Elk River, North Carolina

   Our journey west has brought us to Banner Elk, N.C.  About a 4 hour drive west of Wilmington,  Banner Elk lies near Boone in the Blue Ridge Mountains along the border of Tennessee.   We have the privilege of crashing at a sweet condo Ians aunt shares.  We are staying at Sugar Mountain, a ski resort in the winter.
   We arrived on Sunday, May 15.  These mountains have dense, impenetrable forests with rolling hills more sublime than anything I 've seen in the east so far.  Reminds me of Montana.
   The Elk River starts in Banner Elk, N.C. and flows into Watauga Lake, Tennessee.  The section we fished was catch and release and has hatchery supported browns, brookies, and rainbows.  A marvelous river with luscious vegetation and cascading water falls.
  Big Falls is located just downstream from Elk Park, N.C.  This was our first fishing spot.  Ian caught a rainbow below the falls and another about a mile downstream.  The scenery kept me from concentrating on fishing.  We returned to the truck for a little sardine and vienna sausage lunch.  We drove to a different access along the Elk.  This spot was much more fishy.  It seemed like every hole had  at least one fish in it.  Mostly browns but a few rainbows.  Too many fish to count.  Any dry fly seemed to work.  Caddis (size 16) and parachute adams (size 18)  seemed to be the best. Also dragging a bugger with a little copper john worked well.  We fished until the sun set over the hills.  The forecast calls for rain and cold weather.  That's not gonna hold us back from exploring these mountains.