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| Dear Friends,
I hope that the 2011 fishing season is off to a good start for you, things still are fairly wet from all the rain in the high country. We have had a ton of rain in the hills but that bodes well for summer fishing and the groundwater and water table is well charged.
Our Guided Trip business excellent and so does our website and online traffic. The weather and trips have kept me pretty busy, and also getting ready to do one of our Featured trips, and finishing the planning of our Western Trips (Wyoming) in August. Our annual South Holston and Wyoming 2011 Trips are sold out and I am in the process of offering another trip that will be exclusively high mountain fishing to some lakes and water that rarely see other anglers. For those wanting to take in some of the fantastic dry fly fishing on the South Holston, I still have a fair number of openings for June and July and both times offer great fishing on what is quickly becoming known as the finest river in the Southeast.
Our local trips have been good, local waters, tailwaters, and private waters have all fished well but we have jumped around a lot from one place to the next will all the high water conditions. We have had a great spring of fishing and expect summer to hold the same.
With the wet weather and up and down of high water the tactics we've had to go to has been constantly changing to suit the conditions, not only day to day, but sometimes many times in the same day. But then again that is what you pay a guide for, and that is what I enjoy as a guide in figuring out how to crack the code and keep clients catching fish.
So far 2011 has been great and I thank you for all your loyal support. Looks like this is going to be another phenomenal fishing year.
Thanks! and Good Fishing, Jeff
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NEWSWORTHY.....
Next Beginning Fly Fishing Class June 8, 2011 We have our next 101/Beginning Fly Fishing class coming up. We offer this class through GTCC and its always a popular class . This introductory class is designed to get you started in the sport of fly fishing and meets for four sessions (6/18, 6/15, 6/22, 7/2) with a class culminating field trip to the mountains on 7/2/2011. We will cover the basic principles of fly casting, reading water, fly selection, entomology, knot tying and rigging, equipment, and where to fish locally and abroad. The class is held from 6:30 to 9:30pm, and we normally meet at Country Jaycee Park here in Greensboro. Cost is $55.00 and folks can register for the class by contacting GTCC at 336.334-4822. Pictured here is Lee-Anne Distler from Lexington with a very nice NC rainbow. 
South Holston and Wyoming Trips Sold Out......! We had early sell outs on both the South Holston trip May, 2011 and Wyoming in August 2011. Some of the same folks from our previous trips to both places are coming along these trips. Plenty of fishing all summer on the SoHo, so don't pass up the opportunity in June, July, and August to get in on some of the great dry fly fishing. On the South Holston Trip 3/4 of our clientele are out of state anglers....that ought to be a fair indicator of the quality of this fishery I have enjoyed for more than 25 yrs.....(fishing it before it was the 'cool' thing to do).
NEW!!!!JW Fly Fishing Smartphone App
 I had announced sometime ago that I have been working on a new smartphone app and months of tweaking it is now ready. The app has up to the minute info, fishing reports, fly lists, pictures of important seasonal insects you'll encounter on the water, Suggested Flies to use, Videos, Social Media including our Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube pages, Pictures of This Month's Notable catches, Our Blog, our Guide Trip Open/Available Dates, New Flies, Entomology, Knot and Rigging Diagrams, and more. And the info is updated daily just like our websites.....so you won't find any old stuff here. The app works on virtually all PCs, Macs, smartphones and their platforms....Windows Mobile, Droid, Droid X, Android and iPhone. I am currently working on a Apple iPhone 4 custom app as well. If you would like to have the app, it is free and let me know by responding to this email, sending me an email here , or by calling at 336.944.3628. When I receive your request, I will send you an email with the download links needed to download the app. When you open the email with your smartphone and click the link your phone will begin the download automatically. You can also visit our website Smartphone App page here to download the app. Additionally, the app, once downloaded or installed, will update regularly when you press update on the app's menu button.
  
NEWLY DESIGNED & UPDATED WEBSITE... I began late last season working on redesigning our main fly fishing website, fly tying website, fishing reports website, and blog. After several months worth of work plus the continual addition of new content almost daily, it is nearly complete. Our redesigned site has my personal Artwork , Beginner's FAQ , Entomology , Featured Trips , Fishing Licenses , Fishing Reports, Fly Fishing Instruction, Fly Fishing U, Fly Tyer's Bench, Fly Tying Instruction, Guided Fly Fishing Trips , Sir Castalot Blog, JWFF Gear, Video Clips , Links, Local Fly Fishing Clubs , Lodging , News, Newsletter, Online Shop, Mountain Property for Sale, Stream Conditions, Testimonials, This Month's Fly Box, Used Equipment for Sale, and our ever popular Wall of Fame which showcases you the customer with trophy fish caught on guided trips with me.
NEW!!!!! New Fly Tying Recipes We have just completed another update of the fly tying portion of the website....The Fly Tyer's Bench....and you will find some new recipes including a new fly I developed called the Burk's HBI Nymph, an emerger called a Swisher Richards Hen Wing Emerger, a pair of dry flies known as a Jeff's CDC Royal Wulff , Jeff's Foam Caddis, and an effective new twist of a streamer called a Jeffs Strympher . 
An assortment du jour of delicious new flies waiting to be served to some large fish......Jeff Wilkins photo May 2,2011 Real Time Fly Fishing Reports...From the River Some time ago we started a service called 'Real Time Fly Fishing Reports' and the response from customers was great to say the least. We post these reports directly from the water in most cases so the info therein is conditions and fishing as they exist at the moment. This is a daily and sometimes several times daily reports from the river on fishing, fish caught, what flies are working, news, weather, etc, and other information from our trips, lessons, observations in the field. To receive the Real Time Fishing Reports delivered directly to your Inbox, visit the main page here and enter your email address in the subscription box on the upper right side of the page. That's all there is to it. We can also send this info as a Text Message /SMS message as well. If you would like to receive the info this way simply email me here with your name, cell#, and carrier information and we can take care of the rest. Messaging charges might apply depending upon your carrier/provider and plan so please check that before signing up. All Verizon subscriptions are free. You can also receive this info via an RSS feed, if you'd prefer to receive that way click here. Then Click subscribe once you get to our feed page. ******* 
JWFF Regular customer Diane Bertrand with an Escatawba rainbow you could hug........Jeff Wilkins photo April 2011
Fishing Report
Be sure and check out our website fishing report for our most recent trips. Its been wet but we have still managed to find some good fishing. You can check it all out here .
What the Fishing is Like.....
Wild Waters: most of our wild waters are in great shape, plenty of water, water temps will range from low 50's to mid 50's and that might rise some since we are getting some high 70's to low 80's for daytime high temps with mild nighttime lows. That is great for our wild waters. Get out and enjoy some of the pleasant temps- - -the morning might be chilly- - -no need to get out early, expect best fishing late am to mid pm. Best flies: Dry Attractor patterns, bead heads, one of the best rigs is a Dry fly with a copper john bead head dropper in size 18 or 20. It is a killer rig. If you are not catching fish, nymphing is always an option....tellico nymphs, yellow stones, princes...plus a small black bead head bugger for when water is high or off color. A size 12 Black Conehead Krystal Bugger is among the most valuable patterns in my box.
Marty Hurley with a nice rainbow on our High Water Trip
Jeff Wilkins Photo 2011
 Printable Small Stream Hatch Chart Click Here
VA/TN Tailwaters: the fishing in TN has continued to be GOOD, when you can get on the water, and the TVA has even backed off to more normal flows, making it possible to get in a full day's fishing. Even with all the wet weather and water releases the fishing has still been good. Everyone awaits the famed SoHo sulphur hatch, which should be in full swing anytime now. The generation has been a 1 hour pulse in the midday and 1 late evening. Flywise its been small Bwo's, Blackflies, midges, the usual small stuff...dry flies or dries with a dropper or nymphing with midges, small mayfly imitations, midge pupae, etc. when no fish or few fish are rising. On the Watauga they have been off all day quite a bit too, that is good for wade fishermen. For that fishing small Bwo's, midges, bead heads, and streamers should do the trick.
In VA, the Smith has been fair as well and while the small flies are the rule in general you can catch some of the stocker rainbows in town on a variety of flies, beadheads and Y2Ks work great..... and there and on cloudy days, the fish will still respond to a small blue wing dry or emerger. Dry /dropper rigs here and try using a small zebra midge, micro may or similar fly as a dropper........ The stocked water received fish 4/20 and 4/29 so its fishing pretty well. Sulphurs have been hatching on lower and middle parts of the river and should be in upper reaches soon.
 Dr. Ken Karb with a nice NC rainbow on our 4-1 Trip......Jeff Wilkins photo April 1,2011 . Jackson River- - -- Water is high right now and floating is pretty much the only option. When the water comes down it will be same as everywhere else small flies rule except a few caddis thrown in as the Jackson is a great caddis stream. Caddis, caddis, caddis....and A few LaFontaine Emergent Caddis Pupa in Tan and some Prince Bead Heads and Copper Johns ...thrown in a streamer or two and you are good to go. Water level and release amount is 1048cfs, but that is greatly improved as it was at over 5000cfs with all the rain!  Dr. Hy Muss of Chapel Hill, NC with a nice NC brown on our 4-2-2011 Trip..... Jeff Wilkins photo April 2, 2011.
Smallmouth Bass: After a long wait smallie fanatics know its time to get cranked up. Water flows are high and but temps are fine and while we've already caught some fish on flies conditions need to improve a bit more for us to catch numbers of fish consistently on flies. Where you find clear water that is low enough to fish though the fishing is good, particularly with Clousers, Bunny leeches, Conehead Wooly Buggers, etc. Also, this is a great time to tie on a bugger or bunny (rabbit fur) pattern and a split shot or two and a big indicator and nymph for the fish using the same dead drift technique as you would use for trout. Expect to find the clearest and most fishable water (wading) on the NC side.
New River NC Flows
Local Bass /Panfish: with warmer temps and the cold fronts coming through its over and over its kept things unsettled (again 'cold' is a misnomer, but its the pressure change that is an issue). But fish are still biting here and there. Right now you should continue to find some bass action as well as a few crappie and panfish too. Some crappie are still spawning as are a few bass, bream are coming on. During and after a cold front bass and other fish tend to relate closely to cover and will often respond to a smaller fly and a more deliberate presentation and are often unwilling to "chase" or "attack" anything. Also, try downsizing the fly. Our oldest son Ben landed a fish over 8lbs this week and it was in about 2 ft of water. A lot of fish are feeding heavily as they are getting finished with the spawn and are ready to eat.
Dr. Hy Muss with a nice NC rainbow....well, nice may be understating it a bit...... Jeff Wilkins Photo 1-7-2011 .
* * * * * * Delayed Harvest Streams Restocked Beginning May 2, 2011....Read more VA License Fee Increase Update ......Read more NC Trout in the Classroom Updates.....New Webpage... ......Learn more
NEW!!!! JWFF Articles You May Find Interesting:
Its Time for You to Fly....... Read MoreThe Art of Seduction .......... Read MorePresentation is Everything..... Read More Private Water
We have had a decent start to fishing our private waters this 2011 season so far but we have missed a lot of days too with the weather being an issue. We have a total of 6 waters we can put you on, all with great and unique fishing opportunities you just won't find anywhere else. And all in total solitude and often having the whole creek to ourselves.  Dr. Hy Muss with another 'huggable' fish, a brookie...Hy caught the trifecta citation..one in each species trophy size... Jeff Wilkins photo 2011.  Sonny Lackey with one of several rainbows for him.....Jeff Wilkins photo......February 2011.
Coming up in the next few months will not only be a prime time to sample some of this great water and fishing but also catch some of these beasts on top. Every catch a fish 5lbs or more on a dry fly? You can. Join me for a day on the water.....you will be amazed how you can catch the sizes of fish you will catch a southern stream.....believe me there are fish that would make Montanans and Alaskans take serious notice. Don't want to hop on a plane and fly across the country or to an exotic place....? Then don't. You can do this trip 8-10 times or more for the same price. To book a trip while there are still days open click here.
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Even though things have been very busy we've still been working to keep a regular fishing report and e-news coming out. Check out our Fishing Reports web page here to see what type of fishing we have been doing. Also, we regularly update our available Guide Trip calendar on our Guide Service page here . Our 2011 bookings are already well ahead of last year and the best times are filling already. Right now our 2011 May is already full, June is nearly so, and July and August are not far behind. Until next time, we hope you have some great fishing and catch some nice fish. And by all means, if you catch one worth bragging about, don't keep it to yourself, let us know! Best of fishing to you in the coming months and see you on the river..... I wish you and your family a blessed summer fishing season.
May your casting loops be tight and all your hatches match...
Tight Lines & Threads...... 
Jeffrey Wilkins Fly Fishing3703 Windspray Court Summerfield NC 27358 :: 336-944-3628 * * * * *
One of the true joys of warmer weather.....wild, rising browns.!
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