Yadkin on the Fly

A Lexington angler discovers he doesn’t have to drive to N.C.’s mountains to enjoy terrific fly-fishing action.

Fly-fishing evokes images of bubbling streams winding their way along pebble and rocky bottoms amidst mountainous terrain in the western reaches of North Carolina. Anthony Hipps has had occasion to fly-fish in such wondrous surroundings, yet his residency in the central Piedmont has caused him to look for fly-fishing opportunities closer to home.

After moving from Greensboro to Lexington in 1993, Hipps first tried fly fishing at High Rock Lake for crappie, white bass, and largemouth bass. He experienced moderate success but generally found High Rock’s waters too turbid.

“High Rock can be a great lake for fly fishing when it’s clear, but it muddies quickly and has too much boating traffic,” he said. “If I fish High Rock now, it’s usually from the end of October to mid-December when there’s not much boating traffic.”

At Syngenta Crop Protection in Greensboro, where Hipps works as a product-chemistry specialist, a fellow fly-fishing addict, Dr. Jim Brady, told him to try Badin and Tillery lakes, two Yadkin River waters much clearer than High Rock.

In 1994 Hipps started fishing Badin and Tillery and found the two bodies of water bordered by the Uwharrie Mountains suitable enough to satisfy his passion that began during his youth in Florence, Ala.

When Hipps was 8 years old, an uncle, Bill Engle, handed him an old Eagle Claw fly rod with an automatic fly reel and told the lad to try it out for bluegills at the family’s two farm ponds.

“No one in my family was into fly fishing except Uncle Bill,” Hipps said. “That borrowed fly rod got me started. I mowed yards and did odd jobs. By the time I was 9 or 10 years old, I had saved enough money to buy my own fly rod.”

Hipps’ defining moment as a fly fisherman took place at the age of 11 with his family at a campground near Pickwick Lake, Ala. He was told he could fly fish from the boat but could only use the trolling motor for power and had to stay within view.

“I caught some bluegills, then threw a black No. 8 popper near a stump,” Hipps said. “A huge bulge disturbed the water, and I thought I was hung. The hang started moving down the bank and turned the small boat around three times. It was a 5 1/2-pound largemouth bass.

“I’ve been ruined ever since.”

Hipps’ ruination continued in graduate school at the University of Tennessee where he received an M.A. in chemistry and earned spending money by tying trout flies for local fishermen at tackle shops.

After a brief stint at Mobile, Ala., he came to Greensboro, then married and moved to Lexington.

Of the two lakes, Hipps gives the edge to Tillery over Badin for fly fishing because Tillery usually remains clearer and offers more surface action than Badin, though he’s had some memorable outings at both lakes.

“The two lakes can be phenomenal for fly fishing,” he said. “I’ve had several 50-bass days at Badin and Tillery in addition to catching white perch and white bass.”

Hipps’ first fly fishing experience at Tillery was with Brady, and the trip started out less than promising.

“It was a cold Saturday in November 1994, and we caught only a few perch,” Hipps said. “As we were about to leave that evening, largemouth bass began schooling on top and wouldn’t hit our spinning lures but readily hit our poppers and streamer flies when we resorted to fly fishing. We caught about 25 bass, 1 1/2 pounds and up.

“I can blame Jim Brady for introducing me to Tillery.”

Last October, Hipps took me on a fly fishing outing to Tillery since conditions looked favorable.

“The ideal day for fly fishing is similar to what would be ideal for other types of fishing,” he said. “The day should be a little overcast with drizzle and slight winds.

“While other forms of fishing can be done under fairly windy conditions, fly fishing is about impossible on a windy day.

“That’s one of the biggest differences between spin-fishing and baitcasting and fly fishing. With the first two methods, the weight of the lure is what carries the line out behind it.

“Flies, however, weigh very little. You can’t cast them with those outfits. In fly fishing, it’s the weight of the line that carries the fly.

“The term ‘fly fishing’ has more to do with fishing with weighted lines than it does with fishing with flies.

“Fly fishing isn’t very good under blue bird skies or during cold fronts either, which is true of fishing in general.”

With clouds overhead and hardly any breeze, we had high expectations as Hipps launched his boat at the Highway 24/27 landing at Tillery and motored to the tailwaters below Falls Dam where the Uwharrie River flows into Tillery near Morrow Mountain State Park.

While we drifted with the current created by the discharge at the dam, Hipps demonstrated his artistry with the fly rod, making pinpoint casts along the way to likely-looking places.

“Fly fishermen target much the same features as bass fishermen,” he said. “We fish structure, irregular bottoms, stumps, rocks, points, drops, piers, humps, and islands; and we’re always looking for baitfish.

“In tail races, like I’m fishing now, I look for eddies or calm places where the current is broken by rock or logs or other obstacles.”

Our initial drift yielded few fish as Hipps noticed the water was stained, a characteristic not conducive to fly fishing.

“I’m surprised the water is this dingy,” he said. “It must be from all the rain we’ve had. Tillery’s usually much clearer in the fall than what we’re seeing today. Dingy water makes fishing better for most other fishing techniques, but it hampers fly fishing.”

To counter the off-colored water, Hipps switched from floating fly line to sinking fly line and moved closer to the area where the Uwharrie River flows into Tillery. Several small largemouth and white perch or “Waccamaws,” as the locals call them, took his offerings.

As Hipps released one of the tiny bass, he spoke of one misconception many fishermen have of fly fishing.

“Some fishermen think fly fishing is for small fish but with the tackle we have today, fishermen are catching tarpon in Florida over 100 pounds on fly rods,” he said.

“You can whip a big fish just as fast if not faster on fly rods than you can on bait-casting and spinning tackle. But you shouldn’t use fly rods designed for trout on bigger fish.

“For stripers and most saltwater fish, you need an 8- to 10-weight fly rod, for tarpon, 12- to 14-weight. That translates into heavier line that’s bigger in circumference.”

For the Yadkin lakes, Hipps uses a 6- to 8-weight fly rod with a floating fly line and an 6- to-8-pound test tippet in clear water. This outfit can handle fish from bluegills to bass to stripers.

Any single-action fly reel that balances out the rod will suffice. The reel should have 50 to 100 yards of backing in case a striper is hooked.

Baits include small flies, such as Woolly Buggers and Zonkers and poppers.

Hipps said the cost of a premium fly-rod outfit can be as much as $650, but a good outfit can be purchased for less than $120 at fly shops or Bass Pro Shops.

“Fly fishing doesn’t have to be an expensive sport,” said Hipps, touching upon another misconception.

Tillery’s surface suddenly came alive with feeding fish, putting an end to our conversation. Hipps moved towards the marauding schools with his trolling motor, fly rod in hand.

One wiggling perch after another came on board, then was released. Waccamaws gone wild.

When one school of fish disappeared and another school crashed the surface at another spot, Hipps quickly picked up the fly line and sent it in the other direction.

“That’s one great advantage to fly fishing over baitcasting and spin-fishing,” he said. “With the two latter techniques, you have to reel in all of your line before you can make another cast at feeding fish. Not so with fly fishing.

“All the fly reel does is hold the line. The fly fisherman controls the line with his hand, either stripping line in or out. He can make another cast immediately.

“He also feels the strike through the line, not through the rod or reel.”

The frenzy lasted for about 20 minutes, then subsided. The surface, once alive with fleeing shad, returned to a placid state.

Hipps motored to a stumpy ridge, trying for some largemouth.

“We should be able to catch some sizable bass over here,” he said.

But the big bites weren’t there. Instead, several small largemouth whacked Hipps’ homemade popper.

“I make all my flies and poppers,” Hipps said. “Some fly shops carry my baits. I can create a popper in about 5 minutes.”

Occasionally, we could see a huge fish break water.

“Probably a striper,” Hipps said. “They’re hard to catch if it’s just a single fish breaking water. I only try for large schools of stripers.”

One of the best catches Hipps ever had at Tillery with a fly rod involved schooling stripers.

“On Memorial Day 2002, John Slack of Denton and I caught about 50 schooling stripers from 1 1/2 to 5 pounds at Tillery,” Hipps said. “John, who’s a phenomenal fly caster, has fished with me for about 9 years.”

One fish Hipps targets during the spring at Tillery is the shellcracker, which many anglers overlook.

“Shellcrackers average about 1 1/2 pounds at Tillery, “ Hipps said. “Some go up to 2, even 3 pounds. They’re usually found in 8 inches to 4 feet of water in the backs of pockets and coves where the sun shines.

“The best time to hook a big shellcracker is from mid-April to mid-May.

“My biggest shellcracker from Tillery weighed 3 3/4 pounds. I caught it in 1999.”

Hipps’ enthusiasm for fly fishing was reflected in the words he spoke as he continued casting.

“Fly fishing is really growing; it’s not just a trout fishing thing,” he said. “Over the last 20 years, it’s boomed. More and more people are doing saltwater fishing and bass fishing with a fly rod and doing it successfully.

“There are tremendous fly fishing opportunities in North Carolina. It’s one of the best states in the country because of the variety we have.

“Within a 4- to 4 1/2-hour drive from the Piedmont, you can find excellent saltwater fishing for redfish and speckled trout in the marshes around Wrightsville and Morehead City. The biggest flounder caught on a fly rod — a 7 1/2-pound fish — came from Morehead City.”

Hipps said the best way to learn about fly fishing is to join a club, such as Greensboro’s Nat Greene Fly Fishers, of which he is a member. The group meets the second Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m. at the Lewis Recreation Center. The meetings are free and open to everyone.

A significant number of members are female.

“The club invites speakers and guides throughout the area to talk about fly fishing and conservation issues,” he said.

The club also occasionally holds fly fishing classes for beginners for a nominal fee.

Hipps said the average person can learn to fly cast in one day if he or she is willing to work at it.

“I know of one father and son who learned to fly fish in the morning and went fly fishing in the evening,” Hipps said. “Women tend to learn quicker than men because they’re more willing to listen.”

The classes are taught by certified instructors, both male and female.

To give fly fishing a chance, Hipps said to leave the baitcasting and spinning tackle in the car and to go fishing with an experienced fly fisherman.

“If you’re a beginner, don’t start fly-casting at a mountain stream,” he said. “You’ll usually be in close quarters with overhanging branches. You won’t have the expertise to fly-cast in those surroundings.

“Instead, start in open waters, such as Tillery or Badin.

“As you develop your expertise, you’ll be able to be just as effective with fly-casting as with baitcasting and spin-casting.

“A fly fisherman can fish at different depths just like a fisherman can with other tackle. He has floating fly line and three types of sinking fly line: fast, slow, and ultra-sink.

“The latter is similar to leadcore line and sinks a foot a second. Intermediate sinking lines drop about 4 inches a second.

“The only limitation is vertical fishing. A fly fisherman can’t imitate bouncing a jig or spoon off the bottom. His tackle doesn’t have that capability.”

Hipps said fly fishing begins at Badin or Tillery as soon as the water temperature exceeds 50 degrees, usually in late March. The water must be clear whatever the time frame.

One excellent period for a variety of species is from late fall to mid-December.

“I’ve caught largemouth bass at Tillery as late as December 16,” he said.

The Yadkin lakes may be a departure from fly fishing’s more traditional settings, but they’re worth a try whether you’re an experienced fly caster or a novice.