By Karl Ekberg
Fish are jumping, bugs are flying, and the rivers are fishing great around us here at Chattooga River Fly Shop. The clocks have been sprung forward to give us that extra hour of light at the end of the day, and evening hatches are plentiful. Daytime fishing is a delight with the warmer spring temperatures embracing us here on our rivers in the South. The winter rains have been more than generous to us this year, as the rivers are at great levels as we enter spring. Let’s hope we continue to receive ample rains to keep river levels at comfortable heights, flows, and temperatures heading toward summer.
Nymphs, emergers, dry flies, Oh my! Where do I begin? Let’s break this down as easily as we can. Starting out the day, a tandem rig with a nymph and emerger trailer, will be a good set up, as the bugs have yet to hatch, early in the day. Starting at the tops of the riffles, and a slight upstream cast with a mend or two of the line, swinging this tandem rig will work well. Slowly working the entire riffle area, a step at a time, with numerous casts along the same area to make sure you cover behind every rock or boulder in the riffle, will reward you with trout in hiding, awaiting a drifting morsel. Once the riffle is covered, swinging this tandem rig into the heads of the pools, and a pinch of weight may be necessary to get the flies down to the fish. Also, swinging these flies along the seams will be just as productive.
As the day progresses, the sun starts to warm the waters, and the temperature rises, the bugs emerge from the nymph shucks and break to the top of the water to fly away. This is when our day gets exciting! A glimpse of the first rising fish, then a few more to follow in the slower moving waters below, and now it’s time to tie on our dry fly. A little more precision in our cast and mending techniques will be tested, as you will want to cast well above these rising fish. After the cast, a mend or two of the line, and releasing some line so the fly will have a “drag-free” drift into the location of the rising fish, will be key. One word of caution, don’t set the hook to early, as it is very easy to do, as you see the fish rising to the fly you have perfectly presented. Hook set too early, fish is gone, and we’re back to square one, and casting to another rising fish. If you are new at this, don’t worry, persistence pays off, we have all been too anxious to set the hook seeing the fish rising at our beautiful dry fly drifting toward the fish starting to open its jaws to inhale our fly. Once, the hatch has subsided, fish have stopped rising, and now it’s time to switch back to the tandem rig and swinging.
As the hatches change, so have we a bit, stop by for all the necessary bugs you need, Tuesdays-Saturdays 7:30am-4:00pm & Sundays 7:30am-2pm. We look forward to seeing everyone out on the wonderful rivers here in South Carolina, and let’s remember, “Leave No Trace” out there!
Karl and Karen Ekberg are co-owners of Chattooga River Fly Shop, located at 6832-A Highlands Hwy, Mountain Rest, SC 29664. Give them a call at (864) 638-2806 and see their website at www.chattoogariverflyshop.com.