Hey guy, I live in the mountains of NC and chase anything I can with a flyrod. I have recently started coming to the IOP to visit family and i have been fishing a bit down there. i am confined to my kayak as I sold my boat when I moved to the mountains, any advice on spots, and patterns for both reds and trout would be great. I am just trying to figure everything out down there!
Tight Lines
welcome! get shallow and just watch. learn to get close to fish and then they will eat almost anything. i prefer a small legless kwan type crab, or a clouser. in the summer and dirtier water, try small copperheads or dupree spoons. plenty of fish to be had from the yak brother. and many fish close to iop. where ya hail from in NC?
Talk with Mad Mike on here. He also works at The Charleston Angler in Mt. Pleasant. He too comes from the Mountains of N.C.
ScottyD gave good advice.
“Plan like you will live forever but live like you will die tomorrow.”
I am by no means an expert on reds on the fly but it certainly took me awhile before I was able to make the switch from trout to saltwater fish. The best advice I can give is to get a chart and look for flats that hold a couple feet of water at low tide. Go out on either side of the low tide and paddle these flats and look for the fish. Sometimes you see them really cruising the area and the water is all churned up almost like a school of spanish. Other times the fish are layed up and pretty mich sitting still and you can’t see them unless you paddle up on them. If you do spook them just wait a little bit and they will often times turn back on.
Also, something that i have found that helps is to watch the birds flying. Lots of times you can see those layed up schools spook a little when a bird flies over.
Good luck!
I am actually from Charleston originally. I live 30 min west of Asheville in a town called Waynesville NC. I am 30 mintues to 2 hours from a ton af quality trout rivers/streams. I fish aprox 3 days a week all year, ice in the guides doesn’t stop me! I really want to get better at the saltwater game however. I have seen the reds pushing wake and learned how to spot em after a few quality days on the water with a guide down there, Ben Floyd, I can see em now I got to figure out how to stick em!! I appreciate all the help.
If you are looking for a few basic Red Fish & Spec patterns the Copper Heads & Dupre Spoons are good if you need some flash to get bit however you’ll also want to tie up some Clousers, Sliders, Kwins or Merkin or EP Crab type patterns. Bunny Strip variations in the above also work very well. Just make sure that you tie up a few different sizes and weight combinations. Just keep in mind that most of your sight fishing opportunities this time of year is going to be done in some pretty skinny water so you’ll want to use the lightest fly you can to get it down into the fishing feeding zone without spooking them, that’s the real deal! You can round out this selection with a couple of shrimp and bait fish patterns patterns and maybe a top and sub surface fly or two and you’ll catch reds anywhere they swim provided you can close the deal and put the fly on the fish without the spooks. It’s a hoot when it all comes together! Best of luck.
Nice, mtn guy. i fished around marshall quite a bit w/ a buddy up that-a-way. the laurel R. I believe. pretty area.
Yea it sure is pretty country up here. And the wildlife is awesome, I have had everything from bears and deer to beavers and elk walk right up on me while fishing. I fish the smokies a lot and it is really cool.