[Brad_]

hey guys,
i was hoping to get some advice on a nice camp ground in north western/ the foothills areas.
I would love to camp somewhere with a trout stream if possible, but any advice would be awesome!

we need room for 8, and we hope to find somewhere that is pretty secluded, but not too far of a hike with all the stuff we will be carrying.
we are considering driving as far west as the Boone area, and we will be coming from Raleigh.
thanks!
Brad

 

[Kev2380]

The Helton is nice.

 

[Crummy]

http://www.wncoutdoors.info/2012/04/over-half-of-mortimer-campground-closed/

The Wilson Creek area has Hatchery and Delayed Harvest. And more native creeks than you can count but those are a hike as they should be.

 

[Brad_]

thanks guys! looking into those now

 

[Brad_]

has anyone stayed at julian price campgrounds? that is where our plan is to go, atleast as of now.

also wondering about fishing price lake? couldn't find much information. my understading is there is some trout in there? with some research i have found what i htink are some fishable streams for fly fishing as well in the area. any information would be great!

 

[Kev2380]

has anyone stayed at julian price campgrounds? that is where our plan is to go, atleast as of now.

also wondering about fishing price lake? couldn't find much information. my understading is there is some trout in there? with some research i have found what i htink are some fishable streams for fly fishing as well in the area. any information would be great!

I've hiked the Julian Price Lake plenty of times. My wife actually used to work at the Canoe Rental there. The campgrounds are really nice. I can't say much for the lake. I didn't fish it much. This seems like an obvious answer but it seems to fish best the week it's stocked. After that I never saw people catching much. The cool thing is you have tons of trout water surrounding the campground. You can go to Wilson Creek, fish the Middle Fork of the New off 321 or hit the Watauga off 105. There's tons of options. You can even go across the street and try fishing for some wild fish on Boone Fork.

 

[Brad_]

i would love to fish for some wild trout thankyou a bunch that was great information!
Brad

 

[dbeam]

Julian is nice but definitely not secluded. You can't make reservation for the campground at Mortimer but if there is a spot when you get there is very nice and quiet.

Darrell

 

[driver]

Wilson Creek wilderness area has tons of secluded camp sites. Me and a group of buddies camp there often. Just find a big opening on the side of one of the forest roads and set up shop. There are no amenities other than maybe some rocks in a circle for a fire pit.

 

[Brad_]

well we are planning on going on a tuesday through thursday so we are hoping to have atleast a little of our own space.

camping the woods sounds like a blast to me, is that legal/ free and what land would this be on? i would assume it to be free only in state park areas?, i dont know this areawell i have never been in boone much. we also have the girls along so i believe we will be wanting the amenities or they might be grumpy. but for next time that will definatly be the plan

 

[driver]

It's national forest. And its free and you don't need a permit or register with anyone. You just can't camp next to Wilson Creek. I'm sure you will find a site to your liking on Craig Creek Road.

 

[Brad_]

so one more question: i lost my box of dry flies and nymphs many many hours of work.. im very frustrated about it.

so i am having to tie new, needless to say i wont have the selection i usually do, since i wont have as much time to tie hundreds of flies. any suggestions on what patterns and sizes work in the area? i of course will be able to tie midges and some of the more common patterns (hares ear, a couple pheasant tail, and some mayfly imitations).

just wondering if there are any patterns for the area that i couldn't live without!

Thanks for all this great information everyone! ill definitely be able to take some pictures and post them with a report when i get back.

Brad

 

[wademaster]

I'm not from any places mentioned but I don't see how you could go wrong with a wooly bugger or gold ribbed hares ear. This is all I've basically used this far along aside from an egg pattern above the nymph or maybe trying a few dry flies. Black has been my color....


Sent from my kayak...

 

[Brad_]

appreciate the information guys, sorry for the late response. i didn't end up fishing much while there but i did manage 10-20 chubs and one 9 inch brook trout. i unfortunately don't have a picture to show. i think the fish in the Boone fork had been picked through pretty thoroughly, although i may have not gotten far enough downstream or i may have been offering something they didn't want.
Julian price campground was awesome, we had plenty of space to ourselves, so that was great! saw some great wildlife and hiked a lot. overall a very fun trip!
Canoeing was unfortunately stormed out though so we didn't get to do that.
Brad