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#11
Local Trip Reports / Re: Smith-Continued
Last post by Onslow - March 24, 2024, 06:18:33 AM
Quote from: Dougfish on March 22, 2024, 19:24:11 PM




Its been a hell of a year.
We bought a smaller/grow old in it house. Sold the big one.
Moved 4200 sg ft and two car garage into 2400 sq ft with no garage.



Downsizing is good, but getting the women folk to go along with the plan seems to be tedious.

1000 sq ft. heated space with full unfinished basement and garage is what I want. Not going to happen according to my wife. She also will not discard bulbs/roots that reproduce like rabbits. Too many irises, strawberries, bulbs, well except for Amarylis.

My neighbor(husband) built a smaller house out in the sticks, his wife refused to sell the 4200 sq footer, so now they have two homes.  The larger house in town is now largely an airbnb.  She did catch a couple big fish by hosting Josh Stein (Dem Gov Candidate) and Mo Green (State school superintendent candidate) for a fundraising event last week. The wife now is fully validated, lol.
#12
Local Trip Reports / Re: Smith-Continued
Last post by Woolly Bugger - March 23, 2024, 12:21:32 PM
Quote from: Dougfish on March 22, 2024, 19:24:11 PMWork to be done.

I told you to bring a saw!


#24 -- 27 Overcast and high 40s to low 50s

On the road in I spied trouts being dumped off the bridge and a caravan of vehicles following the truck. Don't know if they were assisting or waiting to jump in a catch a few.

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Wow, "Doesn't anybody work anymore?', that what I asked the guy who was gearing up, he's from Pittsboro, NC and has fished the river a few time before. The train crew pulled in and they swapped out with the guys in the train that had just pulled in. In the lot was a truck (Howard & Howard), Doug's yota, The Pittsboro guys suv, my honda and a Tesla? WFT? First time I've seen a tesla fishing vehicle. Doug said that he/they were Trout Bros. I don't know, never saw them close up.

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I hightailed it down the path but when I reached the Lefty pool I saw three anglers down at the Trestle pool, I back tracked and jumped in below turtle creek, I euroed up nothing and switched to a soft hackle swung up a few and had a dozen tickle the fly. A few bugs were coming off so I switched to a dry and got a few to rise and hooked up with a nice 10t incher, I took a photo and it turned out like this:

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Obviously I mashed the wrong button and went into selfie mode.

By this time "Pittsboro" had moved into the LH pool and I was going on down to see if I could locate Doug as it was approaching beer thirty. Just after the pool, where I pick up cell signal, I got a call from my son and we had a nice 25 minute conversation, looks like he's staying in Utah for a while as he pursues a PhD in Environmental Engineering at the University of Utah.

Contiuing of down saw some Bluebells, May Apples, and Dutchman's Breetches popping out.

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Back to catching I swung up a couple more at Big Pine and then headed down to the trestle pool for the gathering of the river geezers, shooting shit about life and basketball and stuff.

Then on to catch a few more...

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Doug, Howard, and Howard, left and  I fished on for  while, then the sky darkened and it started to rain, I began the hike out, stopping at Sally's where I got two fish to rise to a dry, but missed both of them.

Somebody, maybe Tesla Boy, left a White River net on the bench. I didn't bring it out as I figured it would get snagged quickly and left it there for the owner to recover.

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#13
Local Trip Reports / Re: Smith-Continued
Last post by Dougfish - March 22, 2024, 19:24:11 PM
1


Its been a hell of a year.
We bought a smaller/grow old in it house. Sold the big one.
Moved 4200 sg ft and two car garage into 2400 sq ft with no garage.
Dug, and in the process of moving hundreds of prized plants.
And it's Spring. Which means I'm extra busy at work.

And I have not fished in 2024. WTF!?!?

That got corrected today.

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Harold and Harold were in the lot getting suited up.
A Tesla pulled in and the bro started suiting up.
OK.

H & H & I walked in and I peeled off upstream of them.
Swung up 4.

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The woods are coming alive.

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Moved on down and watched the guys work the lower reaches.
Drank the first stream beer of the year.
They backed off to warm their feet and I dove in to swing up a couple more.

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Went back to the bench, had lunch.
Then committed to switch to the Euro rig and headed down.
Scores came quickly.

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I ended up back at the bench.
Keith had joined H & H. We shot the shit for a while and then split up.

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Fearless leader.

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Work to be done.

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I still know how to fish.
The song remains the same.

:cheers


#14
Local Trip Reports / Re: Smith-Continued
Last post by JCB3 - March 18, 2024, 10:01:44 AM
Smith River / Road Clean Up

April 20th 9am-12..!!!

Meet at the Bassett Boat Access,
271 Trent Hill Dr.
(Off Route 57 E. In Bassett)
#15
Local Trip Reports / Re: Smith-Continued
Last post by Woolly Bugger - March 18, 2024, 08:38:33 AM

#24 — 26 a bit cooler with a few clouds,gas $3.18

Gotta fish when you can, even on a Sunday. I got to the lot just after noon and there was only one vehicle there. As I got ready the angler came out and I asked if he was done already. "It's too windy, I only fish dry flies and the wind is terrible. The weatherman said 10, but he was wrong! You've got the whole river to yourself now."

I left the euro in the car and headed out with just the 2 wt and some soft hackles.

The wind was brutal, with hold onto your hat gusts the rippled the water. There was no way to euro or tight line nymph let alone cast a dry. However, swinging the wet was the ticket.

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Eight or nine were caught, which I thought was a decent number under the conditions. I found a jar of salmon eggs at the Trestle Pool Creek where the spin guy had been yesterday and added it to the "Trash Pile" behind the TP Bench. I need to remember to take a trash bag in to carry it out next time!
 

#16
Local Trip Reports / Re: Smith-Continued
Last post by Woolly Bugger - March 16, 2024, 22:38:19 PM

#24 25 72 blue skies

I just happened to check the river gauges and saw that the flow had been cut to the new low normal, so I made a hasty exit and drove on up. I had the river to myself for a while, then got low holed at the trestle pool by a spin guy and his dog, while two trout bros came down into the tail of the left-hand pool.

But before that happened, I swung up a few trout and as I was fishing, I heard a crashing sound behind me and as I turned, I saw an osprey fly off clutching a trout in its talons. Pretty cool!

Bluebells are getting ready to pop, the trout lilies are at peak as are the bloodroot.

There was a mixed hatch during the day they brought fish to the surface.

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Half-price beer for the win!

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DSFK
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Towards the end of the day there were tremendous swarms of small caddis  flies on the water.


#17
Local Trip Reports / Re: finally on the board in 24
Last post by Woolly Bugger - March 14, 2024, 09:11:41 AM

#24 -- 24 70s sunny Gas $3.12

With the Smith flowing high for a while longer I headed out to a small stream with the 2wt Superfine Glass rod and a box of dryflies looking for some brookie action. I hiked it about 3/4 of a mile and began fishing a couple of spots where I've found fish before. No luck to start out but I finally got on the board with a pune rainbow. I worked my way up to the homestead and after not getting any love on the surface I tied on a dropper and hooked a couple of pune brookies who wriggled away before photos. The two weight will fling flies up into trees on missed hooksets just as well as a 9 foot five wight. Rigged with another dry, I fished a log jammed run where there had to be a fish. After 4 or 5 most excellent drifts I saw a fish rise right in front of a snag. A few cast later I got the drift right and the fish smashed the fly, but my reflexes were too quick and peppery and that 12 inch rainbow only felt the sting of the hook.

The forest floor was littered with bloodrook, a few blue bells were out and dutchman's britches will follow soon. The trees are budded out but the is no shade and rays of the sun hit with full force. I should have wet-waded but didn't prepare properly and had the wrong boots. 

It was slow going for me and I was done after three and a half hours.

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DSFK
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Tearing up mountains to 4 lane 58...
https://www.vdot.virginia.gov/projects/salem-district/route-58-widening---lovers-leap-in-patrick-county-ppta-project/
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#18
Local Trip Reports / Re: Smith-Continued
Last post by Woolly Bugger - March 12, 2024, 18:13:28 PM
Quote from: creakycane on March 09, 2024, 10:03:09 AMIf you pick your spots, there is fishable water all over, but it is amazing how 3 or 4 inches higher water changes the wading game. 




I fished or should I say I tried to fish a run today. It wasn't any fun and I didn't catch anything, but only gave it a half hearted effort. Maybe this crow was an omen.

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Drove up to the damn dam, ran into an fly fisherman who was taking a break, he had nymphed up a few. We talked for a while, then I went up the road to look at the work being done on the hillside.

It appears that these workers are making a rock barrier fence, but what do I know.

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The hillside has been partially terraced

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Heavy equipment moved into positon.

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Don't sell your raft yet.

#19
Local Trip Reports / Re: finally on the board in 24
Last post by Woolly Bugger - March 12, 2024, 10:59:20 AM

#24 -- 23 60ish mostly sunny

I hooked a fish in a run and it felt like a good one, there were trees above the run and behind me, I used side pressure to get the fish in to shallow water where it broke the surface and the hook popped free and euro rod flung the jig nymphs up and around a tree branch, lost two flies and a fish. That's how most of the afternoon went. Flies in trees and fish unbuttoning. But I did net a nice brown after picking off a handful of punes.



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#20
Local Trip Reports / Re: Rooting For Ramps
Last post by Big J - March 11, 2024, 13:45:14 PM
I was wondering how close we were to ramps being in season.  This answered that.