Chocolate Yadkin

Sad to say, fishing has been a little slow for me as of late. Ongoing ankle recovery, high school soccer tryouts, and some work being done around the house all have conspired to keep me off the water more than I would have liked these past few weeks. But today, with finally a free morning, I jumped into the truck and drove a couple hours west to Pilot Mountain State Park, hoping to pull a few smallmouth bass from the Yadkin River.

It was one of those trips that just seemed destined to happen. A Fisheries Biologist for the NC Wildlife Resources Commission had recently visited our local Triangle Fly Fishers club and mentioned the park as a decent destination for the feisty bass. The very next day, sitting in my dentist's waiting room, I saw it featured again in a dogeared copy of May's Wildlife in North Carolina magazine. The idea stayed with me and, having not yet chased one of my favorite fish this year, I hit the road.

If selling homes is location, location, location, catching fish is conditions, conditions, conditions. Unfortunately, the river was running high and had the color of a melted Hershey's bar. (The weather was hot enough to melt one too). The location and configuration of the area is actually quite nice, with lots of very wadable water and various channels around a number of mid-stream islands but three hours of splashing around yielded nothing but a good workout. There were no dunkings in the fast water,though, so it was a very good morning.

Despite the poor conditions, I was not the only one fishing.

I hope that they did better than I.