Looking for advice on upcoming Cherokee trip

[foureyes]

I'm pretty new to fly fishing but one of the things I've enjoyed most so far is getting to visit all the rivers and creeks we have in our area. This weekend a buddy and I will be visiting the Oconoluftee River trophy section in Cherokee, NC. I've read all the reports about how crowded the river can be at times. But I was hoping that I could get some suggestions and advise about how to maximize my success. Flies? Strategy/Technique? Areas to hit? Areas to Avoid?

Oh, and of course any cool bars?

Thanks in advance.

[tjw37909]

I am pretty new to fly fishing as well, but I have fished that section several times. Your best bet would be to go during the week sometime and try to go early and find a spot even if you have to wait a while for the watre to warm. Every one had different opinions about the flies, but most people I have talked to say to use streamers, and I have only caught a couple of the big fish out of there, and they were both on streamers. The fish are pretty well educated and picky, but if you get one, get a good hookset and be ready to run downstream with it in a fight. That is unless it is like the golden I caught. It just waved the white flag, swam right to me, and rolled over.

[Carolina Boy]

Muddler Minnow, big ones

[JohnH0802]

I have caught them on streamers, and I have caught them on midges. I have done pretty well on green or white slump buster streamers and red midges with a bead head. You can also catch fish in different areas of the river, not just the crowded ones. Good luck.

[JohnH0802]

Here are a couple of pictures of fish caught on this section in May of 2009.

The one below was caught on an olive slumpbuster.



This one was caught on a red beedhead midge.

[old tom]

Can't offer much advice on the fishing as I've never fished on the Reservation. But I can tell you all of Cherokee is dry for adult beverages except for the casino. The closest thing to a cool bar you'll find in the area is probably O'Malley's in Sylva... exit 85 off Hwy 74. Good spot to watch some Saturday evening football. Good selection of beer and food.

[foureyes]

Wow guys, thanks for the advice.

Since this is my first fall/Winter fly fishing I have very limited experience fishing with streamers and midges.

Streamer/ Woollybuggers: What techniques do you find works best? Do you cast upstream, up and across, cross stream? Do you typically let them drift or do you strip them in quickly? Have you had any success with a tandem rig with a streamer such as a San Juan Worm??

Midges: I've never actually caught a fish yet with a midge. I know that a dead drift is vital but other than that I'm clueless. Do you fish just a single midge attached by a strike indicator? Or do you use a foam or large dry fly as a strike indicator?

I know thats alot of questions but any helpful advice would be great.

thanks again everyone.

[foureyes]

Wow JohnH0802 thats a monster!

I think my largest trout in the Southeast in about 13''. haha.

[JohnH0802]

Foureyes,
I typically go for a double nymph dropper rig when fishing this section. Often I will have a pheasant tail or prince on top with a midge dropper. Make sure you add enough weight to get it down and enough line below your strike indicator for the water depth.

As far as fishing streamers I like to cast upstream to let the streamer sink a little before it gets to the section of water I am targetting. Depending on the depth I sometimes even add some weight (this is assuming you are using a floating line and not a sink tip or sinking line). I like to start off with short jerky strips with pauses as it swings through, pausing as the line starts to straighten to let the streamer lift in the water column, then stripping it back in.

John