notevenanibble

there's a seller on Ebay called Crystal River Flyshop and also Leland Fly Company that have some great deals if you follow them closely. I bought some Rio Gold WF4W for $60 a few weeks ago.

yeah, i was just pointing out they are two totally different trout. they are tough to catch, and i'm a bit jealous. i've never been able to catch one and i googled that picture. another interesting bit is they tend to feed higher in the water column than other trout(also means they spend more time in the faster current and are considered stronger swimmers) that combined with their color makes them easy to spot. about the only way you can catch the ones we have in NC is when they are hitting dry flies and terrestrials.

The Golden is a little different. We call the ones like in the OP a Palomino. I think they were all hatchery bred from rainbows with a particular genetic anomaly. kind of like two dark haired people having a kid with blond hair. They are stocked in a few North Carolina streams, but they are easily poached by birds and anglers so many don't last. Feeling like a smart alec making this post, but this is what happens when you spend your friday nights in a wikipedia rabbit hole reading about trout varieties.

i picked up some rig spools from Loon the other day. I've prerigged a few setups so I could change my setup quickly.

I slipped on some rocks fly fishing in Cherokee, nc a few weeks ago. The air temp was 25 degrees. It was not fun at all. Had to leave early.

I'm going out there in early April and looking at guides now. If you have any recs let me know.

i'd suggest getting some tippet rings, it makes connecting the tippet and leader so easy and keeps you from having to cut pieces from your leader off

Idk what you're supposed to do, but I mix and match leader and tippet all the time. I'll use different tippet sizes together as well. I've read that you should use a lighter leader/tippet(6 or 7) for dries, little stronger for nymphs(4 or 5), and heaviest for streamers( 3 or 4). Of course there are half sizes and length of leader/tippet varies greatly depending on depth, rod weight, fly pattern, and skill level. Lately I've gotten into the Trout Hunter brand of tippet and leaders. It's pretty tough stuff. I also tend to use fluorocarbon.

You have the South Fork of the New River and the Watauga River starts in Boone on Grandfather Mountain. The closest large body of water is probably Either Watauga lake(in TN) or Kerr Reservoir (near Wilkesboro). Wilson Creek is not far away and holds one of NC's trophy water trout sections.

the Tuckasegee and French Broad rivers have good smallmouth in them

Carl is a good guy. gives good info on those rivers. i've been flyfishing in western nc and soon in east tennessee, so I don't get to head that way much.

not totally related, but here is another huge ice fishing tournament. seems to be more about having a party, but i like it. http://www.eelpoutfestival.com/

check this tournament out. saw this a few weeks ago

I was in Mountain Rest just last week. There is a nice fly shop there. Missed a chance to go to Savannah and Buford a few times recently. Hoping to spend a few weekends out there this coming spring. dividing my priorities between, trout, bass, and inshore will not be easy.

Most of the good fly-lines are in the $70 range and some more. You can find a few deals online though. I'd guess paying almost as much for the line as your rod/reel combo would sound funny. I agree with Frank at least get some new leader and tippet. those are fairly inexpensive.

I actually broke mine after a year and half of using it. I've caught trout, bream, bass, and even a few catfish on it. bream and bass are tons of fun with this rod. where are you at in Colorado?

I started with a redington Crosswater combo. i am starting to wear the rod out, but i've caught plenty of fish with it and it was great for learning.

I'm still fairly new(less than 2 yrs) to fly fishing, but these are my must haves. Keep in mind that many flies can look like a variety of bugs, certain ones cover all bases well. Finding the right depth where the fish are feeding or willing to feed is as important as matching the hatch. Dries: Elk Hair Caddis Blue Winged Olive (BWO) Parachute - Hoppers nypmhs: stone fly - also looks like a dragon and damsel fly nymph prince nymph bh hairs ear caddis nymph - also the puppa caddis nymph pheasant tail RS2 - or emergers will work good here San Juan Worms - also see Squirmy Wormy's eggs i am not overly concerned with sizes, but i try to stay similar to what i see hatching. do some research but be very cautious about making things to complicated. you can fish very simply with only a few patterns and catch lot's of fish. Also you want some streamers, and wooly buggers. They are tough to say about sizes and colors. I try to stay natural looking though.

we got a decent sized Cabelas here in Upstate, SC. The only thing it lacks that the Concord Mills BPS has are the boats and the home decor stuff. It's always packed but a painful area to go to because of traffic. We are getting a BPS in two years in Greer. The Stapleton, CO BPS might be the nicest one I've been in though The anderson, sc Dicks is really good believe it or not. I guess being near Lake hartwell and all helps.

ive never fished there. I've been told they're like pulling up a lead weight. I don't think there are many places the public can get on the river so you have to pay or rent a guide.

here is a pic of one

yes absolutely. looks like you live in colorado and you are surrounded by world class water within a few hours drive. i spent 4 months in denver last year and every weekend i drove up around deckers and fairplay to fish in the streams. also the arkansas river near peublo is fantastic trout water. i had never ever tried fly fishing until June 2013 and since then it's completely overtaken all of my fishing days. i still bass fish once in a while, but fly fishing has really changed my fishing life. especially for trout i don't feel like i enjoy it as much with spinning gear. since i'm converted over from bass fishing i don't have any hang ups admitting fly fishing isn't always the best way to catch them. especially other species like bass. to the point about the "dry is the only way to go", the larger trout are just more predatory than the smaller fish. So, it will take a lot more flies to fill that belly up than it will bait fish. i still love nymphing and dry fly (because i'm terrible with streamers). anybody clinging to the dry or die motto is being silly.

Yeah the pectoral fins especially are beat up and look crippled. i always laugh at those football fish. if you ever look up the Soque river in North GA. they have feeders set up on the river for their fish and it's mostly private land. the fish are just absurdly fat and round.

they have stopped clipping the adipose fin on our stockers here and the colors have been fantastic from the stockers lately. if our streams weren't completely fished out by spin fisherman and the bobbers&corn guys in the open season i'd assume many were wild.

the first two barely cracked 10" they were recent stockers. i found a few larger ones that day and even had a few doubles, but my phone fogged up in the humidity. the last one was a little over 20". just a think guy