Great and Gray Day ….Rain Coming and Fishing Has Been Good….
Wed..Feb.29, 2012……It’s been a moist day so far, fishing in the rain but man has it ever been good. Guiding Josh Lee from Charlotte,NC area, and we have had excellent fishing tallying about 20 fish including 2 citation rainbows.
Taking a lunch break and going to fish some more water before the storms set in. They aren’t here yet but the skies look ominous here. We fished right through a couple downpours but the water remained high but clear.
More to come…..
Jeff
Jeff Wilkins Fly Fishing
336.944.3628
www.jeffwilkinsflyfishing.com
Sent from My Verizon Wireless Android HTC Thunderbolt 4G
Great Day On The Water…..
Wed….Feb. 29, 2012…Had a good day on the water yesterday guiding George Warren from Dallas, TX…we headed to SW VA and fished one of our private waters in Russell County ,VA. The day started chilly ……in the upper 20s but it soon warmed to almost 70F. We fished double nymph rig and put about 25-30 large fish up to
22" on the net, and had 2 30" fish break off….they appeared to be large browns. It was a pleasure to guide a truly great caster as George was certainly that. He will be returning perhaps in May to join me for another trip.
Conditions wise we had high and
murky conditions….most waters have cleared up after the rains last week. Where we were fishing the banks are mud/sand and the riverbed is dolomite/white limestone and they are the last to clear up.
Headed out today guiding Josh Lee from the Charlotte, NC area and we will have an eye to the sky as there’s another soggy system coming.
More to come, have a great one…
Jeff
Jeff Wilkins Fly Fishing
336.944.3628
www.jeffwilkinsflyfishing.com
Sent from My Verizon Wireless Android HTC Thunderbolt 4G
Great Morning…
Tues….Feb. 28, 2012…..A gorgeous drive this morning through the New River valley. Guiding George Warren from Dallas, TX today and we are headed over to Russell County in search of some gigantic rainbows. Looks like today is to be sunny and 65F….
More
Jeff
Jeff Wilkins Fly Fishing
336.944.3628
www.jeffwilkinsflyfishing.com
Sent from My Verizon Wireless Android HTC Thunderbolt 4G
Nice Weather Start to The Week…
Mon….Feb. 27, 2012…..A chilly, blustery weekend it was but temps rebounded today and are supposed to be warm again the next couple of days until we are supposed to have a round or rain/thunderstorms on Wed/Thursday.
I had a guided trip scheduled today with Bob Ziegler of High Point, NC but generation schedules were not good for both TN tailwaters we were going to fish.
Have a guided trip tomorrow and will be guiding George Warren from Dallas, TX, and we will be headed to fish for giant rainbows in Russell County, VA. Looks like sunny and 62F is the weather ……wow.
Have a great evening …..
Jeff
Jeff Wilkins Fly Fishing
336.944.3628
www.jeffwilkinsflyfishing.com
Sent from My Verizon Wireless Android HTC Thunderbolt 4G
Another Stormy Day, Challenging Fishing…..
Fri…Feb.24, 2012…..What a day, sunny, warm….73F and catching a few fish….then things broke loose…weather wise that is. I guided Dan Camia and Larry Tomar and we landed about 15 fish in some very stormy conditions. We had winds of over 40mph and severe thunderstorms all around. With the passage of a strong cold front. The temperatures dropped 25 -30 degrees and the wind gusts were 40-50….wonderful casting conditions….lol.
Feel fortunate to have caught fish today…and looks like a return to normal February conditions….even a few snow showers in the mountains..only in Carolina
Have a great evening..
Jeff
Jeff Wilkins Fly Fishing
336.944.3628
www.jeffwilkinsflyfishing.com
Sent from My Verizon Wireless Android HTC Thunderbolt 4G
Good Friday To You……
Fri…Feb. 24, 2012……..Beautiful weather this morning but some potentially severe weather on the way. I am guiding Dan Camia and Larry Tomar and we are getting ready to get into the water…
More to come…….good day to you
Jeff
Jeff Wilkins Fly Fishing
336.944.3628
www.jeffwilkinsflyfishing.com
Sent from My Verizon Wireless Android HTC Thunderbolt 4G
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
Sent from My Verizon Wireless Android HTC Thunderbolt 4G
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
Sent from My Verizon Wireless Android HTC Thunderbolt 4G
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
Sent from My Verizon Wireless Android HTC Thunderbolt 4G
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
Posted via the Web with WordPress 3.2
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
Sent from My Verizon Wireless Android HTC Thunderbolt 4G
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
Posted via the Web with WordPress 3.2
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
Sent from My Verizon Wireless Android HTC Thunderbolt 4G
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
Sent from My Verizon Wireless Android HTC Thunderbolt 4G
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
Sent from My Verizon Wireless Android HTC Thunderbolt 4G
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
Sent from My Verizon Wireless Android HTC Thunderbolt 4G
Good Day, Fished in Rain, Cold, Then Snow……
Wed…..Feb. 8, 2012…..What a day…..guided John Pratt from Burlington, NC , today and in 8 hrs we fished in every conceivable weather except sunny and 70 degrees ….we got 5 minutes of sun but that was it…..no 70 degrees…..try 38, then 35….and then 31F and windy with heavy snow squalls. We fished the last 3hrs in snow showers…..after loving snow and having almost none this winter I was loving it.
The first place we fished we hit about four or five runs and holes and John landed 11 rainbows and 1 brook trout. One fish had been eating blackflies as I found some larvae on me when I pumped the stomach of one fish. One had been eating enough of them it was as plump as a football. We fished in light to moderate rain showers most of the first half of the day and they stopped a little after noon. And the weather folks were saying 30% chance of rain……hmmm a bit off I would say. We caught fish on a variety of flies….but mostly small stuff. I had tied some downsized versions of a Whitlock Red Fox Squirrel using a Red Glass bead and a soft hackle and a clear tail. It smoked them, as did a pumpkin pt and also a blackfly larva. Saw tons of black stones and a dun caddis or two but no fish were rising early but there were a few rising when we left. We tossed a dry for a few casts but to no avail. We took a lunch break and I drove us to the next water.
We drove through snow squalls on the way up, and by the time we resuited up, got in the water….it was coming down on us hard. First snow I have fished in in weeks. I was loving it, and as far as I was concerned it was game on.
We stuck one nice rainbow in the first run, but it yielded nothing else so I drove us to another spot. There we found several willing participants….and John scored about a half dozen more rainbows and we had several more on briefly that came off. We caught them on a variety of stuff….one of my new Strawberry2k flies, a fox squirrel nymph, and a new nymph called a Tinman. We were doing well and as soon as things slowed down John and I headed out and back to the car and on to the last spot we would fish.
We climbed down the steep bank to the river and made it up to one of my favorite late in the day spots….I did what I often do and that is put on two large flies and trail a small one off the rear. It worked…..like a charm. John scored a brook trout, 5 rainbows, and one nice brown, a citation fish at about 17-18"…..it was the best fish of the day. We fished a couple more spots and then called it a day. It was snowing when we left .
We drove the first forty minutes back through snow showers. It was great to get out on the water with John as I had been sick for several days and had not been on the river since last Friday. John , a regular client and recent graduate of my fly tying school/class , did a super job and is a good fly fisherman and excellent fly tyer. Fun to watch….!
Better turn in and will be having another busy day tomorrow… Have a great evening….
Jeff
Jeff Wilkins Fly Fishing
336.944.3628
www.jeffwilkinsflyfishing.com
Sent from My Verizon Wireless Android HTC Thunderbolt 4G
Another Nice Day…….
Fri….Feb. 3, 2012…..Did a half day with Rick Trautman, Greensboro, NC, we had another solid day. Nice weather, temps in the low 60sF, and the bite is on. We landed 25-30 approx., all rainbows.
Spring is near, tons of #14 early black stones…..gazillions of them in the air and on the water and a few fish rising to them. Would probably have been more if the breeze would have died down. But that’s ok, we still did well with Dead Squirrel Strymphs with a dark #14 flashback stone trailer. A zebra midge trailer also worked fine. Caught a number of nice fish on the pumpkinhead pt flashback….the best fish of the day ate one.
Looks like a weather change is on the way….some clouds tomorrow and some late afternoon showers building to steady rains Sat night and Sunday
Hope your Friday was great and your weekend the same….
Jeff
Jeff Wilkins Fly Fishing
336.944.3628
www.jeffwilkinsflyfishing.com
Sent from My Verizon Wireless Android HTC Thunderbolt 4G
Can You Say Rainbows…..?
Thurs….Feb. 2, 2012…..That’s a perfect way to describe today. All rainbows……and lots of them. Took the day ahead of some upcoming trips to try out some new rigs and flies. One, a new strawberry y2k fly with a dropper.
Bright sun, no clouds, almost no wind, and it was supposed to be quite windy. No wind at all, and 65F ……is this February or the end of April?….
A surprise was I saw little dry fly activity, and therefore fished none…but nymph fishing was superb. About 35-40 rainbows and I stopped counting. I heavy riffle /chest deep run yielded 15 fish. I knew then it was going to be good.
Getting ready to head home, have about a mile hike back to my SUV and I am out of shape…! Have a great evening….
Jeff
Jeff Wilkins Fly Fishing
336.944.3628
www.jeffwilkinsflyfishing.com
Sent from My Verizon Wireless Android HTC Thunderbolt 4G
Warm Weather Day, But a Cooler Day Tomorrow…
Thurs….Feb. 2, 2012……..
Jeff
Jeff Wilkins Fly Fishing
336.944.3628
www.jeffwilkinsflyfishing.com
Sent from My Verizon Wireless Android HTC Thunderbolt 4G
Incredible Weather, Some Good Warmwater Action…
Wed….Feb. 1, 2012….Put in a long day so took a few hours off this afternoon before and til the beginning of an advancing cold front and rain. It was warm today, and with a weather change coming thought I’d hit our pond here for a few minutes. Well a few minutes turned into two hours pretty quick.
I had a great afternoon, trying out some streamers I have been tying. The bass, crappie, and bluegill are shallow here….like in 2 feet of water. A couple spots I’d swear the crappie were in less than that. I covered a couple of drop offs and grass beds near the dam and it was great, about 20-25 crappie, 4 bass, 3 large bluegills. Not bad for a couple of hours this afternoon.
Looks like wet weather is settled in for the evening and early morning hours. I will be heading out in the morning to do some R&D fishing and testing out some flies. I expect to have a fresh report not only on fishing but also water conditions. Got to get out, been working around computer crash for a week and a half and its been a challenge keeping things going while the computer hard drive is being replaced and shipped back. My solution..? Go fishing!
Hope you have a great evening….
Jeff
Posted via the Web with WordPress 3.2
A nice February largemouth bass landed on a lead eye Krystal leech
Incredible Weather….Lots of Tying…
Tues……Jan. 31, 2012…..What a great end to our Beginning Fly tying class. I had 12 fantastic students and I always learn a lot myself working with folks. We tied a group of dry flies to finish up the class ….including the Elk Wing Caddis, Sulphur CDC Emerger, BWO CDC dun, and a foam beetle.
Great work, getting ready to announce a few specialty classes for February as well as March. Also, I have a couple of dates for an upcoming Rose River trip. The Rose is home to an unbelievable population of brown, brook, and rainbow trout plus a few rare "tiger" trout mixed in. In any case its a pile of fun.
The weather is quite warm and unlike February….I am getting ready to go do some R&D fishing and test some flies. I wk be heading out tomorrow as well to do the same and will be doing the same.
Hope your week is off to a great start….
Jeff
Jeff Wilkins Fly Fishing
336.944.3628
www.jeffwilkinsflyfishing.com
Sent from My Verizon Wireless Android HTC Thunderbolt 4G
