Smith-Continued

[Woolly Bugger]

#6 Wednesday
Gas $2.99 41 and partly cloudy
Well today there were lots of bugs on the water and the trout were rising.
The sippers aren't always the easiest to fool but a number came to hand before @Dougfish joined me.



We walked further down, and I fixed my lunch and watched Dougfish swing soft hackles.



Back to fishing and beer breaks.



It was a pretty good day with handfuls of fish caught.

[Woolly Bugger]

#7 51 and mostly sunny

DSFK (it's a Drakian thang...)
I was looking at the water and saw the otters playing (feeding) downstream, I watched them for a while, there were no fish rising.

I went with a streamer and saw two follows but didn't make a connection.

Doug came down and watched from the bank and then we moved on down. He fixed his lunch after breaking off. I hit the run, lost one, caught one... streamer skunk off.


Doug rerigged with soft hackles and I moved on down further, got some bumps and made a couple more connections.


Doug wacked them swinging the flies. It was almost time to leave but I tried the dry fly thing but couldn't get the fussy sippers to take, it convinced that they were taking midges.

[itieuglyflies]

The Woolly Dougie show goes on. Good stuff. Having a like- minded companion on the river certainly adds to the
fun (and safety aspect especially in the winter). Keep catching and reporting.

[Dougfish]

Like minded? Yikes! 

[Woolly Bugger]

#8
50s mostly sunny

with a winter storm approaching, I thought I would squeeze a trip in before things shut down.

I was hoping for some dry fly action, but the wind was wicked, and I didn't see any risers anyway.


Streamer time! I worked the pool where I had a couple of follows yesterday. That was yesterday, today the fish weren't interested.
I checked out a spot where I had seen a good fish take a bwo off the surface yesterday. He was hungry.



The rest of the day was uneventful, with only the usual grabs and bumps.

 

[Fishbug]

Them some nice trouts. Fine work 

[Dougfish]

Back for more in an hour. 

[creakycane]

 That straight section you show in the photo is like a meat locker on cold days. Seems like sun never hits the surface there in winter..... A windy meat locker.  I admire your toughness!  A bit better downstream in the sun, or upriver out of the shade.
Got a couple to cooperate yesterday up toward the dam, and had a couple risers downstream, but when the wind whipped up I took off.  Glad you gents got out before the snows...
Btw, saw a white Jeep with Roanoke handicap plates up there, but never saw the driver....

[Dougfish]

4

A solo trip. WB was preoccupied, Fin bailed on me.
Nobody but me on the the cold cold water.
And the feesh.

But I got stopped by the train before I got there.
After all these years driving that route, I had never been forced to stop at that crossing. 



There was a NC tagged Tacoma in the lot, but I never saw another fisherperson.
I was hiking in by 10. Just above freezing.



First fish came shortly after. Nice one. Good sign?







After a couple more fish, I broke off the new design copper johnish soft hackle in a tree.
I had tied some other new dubbed versions of the same layout.
Tied on a purple.



Kept catching fish. 



Leatherwood. One of our more interesting native shrubs.
Dirca palustris. Palustris means "grows in swamp".
Like the Pawpaw, you'll find it only in creek/river bottoms.
It's supple stems were used by native americans to make baskets and such.





Lunch.



Chocolate for a treat.



I waded back in and started to get cold for the first time.
Blood going to the digestion and leaky waders effect.



Caught another nice fish from one of my favorite spots.
Purple ftw.





Ended up at 10 fish. Cold and satisfied, I waded in.





Martin MG-7. 60 - 70's vintage hot rod. If you find one, buy it.



DSFK. Picked clean.



And the two hand warmer day was done.
38 at the truck.



Waiting on the proverbial snow. 

 

[Onslow]

Pretty fish

[trout-r-us]

4

A solo trip. WB was preoccupied,





Martin MG-7. 60 - 70's vintage hot rod. If you find one, buy it.





Waiting on the proverbial snow. 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/384599440919?hash=item598be9be17:g:SpcAAOSw6QxhuPEN

[Dougfish]

5

Between the forecast and my schedule, I decided I needed to fish today.
Upper 30's and about 2-3" of crusty snow.







Nothing happening on top. One of these days I'll catch a BWO hatch again.
Fishing was a bit slow.







Worked my way back up and found the bossman.



We chatted for a while, exchanged some flies, and I boogied.
Only three fish today. Are they on to me? 

[Fishbug]

Brrr

Pacing it good for a fishy 2022

Did the taco blink an eye in the snow?

[Dougfish]

Taco has the mud and snow tires on it now. It don't care.

[Woolly Bugger]

#9 41+ overcast to partly sunny

The snowstorm, Izzy, dumped enough snow and ice to keep me home for a couple of days and Thurs was booked so I took off and joined Dougfish on the stream.

It was a little crunchy going in, and my boots accumulated a fair amount of snow on the felt going in.


I was rigged with aa streamer from the other day so I went with that--- no dice.




Switched over to a soft hackle rig.



That did the trick.






Dougfish stopped by on the way out.



I stayed for another hour hoping something would start up, but there wasn't much of a hatch all day.

I picked up one more fish and had a couple of grabs, but it wasn't really happening, so I split.






I had asked Dough for a beer, but he was out, with only a couple back at the truck, I told him to leave one for me.

He didn't disappoint.






I've never been much of a soft hackle guy, but since picking up the spey rod and swinging flies I've been more receptive to fishing this way, and I plan on doing a lot more of it especially when the trout are snooty and refusing dry flies.