Asheville Area Fly Fishing Report for Western North Carolina July 15 2019

Davidson River
The rain has been falling at just the right pace the last few weeks. We find fly fishing the day after a summer rain to be great and that’s what we’ve been seeing. Fresh water adds oxygen and drops water temps. Fish have been active both at the hatchery and down on the catch and release section. No great hatches to speak of lately. We have been getting fish on terrestrials and really small stuff. As usual midges are all over the hatchery section. The really small stuff has been producing well up there. Fish early in the day to avoid warm water and tubers. After 12:00 things start to get a little crazy out there. Catch your fish, buy some Dolly’s ice cream and head home.

Watauga River
The Watauga has been pretty good this week. The upper end has been good in the mornings and afternoons. Probably best in am. Down low has definitely been best in the mornings. Afternoons last week were really hot. We got a nice 300cfs bump in flows a couple days ago but the river is back down. Bring your 6x it is really clear. We have been seeing baetis and midges hatching. Terrestrials are definitely on the menu as well. Expect the water to come up between 3 and 5 depending on how low down you go.