anyone fish the lower saluda in columbia for trout

Saltwater Fly-Fishing
1

i wanted to go try for some trout monday. has anyone been up there yet this year? was thinking of parking at the zoo and walking down to the river. if anyone has been up there and has some pointers on what flies to use and any spots to hit. i dont have a boat or kayak so ill just b on foot but any help would greatly appreciated

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(**() I see 16 people have looked at my post but no answers yet

3

I fish the Saluda for trout when the river levels allow it. In late March and April SCE&G maintains a high water flow out of the dam to allow the striper eggs to properly develop (they need to roll along the river bed at a certain speed). You can check saludatu.org for the river levels, they have a drop down menu at the top of the page. Anything over 1000 cfs is dangerous to wade, especially around the zoo. The river will be blown out probably for a few more weeks. You might also want to check out the Saluda Shoals park up in Irmo. It has a few holes to fish.

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I fished the shoals park today. Saw a bunch of big bows right at the little pier but threw everything I had with no takers.

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smokeybones
On the saluda try a bead head prince, or egg flys. a black wooly bugger#10 has always caught trout there for me. Use 5x tipet, use more weight than you think, bounce the bottom. If you wade places away from bank,always be ready for the water, to swim,

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thanx for the info…ill try that next time i go up…but that prob wot b till the end of may since im getting married on may 16

7

Really most of the standard nymphs work well up there. Prince, copper johns, small stones, Hares ear, and pheasant tails. And for dries its always good to have a stimulator, and light cahill in the smaller sizes. There is a large variety of insects in that river year around, but the caddis always seem to be in the river in nymph form. I usually pull up rock while out there and see what bugs are stuck to it, and try to match that. The last time I fished (Feb.)I pulled a rock and found caddis nymphs, a stone nymph and some tiny black migdes on it. But they are hatchery trout so, bright stuff can work too. Good luck out there, but beware of water flows.