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Catawba River tailrace Caddis Hatch

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Scott Cunningham

View of Bridgewater Hydro from on top of the dam

Well it’s that time of year…… Caddis Hatch time on the Catawba River tailrace!! Lots of bugs on the river but really inconsistent flows. I’ll try to get some good pictures of the bugs but it’s tough to get them to stand still and say “cheese”. In fact my 6 year old listens better than these bugs!

Noticed the Duke Power site said no generation for today, so I stopped by the tailrace on the way to work and caught a few fish but really just caught the urge to go back as soon as possible. Well that meant as soon as the shop closed at 4pm I was heading back. So I spent the day watching the clock and at 4 I was already in my waders and out the door.

Good ol Ross reel

Drove straight there as fast as possible, of course I followed all posted speed limits! With the dam being less than 10 miles from the shop, this has become one of my afternoon activities. Stopped my truck, strung up my rod and was heading to the river as fast as possible. Saw a few caddis flying around this morning but this afternoon was a different story.

CADDIS EVERYWHERE!! Check out this video of the caddis crawling up my waders. Catawba Caddis

Was able to get the browns to eat my dry fly!! In fact, landed 18 browns and 12 of them on the DRY!! In February to beat all. Our Wilson Creek Caddis in size 14 is a bit light colored for these Caddis but the fish did not seem to mind.

66 degrees at 5:18pm gotta love NC!!

As soon as things were getting good Duke Power decided to turn the wheels and mess up my afternoon delight. An incredible February afternoon.

This hatch should only continue to get bigger over the next few weeks. In years past I’ve seen the caddis flies so thick you would suck them in with every breath. Hopefully we’ll get another huge hatch of them this year.

Here’s a quick video show the boat launch area without generation and then with 1 wheel running 1500cfs. Generation Video

We only have a few days open for guide trips over the next two weeks so if you want to experience an incredible caddis hatch right here in NC better book your trip soon.

Remember all guided trips are on sale for the month February. Book in Feb for any date this year and save. Here’s a quick link for you….

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ezWCO Sage Flyfishing Outfit Sale Special

Posted on February 16, 2012 by ezflyfisher

Click here to purchase

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A trip up to the mountains last week

Posted on February 15, 2012 by ezflyfisher

with good ‘ole Monty. We did some lunch, some trout fishing on the old home waters, and ran across a funky bus (and even funkier bus driver) in Linville……

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WCO wants to see your photos!!

Posted on February 8, 2012 by WCO

We’re hoping our Facebook Fans will share some of their unique photos. Of course “hero shots” are great but we also like the photos that are a little different.

“Like” us on Facebook to share your picture today!

Here’s a unique picture from our guide Chad! He calls it the “Stash” pic.

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Catawba River Float Trip Special!

Posted on January 27, 2012 by ezflyfisher

February Booking Special!

The Catawba River tailrace below Lake James is our “home” river. With the boat launching ramp less than 15 miles from our shop it’s very easy to understand why we spend so much of our time here. These float trips are designed for the angler who is looking to access sections of the Catawba that few angler get to experience. The Catawba River tailrace has been stocked with all brown trout and as you can imagine some of these fish have grown very LARGE! Come experiance NC’s only Special Regulation Trout stream!

Retail: $375.00 Your Price: $325.00

Booking Special Good until Leap Day, 2012.

Booking trip date anytime 2012!

Click here for more info and to book your date!

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Winter fishing in the south

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Scott Cunningham

While floating the Catawba River tailrace yesterday I thought about several tips and tricks to make your day on the water more enjoyable even in the winter months. Being located in NC, these tips are geared towards wade fishing the local fisheries but as you can imagine they will work anywhere.

Still some open water to fish

Of course layering is very important. But even more important is correctly layering. Leave your jeans and cotton pants at home. In fact the less cotton you wear the better. I recommend starting with a base layer like the Simms Downunder Merino Bottoms or for those days not as cold the Simms Waderwick Bottoms. These base layers will keep you warm and dry. By wicking the moisture away from your body, you’ll stay much warmer.

The next layer under your waders is just as important. Again steer clear of cotton and stay with fleece for this layer. I like the Simms Guide Fleece Pants but you have several good options here. Simms also makes a Coldweather Pant that looks great but I haven’t tried them yet.

Safely finding open water can be tough at times

The water still flows!

Socks are very important and of course Simms makes some great socks. My biggest tip here is…. change your socks when you arrive at the stream. I see so many clients add a second pair of socks over the socks they wore on the drive to the river. BIG mistake! The socks you wear in the car or truck on the way to the river are wet with moisture. Change your socks to dry socks before putting on your waders.

Mid day, clear water and icy banks

Plan your day wisely….. no need to start at daylight for winter fishing. Mid morning through mid afternoon will be the most productive time of the day. Focus your attention on the warm part of the day.

Flies…. most bug hatching through the winter months are small. Keep this in mind. My rule of thumb for winter time fly fishing, go small and dark.

Hope this helps! Stay safe, stay warm and keep tight lines!

All pictures in this blog entry were supplied by Anthony Smith! Click here to visit his site

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Great start to 2012!!

Posted on January 2, 2012 by Scott Cunningham

Walt and I spent the day floating the Catawba River tailrace below Lake James. One wheel generation at 1560 cfs (cubic feet per second), nice fast flow perfect for streamer fishing. Weather forecast called for clouds and rain moving in late and the clouds caught up with us at the take out. Jan 1 and we’re having to suffer through high temps in the high 50′s and low 60′s with very little wind. Ahhhh living in the south does have some advantages. Don’t let me fool you though, low temps tonight in the 20′s and wind up to 50 mph. Back to today’s fishin…

Few minutes into the float, pulled the oar frame raft into an eddy to allow Walt to add a split shot to help get his Catawba Bugger down into the zone. 2 casts later BAM, boated a nice brown and we had been on the river less than 10 minutes. Nice start to the day, to the trip, and to 2012!!

Managed a few more fish before our first tangle with the big nasty tree monster. This was one mean tree monster, not only got the fly but managed to rip the loop out of the end of a fly line. Found a nice eddy below an island to hold up in while we tied a new leader on. Of course being anchored in an eddy is a perfect time for me to make a cast. First cast missed fish, second cast brought me face to face with my first brown trout of 2012.

We managed to turn, hook and land several fish from the typical bank side eddy locations and as many or more out of mid river holding spots. Mid river structure upstream and downstream of riffles produced the most action. Many times today we had fish chasing and or eating our streamers within 10 feet of the raft. This just adds to the streamer excitement. Flashers, chasers and followers all part of why we were streamer fishing.

Very nice way to start off 2012!

Do keep in mind the Catawba tailrace is subject to changes in flow rates at any time. With so little public access areas for wade fishing and the amount of water discharged during generation the wade fisherman is at a huge disadvantage. Float fishing offers anglers access to the remote areas but this is NOT a place for inexperienced rowers or paddlers. Please be careful!

Here’s a few links from our Catawba River Info Page that we thought might be helpful to the visiting angler.

Duke Energy Information Line 800-829-5253 then select options 1, 1, 2, then 1 for Bridgewater

Duke Energy Flow Arrival & Recession Times

Duke Energy Scheduled Flow Releases

USGS Gauge @ Bridgewater

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Wishing you a Happy Tight Lines New Year!

Posted on December 31, 2011 by ezflyfisher

and most importantly, Good Health!

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JUST ARRIVED….. Ross Evolution LT Brown Trout Limited Edition

Posted on December 16, 2011 by WCO

These bad boys just arrived today and we wanted to get the word out. Awesome brown trout print on one of Ross’ greatest reels. Limited edition, numbered and will not last long. From our site….

We are pleased to announce the upcoming availability of an exclusive, limited edition series of fly reels. The Ross Evolution LT reels with a Brown Trout photographic finish. All reels will be custom engraved with a special edition number. The finish of these reels is like nothing you have seen before! Once the reels have been anodized, a photographic image is then applied to each reel with a proprietary process. The photograph is actually absorbed into the anodized aluminum, providing incredible graphics and a finish that is more durable than anodize alone. It really is quite amazing! The special series is being produced in limited numbers and will be available December, 16th 2011. We are now taking orders on a first come, first served basis!

LIMITED QUANTITIES NOW IN STOCK!

Evolution LT Reels (Brown Trout Photographic Finish)

Size	Line Rod Size	Retail Price	Limited Qtys Made
#0	1-2 wt	$325.00	25 Reels
#1	2-4 wt	$335.00	35 Reels
#1.5	3-5 wt	$345.00	75 Reels
#2	4-6 wt	$360.00	150 Reels
#3	5-7 wt	$380.00	75 Reels
#4	7-9 wt	$400.00	40 Reels

As with all limited edition series, no spare spools will be produced.

Click here to purchase yours today!

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Catawba Fishing Report

Posted on November 28, 2011 by Scott Cunningham

Spent a couple days on the Catawba tailrace below Lake James. The dam reconstruction seems to be complete, the state has restocked the river and things are looking up! We have updated our Catawba River Page with the latest info.

On Friday we had lots of fish rising to blue wing olives (BWO Size 18-20), and Hendricksons My clients did very well stripping black wooly buggers when we were not seeing rises.

Keep an eye out of more updates coming soon.

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