Help an Elk newbe....

[Chuck Williams]

Hey guys

Wanting to make a trip to the Elk with a couple other guys, but have never fished it before. Can you recommend a place to camp and where the access points are for wade fishing, flies to take, etc.

Thanks for the help! 

Chuck

[Steve H]

Chuck, did you see this thread a few below:
Elk Floats

Pretty good map that could point out some primitive camp areas to float near/to.

[Luke Warmwater]

Chuck,

We fished the Elk a few weeks ago and floated from the dam to Ferris Creek Bridge.  You can wade at Farris Creek and the dam, as well as Van Zant Bend (which I believe is still public access).  Take some midges and if you don't have any midges, take some midges. A BHPT will also do the trick, but I would think about taking some midge patterns ;^}.

Also, we camped at Tims Ford State Park, which was clean and camper friendly. We had a great weekend and I am sure you will too. Let us know how you do.

[Steve H]

Luke, I think there is a hint in your post somewhere.


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[czkid]

Naaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!  Dem little critters don't work!   

[ALflygirl]

Hmmmmm...we are headed to the Elk tomorrow.  So are you saying we should take some.....midges? 

[Luke Warmwater]

I am (midge) taking some (midge) newbies to the (midge) Elk tomorrow and (midge) I am taking some (midge) midges with me. Yep that's what I'm gonna do.

[Chuck Williams]

Thanks guys for the input.....

Well...........I guess I should take some midges then huh??

[Steve H]

There is a possibility that when fly fishing (midges) may be needed.

[ALflygirl]

Hey Luke Warmwater...
Were you a group of four on the Elk today?  One of that group said they were catching them on a zebra MIDGES and asked if I had some with me.  I am always wondering when we are on the Elk if any of the folks I speak to are on this forum.
I didn't have such a great day fishing.  1 rainbow to hand on an irresistible Adams and several LDR's on a zebra midge.  It was a beautiful day though and we had a good time.

[Luke Warmwater]

Hey ALfly I don't think I saw you but I was there.

I went along with Calvary Outfitters & worked the net, along with Wil2hike. We had 6 folks fishing today. Two guys who fish regularly. The others were; one newbie who just bought his stuff the night before, one just starting and one just starting back after a long absence. We put them on Black Zebras, Dan-O-Majic's (well my version which is similar to a miracle midge) and sparse BHPT pattern that I got from Mike A a couple years back.

We had to bail at noon, but I am guessing they caught about 30 between them (it's hard to keep track of that many anglers). As usual the newbie wore them out. He was having a big time!

I did meet Tony (I hope I got that right) who was knocken'em out swinging a soft hackle. He is from AL as well, do you know him?

[ALflygirl]

Yeah... Tony was with us. He is a good friend of ours and is an excellent angler!!  He can always catch fish...I think he was born with a fly rod in his hand!!  He said he met you guys.  Glad the newbie had a good time. I tried to fish down by Tony for a while but I tend to prefer the riffle upstream to hide my lack of stealth!! 

[Chuck Williams]

What sizes of MIDGES are you guys using? 20-22?

Luke

Sounds like you guys had a good time! I'm really looking forward to fishing the Elk. Been meaning to do it for a while, but work and kids activities on the weekends seem to get in the way.

Hey ALflygirl

What type of softhackels work best? I enjoy swinging a softhackel once in a while.  I used a redass on the Little Red for the first time a few years ago, and have done well with it just about everywhere I have used it.

[Luke Warmwater]

Chuck, we were using 18's & 20's, below the surface and just hanging under the bobicator. I know all about that honey-do stuff. I came home yesterday, tilled the yard, planted seed and made a couple trips to the big orange box. Then went and did some Mom's day shopping with my daughter. It was a long, long day, but I did manage to get the fish....before all that "other stuff".

ALfly- Tony is no doubt a very good fisherman and his cast was as smooth as anyone's. He was slaying them with that soft hackle and had 4-5 hits while we were shooting the bull.

[ALflygirl]

Let's not be talking about honey-dos or housework....ours is in a constant state of disarray since fly fishing has become such an addiction! 
Chuck...
I know at one point yesterday Tony said he was using a Red Ass.  I tied on a soft hackle at one point but I didn't even get a bite.  I did get a lot of knot tying experience yesterday as I changed flies about 100 times.  I kept coming back to the zebra midge - black - size 20.  I slayed em one day on the Elk with that particular fly so I always come back to it.