By David Hulsey
The Southern Appalachian mountain area in North Georgia, Eastern Tennessee, and Western North Carolina are blessed with over ten thousand miles of trout streams. The lushly forested mountains provide just enough elevation and cool, clear water for the trout populations to thrive. Large cities are near and loads of outdoor-loving people go to the mountains, usually several times a year, to enjoy a break from the fast-paced life back home. Fortunately, we have called the mountains home for many generations. The hills, and everything in them, were home and fishing, hunting, and being outdoors was just a way of life. In the 1970’s, I discovered fly fishing and was taken in a whirlwind and I haven’t been able, or wanted, to escape since. Learning to fly fish in the early days involved spending time with a mentor and I was very lucky to have several. Today, finding information about fly fishing is as easy as hitting a few keys on the computer. In our humble opinion though, nothing beats spending time on the river with instructors that are as passionate about the sport as you are eager to learn.
The Blue Ridge Fly Fishing School is our reply to the call of folks looking to try fly fishing for the first time and for the experienced angler wanting to expand, or sharpen, their skill set. We’ve been teaching fly fishing since 1992 and wanted a more focused place for people to get more structured information and instruction. Over the years we’ve analyzed the best methods for teaching fly fishing, fly casting, and fly tying and are making these available in the form of short focused classes, and full day events, that make learning to fly fish easy and fun! Our most popular class is a 3-hour action filled river born excursion that gives the beginner enough experience to know what fly fishing is all about. Students of our full day class leave with enough skills to be self-sufficient on the trout stream. We also offer basic fly casting classes for the beginner to the angler needing more distance in their casts for far flung trips to the salt flats or windy western waters. Trout Spey classes are given on the Toccoa River which is the perfect setting for this fast rising aspect of fly fishing. With spey gear, you can launch casts and fish waters that are impossible to fish due to deep water or unsafe wading. Swinging soft hackles is one of my favorite things to do on the many riffles on the river and trout spey is perfect for that. Czech Nymphing is an extremely effective method to put a lot of fish in the net on almost any given stream. We love teaching this method and can get you going right out of the gate. We limit both these clinics to one angler at a time to give folks as much one-on-one attention as possible. Beginner Fly Tying classes are also available to get future fly tyers started off on the right foot. We tie 4 different patterns that build your skills in steps and produce effective guide flies that we use on the river every day. The fishing is awesome right now in North Georgia and North Carolina so check us out on our website at www.blueridgeflyfishingschool.com and I’ll see you on the river!
Give David Hulsey a call at (770) 639-4001 to book a class or a guided trout trip. See his website at www.hulseyflyfishing.com.