellbender. One of our guides was fishing the Watauga DH last week, and got a nice surprise on the end of his line.
As he was swinging a wooly bugger through a trough hoping to get a big trout to eat, he instead hooked this prehistoric throwback hellbender. Hellbenders are native to this area and the New River drainage, and can be as big as 2 1/2 feet long. Apparently wooly buggers are part of their diet.
If you do catch one of these things, you don’t want to pick it up trust us. When they are agitated, they secrete a disgusting slime like substance similar to rubber cement. It stays with you and its nasty. We’re gonna stick to trout from now on.
I think its called Sun
After a long winter, its looking like that big orange thing in the sky has decided to show up again. Delayed Harvest waters have been stocked, and fishing season is upon us.
We have been out a few times playing with the stockers, and it has been a blast. The state stocked a good number of large fish, and they have been in the stream long enough to get some good fight in them. Remember that Hatchery supported streams are closed until the first Staurday in April.
Fishporn, the answer to winter blues!
Fly Fishing Videos are the key to making it through the days when you just can’t get outside and wet a line. In recent years fly fishing videos have gotten better and better. Both the quality of the video and the material is amazing. The popularity of fly fishing film festivals is definitely helping as well.
Here are a few of our favorite DVD’s: Rise, Drift, Nervous Water, Trout Bum (part 1 and 2) and Fish Bum to name a few. Don’t forget about the great educational videos, there are several fly tying instructional videos as well as videos targeting specific species and techniques.
So when you have the winter blues grab the latest fly fishing dvd or call the shop order one and we’ll ship it to your door. Also, don’t forget about the many free videos available on our site. Thanks and Tight Lines!
Farm Pond Bass Fishing
One of our guides recently had the opportunity to go and fish a small pond in SC while on a duck hunting trip. “Farm pond” fishing is one of John’s favorite ways to get a line wet. Usually there are alot of different species lurking in those dingy waters like large mouth bass, sunfish (bream), crappie, catfish, and there’s always the stories of the giant snapping turtle as big as a dinner table.
John’s no Nathan Webber when it comes to bass fishing, but he did alright fishing brown woolly buggers on a slow retrieve. The bass were hungry, but not too willing to chase anything moving fast. After he and his friends caught a few bucket mouths, they switched to some trout patterns like copper johns and soft hackles to catch some bream.
Small pond fishing is a great way to keep fishing in the winter, or if you live far from a trout stream. Its easy to run out for an afternoon and cast some flies to eager fish- or maybe even hook that giant snapping turtle.
Blue Ridge Fishing and Hatch Report January 13th, 2010
South Holston and Watauga Tailwaters Fishing Report
Water flows have been down recently due to less generation on the South Holston and wade fishing has been much more accessible! There has been a good Blue Winged Olive hatch that should continue throughout the winter. Also, as always, midges are abundant and even through the snow there have been good hatches. Finish reading this tale >>
Winter Fishing
Its cold, none of us can feel our hands, the guides on our rods keep freezing, and none of us would change a thing. Winter is one of our favorite times to hit the water. Finish reading this tale >>
» Meet all of Foscoe Fishing Company's Fly Fishing Guides
