Tough Conditions….We Are Fortunate to Catch Fish…..

Thurs….Feb. 23, 2012….What a rough weather day ….or should I say conditions were rough but the weather was like late spring. One inch of rain on top of 6inches of melting snow is a recipe for one heck of a mess. That is precisely what most water in SW VA and NW North Carolina is like….high and muddy.

Was guiding Roger and Dan Harrison today and we had to go to plan B when plan A was high and muddy. We did find some clear water, still on the high side..and managed about 10 rainbows and one large fish that broke off that we never saw. The guys were a lot of fun, and were troopers in fishing hard right through less than ideal.

Have another trip tomorrow guiding Dan Camia and Larry Tomar. Hope things clear up a bit.

Have a great evening…

Jeff

Jeff Wilkins Fly Fishing
336.944.3628
www.jeffwilkinsflyfishing.com

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Nice Day Ahead….

Thurs….Feb. 23, 2012….Good morning all, hope all is well. Boy is it foggy this morning. Headed up today and guiding Roger and Dan Harrison and hoping for a good day. We’ll see, the water is up…..!!!!!!

Have a great day today..

Jeff

Jeff Wilkins Fly Fishing
336.944.3628
www.jeffwilkinsflyfishing.com

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Stormy Weather….

Wed…Feb. 22, 2019…..We predicted earlier today that some T-Storms would get organized over East TN and SW Virginia….and that’s exactly what occurred. The storms stayed organized enough and strengthened again enough to give us a pretty strong storm right now as I finish this post. SW VA got over and inch and a half of rain on top of melting snow.

An update on stream conditions …..it appears that NC side of the mtns got a lesser amount of rain and that’s where the greatest amount of fishable water is. Here are some real time measurements as of 11:45pm, current flow is first, norm in parentheses:

North Holston 1010 (430), South Holston VA 910 (410), Middle Fork Holston 203 (90), Clinch -Richlands 1200(450), S.Fork New R. 310(525), Mitchell R 170(80)…..

Have a guided trip with Roger and Dan Harrison tomorrow, looks like we will have some high flows to fish in. Sure hope we can get in a full day . Forecast tomorrow is some more severe weather in the evening and some late day thunderstorms.

Have a great evening….

Jeff

Jeff Wilkins Fly Fishing
336.944.3628
www.jeffwilkinsflyfishing.com

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Spring on the Way In?

Wed.  Feb. 22, 2012…..Had scheduled a guided trip to SW VA with Mike Workman of Thomasville, NC, but the recent rain, snow, and resulting snow melt has the water where we were headed high and muddy.  A lot of other places including our mountains fared pretty well.  We got more snow in the extreme NW Mtns and all the way east along the NC /VA border….where we live.  But things are changing quickly and the jet streams , the same ones that brought us the winter blast and snow…..have sagged south bringing in some warmer temps and instability on Southerly winds.  Forecast this evening and tomorrow evening in SW VA is for thunderstorms…some of which could be severe.

I will be getting ready for some trips coming up, one tomorrow and I will be guiding Roger and Dan Harrison and they are driving in from Northern Va.  Friday I will be guiding two regular clients and two of my favorite folks….Larry Tomar and Dan Camia.  Will be cranking out a pile of flies as next week begins with several trips as well.  On Monday I will be guiding Bob Ziegler of High Point, NC on the South Holston /Watauga, George Warren from Texas on Tuesday, and Josh Lee from Monroe, NC, on Wednesday.  Looking forward to a great week.  And again, with us having good flows the fishing should be superb.

Here’s a video for you if you haven’t seen it…..if this doesn’t get the heart giddy and the fishing fever going you may want to check to see if you still have a pulse…..

Will be cranking out some nymphs as well as some early season dries including blue winged olives, bwo emergers, and some split back/split case nymphs.  Here’s a little humor for your day, when you think about it this could be said of fly fishing as well…..

Good day to you, will have another report on water conditions later today…..Tight lines..

Jeff

 

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Snow is On the Way Out, Warmer Temps and T-Storms On the Way In….

Tues…..Feb.21,2012….A nice sunny day today, postponed a trip to Western VA because of melting snow/rain/high water. The snow is disappearing fast. Have a trip on Thursday guiding Roger Harrison and his son…they are from Northern VA. Friday will be guiding Larry Tomar and Dan Camia…should be a couple of good days on the water as things will be settling down in terms of conditions.

Have a great evening….

Jeff

Jeff Wilkins Fly Fishing
336.944.3628
www.jeffwilkinsflyfishing.com

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Finally Some Snow…..

Mon….Feb. 20, 2012 …Happy President’s Day… Had planned on a Guided Trip, Bob Ziegler, South Holston/Watauga Tailwaters, but we rescheduled to 2/27, the fishing would have been fine, but getting there….that’s another matter…..as far as the snow the ‘gut’ feeling was right on. We got more snow here…like 4-5 inches…. than in a lot of our central and southern mountains, the NW NC Mtns got a good shot of snow, and SW Virginia got a good amount as well, probably more than anyone. From our friends at Ray’s Weather in Boone… “Snow reports from Sunday are in the 2″-5″ range in Avery, Watuaga, Ashe, and Alleghany Counties, but 1″ or less to the south in Mitchell, Yancey, and Madison Counties. That’s about 30% less than we expected. “ Southwest VA and NE TN got anywhere from an inch to as much as 6-8″ up in the Lebanon, VA or Claypool Hill, VA areas.

Here’s a new blog post just posted today on an underwater shot I have used in our schools and classes, the post is entitled “Things Are Not Always As They Seem..”…..you can check it out  here on our new and improved fly fishing blog.

Had a great outing Friday with one of my regular and favorite clients Marty Hurley.  We fished a bwo hatch and caught a good many fish plus a 20″ plus rainbow on a tiny #20 CDC Bwo dry…..  I took 4 video clips of Marty playing the fish, they are posted below if you’d like to check them out.  They are also on our JWFF YouTube page here .

Marty Hurley finessing a large fish to net…..    Part 1                  Part 2                   Part 3                 Part 4

Have a great day today….and enjoy the snow…..it won’t be here for very long…

Jeff

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From the Parkway....Turkey Knob just east of Boone..

Warm and Nice Coming to an End….

Sat….Feb.18,2012….The nice weather we have been enjoying lately is coming to an end. The national weather service has issued a Winter Storm watch for the NW NC mountains. Rain late tonight will change over to snow and accumulatations will range from a dusting to maybe an inch here , 1-3 inches to our north and west, 3-6 for much of the foothills, and up to 10 inches at elevations of 3000′ or more.

Had a great day guiding Marty Hurley, we had a bang with a half day off dry fly fishing….and topped it off with a 20" plus rainbow on one of my size 20 CDC blue winged olives. Guiding Bob Ziegler on the TN tailwaters on Monday, will be tying some extra bwo patterns for that fishing.

Enjoy your Saturday….have a great weekend…!

Jeff

Jeff Wilkins Fly Fishing
336.944.3628
www.jeffwilkinsflyfishing.com

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Good Morning, Catching Fish on Top…

Fri…..Feb. 17,2012….Had a great day on two waters guiding Marty Hurley of Asheboro,NC. Didn’t expect to be dry fly fishing most of the day but fish were rising when we arrived and they rose for several hours to some size 20 blue winged olives. Marty did well landing probate ly a dozen fish, all rainbows on a dry fly….including one 20-22" fish that took one of my CDC blue wings. He also landed 3 fish on a nymph rig as well. I wasn’t surprised at some rising fish but I was suprised at the number of risers. The weather was nice, 60F and the water temp was 44F. We took a break for lunch and headed to another water.

We fished the rest of the afternoon with a double nymph rig and Marty landed about a half dozen more. We caught fish on a double hares ear and red glass bead fox squirrel nymph.

You don’t get many winter days like today, it was like spring. To catch some fish on top was a bonus was great not to mention a 20" plus fish on a size 20……a 20/20 which is awfully hard to do….but Marty did it.

Hope your weekend is great…looks like more rain and snow on the way….

Jeff

Jeff Wilkins Fly Fishing
336.944.3628
www.jeffwilkinsflyfishing.com

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Mild Morning, Great Day Ahead….

Fri…Feb 17, 2012…..Headed out today guiding Marty Hurley and looks like we have a great day ahead. We got rain last night in the high country and it was of minimal impact and will likely make a good set of conditions even better. We wk be hitting two waters today and will have a report when we get going.

Feels like spring has sprung….!

Jeff

Jeff Wilkins Fly Fishing
336.944.3628
www.jeffwilkinsflyfishing.com

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Rain Today, Mild Temps Remain…..

Thurs…..Feb. 17, 2012….A quiet week fishing wise, looks like the mild temps will remain and two warm days comic.g up. Water conditions are good, the rain today was of little impact and conditions remain excellent. Will be doing a guide trip tomorrow in the NC Mtns and will be guiding a regular client Marty Hurley. Looking forward to a good day, it will be good to be on the water again after being sick the past week.

Have been preparing also for a couple of shows/events coming up. One is the upcoming sportsman’s banquet at Faith Missionary Alliance Church, mom and dad’s church, where I will be sharing the stage with NC Wildlife Commission’s Jeremy Harrill as he gives a talk entitled "Heart of a Sportsman."

The other event we’ll be preparing for is our table /booth at the Blue Ridge Trout Unlimited’s Annual banquet in Winston-Salem,NC. The Nat Greene Flyfishers here in Greensboro, NC will also be holding their banquet on the same evening and will be hosting Alex Bell as their speaker.

Have a great evening and will have a report from the river tomorrow morning.

Tight Lines…..

Jeff

Jeff Wilkins Fly Fishing
336.944.3628
www.jeffwilkinsflyfishing.com

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