When the Dogwoods Bloom.......................

When the Dogwoods Bloom the Bass will boom.   That was an old saying I heard when I was young.  It generally referred to pre- spawn largemouth bass on a post-winter feeding binge and white bass gathering for their travel up stream.  Last week I had an opportunity to return to the Eno with Kev2380 to flyfish for white bass.  Well the turkey hunters were out (opening weekend), the dog woods were in bloom:

These fellas came over to greet me as I left the parking lot:

The parking lot began to fill:

All signs the white bass run was on, but there wasn’t a white bass to be found.  Much like the dogwoods (this one just started to bloom……. A month after the former!)

the unusually warm March followed by a seasonably cooler April have thrown a lot of migrating species slightly off their traditional patterns.  On the plus side, a few bream and robins made the trip worth it……. The skunk is no more.

The Eno River runs through Orange and Durham Counties in central North Carolina.  My blog is named in honor of the Lower James River which holds a special place in my heart.  My home.  However, the Eno is a small unspoiled (for an urban) river loaded with the largest, most colorful and gorgeous robins (redbreast sunfish) and bream (all other sunfish) you’ll find anywhere.  There is another small gem hidden in this stream as well.  The roanoke bass.  Unless you live in a warm water river drainage of high water quality and no smallmouth bass in the piedmont region of central/southern Virginia or central/northern North Carolina, you’ve probably never seen or heard of it.  Just imagine a rock bass, slightly deeper with a red eye.  Next up......... perhaps a trip to the Neuse  River.  (Note: I was beaten to the punch on Roanoke Bass...... Nice post).