Where Fly Fishing is a Professional Passion

                                                             Late Fall/Winter 2012

Dear Friends,  

 Our 2012-13 Winter Season is Upon Us...! 

  2012 has been a big fish year.....we surpassed last spring's number of citation fish by a long shot.  This citation fish was landed by Jon McGraw

..Jeff Wilkins photo November  2012  .

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Featured Articles

 One of the prizes of Fall...large browns.  this one caught on the by Brian Pratt......Jeff Wilkins Photo November 14, 2012.

 Its a Stealth Thing...  

Of all the things I deal with as a fly fishing guide the most challenging is demanding weather or water conditions.  Sometimes high, sometimes low, sometimes clear, sometimes muddy and if you don't like it just wait a few days.  It will change.  That is exactly the way I see it, and over the past two months we've had some incredibly dry weather.  Challenging conditions.  And yet we have still caught fish, a lot of fish, and..... Read More

Targeting Large Fish.. 

One of the most rewarding thing I can think of is when a client and I come upon a large fish.  A citation fish. A huge fish.   There's no greater thrill than to rig the rig, show them where to cast, talk them through the presentation....and have the fish eat the fly.  Its an awesome feeling.  Then talking the client through playing the fish and watching that fish come to net. Its a high five moment if there ever was ......   Read More

Early Winter Nymph Round Up... 

Of all the facets of the sport that generate questions entomology ranks right up there.  Bugs.  Tying them, indentifying them, matching them, you name it .  Fly anglers are obsessed with bugs.  And I am one of them.  Here are a few that I would consider important for...... Read More 

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Be sure and check out our website fishing report for our most
recent trips.   Its been warm and wet but we have still managed to find some good fishing.  You can check it all out  here  .

 

 
New!!!  Real Time Fishing Reports 

    We recently began a new service call Real Time Fly Fishing Reports.  These come straight from the field wherever I/we are
on that particular day be it a trip, destination trip, class, school,
etc.  To receive them to your Inbox via email, visit our main page here and enter your email address in the Email Subscription Box
in the upper part of the right margin or sidebar.  That's all there is
to it.  You'll then receive our daily and sometimes multi daily
reports on fishing, conditions, news, weather, etc., from the field. 
We can also send this report as a text message to your phone as well.  If you'd like to receive this report via a TXT message, email
us  with your name, cell #, and carrier or service provider and 
we can take care of the rest.  Messaging charges might apply with text messages depending upon your carrier /provider, so be sure
to check that out.  All Verizon subscriptions are free.  You can
also receive our Real Time reports as an RSS feed.  For this
service, click the link below:



               Real Time Reports RSS Feed  Click Here

What the Fishing is Like Right NOW.....

 

 Wild Waters/DH Waters: 

Wild waters have fished pretty well, even though other than Sandy we have had little rain.  Cold nighttime temps have made for better pm fishing in wild waters, DH waters fishing well all day long, even with the cold weather. Most areas are  low and clear, but we have had pretty good fishing despite it.  Fortunately we had plenty of rain and snow when Hurricane Sandy /Snowicane Sandy visited us at the end of October.  Fishing Wild waters right now for deeper holes a nymph rig is good, or dead drifting a small wooly bugger.  On DH waters double nymph rigs are working, as are dead drifted wooly buggers and dead squirrels, one of our custom patterns.  With bugs hatching with the warm temps a Dry Dropper combo will really catch the fire out of fish....I like a caddis dry or a stimulator size 14 or 16 and then a small bead head like a red copper john or pheasant tail or zebra midge on a 12-18" dropper.  Also don't forget some buggers or dead squirrels (our fave custom pattern), lately the fish have turned back on to a few larger flies, mainly because late fall to early winter is a great time for stoneflies....from small to large and all sizes in between.  Also, the little black stonefly hatch is well underway on most waters and along with small blue winged olives will give fish a surface opportunity as long as we have normal flows and temperatures.

 

Hatchery Supported waters have received intermittent stockings of fish and you can check on a by stream basis at the NC Wildlife Website here .

 

       

 VA/TN Tailwaters: 

In VA, the Smith River has been fishing pretty well and with not a lot  of other anglers, that is when you can get on the river, and there's some fishing to be had before power generations during this week. Small blue winged olives, midges, and little black winter stones  hatch over much of the river in midafternoon, which browns are extremely selective them, so it pays to have at least a few  patterns to work with.  A lot of these flies are tiny, and if they are coming off and you see sipping fish but aren't sure what they are eating....bet on one of the three above.   Also, I'd nymph with small bead head nymphs like Barr Emergers in #20-22, Quasimodo PT nymphs in #20,22, plus the occasional double rig with a small black wooly bugger with a smaller fly as a dropper....tied about 8 inches off the first fly.. 

Bob Stanford, Greensboro, NC into a nice South Holston fish on a midge pattern.......Jeff Wilkins photo November 2012.

Remember always double check as the schedule can change at any time and the Corps of Engineers, assumes  no responsibility......

276-629-2432.  The schedule for this week is one unit on Monday 12/10 and Tuesday 12/11 from 4pm til 8pm, and on 12/12, 13, and 14 one unit from 5am til 9am.

                             

On the South Holston, the TVA had been doing a constantly changing schedule, and releasing a lot, but they are working on one of the units and are sluicing 390 cfs until Dec 21, 2012.  This is a great fishing release and level, good dry fly fishing.  Smaller Sulphurs are still coming off in the upper river as well as bwos , blackflies, and midges. One constant is having to use smaller #18/20 size flies to be consistently successful.  In addition to the sulphurs, blackflies, midges, and Baetis (blue wings)20/22 and 24 also, that is a #20,22,24 Baetis (tan/olive body and dun wing).  Small nymphs and assorted midge pupa patterns like #20-22 Choco Midges and Zebra midges are working well either fished like a nymph or dropped off a dry fly. Keep in mind that two areas are closed on the river to allow the browns to spawn undisturbed, so make sure you are not fishing in those areas.  The first area extends from the TVA/Dead End Pool access all the way down to the Hickory Tree bridge.  The second is from the island above Webb bridge all the way to the bottom of the lowermost island downstream of the 358 bridge.  SoHo release schedule can be found on the TVA site here .  As mentioned before, they are sluicing a constant flow of 390 cfs and its fantastic.  Great dry fly fishing.  Let me say it once more.... Great dry fly fishing.

  

   One of the best SoHo fish of the year, my client Joe Craig and I stalked this guy and about a half hour later the fish lay in my landing net...nice work Joe!  Jeff Wilkins photo 2012

  

 On 12/10 the Watauga the release was been on from 6pm to midnight.   Some afternoon BWOs have been showing up on the Wag' as well as a few little black winter stoneflies (snowflies).  Dry Dropper fishing and nymphing are good ways to fish the Wag right now, a good assortment of JuJu Baetis, Rainbow Warriors, small CJ's and Zebras will serve you well.  The Watauga is also a great place to fish streamers, and over the years I have done especially well with black and olive bead head krystal buggers, white zonkers, and dead squirrels......you can get Watauga Release info below .

             

 Laura Kennerly, Madison, NC, with a nice South Holston brown caught on one of my midge patterns.....Jeff Wilkins Photo  Sept 2012.

  

 Release Info  South Holston    Watauga      Smith River

  

  

NEW!!!!    Click Here to Download a FREE TN Tailwaters Hatch Chart

 

 Mike Witt with a nice SoHo dry fly brown....Jeff Wilkins Photo 2012

  

  

 Jackson River- - -- releasing  150 cfs and water temperature
around 41F,  the river is easily wadeable at this flow. Look for this month on the Jackson a few dark caddis,  small Black Caddis #20, small BWO's #20 and #24, Blackflies #24, Little Black winter stoneflies #18-20, plus some midges round out what's on top.  Also, a box of small bead heads will serve you well for fishing dry and dropper rigs, and  I'd have a #18 or #20 bead head Quasimodo in the box as well as some small copper Johns, and some Black Conehead Wooly Buggers, and a few egg patterns too.   The river can offer good streamer fishing, at times, particularly for browns.... the usual olive krystal buggers  and black krystal buggers and a zonker in white or natural and sizes 4 to 8 .....4 for larger fish and 8 if you don't really care and want to catch numbers of fish...large or small.

 

 One need not travel to Labrador to catch a huge brookie....these are NC fish...!  Kathy Young here with a citation NC brook char...Jeff Wilkins Photo Oct 2012.

 

 Mac Cheek with a citation NC brown trout......Jeff Wilkins Photo Nov 2012.

  

 Private Water

Our fall private water season is just beginning and there will be opportunities to catch fish a fish you can "hug", fish that exceed 10lbs.  One of our private waters has produced some fish in excess of 15lbs....The really warm weather of summer is quickly getting behind us and the next several months its game on for catching some huge fish.

Again, we have an  upcoming date at Escatawba Farms, Dec 18, 2012 and we'll be doing our usual group day trip.  If you are interested in learning more about private water trips shoot me an email at jwflyfishing@gmail.com or call me at 336-944-3628.   Let's Go Fishing!

In addition to Escatawba, we also offer trips to a private access on the Rose River, two SW Virginia waters Big Cedar Fork and Little River, and two central VA streams Wolf River and Clear Fork Creek.  Each one has its own appeal and several waters have fish in excess of 10lbs.

 
  

Larry Tomar, Greensboro, NC , with a citation NC brook char... Jeff Wilkins photo Nov. 2012.

                          

    

  Andy Bagwell of Richmond, VA and I smoked 'em pretty good on our Nov 2012 trip......  Jeff Wilkins Photo Nov 2012.

 

 

Check out our New Fall/Winter Fly Tying Recipes.....

 

We have a good many new Fly Tying Recipes, you can visit our Fly Tyer's Bench Page  here .

Until next time.......

 

  Thanks so much for your continued support and business.  We simply could not have been around for so long without the support and patronage of great customers like you.  We are blessed to be in the type of business that most of our clients become great friends.....and who better to spend a great day on the water knocking out some fish with than a good friend....?

Looks like its going to be another great fishing Winter season.....we invite you to come and be a part of it again...!

 

Merry CHRISTmas to You.....!

 

  

  

   Jeff

 

 Jeff with Taylor Johnson who landed this nice NC rainbow on our 12-8-2012 trip......Mike Johnson photo Dec. 2012

  

                                                  

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Jeff Wilkins Fly Fishing

3703 Windspray Court

Summerfield, NC 27358

336,944.3628

www.jeffwilkinsflyfishing.com