South Mountain, NC

[mtnman2888]

Hello, got a chance to get out today ahead of the big storm so we went to south mountain state park and fished the delayed harvest section. I figured this was a good place ot go so my friend could hone in some of his fishing skills, he's still learning.

We showed up at about 8:00 am hopped in the water. I rigged up with an abrams creek searcher nymph and a smbsh. It immediately became clear that the fish wanted nothing to do with the smbsh, because they were crushing my abrams nymph! Things started out cold but warmed up throughout the day, but the fish kept killing my fly in about every hole where i made a good presentation. I didn't fish as much as usual because i was trying to help teach him, but i ended up with about 20 fish, including a couple fat and spunky ones! He was having a tough time getting a good presentation and a drag free drift, but we worked on it enough that towards the end of the day he was mending his line and hooking into some fish. It was a good day to be out as the wind and clouds didn't roll in until the afternoon on our way out. About the only complaint i have about today was the fact that the fish tore my fly up to where it's now beyond use. I guess that's a pretty good day if that's my only complaint! Hope everyone else got to give it a shot before the rains came in. Here's a few pics.

Craig

Very, very sneaky.......
http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m229/mtnman2888/SouthMountain4-14-07006.jpg

His first fish of the day
http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m229/mtnman2888/SouthMountain4-14-07009.jpg

A nice, fat rainbow that fell victim to the abrams creek nymph
http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m229/mtnman2888/SouthMountain4-14-07004.jpg

This one gave me a heck of a fight and went airborne several times
http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m229/mtnman2888/SouthMountain4-14-07001.jpg

[Aaron871]

Thanks for the report and pic's ..... I love that place. Lot's of places to go up there if it's crowded too.

[Jswitow]

Nice fish, where is South Mtn State Park?
Thanks,
John

[mtnman2888]

It's near morganton, nc, a pretty good haul for most people on this board! There are actually signs off the interstate 40 that tell you how to get there. It's not a place i would normally go because of the high fishing pressure, namely spin fisherman, but it's not bad.

Craig

[kytroutman]

I actually had the guys at Wilson Creek Outfitters tell me about the place but I have never been there to fish. Looks like I might be missing something.

[mtnman2888]

I wouldn't personally recommend that place to any person, there are many more places that i think are much better and much more rewarding. If you're going to be in that area for fishing, i would recommend you check out any of the streams in the wilson creek watershed. There are tons of streams and the chance to hook a trophy brown, all wild! Maybe i'm just biased, but i feel much better about catching 5 wild fish to all of the dumb stockers i caught at south mtn. That place does get slammed, especially on the weekends, so be ready to fish right next to someone all day long if you go.

Craig

[kytroutman]

I totally agree Craig. The guys at Wilson Creek Outfitters were recommending it as a first stop. They too pushed the wild streams but I have not fished around the Morganton area as of yet to develop a comfort with the area. A smaller fiesty wild trout is by far more fun than one of the corn eatin' stockers any day.

[mtnman2888]

Where are you from? There are actually tons and tons of streams to fish in nc.

Craig

[Aaron871]

That place does get slammed, especially on the weekends, so be ready to fish right next to someone all day long if you go.

Craig


yup, or hike in a mile or so and fish the wild streams.......