It's April. The weather is warm, the sun is out, greenup is well underway even in the mountains and I was fishing Hatchery-Supported trout waters today. My fiance had to come up to Asheville, NC for some things this week, so we left Charlotte Wednesday afternoon and made our way to her mother's house just outside of the city in Woodfin.
After doing some things for a job interview, I headed out the door, Mercury Mariner loaded down with waders, rods and tackle, and up I-26 North I went. Destination: The Big Ivey area of the Pisgah National Forest. Located in Northeast Buncombe County, I had done some winter hiking in the area back in December of last year and made note of the deer and turkey sign, as well as the frozen creek that I was sure held some trout. Of course today I did not have to deal with breaking rock-hard ice or ankle deep, marshmellow-like snow. No, today I would be wearing shorts and a t-shirt and swatting the most annoying little black flies the entire time.
The first order of business was to try and find some turkey sign for Saturday's opener. Seeing 4 hens in the middle of a large field on the way to this spot had forced the "fever" upon me and the only prescription was more cowbell....ok, so maybe it wasn't, but I definitely needed to make sure there was at least one turkey roaming the rhodendron thickets around there. The answer to that question was a mere 100 yards from the parking area, just inside the woodline and was in the form of feeding sign. The entire forest floor seemed to have been overturned by turkey feet, not only on that side of the road but the other side as well. Needless to say I feel much better about climbing that high-mountain ridge in the pitch black on Saturday morning. Now on to the trout...
There were no trout. At least none that wanted to actually bite my inline spinner or fly instead of just chasing or looking at them. I started out just using my ultralight to hit a few holes next to the parking area from the bank and thought the day would be good considering the first cast resulted in a keeper size (7 inches) trout following my small, single-hook spinner. Unfortunately that was going to the best chance at a fish I had all day. But the day was not a total loss! I happened to meet a fellow outdoorsman (dressed to hit the water in his waders and fly rod in hand) by the name of Earl and he invited me to come fish with him. Not one to pass up such an offer, on the waders went, out came my 7'6" 5-weight and I was in the water behind him. He showed me a few fishing holes he knew of, we traded fishing and hunting stories and both of us commented on the beautiful Spring weather we were blessed to be fishing in.
Even though no trout were landed, the day was a success as I was able to meet a new friend on the water, find the turkey sign I was after and be out doing what I love. Now who could complain about that?
-C.B.
The first order of business was to try and find some turkey sign for Saturday's opener. Seeing 4 hens in the middle of a large field on the way to this spot had forced the "fever" upon me and the only prescription was more cowbell....ok, so maybe it wasn't, but I definitely needed to make sure there was at least one turkey roaming the rhodendron thickets around there. The answer to that question was a mere 100 yards from the parking area, just inside the woodline and was in the form of feeding sign. The entire forest floor seemed to have been overturned by turkey feet, not only on that side of the road but the other side as well. Needless to say I feel much better about climbing that high-mountain ridge in the pitch black on Saturday morning. Now on to the trout...
There were no trout. At least none that wanted to actually bite my inline spinner or fly instead of just chasing or looking at them. I started out just using my ultralight to hit a few holes next to the parking area from the bank and thought the day would be good considering the first cast resulted in a keeper size (7 inches) trout following my small, single-hook spinner. Unfortunately that was going to the best chance at a fish I had all day. But the day was not a total loss! I happened to meet a fellow outdoorsman (dressed to hit the water in his waders and fly rod in hand) by the name of Earl and he invited me to come fish with him. Not one to pass up such an offer, on the waders went, out came my 7'6" 5-weight and I was in the water behind him. He showed me a few fishing holes he knew of, we traded fishing and hunting stories and both of us commented on the beautiful Spring weather we were blessed to be fishing in.
Even though no trout were landed, the day was a success as I was able to meet a new friend on the water, find the turkey sign I was after and be out doing what I love. Now who could complain about that?
-C.B.
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