It seems as if I've been tweeting about everything BUT fishing on my personal twitter page. To fix that, I've created a separate Twitter account dedicated to fly fishing in the Tar Heel State. I'll do my best to tweet daily tips (might not be every single day though at times), along with fishing info, pics, and more. If you'd rather see all fishing tweets, @CarolinaAngler is what you want to follow.

-Tyler
 

Almost feels like summer out there. Almost. Heat, followed by afternoon storms makes you question the time of the year. Thankfully, the humidity has been relatively low lately, though it's beginning to creep up (52% humidity in Asheville with a temperature of 65° at the 11am observation). The temperatures—which are well above average—are making things feel more like early summer. No wet wading just yet (that water is still going to be chilly) but sooner or later, waders will be overkill and wet wading will be the way to go. Of course the temperatures will be the deciding factor. So far, so good. Temps will fluctuate as they normally do in the spring as warm air ahead of the cold fronts is replaced by dry, cooler air behind. Regardless, the weather is absolutely spectacular!


Excellent weather makes for some excellent fishing. You simply can't beat the conditions right now. DH waters are stocked and ready to be fished. Wilson Creek, Stone Mountain, and the North Mills, would be my top 3 DH waters. If DH fishing isn't what you're after, check out the Nantahala tailwater or the C&R section of the Davidson River. I'm confident this weekend will be crowded on most rivers given the warm weather. I'd get there early if possible. Wild waters will eliminate the crowds, so if you don't mind catching a ton of 7" vibrantly colored wild fish, small streams should treat you very well. 


As far as flies go, nymphs in the morning and dries in the afternoon will be the ticket. Quill Gordons, Blue Quills, and caddis are all hatching right now. Try an emerger when you notice the first bugs starting to come off of the water. Fish will usually pick them off first before gorging on the adults. Eventually, once the hatch is well underway, switch to a dry and watch the fish rise to meet it!


With all of this being said, the best advice I can give you is this: GO FISH!

This morning's Charlotte Observer... Gas prices. College basketball. Hollywood. Academy Awards. Brook trout. Daytona. Wait... Brook trout? Yep. My eyes immediately deviated from the headlines to the words "brook trout" in a split second. It's pretty cool that our beloved brook trout is getting some face time in the largest newspaper in North and South Carolina. Check out the article here.

-Tyler

The state will be stocking on a different schedule, as noted on the NCWRC website. Make sure you check the stocking dates if you're planning a trip to a DH stream in the following months! Arriving at your favorite DH river only to discover that the trucks won't arrive until the next day would be beyond frustrating...

Our friends at Montana Fly Co. tweeted the article this morning and it's been floating around social networking sites all day.

Fly fishing receives a considerable amount of attention amongst celebrities. Notable celebrities who fly fish (or fly fished when alive) include President Obama, Jimmy Buffet, Eric Clapton, Dierks Bentley, Luke Bryan, Ted Williams, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Harrison Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ted Turner, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, Ernest Hemingway, Andrew Carnegie, Henry Winkler, Liam Neeson, Brad Pitt, Bing Crosby, Woody Platt (lead singer of the popular Brevard, NC based bluegrass band the Steep Canyon Rangers), Richard Nixon, and now..... Joan Rivers. Female fly fisherman are noticeably increasing, celebrity or not. Paula Deen was guided on an NC river several years ago. With all of that being said, celebrities (that aren't the "outdoorsy type") and fly fishing seem to always end in either choas or humility (or at least that's the pattern I've been seeing recently). On the other hand, sometimes it goes smoothly. In Joan's case, it was everything but smooth. I think Joan's dignity is floating around on that Wyoming river. She probably hasn't found it yet. Poor Joan. Read the full article complete with additional pics here.

-Tyler