By Ronnie Parris
Hey folks, I hope you’re doing well. I’m loving this weather. I’m glad we’re getting some rain now, so the streams are in better shape this month.
I just wanted to talk about a few tips on fishing out of a drift boat. The section I like to fish is through the Bryson City area of the Tuckaseegee, I’m usually concentrating on trout when I finish this area, but you will catch the occasional walleye or a smallmouth bass. As I write this, the delayed harvest section has just opened up so the public can fish with any preferred bait or lure, and they can also keep seven trout per person today we were fishing with nightcrawlers because we had had very hard rains and the water was dingy.
One of the first fish we caught today was a nice walleye, followed by several rainbows ranging in size from 10 inches up to our biggest which was around 18 to 19 inches the bite was slow and you really had to try to get your bait right on the bottom as visibility was terrible.
I’ve got a few clients that only fish with artificial lures such as flicker shads and Repalas. Although you don’t catch as many fish as you do with live bait, you tend to catch bigger fish. On these lures, presentation is everything if you don’t wanna lose a lot, you better not cast too far upstream or you’ll hang up and lose your lure.
The majority of my clients are fly fisherman. Now my preferred way to fly fish is using dry flies, but this tactic is not as good in the Tuckaseegee River. When fishing in the river with flies, I prefer streamers such as Woolly Buggers, Girdle Bugs, Clowser Minnows. Also, Prince Nymphs, Hare’s Ear nymphs, Rainbow Warriors, or the Mop Fly also work great.
So according to what you like to fish with, you can usually adapt your style and catch fish on the Tuckaseegee. It’s very important if you’re fishing during the time of the year when fish have to be released, so be sure to handle the fish as gently as possible and be sure to wet your hands before handling the fish. And if you’re gonna take a picture, do it quickly and get the fish back in the water as quick as possible.
Whether you use a rubber raft or a cataraft, or one of the fiberglass drift boats, this will help you get into the harder to reach areas that can’t be accessed wading. I suggest using a drift boat if water levels are high, making it unsafe to wade, or you’re simply getting up in age and your mobility is compromised. Drift boats are also good for taking children, as it’s unsafe to try to wade with small children. As far as one boat being better than the other, each have their pros and cons, I like the rubber raft with a fishing frame simply because I don’t have to worry about rocks damaging my boat. Whatever your style of boat or your preference in fishing technique, the Tuckaseegee is place for a fun day on the water. So, get out there and enjoy all that nature has to provide, and as always, take a kid fishing!