Foscoe Fishing Company Guide - Jay Waide
Jay grew up fishing for bass and other warm water species as a child in ponds and lakes in Georgia and Florida. He began fly fishing on small farm ponds after receiving a fly rod for Christmas at age 13 and quickly graduated to small streams and rivers.
He resided on the headwaters of the Tallulah River for almost a year, where he pursued trout on North Georgia and North Carolina streams nearly every day before deciding to move to the High Country five years ago.
He has guided for wild trout on small streams in North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee as well as both the New River and Nolichucky River for smallmouth.
Jay will graduate in December from Appalachian State with a degree in journalism and recreation management, and hopes to combine full-time guiding and freelance writing.
Jay's Fly Fishing Tales
Follow along with Jay as he shares his flyfishing adventures in the freshwater streams of North Carolina and Tennessee. Jay posts to this blog regularly so be sure to check back often or subsribe to our newsletter for digest updates.
In search of the season’s first smallie…
Tuesday afternoon offered temperatures in the 60’s and a beautiful blue sky, so naturally I coerced my roommate Joey into floating a section of the Watauga in his canoe. We began our float just below the DH section in search of the season’s first smallie and possibly a large trout. Armed with my six weight and a pearl Murdich Minnow, we eased downstream and began pounding the banks. We beached the canoe alongside the first likely looking riffle and I was rewarded with an aggressive strike from a headstrong wild brown. What he lacked in size he more than made up for with his tenacious headshakes. Continuing on, we fished riffles and tail-outs picking up fish at each stop. I was surprised, but pleased, to hook into several stocked fish well downstream of the DH section. As the sun eased behind the clouds and the mercury dropped, Joey and I decided to put down our rods and pick up the paddles in order to arrive at the takeout before dark, not to mention our feet had become ice blocks after wet-wading riffles all afternoon. The total fish count for about two and a half hours of fishing came to eight–one wild brown, one wild ‘bow, three stocked ‘bows and three pale stocked brookies, all on streamers. No smallies, but a good day all in all. I assure you, nymphing would have produced several trout, and once the water temperature warms some the smallies will be moving. Tight lines until next time.
Who says you can’t fish in sub-freezing temperatures?
After sitting in the house for most of the day I decided to take advantage of the sunny, yet still cold, weather. To give you a sense of the air and water temperature, the hog you see below, along with my rod and net, are all resting on ice at the edge of the river. I geared up and headed to a DH section of the Watauga I hadn’t fished since the fall, but knew held some nice fish. Needless to say my efforts were rewarded. An hour into the trip I had only brought three fish to hand, so I decided to move downstream to a nice little run where a client lost a good-sized brown during a trip last October. The 22 1/2″ beauty you see above ate my trailing soft hackle within the first ten drifts through the run. After settling myself down, I fished meticulously and caught five more fish from the same spot, none comparable to the nice holdover ‘bow, but fun to catch all the same. Determined to reach double digits in fish caught, I returned to a deep slow pool I fished earlier in the afternoon. It didn’t take long to pull a feisty little rainbow of the bottom to attain my goal of double digit numbers. The day ended when I hooked a second monster who broke my 5X tippet after some vicious head shakes. I never saw the fish, but I’m almost certain it would have put the pictured ‘bow to shame. Of course they can be as big as you want when you fail to actually bring them to hand or see them. Losing that last fish left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth, but anytime you land a fish over 20 inches it’s a great day on the water regardless. Tight lines until next time.
The cure for Cabin Fever
Winter can be a good time to trout fish. The key to winter fishing is to put the fly on the trout’s nose. The trout are not going to expend much energy going after food in cold water.
They will eat but the food must be right in front of them. Read the water to determine where a trout might be holding and then present a nymph fished deep so that it drifts to the fish’s level.
There can also be some good dry fly fishing on certain days. Use a small dark midge pattern again presented so that it drifts directly over the trout. Another good thing about winter fishing is that there are fewer anglers on the water so the fish are under less pressure.
October Success on the River
October has been a great month for fishing in the High Country. The onset of the month brought floats down the Nolichucky for smallmouth and the return of Delayed Harvest regulations on local trout streams. What were probably the last smallie floats of the season produced good numbers of fish up to two pounds as well as some feisty wild rainbows in the 15-17” range.
Delayed harvest has been fishing well, providing an opportunity for me to guide a 12-year-old boy to his first trout on the fly and giving more seasoned anglers a shot at some true hogs. As November nears, anglers should layer appropriately and seize the opportunity for some of the best trout fishing all year. Tight lines and I hope to see ya’ll on the water.
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