If you want to get good at something, talk to the experts" -- Lefty Kreh

Thanks for visiting 52 Week Season!

52 Week Season is a project to explore a hunting or fishing opportunity each week of the year in the mid-Atlantic. When I started, my intention was to interview various hunting and fishing guides on their approaches throughout the seasons, but I increasingly became more interested in the seasonal patterns of the species themselves and the yearly rituals we build around them. 

Some of these traditions are based on seasonal cues such as migrations or reproduction, while others are purely institutionalized by the DNR. 

For example, we don’t know exactly when the conditions will be perfect for the green drake hatch, whitetail rut, or canvasback migrations, but we have a pretty good idea from years of trial and error and perhaps some data (Memorial Day, mid-November, and “Canuary,” respectively). We itch for a warming trend for yellow perch in the spring and a northwest cold front for Canada geese at the fall but are at the mercy of mother nature. 

Yet we do know that the best opportunity for dove is high noon on September 1, that White Marlin Open is the first full week of August, and that schools are closed the Monday after Thanksgiving for whitetail opener in Pennsylvania. 

Many of these yearly traditions revolve around food -- springtime means shad plankings and fall means oyster roasts -- while others are strictly for sport. Some rituals aren’t based on science or calendar at all but just feel right. Mid-summer is the not the best time for largemouth bass, but there’s something about throwing poppers on a glassy lake before a July thunderstorm.

 Could you possibly hit each of these experiences in 52 weeks? Of course not. It’s absurd to you think you would have the time, but it’s also crazy to assume that a shark fisherman cares to throw flies at brook trout or that a duck hunter has any interest in coyotes. Plus, a jack of all trades is usually a master of none. 

But if you’re lucky, you can start to make connections. A hunter of diving ducks will know to return to the “hard bottom” during rockfish season, and a pheasant hunter can always use those tail feathers for a steelhead fly. And what is more satisfying than a cast-and-blast day targeting speckled trout and blue-wing teal in a September marsh? 

Some of the critters on this list are native and some are non-native, and many times it’s not clear. Largemouth bass are a familiar non-native species while snakehead are a non-native monster in many people’s eyes. Brown trout are non-native but long-established; sika deer are imported but at the same time unique to Maryland; and elk are native but reestablished. Tarpon and coyotes seem way out of place but are adapting to changing environments. 

So what is the "Mid-Atlantic"?  

One of my favorite descriptions is the boundaries of the Chesapeake Bay watershed featured in William Warner's Beautiful Swimmers: 

"The Bay’s entire watershed extends north through Pennsylvania to the Finger Lakes and Mohawk Valley country of New York, by virtue of the Susquehanna, the mother river that created the Bay. To the west it traces far back into the furrowed heartland of Appalachia, but one mountain ridge short of the Ohio-Mississippi drainage, by agency of the Potomac. To the east the flatland rivers of the Eastern Shore rise from gum and oak thickets almost within hearing distance of the pounding surf of the Atlantic barrier islands. To the south, Bay waters seep through wooded swamps to the North Carolina sounds, where palmettos, alligators and great stands of bald cypress first appear." 

____

-- Patrick Ottenhoff, Washington, DC

 

Josh Garris: Curtis Wright Outfitters

Josh Garris: Curtis Wright Outfitters

Patrick Ottenhoff
Freshwater

At the peak of the last Ice Age, glaciers pushed an Arctic climate way down into what is now the southern USA. We can only imagine polar bears and wooly mammoths scouring the region, but we do know for sure that Arctic char were there. As the glaciers retreated, the char were stranded in alpine lakes, and as those drained, they eventually sought refuge in the cool mountain streams of the southern Appalachians. Those Arctic char eventually evolved into the brook trout that we know today.

Brookies been holding strong in the southern Appalachian highlands for thousands of years, but they have some company now too, with rainbows and browns in the lower streams, and smallmouth and rock bass in the bigger rivers. In one day, you could hit a handful of different micro-climates and catch all of these fish. 

The guides at Curtis Wright Outfitters have all of these waters covered, from float trips on the region’s rivers to wading trips in the mountains. Some of the brookie streams are so isolated that there's scientific evidence that a distinct species of brook trout have evolved that can only be found in remote southern Appalachian streams. Curtis Wright head guide Josh Garris knows where to find them. 

Below are my questions in bold, followed by his answers. 

What are your home waters/terrain? How is it unique from some other areas in the Appalachians? 

The mountains of North Carolina are my stomping grounds. I’m based out of the Asheville and
guide and fish on most of the water within an hour and a half of Asheville. We have a ton of water to fish with thousands of miles of trout water in North Carolina alone — all kinds of water — and we never have a closed fishing season, which means we always have opportunities to fish. We also have four distinct seasons allowing a wide variety of food sources for the fish, and some absolutely, gorgeous backdrops.

Golden Stone Dry Fly!.JPG

What are the various species you target? Is it mostly brookies and smallies, or a broader range? How are the ideal conditions different for each? 

We have brook trout, brown trout, and rainbow trout, brookies being our only native salmonid species. The others were introduced after settlers came in and started logging our area. At this point the water was too warm for the brook trout, which forced them up in the mountains.

Nowadays, the native brook trout can found above 4500’ in elevation. Of course the brook trout is they are not actually a trout. They really belong in the char family. All trout and char thrive in cold clean water, and are best chased in the cooler months. 

Our lower level rivers and main drainages will also offer smallmouth and rock bass in good numbers.

I've read a bit about the southern Appalachian brook trout and how it's different than northern strains? Are those still around and discernible?

They are still around, but depending who you talk to, they are not necessarily discernible by looking at them. My understanding is that it takes a DNA test to be sure. The southern tend to have brighter colors, and the northern can get bigger.

What are your core seasons?  What are some of the season cues you look for heading into the spring season and hatches, and also fall season?

Spring

Our spring will usually start in early March but can make early appearances in February. We will have hatches that come off all winter long including Blue Winged Olives and little Black Stoneflies.

P1020331 (2).jpg

Our larger insects, will start to show up once we start to get consistent warmer daytime
temperatures. Water temps are the real que, but daytime temps are one of the biggest factors. Blue Quill are usually first to the show, followed quickly by Quill Gordons and it will carry on from there.

The most anticipated and sought after hatch is the Green Drake hatch that happens
in middle May to early June depending on spring time temperatures. They are the Largest Mayfly that hatches off in our area. They can reach up to 3-4” including tails. 

Summer

Around the middle to end of August, the owner and myself, with the help of Park’s Fly Shop in Gardiner MT will host a group (usually 14 people) for a trip to Yellowstone National Park. We spend a week there and then I will spend another week in another part of Montana fishing with friends. I have been doing this for 14 years. I will return in the beginning of September and have about a month until things start rolling with our fall
season. 

I will also manage to sneak in at least a few days a year to get out and fish with my dad
and kids also. We all have busy schedules, but wouldn’t miss those times for anything.

Fall

Fall will bring the largest of our caddis species which is the October Caddis. A bright orange to amber colored insect that seems to remind fish that cooler temperatures are on their way, and food will be less abundant. Fish will feed heavily on this insect in preparation for winter.

Winter

Winter I’ll take advantage of the downtime (usually 2 months) with fishing for myself, or tying for the upcoming season. After doing this for many years, I have nailed down at least a dozen patterns that I will use day in and day out. I try to get ahead on tying several dozens of each of these patterns. I will also use this time to get in some family get adventures, that will usually not include fishing. 

If you only had to use three flies, what would they be? 

P1000285.JPG

If I only had three flies, the first would be a wooly bugger. It imitates so many food sources for so many kinds of fish. The second would be a golden stone fly nymph -- probably in the top 3 of numbers found in our area, and most of North America. The final fly for me would be a floating beetle.

I saw that you volunteer with a number of non-profits too -- could you tell me a little bit about that work and their missions? 

I have been very lucky in finding nonprofit organizations that benefit from my expertise and
passion. One of the major ones I work with is Casting Carolinas, which provides various retreats to women who are in various stages of breast cancer recovery. A normal retreat will consist of an all women staff conducting a weekend getaway in the mountains of North Carolina and will consist of learning about the sport and various ways the ladies can use fly fishing as a recovery tool in their journey. On the last day of the retreat, locals will come in and work with the ladies one on one while standing the river chasing our finned friends. The time on the water for some, is the most therapeutic event they have had since their diagnosis.

Rivercourse is another event that I always make time on my calendar for. This is an overnight fly fishing camp for boys and girls ages 13-15. The kids will explore various avenues of fly fishing and many connected subjects. Some included are species identification, entomology (study of the insects), riparian buffer zones, and how the fish are involved in the circle of life. The kids during all this learning manage to sneak in some fishing twice a day with local volunteers willing to share their time, knowledge, and passion for our sport. Many of the kids in attendance with make their fishing debut at the camp and a lifetimeof passion and conservation can be passed on through a few hours of working with these kids.

Tyler Johnson: Quaker Neck Gun Club

Tyler Johnson: Quaker Neck Gun Club
Levi Pitcock: Double Spur Outfitters

Levi Pitcock: Double Spur Outfitters