1. Ralph Barber
    - Elk Creek (Leatherwood Mountains)

    Good spot under the horse bridge, Something is usually holding along the right side looking downstream.

  2. Ralph Barber
    - Elk Creek (Blue Ridge Mountain Club)

    At first I thought I had hooked a limb on the bottom. But the "limb" slowly started moving around. I finally realized it was a fish, so kept tension on ...more the line the whole time. It took me about a minute to bring such a large fish to the landing net, most trout only take me 10-20 seconds. It really started fighting once it came close to the surface, splashed me with its tail at one point. Hook was barbless but well set in the corner of its mouth. Took my forceps to extract it. Held the fish in the water pointed upstream for about a minute for it to recover, then watched it slowly swim off upstream under it's own power, so assume it survived the ordeal. Largest trout I've ever caught. Catch & release only on this DH section, but it is legal to keep what you catch (daily limit 7) after noon on the first Sat in June up until October 1st every year. Hopefully this old timer will be leery of fishhooks for a while and not get snatched out on the first day.

    1. Ralph Barber 0
      Sorry, Dustin, no photos. I saw it later from up on the roadway looking down to the water level about 30 feet below, but could not get a good enough shot with my ...more phone. It seemed to be hanging out in about 2' deep water on the inside bank near the 90° bend, where the current would be slower. I forgot to mention that right after I released this 18" one, two more browns came to the surface about ten feet away. They were both half this one's size, and were chasing each other around in a tight circle. Maybe they were celebrating that the Old Man had finally been taken down a notch or two.
    2. Dustin Tyler 0
      Awesome! Any pics?!
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  3. Ralph Barber
    - Elk Creek (Blue Ridge Mountain Club)

    Details: 18 in. Brown Trout with a Soft Hackle Pheasant Tail #14 hook size

    18" Brown Trout

  4. Ralph Barber
    - Elk Creek (Leatherwood Mountains)

    Details: 9 in. Brook Trout with a Soft Hackle Pheasant Tail #14 hook

    Brook trout, but appeared to be Triploid (sterile). Brown spots all over with very little color, fins all had white leading edges. Wild brookies have beautiful reddish-orange ...more under bellies and red spots scattered around the body with the other spots.

  5. Ralph Barber
    - Elk Creek (Leatherwood Mountains)

    Details: Bridge to Horse Farm

    80' wide rocky bottom

  6. Ralph Barber
    - North Toe River (Spruce Pine Riverside Park)

    Details: 15 in. Brown Trout with a Black Wooley Booger

    Caught a total of seven trout at this spot between 10:30 and 11:00 am -- two (2) Brown trout about 15" long, and five (5) Rainbow trout from 7" to 11" ...more long.

    1. Ralph Barber 0
      Weather: Cold and windy, but sunny
  7. Ralph Barber
    - Elk Creek (Leatherwood Mountains)

    Details: 15 in. Rainbow Trout with a gold and black striped bead head

    Caught a 15" rainbow and two 8" rainbows on lower DH section, all at the same spot, about 4:00 pm -- was already getting dark due to sun dropping below ...more surrounding mountains. Had not seen a trout all day or even had a bite. Caught one of the 8" first, no sooner had I released it than the 15" snatched the same fly. Several minutes later caught a third one. All three in a matter of 15 minutes -- good fighters.

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