Fly Fishing Advice, western NC local advice for fly fishing, tips from Ken Kastorff

MAY/JUNE FLY LINE NEWS

The end of the Delayed Harvest period of the Nantahala and Tuckaseege is just around the corner, coming up the first Saturday of June.  Conditions couldn't be better for drift fishing on the main stem of the Nantahala River through the rest of the summer.  Remember if possible to plan to schedule your day drifting the Nantahala River during the week.  Weekends from here on out will have a lot of raft traffic on the river.

The French Broad is starting to clear up after the late spring rains we received here in the mountains, which means that small mouth bass fishing will be great!  Join us for a day or two floating the French Broad for Small Mouth Bass and the occasional Musky.

The smaller streams in the area are fishing well with a bit higher water and cooler weather.  Great fishing is to be found on Snowbird Creek, Deep Creek and pretty much all of the rivers in the Smokies.

Cheoah River is producing good Small Mouth Bass, with the chance to hook into a wall hanger.

Flies for the Nantahala include Pheasant Tail, Tellico, Copper John and Prince Nymph.  Rubber legs on any of the bigger nymphs seems to help excite the fish.  Dry flies include Adams, Light Cahill, Sulphurs and any Stimulator pattern with yellow on it. Wooly Buggers and Girdle Bugs are deadly on stocked and bigger fish.

Small Mouth are hitting Wooly Buggers, in various colors, fished as streamers. They are also hitting Zonkers in black and yellow.  Foam Minnows fished near the surface and Crayfish imitations bounced on the bottom work well.