Miles From Anywhere

I got out for a few hours again today.  These smallmouth are starting to get addicting.  More to come later on a trip from Sunday as well as today's trip, but here is a stream shot from where I fished...

Plateau Creeks

Here on the Cumberland Plateau, we are blessed with a wide variety of fishing options, but the best are the remote smallmouth bass streams.  Many of these almost remind me of fishing in the Smokies, and if it wasn't for our very different geology resulting in different rocks on the stream bottoms, you would be hard pressed to find any differences between the two.  Last week, I got to thinking about a little creek that I've crossed many times on my way to smallmouth fish on a larger stream.  This is one of those little streams that you often wonder about but rarely ever get around to actually fishing.  So instead of continuing to wonder, I decided to do something about it.

Friday morning I ate a quick breakfast, filled a couple of water bottles, and headed out the door.  Arriving at the stream and rigging up, I noticed the clouds were lowering and looking pretty solid.  Sure enough, a quick downpour was soon soaking everything making me glad I had put on a rain jacket.

It didn't take long for a little fish to hit.  Thinking I had found my first smallmouth, I was soon looking at a Coosa bass.  Well, that makes sense.  The creek I was fishing emptied into a large stream where I have caught a lot of Coosa bass over the years.  What was strange was that I kept catching the Coosas and never once caught a smallmouth.

The fish were all small, reminding me even more of fishing in the Smokies on some of the brook trout streams I frequent.  Catching small fish is just as much fun as catching big fish, just without the adrenaline rush you get with the larger specimens.  Best of all, these fish acted like no one had ever tried to catch them before.  I'm fairly confident that none of them had ever seen a fly at the very least.

Continuing downstream, I stopped periodically to take pictures of my surroundings.  Every now and again I could hear a truck go by out on the nearby road but otherwise I might as well have been 50 miles in the backcountry.  This was one of those pristine streams where you can fish all day and catch more fish then anyone probably has a right to expect.  Continually changing in character, the creek would sing happily over the rocks one minute, going from shadows to sun and back to shadows again, only to drift lazily into long pools the next.  The pools were often mysterious, stretching on for what seemed like an eternity on such a small stream and often merging with the forest so that you could never be sure where the end of the pool was and whether it flowed into the surrounding jungle or merely under the overhead canopy.

There were a few surprises like the rock bass that came out from under a rock to slam the wooly bugger.  The chubs were surprisingly beautiful and impressed me with their prominent dorsal fins.

Eventually I got hungry of course, and decided to take one last picture before cutting up through the woods to find the unmaintained trail back.

While I had a lot of fun and will probably fish this stream again just because I like exploring, I'll probably put a lot more time in on some of the smallmouth streams that are known to put out some larger fish.  When I want to scratch the creek itch though, I'll know where to go!

Please Help!!!

If you have ever fished in Tennessee, or if you ever hope to fish in Tennessee (seriously, we have some fantastic fishing), then please keep reading.  We currently are in the midst of a serious effort to fund our tailwater trout stocking program.  In short, the US Fish and Wildlife Service has pulled the plug on hatchery funding for trout.  I'm not sure whether this has to do with the budget cuts over the last couple of years or not, but that is not that point.  

The important part is that we may lose a lot of stocked trout.  That's where you come in.  Please check out the document from the latest meeting first.  It covers the alternative options.  Please note that the USFWS has said that funding through them is not an option unless congress appropriates a LOT more funding than they currently have.

So why is all of this important? Well, we only have limited natural reproduction on most tailwaters, with the Clinch and South Holston being two of the best in terms of wild fish.  Imagine if all of the other tailwaters were more or less barren and the anglers that normally fished them now crowded onto the already crowded Clinch and South Holston?  Even worse, imagine if all those tailwater anglers were so frustrated by the lack of quantities of fish (even on those rivers as both have lots of supplemental stocking) on the tailwaters and started hitting the wild mountain streams a lot harder.  In other words, the Smokies might become a bring your own rock sort of place.  I'm not too excited about that, and I hope you're not either.

Personally, as TVA is responsible for the dams being in place that created this artificial situation where native species cannot thrive, I think TVA should foot the bill on this one, but that could definitely be debated.  Ultimately it will be passed on to TVA rate payers as a rate hike.  However, current calculations are indicating that a rate increase of 5-10 cents per year is all that would be required to get this thing funded.  That's not bad.

In the end, the most important thing you can do to help is to contact TVA so that they know a lot of people care about our tailwaters.  It won't take much of your time, just go to http://www.tva.gov/hatchery/, read the page so you understand the issue, then scroll down to the bottom where you will find a link to submit comments.  Let TVA know that you care about trout in our tailwaters and that you believe the trout stocking needs to continue.  The more people that submit comments the better.  They have to realize how many people are utilizing our waters and they need to understand the economic impact that a cessation of funding would cause.  

Thank you for taking the time to read about this issue and sending in your comments.  With everyone's help, we can make a difference in maintaining the fantastic tailwater fisheries here in Tennessee!!!

Tailwater Float

On Wednesday, I loaded up the drifter and headed for a tailwater.  Rod had called to book a trip for him and his brother Barry who was visiting from out of state and wanted to show him a good time.  We decided on a half day float and confirmed details on where to meet.  Wednesday morning arrived and right on schedule they pulled in ready to fish hard!

We headed on up the river to drop the boat in.  Right as I was about to shove off from the ramp, another truck started backing down towards the water.  Looking up, I laughed when I realized it was the trout truck!  Good fishing for all, at least for a day or two!  He waited until we had cleared the ramp so I rowed out a bit and dropped the anchor.  This was a photo opportunity not to be missed.

After joking about how guilty we would feel if we pestered the freshly stocked fish, we shoved off and caught the current downstream.  A couple hundred yards down the river we started working our flies and right away we got the first fish in the net!  Barry was the first to strike, but that made sense because he was in the front casting brace.  The usual crowd of wading anglers were working hard so we maneuvered the boat to try and stay out of their way and were soon drifting down through open water.

Not too far down the river is a hole that I like to hit.  With the boat perfectly in position, I showed the guys where to drop their flies.  Barry had the hot hand again and soon a larger fish was tugging on the end of his line.  This fish turned out to be much nicer and in great shape.  He decided that perhaps a picture was in order for such a good trout.  We snapped a couple of quick shots and then I gently cradled the fish in the current until it surged off, hopefully to be seen another day.  Check out the belly on this rainbow! It has been eating well for sure...

By this time Rod had started catching some fish as well. I turned to suggest another spot to Rod when I sensed that Barry had set the hook.  Turning around I saw that he looked pretty serious.  When he told me that the fish was ever better than the nice rainbow I got serious as well.  The net came back out and before long we were celebrating a nice brown to hand with another picture!  Barry said it was his largest brown ever so he was understandably happy about it.

That brown ended up being the highlight of the trip, but we would have some other memorable moments.  One of the strangest things that has happened to me in a long time while rowing the river was when a large dead vulture drifted down on us while we were anchored in a good spot fishing.  I'm still not sure what happened to that poor bird.  Even more strange was when his friends started circling overhead as he drifted downstream.  I know they eat dead stuff but eating your buddy seems just a little strange.

Another cool moment was when Rod and Barry doubled up.  Barry had just hooked a nice rainbow when Rod hooked up as well as I was sliding the net under Barry's fish.  I kept the net in the water and got the nice brown in it as well for a couple double shot.

Finally we saw the takeout ramp approaching.  Barry wanted to strike once more and put one more nice brown in the net to round out a good day on the water.

These two brothers were great to have in the boat.  They fished hard and even participated in the good natured joking around about who was catching the best fish that I started.  In the end, honors for this trip went to Barry, but I'll bet that next time Rod will get a big one!

If I can help you with a guided wade or float trip, please contact me at TroutZoneAnglers@gmail.com
I'm permitted to guide in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and also do tailwater trips and Cumberland Plateau smallmouth bass trips.  We're looking to add some smallmouth float trips in the future as well.  

Marmot Alpinist 2 Person Tent

This may be a long shot, but I have a friend looking to sell a Marmot Alpinist 4 season 2 person tent.  The tent is brand new, never even been out of the bag.  He is looking to get $450 for it.  If you are interested please contact me by email for more information at TroutZoneAnglers@gmail.com.  Good price on a nice tent!  

What Happened?

On yesterday's float, we were anchored up in a really good spot and the guys were working hard to nab a few fish.  While they were fishing, something strange was spotted floating down the river behind the boat.  The slow current eventually brought it right up to the boat.  How in the world did this large vulture end up dead in the river?  Any ideas? Stories? Original works of fiction involving a dead vulture on a fly fishing trip?

Dangerous Critters

Fishing is dangerous.  Many people think of fishing as something where you sit in a lawn chair and watch a bobber with a worm under it.  While that is a perfectly good way to fish, people don't realize that many of the more adventuresome types are scrambling along rugged shorelines or through remote canyons in an effort to reach less-pressured water.  There is good reason for that of course.  Most people are lazy and a bit of effort can put you on water where the fish rarely if ever see a fisherman.

On yesterday's smallmouth trip, we started to see significantly more action as we got farther and farther from the road.  Several times over the course of the trip, I almost commented to the guy I was guiding about how I have never seen any poisonous snakes in that particular area even though they are rumored to be there in good numbers.  Something kept nagging at the back of my mind though, and I kept my mouth shut.  It turns out that just thinking about it is enough to jinx a person.

While scrambling over rocks and through brush stream side, I suddenly froze like a bird dog coming to a point.  In a small crevice right under the rock we had come over on the way down was a nice big copperhead just waiting for an unsuspecting fisherman meal.  I've climbed over those rocks many times, often while only wearing sandals.  After I found my way back down to earth from the upper atmosphere where I had involuntarily jumped to, I realized the snake was still a good 6-8 feet away and got out my camera while keeping one eye checking the area for its mate.

In the end, it was actually interesting to see a copperhead.  It was the first I've run into since returning home from Colorado.  If I see a few more I might just have to move back, but in the meantime the fishing is good enough to keep me coming back to those smallie streams.  I guess I learned why no one fishes them too...

New Fly Fishers

It has been my pleasure to help 5 different people catch their first fish on the fly rod this past week.  Some were friends, some were clients, but all did a great job of learning and applying what I taught them to catch their first fish on the fly rod.

The first were my friends Elizabeth and Antoinette.  I gave about a 30 second lecture on fly casting and they said, "Like this?" and started casting perfectly.  Complete naturals.  The bluegill were biting well that evening which made it even better...

The next was on a Smoky Mountain guide trip last Thursday.  I had the pleasure of taking two young men for their first fly fishing trip in the Smokies and they did great!

Perhaps the best was when I took my buddy Seth to the same spot where we were catching the bluegills shown above.  He also received the 30 second lecture on casting and started throwing right where I told him.  Before long a big bluegill had taken the fly.  We admired it, and then I told him to throw back in again.  Something hit with a huge swirl and started fighting really hard.  When he pulled it up to where we could see it, we realized it wasn't a bluegill.  What a pleasant surprise when you're bluegill fishing!