Location: New River Basin
Stream Size: 95 sq. miles
Altitude: 2760 ft.
Estimated flow: 160-190 cfs
Stream Classification: General Hatchery
With morning temps in the 40s in the highlands, I wasted no time heading up there to test some new waters. I had a few objectives today. One was to test the feasibility of kayak fishing for trout, second was to catch my first trout on a flyrod which I did accomplish, and third was to test some large water where I might find a 5-10 pound trout.
Checking the gages early this morning indicated that there was enough water to kayak this section of river. The Watauga at Sugar Grove was running 1 cfs/sq. mi. and same for the SF New. I was taken back a bit because the flow at this stream was running near 200 cfs. Definitely enough water for floating although the water was stained a little due to the runnoff.
I floated and threw plugs heading downstream for about .75 of a mile without results. I had not flyfished in nearly 4 years and had only made one previous attempt at trout. Much to my surprise after 15 minutes of fishing I landed my first trout on the flyrod. I was a small brown. I quickly caught a small rainbow that appeared to be wild. I wanted to split spinfishing and flyfishing time equally so I started throwing a Rapala after a while and landed a 12" Rainbow and then caught yet another Bow with the flyrod in a shallow run.
After a half mile of wading, I encountered a large pool that looked like it might hold a nice brown so I threw a Rapala and hooked a Brown that was about 16". The fight was short lived after the fish did a barrel roll arched.
Soon after I encountered a very nice pool bordered by houses on both side. The road was nearby, dogs were barking, trucks were engine braking. I briefly turned my head towards the dogs when a 20" brown made a run at my lure but missed my set. I did finally landed another 13.5" brown and lost another. The Browns were on for just about an hour and then everything quit biting. I guess 5 fish is not terrible for this time of year but I had much higher expectations.
The stream I fished today was quite trashy and had less sediment/silt than the Little or SF. I believe that the river also has a healthy population of wild Rainbows. I will be back next spring on the hunt for a 5-10 pound brown. As far as kayak fishing for trout goes, probably not the best approach but this stream was large enough to work from a kayak.
Stream Size: 95 sq. miles
Altitude: 2760 ft.
Estimated flow: 160-190 cfs
Stream Classification: General Hatchery
With morning temps in the 40s in the highlands, I wasted no time heading up there to test some new waters. I had a few objectives today. One was to test the feasibility of kayak fishing for trout, second was to catch my first trout on a flyrod which I did accomplish, and third was to test some large water where I might find a 5-10 pound trout.
Checking the gages early this morning indicated that there was enough water to kayak this section of river. The Watauga at Sugar Grove was running 1 cfs/sq. mi. and same for the SF New. I was taken back a bit because the flow at this stream was running near 200 cfs. Definitely enough water for floating although the water was stained a little due to the runnoff.
I floated and threw plugs heading downstream for about .75 of a mile without results. I had not flyfished in nearly 4 years and had only made one previous attempt at trout. Much to my surprise after 15 minutes of fishing I landed my first trout on the flyrod. I was a small brown. I quickly caught a small rainbow that appeared to be wild. I wanted to split spinfishing and flyfishing time equally so I started throwing a Rapala after a while and landed a 12" Rainbow and then caught yet another Bow with the flyrod in a shallow run.
After a half mile of wading, I encountered a large pool that looked like it might hold a nice brown so I threw a Rapala and hooked a Brown that was about 16". The fight was short lived after the fish did a barrel roll arched.
Soon after I encountered a very nice pool bordered by houses on both side. The road was nearby, dogs were barking, trucks were engine braking. I briefly turned my head towards the dogs when a 20" brown made a run at my lure but missed my set. I did finally landed another 13.5" brown and lost another. The Browns were on for just about an hour and then everything quit biting. I guess 5 fish is not terrible for this time of year but I had much higher expectations.
The stream I fished today was quite trashy and had less sediment/silt than the Little or SF. I believe that the river also has a healthy population of wild Rainbows. I will be back next spring on the hunt for a 5-10 pound brown. As far as kayak fishing for trout goes, probably not the best approach but this stream was large enough to work from a kayak.