Featured Photo: Streamer Eater on the Clinch

Featured Photo: Streamer Eater on the Clinch

Monday, September 20, 2010

The Fun Continues: Smokies


As the season begins to change, my desire to head for the Smokies grows by leaps and bounds.  The call of wild trout in a beautiful mountain setting is too much to ignore.  The second of my five days of fishing was dedicated to going to the Smokies.  I made a quick phone call to see if my buddy Joe was fishing.  He said he was and told me approximately where to look for him when I arrived. 

The drive up was intense.  A slow moving cold front was working its way through the area, producing very heavy showers and thunderstorms well in advance.  I drove through some of the most intense rain I've had to drive in yet and was becoming hopeful that Little River would be up a little and possibly stained.  Summer rainstorms after extended periods of low water can produce phenomenal fishing. 

I found Joe in a pool known to hold big browns which is no surprise for anyone that knows him.  He has a knack for finding and landing big fish like few people I know.  On this day, he had not landed any monsters, but had seen a couple of nice fish.  After I rigged up, we both fished up a short section of stream that has produced well on occasion.  A few small rainbows and a couple of suckers later, I moved out of the first pool and into the pocket water above. 


There were three good seams to try.  The closest one proved the hardest to put a fly in.  As soon as I did, though, an explosion rocked the end of my line and a nice brown started plowing around through the run.  Unfortunately, after a few tense seconds, the brown unhooked itself, and I was left shaking my head. 

After I quit pondering the missed opportunity, we decided to head upriver and try another section.  This one was better as far as the overall quality of the fish was concerned.  I managed several chunky rainbows but unfortunately no browns.  The water started to take on more and more color.  Finally we headed back to the bank nearest the cars and it turned out to be none too soon.  The water rose some more and became more like chocolate milk in a matter of just a few minutes. 


For the rest of the afternoon, I spent some time ripping streamers and some time taking pictures.  The second activity was much more successful than the first although its always fun to fish big flies.  I'm hoping to head back to the Park in the near future so stay tuned for more updates...



6 comments:

  1. Great report. I love the Smokies! I try to fish in the park as often as I can, which unfortunately is not near enough. Excellent pictures too!

    The Average Joe Fisherman
    http://averagejoefisherman.blogspot.com/

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  2. Sounds like a relaxing day on the river. Nice photos!

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  3. What a great report! I fish the east side of the GSMNP alot. It's a magical place. I'd like to link to this report from my blog and use one of the river pics here as an intro(linked image only) if that's alright? Let me know. Thanks.

    Owl
    www.owljones.com
    www.owljones.blogspot.com

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  4. Thanks guys! It definitely was an awesome day on the water...

    Owl, you are more than welcome to use the picture if you would like...

    David Knapp

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  5. Absolutely great pics! Nice job.

    The Average Joe Fisherman
    http://averagejoefisherman.blogspot.com/

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  6. Fished the park this weekend. Caught way more leaves than fish...but it's sure pretty up there right now. Thanks for adding us to the BlogRoll, too! :)

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