By Karl Ekberg
A warm spring breeze, blue skies, and plenty of water in the rivers, embrace us here at Chattooga River Fly Shop. Winter has passed us by, and now the bugs are hatching in full swing. Cooler mornings and warmer afternoons delight us, with trout rising to many bugs hatching on the rivers. The winter rains have been more than generous to us this year, as the rivers are at great levels as we enter spring. Letâs hope we continue to receive ample rains to keep river levels at a comfortable height heading toward summer. Temperatures, as of now, seem to be a little cooler than average, which leads to cooler water temperatures. The water temperatures will start warming as we will most likely not see another frost, and the southern breezes bring us some delightful warm afternoons.
Nymphs, emergers, dry flies, oh my! Where do you begin? Letâs break this down as easy 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, a slight upstream cast with a mend or two of the line, and swinging this tandem rig will work well. Slowly working the entire riffle area, a step at a time in the river, 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, the temperature rises, and the bugs emerge from the nymph shucks and emerge to 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 its 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 âdrag-freeâ drift into the location of the rising fish, will be key. One word of caution, donât set the hook too 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 weâre back to square one, and casting to another rising fish. If you are new at this, donât 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, and fish have stopped rising, itâs time to switch back to the tandem rig and swinging.
Not sure if you have the right bugs in your arsenal? Please stop by and we will help you with a full selection of flies for your day on the river. We are a full service Fly Shop, with everything you need for the rivers, with full and half day guided wading trips as well.
We hope to see everyone out on the rivers and lakes, and letâs remember, leave no trace!!
Karl and Karen Ekberg are Co-Owners of Chattooga River Fly Shop, located at 6832A Highlands Hwy, in Mountain Rest, SC 29664. Give them a call at (864) 638-2806 or look them up on the web at chattoogariverflyshop.com.