[phg]

When we arrived at the New River on Thursday, we found that it had rained something like 2" the night before, so the New was high and brown. Consequently, several of us decided to head over to Helton Creek to see if conditions were better there. Besides, according to the NCWRC stocking schedules, Helton Creek gets stocked all summer, so it seemed worth checking out.

What we found was somewhat better conditions. The creek was up and a bit off color, but nothing drastic, and definitely fishable. I checked out a couple of favorite holes with little result. It didn't look like the stream had been stocked recently.

Eventually, I tried the long run just below the campground and managed to pick up 3 small stream born rainbows on a BH Prince. Not my most productive day, but it was nice to put a bend in the rod again....