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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.
Have a question, comment, fishing report, or a few suggestions regarding THFF or fly fishing in NC? Feel free to e-mail me at wncflyfishing@gmail.com
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Sunday, September 19, 2010
1.) We need rain. Every day that passes brings with it low humidity (a good thing), moderate temperatures (a good thing), but not a drop of rain (not a good thing). If it wasn't for slightly cooler temps (not many 90's in the mountains as of late), the trout would be dying left and right. Hot and extremely low water is a death sentence for trout. The 10 day doesn't offer much help. A 30% chance of "hit or miss" storms on Wednesday are in the forecast for some places, but they look to be highly sporadic and confined only to the mountains. The farther you are from the mountains, the less likely you are to see anything in the way of precip. Creeks here in our area (Cabarrus County) are drying up fast. Water that was once flowing is now stagnant puddles. Good news, (still uncertain, but at least it's being suggested) is that the weather models are starting to hint towards some big rain producing systems in the long range. We'll see. A good 2 day soaking is really what we need. To sum it all up, we need to try a different rain dance, The current one is clearly not working. Keep your fingers crossed!


The South Toe is by far the worst in WNC. It's just a trickle. Literally. 11 cfs. Average is 94 cfs.




2.) All of this low water is really making fishing a demanding task. Stealth cannot be emphasized enough.You'll likely spook some fish regardless of how stealthy you are. Stay low, approach pools with caution, and use your surroundings as tools. Shrubs, rocks, brush, trees, and the like can be used to the angler's advantage. Hiding behind them will lower the chance of fish spotting you. I'd even try the old "hide in a bush and run forward every time the fish isn't looking" technique! Long leaders in 6x-8x is best. I would go with a 12-15 foot leader, ending with 7x. Try your best to keep the fly line off of the water, by high sticking the rod. As far as flies go, fly selection isn't nearly as important as presentation and stealth. With that being said, I would still use smaller flies. Wary fish seem to grab a smaller fly versus a larger fly when the water gets this low. Since trout don't have hands, they have to taste a potential food source in order to figure out what it is. A tiny #26-32 midge would be a good choice. Especially on the Davidson. They'll be inclined to taste it. That will give you a chance to set the hook. Still, with fall right at the doorsteps, streamers are going to be effective. Especially in the deeper pools. Cast a Woolly Bugger, Zonker, Clouser, or any other streamer upstream. Let it sink and then retrieve it with short, but jerky strips. Sometimes dead drifting it works better. You'll have to experiment and be creative. Terrestrials are still in full force, so don't forget your terrestrial box! A Green Weenie is an excellent choice right now. Inchworms, ants, and beetles are great choices as well.

3.) I just realized it's the third anniversary of the blog (Well, back on September 8th). With high hopes, but with a somewhat hesitant attitude, I created THFF.com back in September of 2008. Here it is September of 2010 . Amazing. Cannot begin to thank all of the readers and fans of the blog. I've received countless emails, comments, and face to face thank yous from folks who enjoy reading the reports, articles, and shenanigans. It's nothing less than humbling.

So, one HUGE thank you to you guys! Looking forward to the coming years.

2 comments:

Mark said...

I've been working in Union and Anson counties for several days and it is incredibly dry in that area. I talked to one guy today and he said he hadn't seen rain in about 10 weeks. No relief in the immediate future like you posted.

Tyler Legg said...

It's getting bad. Is it just me or does Union and Anson seem to miss out on a lot of the rain chances around here? I know that's the case most of time when it snows. Nonetheless, we need rain.

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