January 22, 2018

Currently in Sylva the temperature is 41 degrees and rising with a forecast high of 56 degrees with a chance of light rain later this evening.  Skies are cloudy with low winds at the present time.  It certainly looks like we are getting a bit of above average temperatures for January which should go along ways in thawing out some frozen streams.  The three ponds up Big Cove Road were still frozen Saturday as well as some stream edges in the GSMNP and the Nantahala River areas. 

We fished the last two days with varied success.  The park was a bit slow but it did produce some trout.  Nymphs such as the Killer Bug produced trout.  Rainbows and Brook trout were sitting in the lunchroom waiting for a perfectly drifted snack as they were the one caught Saturday.

The Upper Nantahala was all Rainbows for us.  Once again the Killer Bug and Walt's Worm were the most productive patterns.  We did see some adult Grey Caddis on the rocks on the Upper Nantahala and a few Blue Winged Olives started hatching in the afternoon.

It looks like Duke is not generating on the Nantahala so the Lower Nantahala should be safe to wade  the next few days unless they change the release schedule.  Always check the flow before getting into the water as this water can rise rapidly. 

Tight Lines!