WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA EDITION
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12 DAYS OF
FISHMAS GIVEAWAY VOLUME 23 • ISSUE 286
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Veteran’s Program Announcing Our New
EDITOR IN CHIEF : Ben Martin • camads@coastalanglermagazine.com COO : Tracy Patterson • tracy@coastalanglermagazine.com ART DIRECTOR : Rebecca Snowden • graphics@coastalanglermagazine.com EDITORIAL COORDINATOR : Nick Carter • editorial@coastalanglermagazine.com WEBMASTER : Nick Barna • webmaster@coastalanglermagazine.comw ADVERTISING INQUIRIES: Corporate Headquarters info@coastalanglermagazine.com • 888-800-9794
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Franchise Ownership!
FLORIDA BIG BEND : Mike McNamara • (850) 510-7919 • captmike@coastalanglermagazine.com BREVARD : Chris Milner • (321) 631-1001 • cmilner@coastalanglermagazine.com DAYTONA/NEW SMYRNA/DELAND : Amy Chibbaro • (386) 478-3812 • achibbaro@coastalanglermagazine.com
Chris Chibbaro • (386) 478-9234 • cchibbaro@coastalanglermagazine.com
FLORIDA KEYS : Cliff Lumpkin • (305) 849-9093 • cliff@coastalanglermagazine.com FORT LAUDERDALE : Gene Dyer • (954) 680-3900 • gene@coastalanglermagazine.com FORT MYERS : Nadeen Welch • (239) 595-8265 • nwelch@coastalanglermagazine.com GREATER ORLANDO : Phillip & Giselle Wolf • (407) 790-9515 • phillip@coastalanglermagazine.com
If you’re a veteran, love the outdoors and have been looking for a way to own your own business, we believe we have the perfect fit for your next professional endeavor. We have franchise locations available thoughout the continental U.S. and Hawaii.
GREATER MIAMI : Gene Dyer • (954) 680-3900 • gene@coastalanglermagazine.com LAKELAND & SUMTER : Mary Brasher • (352) 598-4219 • maryf@coastalanglermagazine.com NAPLES : Nadeen Welch • (239) 595-8265 • nwelch@coastalanglermagazine.com NC FLORIDA/NATURE COAST : Cary & Lynn Crutchfield • (352) 372-4237 • crutch@coastalanglermagazine.com NE FLORIDA : Danny Patrick • (904) 742-4696 • danny@coastalanglermagazine.com PANAMA CITY/DESTIN/FORGOTTEN COAST : Randy Cnota • (229) 834-7880 • randyc@coastalanglermagazine.com PALM BEACH COUNTY : Barbara Ryan • (561) 373-8040 • barbara@coastalanglermagazine.com SARASOTA : Phil Prevoir • (239) 257-4684 • pprevoir@coastalanglermagazine.com TAMPA BAY : Chuck Atkins • (239) 464-5153 • chuck@coastalanglermagazine.com TREASURE COAST : Misti & Gary Guertin • (772) 285-6850 • treasurecoast@coastalanglermagazine.com
Our success with helping veterans to learn to publish their own localized fishing/ outdoor magazine leads us to believe that our franchise opportunities are a perfect fit for a wide variety of veteran talents and training.
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SOUTHEAST ATLANTA : Bob & Brenda Rice • (706) 614-8231 • bobr@theanglermagazine.com CHARLESTON : Sam Buckareff • (843) 607-8629 • sam@coastalanglermagazine.com CHARLOTTE/PIEDMONT : Doug Simmons • (704) 361-6189 • simmons@theanglermagazine.com
Juli Simmons • (980) 333-7273 • simmons@theanglermagazine.com
COLUMBIA/MIDLANDS : John Lux • (803) 807-6885 • jlux@theanglermagazine.com MYRTLE BEACH : Mike Masiero • (732) 674-3019 • mmasiero@coastalanglermagazine.com
Now, with our special Veteran’s Program, owning a Coastal Angler or The Angler Magazine franchise has never been easier.
TIDEWATER/OUTER BANKS : Brenda Riggs • (757) 409-7518 • brenda@coastalanglermagazine.com
Mike Riggs • (757) 681-5001 • mriggs@coastalanglermagazine.com
WESTERN NC : Debra & Joe Woody • (828) 775-9663 • woody@theanglermagazine.com
NORTHEAST BOSTON : George Regan • (617) 488-2842 • boston@coastalanglermagazine.com LONG ISLAND : Lisa & Michael Danforth • (203) 321-7635 • lisad@coastalanglermagazine.com
If you love the outdoors and have ever considered owning your own business, you owe it to yourself to check out our Franchise opportunities and our new Veteran’s Program.
CONNECTICUT/RHODE ISLAND : Lisa & Michael Danforth • (203) 321-7635 lisad@coastalanglermagazine.com
GULF COAST MISSISSIPPI GULF COAST : Adam Nelson • (228) 627-5903 • anelson@coastalanglermagazine.com
Toby Nelson • (228) 623-1761 • tnelson@coastalanglermagazine.com
ALABAMA/PENSACOLA : Paul Caruso • (239) 980-7738 • paul@coastalanglermagazine.com
GREAT LAKES
For more information on our franchise opportunities call
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WEST MICHIGAN : Phil Belsito • (616) 957-1714 • phil@theanglermagazine.com
INTERNATIONAL VIRGIN ISLANDS/PUERTO RICO : Ace Bassue • (407) 285-9453 • ace@coastalanglermagazine.com COSTA RICA : Mike Erickson • (561) 262-2242 • mike@coastalanglermagazine.com © 2018. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. Disclaimer: Coastal Angler Magazine / The Angler Magazine will not be held liable for injuries incurred while partaking in activities described herein, or for claims made against products or services provided by advertisers.
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GIFT IDEAS FOR ANGLERS
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heck out these great gift ideas for the outdoor enthusiast on your holiday gift list. These local merchants are available to ensure your holiday gift giving satisfaction. We always try to encourage our readers to shop locally. It’s our community and we all benefit from supporting our local businesses. They’re here for us all year long and our personal convenience depends on their sustainability. Tell them Coastal Angler/The Angler Magazine sent you. By the way, if you see something here that you wish could be under the tree with your name on it, just take out a marker and circle it. Then leave this page open for your friends and family to see. Yes, crude but effective. Happy Holidays from all of us at Coastal Angler/The Angler Magazine.
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SOUTHEAST
Friends Andy Ball and Brent Milgrom pose with two large red drum they caught at the Winyah jetties. By Erin Weeks, SCDNR hen Charlotte resident Andy Ball headed to the South Carolina coast for a summer escape he caught a red drum that was tagged 21 years ago. Since the 1970s, SCDNR biologists have operated a volunteer tagging program whereby recreational anglers can turn their fishing trips into valuable scientific information by tagging the fish they catch and release. Using a specialized tagging device, researchers
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and anglers insert the tag into the muscle of a fish by the dorsal fin. Harmless to the fish, the tags can remain anchored there for decades as the fish grows. Andy Ball contacted SCDNR’s tagging coordinator, Morgan Hart, to report the tag number and details of the red drum he’d recaptured. Every time a tagged fish is reported, Hart sends detailed updates about the fish’s history to both the original taggers and the recapturers. It’s a neat way to see where a particular fish has traveled since you last saw it. When Hart ran the fish’s history, she was amazed. It had been tagged over 21 years prior. “I could tell right away that the tag report was special,” Hart said. “The tag number was different than anything I had seen recaptured before. Once I realized how long ago it was tagged, I think my mouth literally fell open. “I reached out to the original tagger, Kevin Mischke, and he was delighted to hear that one of his fish was still contributing to the population.” Mischke was an active volunteer tagger from 1990 to 2006. In 1997, he’d caught a large red drum at Wappoo Cut, near his home on James Island. Mischke tagged the fish with a yellow, nylon tag labeled ‘A033559.’ When Mischke caught it, the red drum was already a mature fish at 35 inches—meaning it is now likely to be well older than 21 years of age. SCDNR research has shown red drum are impressively long-lived fish, with biologists documenting fish up to 40 years old. A decade later, redfish ‘A033559’ showed up once again in the records, when angler Warren Wood caught and measured the fish in 2008. By this time, the red drum had grown five inches and migrated to Georgetown, where Wood reported catching it off the Winyah Bay jetties. And that’s exactly where Andy Ball caught the fish this summer – no larger this time, but another decade older.
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permit for construction of a new artificial reef off Oregon Inlet could be approved within months, and Outer Banks anglers are happy to hear it. According to a report from the Coastal Review online, the project has been almost three years in the making since the nonprofit Oregon Inlet Artificial Reef Committee formed to apply for funding from the Division of Marine Fisheries. With an $887,000 grant, the stage is set for a proposed two-year project to construct a reef south of the Oregon Inlet Sea Buoy. The project is being funded primarily through the state’s Coastal Recreational Fishing License Grants Program. The plan calls for a 100- to 140-foot vessel as well as 8,000 tons of concrete pipes to be sunk within state waters less than 10 miles south of Oregon Inlet. Recreational anglers and charter captains will reap the benefits of enhanced habitat for decades to come.
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BLUE RIDGE
By Grant Bobo
W
hen the weather turns cold, many pond owners consider the fishing season over and start looking forward to spring. Traditional pond fish such as largemouth bass, bluegill and channel catfish become less active and difficult to catch. A solution to keeping your pond productive from an angling standpoint is to stock trout. We commonly stock three species of trout. Brown and brook trout are typically stocked at sizes greater than 12 inches. Brown and brook trout are more predatory than rainbows, so we recommend fishing for them with small spinners or other minnow-imitating lures. Our favorite species to stock is rainbow trout. Rainbows can be used for many purposes since different sizes are readily available. We stock smaller sizes from 6 to 10 inches as bass forage. It is critical to supply bass with high calorie forage as they prepare for the upcoming spawn. Trout are better forage than bluegill because trout have
Lake Construction
soft fins that will not choke the fish. If you have ever seen a dead bass on the surface with a large bluegill stuck in its throat, then you know what we are talking about. Additionally, we stock larger rainbows to provide action for anglers. If clients have family coming over for Christmas, we encourage them to get trout stocked, as it will give guests an extra surprise. We also have intermediated sized rainbows that are perfect to grow up. All three of the trout species we stock readily take fish food, but rainbows in particular respond the best. Mainly clients enjoy stocking 10- to 12-inch rainbows and growing them up through the winter months to finally harvest in the late spring. It is critical to use high-quality fish food to grow trout. Their growing season is short, so using feed with high protein and fat content will maximize growth. We exclusively use Purina Aqua Max fish food to feed our client’s fish. This feed has 45 percent protein and uses fishmeal as the primary ingredient. Cheaper feeds purchased at local feed stores typically have 33 percent protein and are filled with chicken byproduct. All good things must come to an end, and trout are no exception. Once water temperatures reach 70 degrees, they will slowly start to die off. Unlike other fish species, trout will sink to the bottom when they die, so no dead fish odor will be around the pond when they die. If pond owners purchased larger trout, we recommend they start harvesting in late April and May. An added benefit to using high quality fish feed is the trout taste fantastic. There is an old stigma that trout taste fishy if they are raised on fish food. This couldn’t be further from the truth, as many past clients have just as much fun eating the trout as they do catching them. We have limited quantities of trout, so it is imperative that orders are sent in early. Grant Bobo is a biologist II with Aquatic Environmental Services, Inc. Contact them at (770) 735-3523, grant@lakework.com or visit their website at www.lakework.com.
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Visit our new store 490 East Main St., Blue Ridge, GA in Blue Ridge
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ost new fly fishermen enjoy the process of fly fishing as much or more than catching fish. That’s one of the great things about the sport; even if the fish aren’t biting, you can have fun practicing your casting technique. As a client once said, “with fly fishing, the fish are the gravy!” This early phase only lasts while fly anglers become more proficient with their casting stroke. It usually ends when the angler is done catching numbers of fish and wants to go for quality fish. Typically, the “pounds of meat” theory comes into play with big predatory fish like brown trout, which prefer “bigger bait for bigger fish.” Let’s back up to the early stages of learning to fly cast with small and light flies that are easier to cast. Dry flies, nymphs or streamers in small sizes travel easily through the air because of less air drag and less gravitational pull. This allows for more consistency with the distance and accuracy of the cast. Bigger flies have a large profile, which appeals to the bigger appetite of bigger fish with bigger stomachs. Also, bigger flies are generally heavier. They have a much faster sink rate that exposes them to more trout that inhabit the floor of the trout stream or river. The trade-off with heavier, bulky flies is that they are cumbersome and require a different casting technique than smaller, streamlined flies. There is a fly casting technique called a false cast. This is a helpful technique where the angler uses a classic casting stroke with a “10 o’clock to 2 o’clock” range of motion to create a straight path for the line and fly to travel accurately. This casting stroke is repeated mid-air without landing the cast until the caster feeds the appropriate length of line and aims at the desired target area. False casting is effective with smaller, lighter flies but NOT with bigger, heavier flies. If you attempt your classic “10 to 2” range of motion in your casting stroke, heavier flies will likely hit your rod, or worse, hit your a fishing buddy. Because we are creatures of habit and our learned muscle memory is with lighter flies, it requires some retooling of the casting stroke to throw the heavy stuff. This new casting stroke is the “windshield wiper cast.” It has a broader range of motion like “9 o’clock to 3, or even 4 o’clock.” It requires the caster to break their wrist. It sounds ridiculous, but try it if you plan to “chuck and duck” large nymphs and streamers for bigger fish. It’ll put your big streamer where it needs to be more efficiently, and it’ll also save you from chipping fiberglass off your rod or thumping your buddy in the back of the head.
Chris Scalley owns River Through Atlanta Guide Service. Contact them at 770-650-8630 or through their website at river10:01 PM throughatlanta.com.
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Photo by Hans-Petter Fjeld
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he Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF) is calling on Canada to enact new management measures to reduce the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence striped bass population. “It’s important that Canadian government leaders from across the country understand what’s happening in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and especially on the Miramichi River,” said ASF president Bill Taylor. “DFO has taken incremental steps, but more is needed to restore balance for all species.” Striped bass are native to the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence and were once considered threatened. All fisheries were closed by 2000, and a recovery target of 31,200 spawning adults was established. That goal has now been exceeded for eight consecutive years. Recent estimates show between 500,000 and 2-million striped bass spawn annually in the Miramichi. “We have clearly shown this concentration of striped bass is having severe negative effects on wild Atlantic salmon,” said Taylor. Since 2003, ASF and partners like the Miramichi Salmon Association have been tracking juvenile Atlantic salmon, known as smolt, in three Gulf of St. Lawrence rivers. Initially, 65-75 percent of tagged smolt survived migration through the estuary of each river. Survival rates on the Restigouche and Cascapedia rivers have remained stable, but a downward trend began in 2011 on the Miramichi, coinciding with the sharp rise in striped bass. Less than 10 percent of smolt tagged in the Northwest Miramichi River survived to reach the Gulf of St. Lawrence in 2017. The lower Northwest Miramichi is where the entire southern Gulf of St. Lawrence striped bass population gathers to spawn each spring. At the same time, smolt are migrating to the ocean.
It's been an unbelievable year and we would like to say a big "Thank You" to all our customers and dealers for helping make it happen! Let's make 2019 even better!
www.
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HAPPY HOLIDAYS
252.235.2461
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DECEMBER 2018 l WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
For editorial comments, articles, photography, advertising and all other inquiries please email woody@theanglermagazine.com
LAKE HIWASSEE
Lake Hiwassee Monster Winter Stripers
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By Shane Goebel
rophy Striper Season is here! If the thrill of a 30 pound striper exploding on the end of your line, as if a bowling ball was dropped on it from a two story building, than winter striper fishing in Western North Carolina is for you. These are by far the most wicked fighting freshwater fish around, and we are very fortunate to have several area lakes stocked with these monster fish. So, after opening all those Christmas gifts, come get your fish on with Lake Nottely and Lake Hiwassee’s #1 striper guide service, Big Ol’ Fish Guiding Service. Also, remember all of our December half day trips and Christmas gift certificates are only $200. Check out our Facebook page or www.bigolfish.com for more details. Lake Hiwassee is currently about 23 feet below full pool. Water temps are still in the lower 60’s. Lake clarity is clear and stained in the backs of creeks. Striper fishing has been excellent lately. The bigger fish are really starting
to come up in the water column and are headed towards shallow humps and into the creeks. We’ve already had many stripers in the 15 to 25 pound range. Look for these big stripers anywhere around the lake; however, most of our fish are being caught in the mouths and backs of creeks. This is a great time of year to start using bigger bait. Start off by pulling planer boards and free-lines early in the morning. Live bluebacks and gizzard shad are working best. Top water bite has been wicked good and should be getting even better as the water continues to cool, so as you’re pulling baits, keep a Red Fin or a spook tied on and work those banks and points. As the sun comes up and the day gets warmer, the fish will move a little deeper. Switch to down lines and weighted free lines. Remember, this is the time of year to keep an eye out for seagulls. Where there are birds, there is bait, and where there is bait, there are fish. We want to wish everyone out
2 WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
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there a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thanks for an awesome year of fishing, and we hope to see you in 2019. Remember, December is a fantastic month for catching a lot of stripers on this beautiful mountain lina), and Lake Blue Ridge. And for all lake. Give Big Ol’ Fish Guiding Ser- your live bait and tackle needs, check vice a call and let the area’s #1 rated out Hughes General Store in Blairsguide service put you on some of Lake ville, GA. They carry everything you Hiwassee’s best trophy stripers during need for a successful day of fishing the fishing trip of a lifetime. We are and have the best live herring around. Murphy NC’s only premier full-time So, come fish with the pros for the guide service, specializing in striped opportunity to be featured in Angler and hybrid bass. We also serve Lakes Magazine, and let us help you get Nottely and Chatuge (in North Caro- your fish on. Shane Goebel is the Owner of Big Ol’ Fish Guiding Service and a member of The Angler Fishing Team. Contact him at www.bigolfish.com or (828) 361-2021 / 1-(844)-4-ANGLER
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LAKE CHATUGE Lake Chatuge – December Hybrids and Bass
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By Darren Hughes
he cold weather is finally here, but don’t be a fair-weather fisherman. December and the winter months on Lake Chatuge are off the hook, so throw on some thermals and hit the water for some of the best bass and hybrid fishing in Western North Carolina. Remember, all of our December half day trips and Christmas gift certificates are only $200. Check out our Facebook page and www.bigolfish. com for more info. Our gift certificates are a perfect gift for the angler on your list. Water temperatures are currently in the low 60’s, and the water level is down 7 feet. Water clarity is clear throughout the lake and slightly stained in the backs of creeks. Spotted bass are still schooled up throughout the lake and we are absolutely slaying them! We’ve had a fantastic top-water bite and down line bite in the mornings. Check shallow humps and areas from 15-30 ft. deep. Watch for these fish to bust the water as they chase up bait then cast into them. Poppers, spooks, spoons, and, of course, live bait have been working great on catching these spots. Also, don’t forget to target your points and brush piles. Some excellent largemouth and spots have been caught lately off rocky points and around brush. Now that water temps have
fallen, the hybrids are on the move. These guys are heading towards the creeks and rivers and are moving up in the water column. Early morning top water has been great on Red Fins and Zara Spooks. The same rule of thumb applies as for the spotted bass—search around shallow areas and watch for fish chasing up bait. Trolling free-lines with live bait and planer boards should work fine as well. We’ve also been doing awesome with a downline on some big hybrids still schooled up deep in the mouths of creeks. Several fish from the 13-15-pound range have been boated with us lately. Live blueback herring remains your best bet to catch these fish. December fishing on Lake Chatuge is always an exciting month. The bigger fish start feeding more aggressively, and for us, it’s a great time of year for some great top-water action. Remember, live bait on this lake can be the difference between a successful day of fishing and a horrid one. Hughes General Store in Blairsville, GA carries a wide range of bait and tackle--it’s the best place around for quality live blueback herring. We also carry ethanol free gas and have some of the best hot, madefrom-scratch biscuits in North Georgia. For guided fishing trips on Lake Chatuge, Hiwassee and
Lake Nottely, or questions about the bait shop, call Darren Hughes at Hughes General Store, and whether you’re a seasoned angler
or just starting out, give Chatuge a shot for some of the best spotted bass and hybrids around. Good luck and get hooked.
Darren Hughes is the Owner of Hughes General Store & Bait Shop and a member of The Angler Magazine Fishing Team and Guide for Big Ol’ Fish Guiding Service. Look him up at www.bigolfish.com or give him a call, (706) 745-6569 or (828) 361-2021.
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DECEMBER 2018
WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA 3
4 WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
DECEMBER 2018
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MURPHY AREA LAKES
Winter Tactics for Smallmouth and Spotted Bass in Mountain Lakes
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By Aaron Kephart
s cooler weather has settled in and the leaves have almost all fallen off, some of the most intense and productive fishing of the year has finally arrived: winter smallmouth and spotted bass fishing. While I love the pursuit of stripers, smallmouth, walleye, crappie, trout, and pretty much everything else that swims in our area lakes (and am more than happy to guide for them in the winter months), I do tend to prefer focusing on smallmouth and spotted bass in the December-February timeframe, and for good reason. Winter is big fish time when it comes to spots and smallmouth. I have been blessed to have had hundreds of clients catch their personal best smallmouth and spotted bass with me over the last few years, and the biggest of those have tended to
come in the winter months. Another major advantage to fishing this time of year is that the fish tend to congregate in large schools, and it is not unheard of to have 40 and 50 fish days. A final advantage, at least from a guiding perspective, is that cooler water temperatures translate to less fish movement, which effectively means that once you find the fish you can then expect them to remain in the same general area for weeks or even months at a time. Weather, specifically its effect on water temperature and clarity, are the determining factors in where to look for fish, and in what baits to use to catch them. Clear, cold water often means that fish set up deeper and suspend more, usually on the main channel or partially into the bigger tributary creeks. I will generally start looking for them in 18-25 feet of water, but I am not afraid to fish all the way out into 60 or 70 feet if that is where the bait is. This is when good electronics are an absolute must. I start looking for fish on points, but not all points are created equal. I prefer a point with a good bit of flat area, then a sudden drop. Fish are often at the base of that drop, and I think they use it as an ambush point for passing bait. I also particularly
like areas where creek channels intersect a point, and don’t ever discount the holding potential of a creek channel bend or good, deep brushpile. Other areas to search, especially for spots, are sunken roadbeds, house foundations, and old underwater culverts. If the water is slightly stained, the fish will still use similar areas, but will often slide shallower, especially later in the day if there is ample warm sunshine to raise the water temperature in the upper part of the water column. However, even though the fish will move shallower, they don’t necessarily go to the bank. Instead, they will often suspend 6-10 feet deep over much deeper water. If the water is heavily stained, or even muddy, fish will tend to flood the banks, especially if the source of the stain is rain that is substantially warmer than the water temperature. These fish will usually be anywhere from ankle deep out to about 8 feet, but the 4 to 6 foot range seems to hold the most active fish.
Cold weather is here to stay, but don’t let that keep you from experiencing some of the best fishing of the year, and potentially of your life. Most of the best days for winter fishing are somewhat mild weather wise, and if you layer appropriately you may even find that you are quite comfortable. If you come down with a sudden case of cabin fever and want to chase some brown beauties or giant spots with me give me a call at 865-466-1345. Also, if you want to purchase a trip for someone special on your Christmas list I am selling gift certificates. I look forward to hearing from you, and Merry Christmas!
Aaron Kephart is the Owner of Mountain Lakes Guide Service. To book a guided trip on one of the Murphy area mountain lakes, contact him by phone or by email at mtnlakesguide@outlook.com Check out his website at http://www.mtnlakesguideservice.com and catch him on facebook@ mountainlakesguideservice
Murphy North Carolina’s
premier trophy smallmouth and spotted bass guide service
SMSS has all the essentials for hunting, target shooting, home defense, reloading and more Call for date & time of monthly concealed carry class. 53 Peachtree St, Murphy, NC • 828-837-7677 Beside the Courthouse
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Mountain Lakes Guide Service
Hiwassee - Apalachia - Chatuge Aaron Kephart 865-466-1345 mtnlakesguide@outlook.com
Crappie, Trophy Trout, Stripers, and more available
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DECEMBER 2018
WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA 5
Feasting Fontana Fish
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he holiday season is upon us and that means, family, football and fishing. There is no better time to be out on the water. Fish, up until the really cold days in January, are still trying to fatten up to better take on “old man winter”. Every fish I have caught lately looks as if they have eaten a baseball and the water is full of half-digested shad when they come to the surface. Not sure about other lakes but the fish in Fontana are still deep. Not sure where the bigger spots have spent the summer but they are showing up more every day. I have been fishing around 50 to 60 feet deep lately and have noticed something that may be a key to finding the bigger spots, when they seem to have moved to another state. Find a flat that has bait all over the bottom. The areas outside points, like the entrance
By Capt. James McManus
to Greasy Branch or the point between the Little Tennessee and the Nantahala, most have held bait that has been in schools twenty to thirty feet deep, sitting right on the bottom. Move to the outer edges and see if you can find just a hint of something on the very bottom. I have been dropping a small jig and fluke or Kitech and bouncing it around a little. Miraculously, several fish will appear and you may get a bite or two if you are quick. My thinking is that there is so much bait that the fish don’t even have to try and float to eat, they simply move over a few feet and inhale all the shad they need. After swallowing a couple down they simply float back down to the bottom and rest until that urge hits again. This is a lot different than seeing a big school that is up in the water column as the bait is whipped around, with strings of
fleeing bait lines and arches pushing and corralling as they feed. All you have to do then is get bait in front of them. These little lazy pigs do nothing but lie there. The bait isn’t even scared- it will simply be in a regimented, solid blanket across the bottom. They don’t even notice when their brethren are getting eaten because there is little fuss. You have to initiate the action. It’s like your cat or dog that’s lying in the sun after having finished a snack; if you want them to play, you have to aggravate them to even get them to move. Fish are the same, and when you do get them to come up a little you had better be on your toes because I have found they may only
bite once and subtly, at that, before disappearing to the lake floor once again, bored by your presentation that didn’t even taste that real to start with. Next time, out try this trick and I am going to try and remember it next summer when all the big spots are MIA. Well, hope all your fish and bait schools look like Halloween spider webs strung from trees with half moons all mixed in but, if not, remember this little trick; slow down, work the edges and watch that sonar for anything that may be a sleeping beauty, you can even kiss it when it comes up if you want. Later, Capt. James
Capt. James McManus is the Owner of 153 Charters. Give him a call for a great day of boat fishing!
6 WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
DECEMBER 2018
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Stress Free Holiday Fishing
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By David Hulsey
ecember fly fishing trips are usually a time of last minute, unplanned, quick excursions to nearby waters. This involves throwing a pile of fishing stuff into the truck and hoping you got something that works as you sling gravel out the driveway. These quick sorties are jammed between holiday get-togethers and shopping mall trips. Inventing excuses that sometimes involve taking your wild and crazy uncle or, worse yet, some relative’s kid named Junior, who really doesn’t want to be fishing. Junior will drive you nuts if he’s not catching fish every five minutes. Junior, or your uncle, also might break the fly rod you let him use. One way to relieve some of the holiday stress is to let your crazy uncle and Junior only use really junky worn out equipment. That way, if it breaks, you
can use the old guilt trip on the significant other to get some new stuff that costs at least four times as much. That’s a well-executed plan to get yourself what you really want for Christmas. The other way to avoid holiday stress is to take your unskilled, fly fishing company to a stream that has lots of eager unskilled fish in it. In the month of December, here in the Southern Appalachians, that means Delayed Harvest regulated streams. These creeks and streams are a wonderful place to find some peace and quiet away from the noise of the folks back at the house. Even if you had to bring Junior, he can usually get enough action to keep him occupied with fishing instead of playing on his iPhone. Regular stockings of nice trout through the fall ensure at least a very good chance of a
hookup or two in nearly every pool or riffle. Equipment needs not to be complicated. Any fly rod from two through six weight will work with a decent floating line on it. Long, beautiful casts aren’t usually necessary. Only show Junior how to roll cast if you want to hold on to at least a few flies for the next trip. If you show him the overhead cast, he’ll be in every tree for a hundred miles and I believe your wife said to bring him back in one piece. Remember, you are escaping stress, not manufacturing it. A short, powerful leader tapered down to 3x or 4x with a big orange Thingamabobber or big bushy dry fly, as an indicator, will give your uncle something to look at as he fishes. Tie a Y2K bug
or Olive Wooly Bugger on for him and plant his clueless self in a decent hole. Place the kid in the same hole so he will kinda have adult supervision, and sneak off down or upstream to a better fishing spot. You can be gone for short periods or until you catch a couple of fish because they need practice untangling lines and hopefully landing fish. Just be sure you leave the river in time to arrive for supper and festivities, which should involve several drinks to help you get to sleep to get some much needed rest after the hard day on the creek. If you want to go on your own stress free fishing trip, give us a call at 770-639-4001-you’ll be glad you did! Happy Holidays Everyone!
Give David a call to book a class or trophy trout guide trip at Noontootla Creek Farms. We can make learning to fly fish easy and fun! You can make the switch.
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DECEMBER 2018
WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA 7
SWAIN COUNTY / BRYSON CITY
Swainglers In Action
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arnell Farms hosted the Swainglers for their monthly fishing trip in October: The Tuckasegee River bank was soon covered by anglers. Various lures were quickly cast and also the hopes for
8 WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
By Tammy Millsaps
tight lines with a bite on the hook! The first catch was by a veteran Swaingler and Sophomore, Levi. He caught a knotty head. Besides fishing, he loves to hunt and just being outside. Rookie Swaingler, but definitely not a rookie angler, Trevor Jones, caught two trout. He was using a Panther Martin rainbow colored spinner lure with an open face reel. Trevor is in the ninth grade. His favorite pastime is, of course, fishing. All around, avid outdoorsman tenth grader, Ashton Buchanan reeled in a nice trout! Ashton was using a pink worm with a white head on an open face reel. This is Ashton’s second year in the club and he is one of the most active members. Our forty-five minute fishing trip ended too soon, as always. Twenty-one students went back to school to finish out their school day and week. The bus was full of fishing tackle and a lot of fish tales about the catches and,
DECEMBER 2018
of course, the ones that got away! The staff at Darnell Farms, a family owned farm business, is always welcoming and supportive of our fishing club. They have an awesome farmers market full of fresh produce, seasonal “pick-your-own”, playground for the little ones, and boundless activities with a beautiful mountain and river view. Next month, we hope to go to Deep Creek and do some fly fishing. Wherever we fish, whether we catch or not, we also have fun! Not all classrooms have four walls, go outside and explore! It is the policy of the Swain County Public Schools that all operations will be performed without regard to
race, age, religion, color, national origin, gender, marital/pregnant status, or disability.
Tammy Millsaps is the Leader of The Swainglers fishing club at Swain County High School in Bryson City, North Carolina. They fish once a month of the school year during club time. Contact her at tmillsaps@swainmail.org for more information or to support this popular club.
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My Favorite Time of Year By Ronnie Parris
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emember when you were a kid and you would try to get to sleep on Christmas Eve and it seemed you could never get settled down and stop thinking of all those presents under the tree you were hoping ol’ Santa was going to bring? Then, in the morning, you would wake up and race through the house to the tree and try to play with everything at once. I see it now with my grandson; he will have a toy in both hands and be trying to play with both at the same time. Well, December on Fontana is about like that-you can hardly sleep the night before, trying to guess where the fish will be stacked up and you hope you have the best baits in your box tied on so when you get on them, there’s no wasted time with changing lures. You get up and drag the boat as fast as our curvy roads will allow, and start looking for your reward for being a good boy all year long. December is usually the payoff month, no matter if you are a walleye fishermen or a bass angler. Most times they are under the Christmas tree together. Fontana has massive schools
of threadfin shad, which will tend to congregate together this month and every species of fish will be working them. Bait pods with thousands of minnows will be some days on the surface, which is great because you can visually see where you need to be positioned and you can work ahead of the fish to better get ready to cast into these breakers. Usually, these will be a mixture of smallmouth and spotted bass on the surface, but it’s almost
Fly of the Month By Jake Darling
Unicoi Outfitters, jake@unicoioutfitters.com
like a layer cake with the next layer holding good numbers of white bass, and your bottom layer holding walleye and yellow perch. I like to troll, so I will be working every layer with a different rod hooked to a downrigger. Pay close attention to your fish finder and keep walleye baits a few feet higher than you are seeing them on your graph, as they feed up when they are stalking baitfish. This is a great time of year because almost any style of fishing will produce some kind of fish. I see a lot of guys vertical jigging, some cast artificial lures,
and some throw live minnows. Almost every style works. Walleye and perch are usually so deep when you bring them up that their swim bladder will blow, so please keep track of your catch and when you limit, don’t keep fishing and think you can release these fish, as the survival rate is really low when this occurs. This is my favorite time of year for fishing and spending quality time with the family, so take that little boy or girl out and watch their eyes light up when they’re bringing in a hard fighting white bass or spotted bass. It’s usually not real cold mid-day but be sure to dress warm and in layers. I usually have a heater in the boat but, if you do this, be sure to maintain it so that you don’t have the risk of a fire on the boat. One thing I would warn you about, which I have learned the hard way, is to watch the weather fronts that can move in fast this month, especially the snow fronts. Although it causes fish to bite like crazy, you don’t want to risk wrecking your boat on the pull back home. Please be safe and have fun, and as always, take a kid fishing.
Ronnie Parris is the Owner and Head Guide of Smoky Mountain Outdoors Unlimited-Fontana Lake Fishing Guides, headquartered in Bryson City, North Carolina, heart of the Great Smoky Mountains. (www. smokymountainoutdoorsunlimited.com)
Hot Head Mohair Leech Hook: Umpqua U301 Streamer Sz 10 or 12 Thread: Black or Olive Ultra Thread, 140 denier Bead: Rip Lips 1/8 Tungsten in Orange or Chartreuse Weight: 12-15 wraps of .020 lead wire Tail: Small piece of Marabou, olive or black in color Body: Leech Yarn, Olive or black in color The Mohair Leech consistently puts fish in the net during the winter months. I prefer to fish this pattern on a dead drift, but it also works well with swinging and stripping techniques. This pattern offers dormant winter trout the calories that
they are looking for during our colder months, and can often get a fish to take when other patterns seem to fail. Tie up a few of these in different colors and I am sure that they will become heavy hitters for you this winter.
Fontana Lake Fishing Guides – Ronnie Parris, Owner & Head Guide LAKE, CREEK & RIVER FISHING • FLY FISHING • CAMPING We offer both full and half day trips with the most competitive rates available. All tackle and supplies you will need while you are on your trip is covered by our listed price.
1012 East Alarka Road, Bryson City, NC • 828-488-9711, Cell: 828-736-9471
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WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA 9
GATLINBURG, TN
East Tennessee Winter Forecast By Chad Fouts
National Park–
The fishing in the National Park right now is slower in the morning due to the drop in temperatures at night. You will not be disappointed in the water levels! We are catching most of our fish between 10am and 5pm. We are throwing dry dropper rigs and double nymph rigs in the higher elevations. With that being said, Higher elevation rivers, such as Road Prong and Upper Little River, are fishing really well past 10am. If you want to hit the lower elevation rivers, it would still be best to hit them in the morning, despite the cold. We’re using Orange dry flies with natural nymphs underneath and, of course, a squirmy in the mix won’t hurt. Remember to keep as much fly line and leader as possible, off of the water!
10 WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
South Holston–
There have been high flows on and off do to the rain we have been receiving. But, in between the flows has been some red-hot fishing! The water temp at mid-day is averaging about 47 degrees F so make sure to bring your waders! Best time of day to fish the river is about the same time we are fishing the park right now: 10am - 4pm. BWO’s and Black Flies are catching most of the fish right now. When you are floating the river throw MEAT, MEAT, MEAT on a full sink line.
Try to throw a 12 foot leader, it will work wonders. When you are floating, try and throw a double streamer rig. Hint: olive and white with a depth charge full sink line
Gatlinburg Stocked Waters–
The City of Gatlinburg is still stocking every Thursday and water temperatures have lowered, which has made the fishing amazing. There are several very large fish hiding in those waters. Any bigger, flashier fly will catch these freshly stocked fish while more Feel free to give us a ring at the natural stonefly imitations and Clinch River– worm flies work well for fish that shop with any questions about the About the same on the Clinch have been in the river for a while. fishing. River as the South Holston: Flows are high due to weather and small Chad Fouts is the Fly Shop Manager at The Smoky Mountain Angler in windows of really good fishing! Gatlinburg, TN. He is a self-described fly fishing junky. If you have any Midges, Sulphurs, and Beetles! questions about fishing in this area give us a call 865-436-8746
DECEMBER 2018
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ASHEVILLE / HENDERSONVILLE / BREVARD
Under Cover
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By Scott Norton
his fall has been “hit or miss”. Some days they are revved up like they should be, and other days you have to work hard to get them. That’s fishing at its best and that’s why you need to be versatile as an angler. Be sure to throw a few heavy cover to finesse rigs in with your gear so that you don’t get stuck without what you need to catch them. This year, I found myself using more jigs in heavy cover then open water moving baits. You can use this to your advantage. You can now go to every brush pile and throw your jigs tight in the center and dissect it from shallow to deep. I was glad to know that I could eliminate all the shoreline between laydowns to save time. Lots of quality fish were eager for an easy meal. Typically in the fall, they should be blowing up on shad, which makes it easy to find them. When all is calm and a jerk bait is not getting noticed, it’s hard to know where to start. When the water cools down, the bass will start their journey up the creek channels and will stop at the secondary points to feed up. If you see laydowns on those secondary
points throw a jig deep in the back and work each lane between branches. This is where we were finding some quality bass. You can also try skipping under docks as well. Leave no rock unturned. What’s a flipping stick and a finesse rod? I like to use a 7.6” extra heavy rod with a 50-pound braid on a bait caster as my flipping setup. When you go for finesse I like to use a 7’ to 7.6” medium extra fast tip rod with 10-pound braid to 10-pound leader on a spinning real. When times got really hard, I downsized and used a ned rig with this set-up. You would see blowups on the surface, but don’t pay any attention to those because if you try and chase those down, you would have already missed your chance. It seemed that that the open water bite would turn off as soon as it turned on. This is the time of year I like to use a kayak, since your launching area is usually in the creek channels. You do have issues with how much gear you can take unless you have a big kayak. This is all preference of course. I hope this helps guys and remember to introduce new people to the sport.
Scott Norton is a native of Western North Carolina. Born in Asheville, NC, he is a long time avid hunter, angler, and weekend warrior. He is a member of Southern Raft Supply’s prostaff team representing them in his Jackson Kayak Coosa FD.
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DECEMBER 2018
WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA 11
Christmas on Highway 74
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By Wilson Love
p until age fifteen, my family lived in a tiny four room rented house in the southern piedmont of North Carolina. When asked, we described the location as “out on 74 about halfway between the Patrol Station and the drive-in.” Calling our home a house is generous because it really was a shack. My folks and little sister slept in one bedroom and my older brother and I shared the other. The glory in this situation is that we kids grew up country. Yes, we were country long before anybody considered it cool. The setting and circumstances of this childhood were a throwback to the eighteen hundreds. As low paying renters (sharecroppers essentially) on a large property south of the Mason-Dixon, we were expected to assist the landlord (plantation owner) in his farming operations. I’m pretty sure there was nothing to this effect in writing; so with no lease and no place else to go, a way of life settled in on us. As a young teenager, I became all too familiar with an enormous mule named Samson and the low tech cultivating of watermelons and tobacco. The house lacked any sort of insulation. Two coal burning, cast iron heaters kept us from freezing. Daddy stapled sheets of plastic over the windows. That helped a little. In summer, an an-
tique GE reciprocating fan sat on the kitchen table to keep the blistering air moving. Lest this begins to sound like all toil and hardship, we also hunted and fished, rode bikes and flew kites. In short, we learned to love the outdoors. Daddy kept beagle hounds and we ate rabbit every way except raw, but his children caught more fish than he did. We also learned to do a lot of things for ourselves; practical things that don’t require a keyboard or touchscreen. The little town nearby where we went to school was a hub for the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad. Your daddy either worked for the railroad or he didn’t. Ours didn’t, but we carried on more or less as equals with our contemporaries, choosing not to acknowledge social lines drawn in the sand. Country living didn’t keep us out of trouble. The truth is all three of us siblings had a drug problem. It all started at a small building way out in the sticks, which served as a Methodist church meeting house. My mother loved that place. In fact, she regarded it as her home away from home. So, she drug us kids there at every opportunity. She was going - and we were going. No discussion. When Christmas time rolled around, with only a dozen or so youngsters there, our little church
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DECEMBER 2018
always produced a special service for all who would attend. We sang, acted, read scripture and recited verse. We played it up as big and as good as a company that size could. And there were always treats at the end for young and old. At home, Christmas meant a red cedar tree cut from nearby woods, decorated with odd ornaments and shiny foil tinsel. Our “stockings” were plain white, waxed cardboard tubs (the kind fried chicken comes in). We eagerly dove into our treasure chests to find cookies, chocolates, soft peppermints, and exotic fruits like seedless grapes and tangerines. Even as sheltered children we surely knew that the doll, the Zebco rod and reel, and the BB gun did not come down the chimney. Our folks worked extra so they could provide extra for us.
Every time I see a “Happy Holiday” or “X-mas” I laugh and think, “What’s wrong with this picture?” Like one of those old magazine cartoons where things are out of place or not quite right, the “X-mas” people are trying to leave the main character out of the story. It is possible for a person to ignore Jesus at Christmas time and for all the rest of this lifetime for that matter. But then, the Main Character will ignore that person for all the rest of the forever story (Matthew 25: 31-46). Is it just me or does that seem like a really bad trade? To everyone who helps produce The Angler Magazine, and all reading this, have a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year!
Wilson Love is Owner/Operator of The Practical Outdoorsman.
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River Conservation in the Modern Age By Ethan Hollifield Note: The opinions expressed here are based on my own experiences and understandings of nature. This is not meant to try and solve an issue with multifaceted causes, but rather provide insight into unknown consequences that can arise from our best intentions.
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he old adage “no good deed goes unpunished” can be applied to just about any sort of pursuit, even fishing and to some greater extent, conservation efforts. I would adopt both of these things as my own passions, and to what I have devoted my life towards. In my short time here on this earth, I have witnessed the far-reaching effects of what human involvement has had on our rivers and fisheries here in Western North Carolina, for better or worse. In both aspects, I feel as if a plague of nearsightedness has clouded our perceptions as to what it means to protect our rivers and the fish species we pursue within them. Slapping a label on a watershed such as “wild and scenic river” or whatever seems fitting, is at times about as effective as putting a sign on the chicken coop that says “no foxes allowed.” Let me clarify: designating protected areas to prevent occurrences such as development or resource extraction is necessary for the health of our rivers, and I’ll happily stand behind such endeavors. However, when I look at the current state of fisheries and
waterways that have already been labeled as protected, there’s a commonality between them all. These places are getting loved to death, in a literal sense of the phrase. While we have successfully prevented the onslaught of development from impacting these areas, we’ve invited, with open arms, the droves of human traffic that was otherwise unseen in those environments. I strongly attribute this to the advancement of the information age. We have never lived in such a time as to where maps, trailheads, fishing locations, etc. have been so easily accessible to anyone and everyone. These areas have been, at times, recklessly shared without regard to a habitat’s vulnerability to an influx of human exposure. Watersheds and wilderness areas that, even prior to a protection status, saw little to no people are now flooded with crowds even through the “slow” season of winter. With this population of people come others that do not hold the same mentality as we, who claim these places as our own, do. By this, I mean these places are more of a free taxpayer-funded playground than an untouched wilderness. Fragile populations of game fish are now seeing unprecedented amounts of pressure. Rates of poaching and poor fish handling increase dramatically with a rise of exposure to those who are ignorant of the fact. If this kind of pressure continues unchecked; it will result in the ultimate decline
of our local fisheries as a whole. How can we then, as anglers and conservationists, address this issue? Have many of us thought or even considered the effects of increased human traffic as we proudly publicize our waterways and fisheries? How can we differentiate who then can, or should, have access to these areas based on personal intentions? To these questions, I honestly have no clear answer. My hope is that by opening a dialogue of conversation we can alter our methods of protection for the rivers and streams we love, to include
the prevention of consequences that we might not have even considered. In particular, that of unknown places being taken for granted by those whose only value of nature is that of self-interest.
Ethan Hollifield is an Environmental/Physical Science Teacher and is also a guide for Southern Appalachian Anglers
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DECEMBER 2018
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Wildlife Commission Seeks Information on Hellbender Sightings RALEIGH, N.C. (Oct. 16, 2018) — With fall fishing in full swing, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is asking the public, in particular anglers, to report any sightings of hellbenders (water dogs) to the agency. Reported sightings are an important part of a long-term inventory and monitoring project for hellbenders that agency staff, along with partners, began in 2007. Agency biologists want to learn more about where hellbenders—gigantic, aquatic salamanders averaging 16 to 17 inches in length—are located and how their populations are faring. In North Carolina, hellbenders are found only in fast-moving, clean mountain streams in the western part of the state. Hellbenders, also called “snot otters” and “Alleghany
alligators,” were once common but have disappeared throughout much of their habitat, due mainly to declining water quality and habitat degradation, and to a lesser degree to persecution from anglers who mistakenly think that hellbenders decrease trout populations. Although they may occasionally go after a trout on a line or stringer, looking for an easy meal, hellbenders eat mainly crayfish according to Wildlife Diversity Biologist Lori Williams, who has done extensive work on hellbenders. “They may also eat unsuspecting minnows and scavenge for dead fish, discarded bait or other dead animals. However, fish can be bigger predators of young or larval hellbenders than hellbenders of fish.” Contrary to popular belief, hellbenders are not poisonous, venom-
ous, toxic or harmful to humans, although they may bite if someone tries to pick them up. Leaving them alone is not only good for hellbenders but also it is the law. Hellbenders are listed as a species of special concern in North Carolina. Because of this listing, it is illegal to take, possess, transport or sell a hellbender or to attempt to do so. A violation is a Class 1 misdemeanor, which can result in a fine and up to 120 days in jail. Williams also cautions people to refrain from moving rocks in mountain streams as these rocks provide shelter for hellbenders, as well as other species of fish, salamanders and insects. Anyone who finds a hellbender is asked to leave it alone but to note the location (physical location or GPS coordinates) and take a photo,
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DECEMBER 2018
Photo by Lori Williams
if possible and email that information to Williams at lori.williams@ ncwildlife.org. If anglers happen to catch one on hook and line, they should carefully remove the hook if it is safe to do so without harming the animal or cut the line as close as possible and return it back to the water. People also can call the Commission’s Wildlife Interaction Helpline (866) 318-2401 and provide details of the observation.
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All I Want for Christmas… By: Ryan Kennedy
Email: ryankfishing@gmail.com • YouTube: Ryan Kennedy Fishing Instagram: @ryankfishing • Facebook: Ryan Kennedy Fishing
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12-point buck and a shiny new truck. A new Hoyt bow, and a bass boat ready to tow. A house on a piece of land, and even a brandnew tree stand. You make the payments and I’ll use the goods. Why are we still talking? I should get back in the woods. Just leave my presents under the tree, and before you even ask, yes, they are all for me. As an avid outdoorsman, I don’t think I have ever had much trouble coming up with a hefty Christmas list. If I let my wheels really get to turning, the list will be long enough to reach from my house straight up to the North Pole. Most of our loved ones can have us grinning ear to ear with a one-stop-shop at Bass Pro Shops
or Cabela’s for Christmas, but there is so much more to this season than the gifts under the tree. Now don’t get me wrong, I love getting my hands on the latest and greatest in the outdoor industry as much as the next guy, but one thing will never change. The shine of new gear will wear off eventually, but the memories will never fade. When I think back on my most cherished memories in the outdoors, I think of unforgettable times with friends and family hunting and fishing. I wouldn’t trade the memories of fishing with my father after church on Sundays out of an old V-Hull for anything in the world. Sure, it wasn’t the fastest or shiniest rig on the water, but if that old boat could talk, I would sit there
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for hours just to re-live some of the best times of my life. Outside of the fishing memories, my favorite memory of hunting isn’t even a special kill, but rather my dad showing me how to field dress my first deer. I have gone back to that memory on every harvest since then, and it never fails to put a big grin on my face while I’m cleaning my deer. I am so blessed to have been able to grow up with God fearing parents that raised me and my brother in a way that opened our eyes to the Lord’s wonderful creations all around us. I’m keeping this article short and sweet as I reflect on the memories and people that made me the man I am today. So, I want to thank my brother for being
the best friend I could have ever asked for and for always being there for me in the good times and the bad. I want to thank my mother for being the most kind-hearted woman I have ever met and for her never-ending love and support that she has given to me and my family. Finally, I want to thank my father for being the hardest working man that I will ever know and for being willing to sacrifice anything for my family. I love you all! Christmas gifts are great, but there’s nothing like family. I wish each and every one of you a Merry CHRISTmas and a Happy New Year. GOD BLESS!
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When The Going Gets Tough By Jimmy Harris
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Unicoi Outfitters Orvis 2018 Fly Shop of the Year
hile fall pretty much fell flat on its face with summertime temperatures in October and very little leaf color in November, we always know we can count on December to be Steady Eddy. It’s pretty predictable that the average daily temps will be around 50° with lows in the low 30’s. On average it’s going to be relatively mild and great fishing weather. For trout fishing, this is one of our busiest months. Anglers getting out on the stream in December need to come prepared for winter fishing in order to get the most out of their experience. Here are some tips: • Dress appropriately. This means dressing in layers. Early morning temps in the 30’s mean a good fleece jacket and possibly fleece or polypropylene pants under your waders. To me, polypro underwear is a better option as it’s
not that uncomfortable like fleece when things warm up. By noon, you’ll probably be shucking some outer layers so a small backpack is a handy accessory. • While you may find some dry fly action like midges or Blue Winged Olives, odds are 98% of your fishing will be nymphs. On Delayed Harvest streams, a good tactic is to fish an egg pattern or Y2K with a nymph dropper. Prince Nymphs in size 14 and 16, Pheasant Tails in size 16 – 20 are hard to beat. • With crystal clear water, you may find it necessary to fish longer leaders. It’s not unusual for us to fish 12’ – 15’ 5X leaders this time of year. • Water temperature is critical to fish activity. If the actual water temp is under 40°, take your time getting to the stream. Forty degrees and up, the switch will turn on. • You have to be very deliberate about your fishing in winter. In
cold water, you sometimes have to bump the trout on the nose to get a reaction. As my friend Jeff Durniak says, “Paint the pool with your casts.” Make sure you have drifted your flies through every square foot of the run or pool. • Split shot is your friend! Don’t be afraid to keep adding shot until you feel your flies ticking the bottom. That’s where the fish are and you need to make sure you aren’t drifting over their head. • Unless you’re Euro-nymphing with a sighter, use a strike indicator. Unless you’re just dead set on perfecting that method, you’ll catch more fish nymphing with an indicator. Winter strikes can be very subtle, so up your odds. The new Rio Kahuna LT strike indicators are perfect for helping you pick up those subtle strikes. • Finally, I never go out during the winter without an extra set of
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DECEMBER 2018
clothes in my vehicle just in case I go swimming. Trust me, it happens. Hypothermia is real and can kill you! I remember one trip to the Chattooga River the day after Christmas when the air temperature was in the 20’s. I was wading out on a ledge at one of the deepest holes on the river when my feet began to slide over the rounded edge. I had time to prepare myself mentally as I slowly slid into the water until nothing but my hat was dry. After drifting about 30 feet, my feet finally touched the bottom and I walked out. I was fortunate. I hiked twenty minutes back to the vehicle where I had a towel and dry clothes. A heater never felt so good! As the most interesting man in the world would say, “Stay safe out there, my friends.”
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Winter Fishing In The South Carolina Mountains By Karl Ekberg
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he hustle and bustle of the Holiday season is now upon us. Crowded stores, busy streets, attending Christmas gatherings, and a little nip in the air, and we say, “Let’s go fly fishing? This is a great time of year to be out on the Chattooga or Chauga Rivers to find some solitude away from all the “hustle & bustle”, or make a little Holiday gathering amongst friends and family, and catch a few trout while you’re there. The rivers of the South Carolina mountains have been heavily stocked now from the South Carolina DNR, and many thanks go out to the folks of the Walhalla Fish Hatchery! The Delayed Harvest areas are fishing extremely well, with many large fish being landed, on a wide variety of flies. The large Brook Trout, have beautiful spawning colors to them, the Rainbows have been in the 12”-16” average, with a few larger ones landed as well. The larger browns have been a great pleasure to catch as well, with a great fight to land them. Our guides are putting people on large fish, and taking great pictures to send them home with for bragging rights. As winter arrives, so do the colder months of fishing for us here in the Southern Appalachians. Maybe a frosty covering of white blanketing snow across the river banks, possibly a 60 degree day full of sunshine, making us believe spring is near, or just
the average temperature day. At any rate, whichever day you may venture to the rivers, the water temperatures have dropped to the mid to high 40’s, and it’s time to fish a little deeper in the runs and seams, as that’s where the warmer water for the trout are, especially if the water temperatures drop any further. At times of higher water conditions, a pinch of weight will be needed, to get your flies down to the holding fish. Colder water temperatures, leads to the fish becoming a bit lethargic, and streamer fishing will need to be slower as well. Slowing down your strip and pauses will be the key to success. The use of a sink tip leader will keep the streamers down in the water column, especially while retrieving them, when the water is higher and the temperatures are colder. If you’re looking for that special gift for the your Angler, we can help you with everything from gift certificates, guided trips, to all the flyfishing gear someone could possible want under the tree. We look forward to seeing everyone out on the rivers, stop by and see us Tuesday-Saturday 7am-5pm, and Sundays 7am-2pm. From all of us here at Chattooga River Fly Shop we want to wish everyone and their families a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Karl Ekberg is the owner of Chattooga River Fly Shop, located at 6832A Highlands Hwy, in Mountain Rest, SC 29664. Give them a call at (864) 638-2806 or look them up on the web at chattoogariverflyshop.com COASTALANGLERMAG.COM • THEANGLERMAG.COM
DECEMBER 2018
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MCTG-3575 Coastal Angler FP LO4
Report provided by FishingNosara
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or much of the U.S. it is time to don winter coats, sweep the chimney and winterize the boat. As the temperature plummets, it’s easy for the mind to wander toward thoughts of warm sun and a beach escape. For the fishing crews in Nosara, Costa Rica, the forecast for the next 10 months is perfect sunshine and clear fishing weather. Best of all, this is the time of year when big dorado provide plenty for the Christmas dinner table. Here in Costa Rica, our fishing pattern resets each year. Ever since the rainy season ended in early November, we have seen large
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schools of dorado stacked up like cordwood. Also, there are swarms of sailfish and the occasional marlin stalking these mahi-mahi meals. We expect this feeding pattern to continue until late-March when the dorado will be replaced by schools of yellowfin tuna moving in from the north. Gangs of spinning dolphins will show us the way to these tasty ahis, and once they show up the tuna bite will strengthen until our end-of-season in early September. Our offshore marlin, yellowfin and dorado all follow schools of bait that move from north to south along the Pacific coast. Conversely, our inshore fishery doesn’t depend on pelagic bait migration patterns. Instead our secluded port of Garza Bay is fed by local mountain rivers. When the cool, nutrient-rich river water collides with the warm, fast-moving saltwater of the Pacific, conditions are perfect for localized swarms of baitfish to form. This “homegrown” bait supports a ravenous population of big roosterfish, broomtail groupers and massive cubera snapper. It’s not unusual for these monsters to weigh upwards of 60 pounds yet still ascend the water column to strike on the surface. Roosterfish are in an especially catchable mood after a cool evening’s rain floods the estuary with fresh baits. Inshore or offshore, all are ripe for the catching, and captains of FishingNosara have posted excellent catches ever since the season started. Right off the bat, angler Brian Stafford, of Jacksonville, Fla. and his fellow firefighters nabbed a big batch of dorado on the 32-foot Wanderer. Catching these big beasts on the first day of the season is a great sign of what we imagine will be a “fishtastic” 2019 season. It’s always a great time be thankful for friends, family and the blessings in life, but with Christmas Day right around the corner, it is the right time to give the gift of fishing. If you have a youngster in the family, get them a tackle box and a starter reel. If you are already an avid angler, remember that Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals are great for expanding your arsenal. And, if you are ready to challenge yourself to catch the baddest fish on the planet, come on down to Nosara and pay us a visit.
11/15/18 10:08 AM
By Nick Carter
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used to work with a woman who spent Saturdays fishing kitchen refuse from a pretty little brook that ran through her front yard. Apparently there was an old lady upstream who didn’t own a garbage can. She would just toss trash out the kitchen window and into the creek. To me, anyone who could do such a thing, especially to a creek that held trout, was the most despicable form of human garbage. Mariann, the lady I worked with, was the first to explain that old timers picked up their habits in a time before the garbage man came around to empty the curbside bin. In remote areas of the mountains, standard practice was to pick a hollow and unload the back of the
pickup. It’s been a while since I’ve visited the West Fork of the French Broad, and the garbage might be long gone, but I remember being amazed at the things we found in that gorge. Someone, or even a small community of someones, used one particular bend on Silverstein Road as a regular dump. It must have been fun to watch a clothes dryer or a water heater tumble down the ravine. It’s testament to the bounty of the fishery that we continued to fish there even after my brother had the rear window of his SUV shot out while he was down in the gorge. That was years ago, though. These days the river receives a little more traffic from anglers, and there has been a concerted effort to clean it up. The fishing remains good, as the West Fork receives light stockings of rainbow, brook and brown trout to supplement a population of holdover fish and some wild browns. There are excellent mayfly hatches on this river, and a dry-dropper rig can yield numbers of standard hatchery fish as well as a spattering of wild 8- to 12-inch browns. We’ve also hung into some big 14- to 18-inch fish throwing streamers. The gorge section is a little difficult to access via an unmarked angler’s trail. There are some areas where the wading is difficult, too. Although Silverstein Road parallels the river, the water is down in the bottom of a steep-sided gully. There is easier roadside access at a few pullouts upstream of the gorge. Once, while I fished this flatter section in waist deep water, a big old furry beaver swam right between my legs. I’m not lying. It was startling. Silverstein Road (SR 1309) is a northward turn off U.S. 64 west of Rosman, N.C. There’s a convenience store and a self-storage place at the intersection. Bear right to stay on Silverstein when the road forks, and continue about 1.5 miles to the bridge and pullout parking. For GPS coordinates to access points and detailed maps of all the region’s best trout water, check out “Flyfishers Guide to North Carolina & Georgia.” It is available on Amazon or by emailing the author at nsc8957@gmail.com.
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DECEMBER 2018
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outh Carolina’s Santee Cooper lakes of Marion and Moultrie offer world-class fishing for multiple species, and winter is prime time for incredible striped bass action. The two lakes are impoundments of the Congaree River between Columbia and Charleston. They are connected by a 7-mile-long diversion canal and offer more than 160,000 surface acres of prime fishing water. Kevin Davis owns and guides out of Blacks Camp located on the diversion canal, which gives him direct access to either lake. “Because of our outstanding forage base of threadfin and gizzard shad, the December striper fishing is off the charts good,” Davis said. “Anglers can enjoy sensational surface schooling action as well as excellent live bait fishing opportunities when the surface action slows.” Davis said the fishery has rejuvenated to an elite level because of striper regulations that have enabled the resource to grow. Limits of stripers are often caught, and many days anglers catch and release scores of additional fish. The current regulations allow anglers to keep three stripers per person within a 23-to-25inch slot limit, plus one of the three can exceed 26-inches. “The lakes are absolutely loaded with fish in the slot limit size,” Davis said. Linwood Thornhill also guides out of Blacks Camp and has been chasing schooling stripers for decades. “The large stripers get considerably more active from Thanksgiving through December,” he said. “Anytime of the day can produce schooling action, but typically the best is early and late. But on cloudy days we may see topwater action all day.” Thornhill diversifies his lures for schooling stripers because the fish have an ever-changing preference. He uses Rockport Rattler jigs with plastic trailers, as well as 1/2- or 3/4-ounce bucktails. He varies colors until he hits the daily pattern working chartreuse jig and trailer patterns, white and white and various jighead and trailer colors. Capt. Leroy Suggs, another guide out of Blacks Camp, said December is one of his favorite striper months. “We typically use live blueback herring when live bait fishing. We’ll mark stripers on the graph along humps and ledges and drop baits to the depth fish are marked, or just slightly above,” he explained. “Stripers will readily come up for bait, but seldom go deeper.” Suggs said December fishing has another good twist on Lake Moultrie because most years huge schools of menhaden are found near the Pinopolis Dam and can be caught and used as bait. “The menhaden migrate into Lake Moultrie via the lock and fish lift from the Santee and Cooper rivers that flow into the Atlantic,” he said. “I prefer them about the size of a small bream, about three fingers wide. Menhaden are excellent striper bait and also tempt huge catfish to load on as a bonus.” For more information, contact Kevin Davis at Blacks Camp at 843-312-3080 and check them out online at www.blackscamp. com.
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SOUTHEAST
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Photo courtesy of IGFA hose interested in destination fisheries have probably heard of the fantastic fishing, scenery and hospitality experienced on Mongolian taimen trips. Well, there are taimen in Russia, too. And Russian rivers have a reputation for producing the largest taimen on the planet. Taimen are known as the largest, meanest salmonids in the world. They look and behave somewhat like brown trout only on a much larger scale. Fishing for them might be the world’s ultimate freshwater fly rod experience. Angler Guido Rahr, III got to experience taimen in a big way in September, when he hooked into a pending IGFA record for fly tackle taimen. He caught and released the 83-pound, 4-ounce monster on Russia’s Tugar River. If approved, it will replace the existing 71-pound, 2-ounce record for the heaviest taimen on a fly rod ever recorded by IGFA. The IGFA all-tackle world record for taimen was also caught in Russia. In 1993, Yuri Orlov landed the 92-pound, 8-ounce record on Siberia’s Keta River. He caught it on a Blue Fox spinner and 17-pound-test line.
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11/15/18 10:55 AM
r spread FRESHWATER By CAM Staff
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very few years a new technique explodes on the bass fishing scene. Many of these trends just fade away, but some endure and become a part of every bass angler’s arsenal. The technique of the moment is the Ned rig. It is excellent for big numbers of spotted bass and smallmouths. It’ll catch largemouths, too. And it really shines when the fishing gets tough. On post-frontal days in winter, when bass are deep on vertical structure, it’s time to rig up a Ned and go to work. It is the perfect technique when bass are looking for a meal that is small and slow moving. A Ned rig is a miniature soft-plastic stick bait threaded on a light 1/8- to 1/32-ounce mushroom-style jighead. A drop of superglue holding the 3- to 5-inch worm to the jighead works wonders for making this rig durable. When fishing at winter depths, light line should be matched with a light spinning rod with a supple tip. Go as light as you dare, with 4- to 8-pound-test braid finished off with a fluorocarbon leader. When fish are active, a Ned worked steadily along the bottom is deadly. When they are sluggish, it’s better to let the jig sit on the bottom, allowing the bait’s vertical tail to do the work with the slightest shake of the rod tip. It’s not the most exciting way to fish, but it catches fish—sometimes when nothing else will.
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Photo courtesy of The Cooking Channel
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hose who have seen his show “Man Fire Food” will recognize Roger Mooking as the iconic host of what has become the ultimate look at extreme outdoor or fire/smoke based cooking. Each week Roger introduces us to passionate and inventive outdoor cooking aficionados and an array of epic custom-built apparatuses designed to cook everything from 200-pound sturgeon to whole cows on a massive homemade spit. Roger’s visits give us insight into the innovative extremes outdoor cooks utilize in their pursuit of perfection. If you’re an outdoor cooking enthusiast, “Man Fire Food” is a must-watch program. We recently caught up with Roger to discuss the show’s success and rich content. CAM: Roger, your show has become a must-watch series for anyone who mans a grill. Why do you think your show has become so popular? Roger: Over the course of the last 7 seasons, we’ve seen an amazing array of outdoor and flame-inspired cooking devices and techniques featured on the show. If you love outdoor cooking, then you’re probably going to like the show. People just love being outside with loved ones. Backyard barbecues have been a longstanding tradition; in fact, you could say that tradition may even date back to the most primitive use of fire itself. There’s also something very special about slowing down and taking the time it demands to tend a hypnotizing fire and be immersed in the full experience, and getting to eat at the end of that entire adventure. The smells, sounds, sights of nature and breaking the hectic pace that a lot of us live at… it’s needed. CAM: So, you think cooking outdoors is somehow satisfying a primal urge? Roger: When I look back at some of the massive cuts of meat that have been prepared on previous episodes, it does seem like fire and food is primal, and I think we would all have to agree that cooking with wood, coals or heated rocks bridges a gap that is satisfying to those primal instincts.
CAM: What can we expect to see in future episodes? Roger: Humans all over the globe have been cooking with fire for many millennia now, and cultures all over the world have different ways of cooking with fire. I would like to explore extending the borders of the show to feature more places outside of the U.S. CAM: What advice would you offer the average outdoor cook? Roger: Just to enjoy the whole experience. I think the average outdoor cook is a more experienced cook, or else they would be a novice indoor cook. It takes a different level of attention to detail and mindfulness to cook outdoors because you have to deal with many other variables like wind, rain, keeping the fire going, how hot or cool is the fire, what are the hotspots, how much wood/charcoal do I need to add at a particular stage, bugs trying to get you, and all sorts of other things that you simply don’t have to worry about in a modern day North American kitchen with electricity and good shelter. Also, use the smoke as a seasoning advantage. You don’t need to add all kinds of stuff if you start with a freshly caught fish, some salt and a bit of good wood smoke; the work is already done, you just have to make sure you don’t get in the way or don’t burn the darn thing. It’s the magic of simplicity. CAM: How do you select the places that we see on the show? Roger: There is a very dedicated but small team of amazing people who find, research and vet all the potential locations for “Man Fire Food.” The winning candidates have endured hours of interviews and a barrage of questions as exhaustive as possible. The variables are so unimaginable to the viewer, and if we all do our jobs right, you have no idea how much work went into what looks so simple on TV. We’re always interested in looking at unique “Man Fire Food” subject matters. If any of your readers think they qualify, they should email: Contact@rogermooking.com. “Man Fire Food’s” new season premiered Wednesday, Nov. 28 at 9 p.m. on The Cooking Channel.
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FISH & FISHING
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Feeding Strategies MARK SOSIN What appears obvious may be deceiving. Most anglers erroneously believe that when predators corner a hapless school of baitfish, they simply open their mouths and swim through the prey, gorging themselves in the process. It doesn’t happen that way. A predator must isolate and attack one specific victim at a time. That’s not always an easy task. A frantic school of baitfish sensing predators can appear as a shimmering mass of silver with each individual member of the school constantly changing position. Selecting a tasty morsel to ingest can frustrate even the most sophisticated gamefish. That’s one reason why you’ll find predators lurking under a pod of bait. The instant their intended prey strays from the pack, they strike. When you think about it, you can understand that any gamefish searches for a victim that is isolated, disabled or looks different from the others. Feeding is a tradeoff. Success centers on expending as little energy as possible for the food value received. Unsuccessfully chasing prey for long distances keeps a predator lean, hungry, and tends to slow it down. The easiest way to get a strike when you locate a school of baitfish starts with a cast into the middle of the school. It doesn’t matter whether you are fishing an artificial lure or a natural bait. The retrieve should work your offering toward the fringes of the school in basically the same direction in which the school is swimming or at a 45-degree angle to the basic direction. As your bait or lure eases toward the edge of the school, it is easier for a predator to isolate. And, it looks slightly different than the baitfish in the school. Some live bait fishermen squeeze a minnow before casting
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it or drifting it so that it will be disabled. Clipping a fin or two also impairs swimming motion. The injured fish will have trouble swimming, and that means it will send out vibrations that attract the attention of predators. These frantic movements to obtain equilibrium frequently trigger the strike. Even during the anticipated feast of locating a school of baitfish, certain factors come into play. As water temperatures drop, a predator will not pursue its prey as fast and as far as it would in warmer water. When you are fishing a chum slick and fish are feeding on the chum, it is much more effective to fish an offering without retrieving it. A dead drift works just fine. I’ve seen that produce inshore and offshore including tuna and sailfish. I once had an opportunity to watch scientists monitor the behavior of a school of bluefish in a massive aquarium as they attacked a school of minnows. By chance, I focused on a minnow that did not move, even when attacked by a bluefish four times. Each time, the bluefish broke off the attack because the minnow did not behave as it should. On the fifth pass, the minnow moved and it was eaten faster than you can read this sentence. Finally, if you are trolling and see a school of small fish on the surface, approach the school slowly so as not to scare them. Ease alongside the school and work the fringes or establish a position ahead of the baitfish. If you prefer to cast, keep the boat away from the school and make the cast into the school. As you retrieve your offering and it begins to clear the fringes of the school, you should get a strike.
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