Calling all mountain men. Or women. Or others

[kilerhamilton]

Do flys have to be pretty to work?
I’m going to use a spinning rod with split shot and a fly or this crank bait no hooks.
Single hook rules apply. I have small spinner rooster tails and some little gold spoons.
Not sure what to throw and waste time on[emoji23]

Who’s seen this rig.. the crank bait as the float.. the thing draws attention and the fish hit the fly behind it?
No scented bait.. there goes my gulp minnow or crappie bites or corn.
What would you tie on in a delayed harvest river?
Where did you say you fished at. North mills river?
Thanks,
Kiler


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[haywoodhunter]

Get you a couple bead head wooly buggers and add the smallest split shot you have if necessary

 

[MtnMan]

On fast moving steams I've had more luck on Tellico Nymph than anything else. I mostly fished South Toe River with a fly rod.

 

[YanceyGreenhorn]

Wooly buggers, hoppers when it was warmer, prince nymphs. Coolest experience I’ve had was using a huge weighted stone fly and having a juvenile Muskie come up and hit it and shred my line in half. I was using a 5 wt and was trout fishing. Was trying to target larger trout. Had a second fly that was identical. Put it on and it happened again. Obviously I lost the flies and needed to re rig everything but it was pretty cool to see it 5 ft in front of me in a calm back Eddie

 

[Mack in N.C.]

Do flys have to be pretty to work?
I’m going to use a spinning rod with split shot and a fly or this crank bait no hooks.
Single hook rules apply. I have small spinner rooster tails and some little gold spoons.
Not sure what to throw and waste time on[emoji23]

Who’s seen this rig.. the crank bait as the float.. the thing draws attention and the fish hit the fly behind it?
No scented bait.. there goes my gulp minnow or crappie bites or corn.
What would you tie on in a delayed harvest river?
Where did you say you fished at. North mills river?
Thanks,
Kiler


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

i have used something similarbut I would leave the front hook on. sometimes you can catch 2 fish.

 

[bshobbs]

YouTube is your friend. Check out ...lot of patterns and how to's. If they use a material you do not have, substitute with something you do have, same with hooks.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=beginner+fly+tying+patterns

 

[turkeyfoot]

With it being single hook only rules and this time year can try something with spinner small rooster tail cut 2 hooks off or same with panther Martin I've caught so many trout outa delayed with those to couldn't count. If you ever get chance go back and fish delayed in April or May it can get little easy after 2 or 3 more stockings but if you like to just catch fish its fun

 

[alt1001]

Do flys have to be pretty to work?
I’m going to use a spinning rod with split shot and a fly or this crank bait no hooks.
Single hook rules apply. I have small spinner rooster tails and some little gold spoons.
Not sure what to throw and waste time on[emoji23]

Who’s seen this rig.. the crank bait as the float.. the thing draws attention and the fish hit the fly behind it?
No scented bait.. there goes my gulp minnow or crappie bites or corn.
What would you tie on in a delayed harvest river?
Where did you say you fished at. North mills river?
Thanks,
Kiler

Kiler, I'll answer this in a few parts.

No flies don't have to be pretty to work. They simply need to be 'buggy'. When I first started tying, my flies were horrible but they worked. I'd say your top and bottom fly looks good. With that middle fly, I would take a wire gun cleaning tube brush and rake out by thread and dubbing to give it a few fibers that hang off. To a trout that will look like legs, antennae, etc.

As for your setup, you're using a setup no different than most fly fisherman. We call it a dropper, with a dry fly on top and nymph trailing behind it. One thing to understand about trout is that they live in small water generally, so any big disturbance typically sends them in a panic. I'm afraid your top lure may be too much on the surface. Try something smaller. I like to use big stimulator flies plus you don't have to cut the single hook off, you can fish with it and see if they hit it.

As for Mills River, that's where I grew up. I know practically every inch of the North and South Mills. It's a good water, very popular these days. I'd stay away from the main stretch starting from the parking lot and going past the campground. Walk up to the bridge next to the lodge, and follow the trail upstream that parallels the river. I generally wouldn't start fishing until the second crossing. In terms of what to tie on, that all depends on when you're coming up.