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Tyler Legg
Charlotte, NC, United States
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Welcome to THFF.com! Kick your wading boots off and stick around for a while. You'll find content ranging from NC fishing reports, videos, pictures, fly fishing news from around the state/country/world, humor, and even some irrelevant, yet interesting posts.
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Sunday, July 12, 2009
1.) A surprise trip arose late Thursday, and we all toke off to Cherokee, NC for 2 days of fishing. We stayed at Harrah's (An ABSOLUTE ZOO!!). First I stopped at the Nantahala River for a few hours to fish. The Nanty was stained and pretty full. Regardless I tied on a Green Weenie on 5x and started fishing. The trout were surprisingly striking with subtle hits. The fish here usually hit flies with reckless abandon. There was a small caddis hatch, which brought with it a few risers. I tied on a #16 Elk Hair Caddis and drifted it through a slow, shallow run. A few fish hit the fly, but not hard enough to allow me to set the hook. I packed it in when my tippet snapped.

Off to the Qualla Boundary/Cherokee. The summertime crowds were, like always, in full swing. We arrived at the hotel, put our bags in the room and went our separate ways. My Grandad tried his luck on the gaming floor of the Casino and I left the tourists and crowds behind to try my luck on the Catch and Release Trophy Section of the Cherokee. I pulled up to a spot were I've always managed a few fish. I rigged my fly rod up, put my waders on and headed down. I saw another angler working a pool upstream, so I walked downstream a little ways and got in. Upon starting my first cast, I noticed a small Trico hatch. Most of the bugs were a size 18-20. I didn't see any risers, so I figured nymphs would be most productive...An hour passed...Nothing. I did get a few short hits though.

The angler fishing upstream was leaving, so I slowly made my way upstream, fishing every deep pool and run on the way. As I was drifting a #10 Green Weenie through a deep run, I saw a flash from a feeding fish. I set the hook and felt the 'bow on the end of my line. 2 seconds later he was off and I moved on. Around 6:00 PM, I switched to an olive PMX #12. This obviously was the ticket. A BOHEMOTH of a rainbow nailed my offering and like a freight train ran upstream as fast as I could say "fish on". He took me into my backing and then without any warning he decided to race downstream. This is were I got into trouble. All of the slack line from him making his lunge back downstream was too much for me to quickly reel in. Eventually the fly popped out of his jaws and I was left shaking, awed and dumbfounded. I sat there for a few minutes. I had to remind myself to breath...I estimated the fish to be anywhere from 23-25 inches and weighing approximately 6-8 pounds. I thought to myself, I just lost one of the, if not the largest rainbow I've had on the end of my line in a while. I wrapped the day up after realizing any remanding trout in the pool were now spooked.


An example of a Palomino (Golden Trout). Not to be confused with the western Golden Trout of AZ.
With unfinished business with a certain 'bow I tried again the next day (yesterday). I hook into another HUGE rainbow, this time a Palomino. Again he got off too albeit I set the hook. Oh well, the 'Luftee got me...I didn't get skunked though. Talk about the ONES that got away. I was hoping I would have a few that didn't get away.... Catching the little buggers is one thing...Landing them is another.

I may head over to the Hiwassee either tomorrow or Tuesday. Hopefully results are better.

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