Angling Publications - Index

Angling Publications - Magazine - Index

60
SOUTH CAROLINA
TENNESSEE
TEXAS
VERMONT
• Beaufort
• Bay Street Outfitters
There are many things to
enjoy about the beautiful,
historic city of Beaufort.
Huge live oaks draped with
Spanish moss, white sand beaches, quaint shops, restaurants, and
bed and breakfasts lull visitors into the slow lane with old-world
charm. Beaufort draws visitors from around the globe to bask in a
lifestyle long abandoned by the fast pace of the 21st Century.
Equally inviting are the hundreds of miles of bays, estuaries,
marshes, and off shore environs of the area, home to some of the
most pugnacious species of fish that swim in the salt. Pick a species
of Atlantic-coast fish and it is likely to be in the Beaufort area
at one time or another during the year. Best known for its yearround
redfish fishery, other targeted species include speckled trout,
Chances are you’re
• Great Smoky Mountains National Park
already familiar with
• Little River Outfitters
the most visited National
Park in the
country—the Great Smoky Mountains National Park—but it is a
place so special that its story bears repeating. As many as 11 million
visitors in a single year have come to the park to enjoy its diversity
of flora and fauna, 800 miles of trails, 10 primitive campgrounds,
and the history that makes up this 500,000 acre biosphere. For the
fly fisherman, though, it is the 2,100 miles of streams, including
over 700 miles of pristine trout water, that provide the real draw.
Even with the high number of visitors to the park, there are many
places that receive little fishing pressure. Rainbow, brown, and
the successfully restored Appalachian-strain brook trout inhabit
Sandwiched between San Antonio and
• Espiritu Santo Bay
Matagorda Bays, Espiritu Santo Bay receives
• Castaway Lodge
much less attention and fishing pressure than its
larger neighbors. Pringle Lake, on the backside
of Matagorda Island, is a well-known, shallow-water haunt of
coastal anglers. Matagorda Island offers protection from southeasterly
winds, leaving the water in the tidal lake very clear. But
getting into the shallow lake requires a shallow-draft hull and
plenty of knowledge
Contee Lake, also on the back side of Matagorda, is smaller than
Pringle, but shares many of the same attributes. The shorelines of Dewberry
and Long Islands on the north side hold thick grass beds.
Regardless of your venue, sight casting to redfish and trout is the
name of the game. An 8-weight rod is usually required to conquer
The Winooski River is a
• Winooski River
• Pleasant Valley Fly Fishing Guides
tributary of Lake Champlain,
rising in Washington
County and draining the
northern Green Mountains. This “Onion River” (Winooski is
derived from an Abenaki word meaning “wild onions”) is among
the more urban of Vermont’s streams, but when its water is cool
in spring and fall it takes very little time to find a picture-postcard
setting. There are hatchery fish as well as stream-bred trout
readily accessible to the wading angler. This river, like much of
Vermont angling, is set apart by its lack of people and solitude.
The water was high from recent rains on my last trip, and we
fished nymphs deep, producing beautiful rainbows and browns
near the 20-inch mark that were undoubtedly wild. The aerial