The Trout Zone

Wednesday, January 07, 2026

January Newsletter from Trout Zone Anglers

If you've been waiting for the January newsletter, here it is. As a reminder, you can sign up over at www.troutzoneanglers.com and get this delivered to your inbox at the beginning of each month.

Trout Zone Anglers January 2026 Newsletter

Tuesday, December 30, 2025

Ruined

There are certain things that will ruin you as an angler. Of course, by ruin I mean spoil you so thoroughly that you don't want to do anything else. Catching big fish can do this, of course. Finding the perfect rod or rods for a particular application can do this. Recently, a new to me old rod brought on this phenomena. Then, even more recently, a bamboo rod did the same.

It all started when my friend Chuck very generously offered me a bamboo rod. In fact, he offered me my choice between some different rods. After lots of casting, I surprised myself with the rod that fit me perfectly. It was an 8.5' Beasley rod for a 5 weight line. The rod has a lot of power. I enjoy casting, and really enjoy at least having the option of making long casts, and this rod can absolutely punch it out there. However, like most bamboo I've cast, it also has the ability to protect fine tippets, something that is important to me since I often fish 6x and small midges.

Of course, the final determination on any rod is actually catching fish on it. Thus it was that I found myself headed for the river with the boat behind my truck shortly after a gorgeous sunrise. My dad had agreed to join me on this trip which was a treat in itself. We hadn't fished together for years, so it was past time to get a trip on the water with him. The main goal of the trip was to get my dad out and catching a few fish. The bamboo rod was just an after thought. I figured I could anchor up and catch a few to see what I thought of the rod as a fishing tool. It had already been cast enough that I knew I liked how it cast.

We did things a little different on this trip. Since part of the trip was time with my dad, I picked him up at his house. Instead of running our own shuttle which is what we normally do on this water, I was planning to just use the motor to make a long run up the river and then float back down.

When we got to the takeout, the water was fairly high. Flows were up which would allow us to motor upstream through water that otherwise would be too shallow to navigate through with the boat and motor. After dumping the boat in the water and getting my dad situated in the front seat, I fired up the motor and we began a long run upstream. With my little 6 hp motor, it took us more than an hour but eventually we made it all the way up to the next boat ramp. Since it was cold out early, that wasn't all bad. It meant we could stay hunkered down in our warm jackets and let the sun warm things up a little more.

Once we started fishing, I gave my dad a quick refresher primer to get him catching fish quickly. It worked because he started catching fish right away!

Soon we were drifting back downstream on the falling water. The generators had cut off and the fish started feeding heavily. We caught a few and missed a few. Eventually, my dad hooked a fish and it was pulling hard enough that we couldn't just drag it in without risking a break off. I anchored on a shoal and coached him through the fight. Soon, the fish came to the net, but not before I noticed something just behind us, maybe 60 feet upstream. A nice fish had rose to a midge or something similar.

My dad was kind enough to quit fishing while I backed the boat up, anchored in position, and pulled out that beautiful bamboo rod. It was rigged with a Chubby Chernobyl with a Frenchie underneath maybe two and a half to three feet deep. I dropped the rig in just upstream of the active fish and kept adjusting my presentation through mends and line management. Eventually, a few casts later, I got the drift just right and the dry fly dipped as the fish ate the nymph.

The fish was an average stocker rainbow trout, maybe 11 inches in length. Nothing to write home about, but my first fish on this bamboo rod which was neat. We took a picture or two, but I was hustling to get the fish back in the water. You see, while I was fighting it, a big dark shadow chased that fish almost into the net. I'm not sure what the larger fish was planning, but it was very aggressive. I got a fairly good look and could tell it was a big rainbow trout. Of course, my first thought was to put the bamboo away and pull out a 6 weight and rig a streamer. In fact, I was very close to doing that before I had second thoughts. I had a very clear idea of where that fish had come from, and there really wasn't any reason it shouldn't eat the same nymph the first fish had eaten.

I lined up a cast, made a reach as the line fly on its way to the target, then added another mend or two into the drift. The second time I did the same thing, and the fly drifted aways before dipping convincingly. As soon as I set the hook, I knew I had hooked up with a rocket. The fish was powerful and surged this way and that before deciding that the best strategy was to head downstream as quickly as possible. I had put an old Orvis Battenkill reel on the bamboo rod and that reel was screaming. It probably needed some grease, and it didn't sound like it would survive the encounter. My heart sank as I watched the fly line disappearing and the backing start heading downriver as well.

At that point, I asked my dad for help. We needed to follow, and while he wasn't going to row us after the fish, he could certainly at least pull the anchor rope up for me. He kindly started pulling in the anchor and soon we were at least drifting down after the fish. A little downstream, we lowered the anchor back down as the fish came running back at us. Then, it made another hard run and we bumped down a little further again. Finally, after more runs than I could count, it finally got close to the boat and I told my dad exactly what was about to happen. I needed some help on the net and didn't want things to be ruined at this point.

When we got the fish in the boat, my dad took some pictures for me. This was certainly one of the most memorable fish of the year for me, a true fish of the year candidate even though it only taped out at a touch over 18". It was one of the strongest 18" fish I've ever encountered and a true treat on the bamboo rod. I firmly believe that I likely would have lost that fish on most other rods. The bamboo did an incredible job of protecting the fine tippet and by some miracle the fly held. I've noticed that some (but definitely not all) graphite rods are really bad to bounce or vibrate while fighting a fish, but the natural bamboo material was very quiet throughout the fight.

The rest of the float was anticlimactic. I was worn out. My arm was tired for a while. My dad fished a little more and caught a few more fish including one really nice one, but our day was definitely winding down. I even cast again when a sight fishing opportunity presented itself, catching another rainbow or two on a tiny midge. Still, nothing fishing wise would beat that big rainbow and the workout it gave me. I was now ruined and could envision myself collecting more bamboo rods than I know what to do with. I don't know if that will happen, but I do know that I'll be fishing that Beasley rod again...

Monday, December 22, 2025

Cold Hikes

Winter is what I like to call "hiking season" because I can't stand the heat and humidity of the southeast. I'd rather be a little on the cool side of comfortable rather than too hot. There are days that push this preference to the limit, however.

Recently, I've been trying to both jog or run and also get as many hikes in as possible. That doesn't always mean I'm getting out a ton, but I'm doing what I can considering I have a full time job as a fly fishing guide and a family that needs plenty of my time as well. A big chunk of my motivation is simply staying in shape, but more specifically, I'm also having visions of backpacking trips to the Wind River range again in pursuit of golden trout. To enjoy a trip like that requires excellent conditioning. Unfortunately, I'm now entering the stage of life where I can't get into peak backpacking shape in 2-4 weeks of jogging.

Thus it was that I recently found myself trying to decide between a quick jog around the neighborhood or a hike up a nearby mountain. Both would work great for getting my heart rate elevated. The seriously cold air convinced me a hike was smarter. I find it difficult to jog when it is below freezing. Gasping subfreezing air is just not fun. Hiking is another story since I can vary my activity level just a little up or down to maintain my breathing.

The day before, we had enjoyed a family hike. This was a short walk, a little over 2 miles, and was perfect for everyone. I could carry our youngest in the kid carrier (effectively making my workout more intense which I need), while our oldest can walk the whole way so Mama doesn't have too hard a hike. We find some beautiful scenes, including a waterfall that had a lot more water in it than last time we had visited.

The next day, I was looking for more exercise, so I headed out with temperatures in the teens and falling. When I got to the trailhead and got out of my car, I briefly wondered what I had gotten myself into. The trail immediately ascends seemingly straight up the mountain. That helped initially, since it got my heart rate up and enough blood pumping to warm me up a little. Once the trail leveled out a little at the top of the first big rise, I knew this was going to be an interesting hike.

My chosen trail was a portion of the Cumberland Trail up Brady Mountain starting at the highway 68 trailhead. This particular trailhead isn't too far from home, so I can get there quickly. It also features significant (for my area) elevation that is great for someone specifically looking for a good cardio workout. That quick elevation gain gets you to the ridge line of Brady Mountain. On a cold post frontal day, that means a northwest breeze, or in the case of my particular day, gusty winds. Wind chills were almost certainly well down in the single digits and my face was quickly getting chilled. Holding my hands up to shield my face during the worst gusts helped, and I continued ascending the mountain.

I had seen a glimmer of white near the crest as I was driving to the trailhead. These mountains on the Cumberland Plateau (and also in the Smokies) will frequently get heavy rime ice buildup in the winter. I've enjoyed hiking in this magical scene once or twice, but it had been a while.

Sure enough, as I got close to the top for my hike which was a false summit that leads to one of the best overlooks you've ever seen, I started seeing ice buildup on the trees and bushes. It was far from the best I have ever seen, but not bad for a quick hike when I didn't have much in the way of expectations beyond just enjoying nature and getting fresh air.

The wind was intense until I hit the big flat on top. Once I got away from that western edge of the mountain, the wind relaxed significantly. In fact, it was so warm at the Brady Bluff overlook of Grassy Cove that I could have relaxed, ate lunch, and otherwise enjoyed my time. Alas, I hadn't brought lunch on this hike (it was a workout hike after all), so I sipped some water quickly, took a couple of very imperfect cellphone panoramas of the view, and headed back.

The wind was even worse if that is possible. Heading down the mountain, I was moving directly into the teeth of the raging wind. On the way up (heading south), I had been shielding the right side of my face. Now I shielded the right side of my face and started to jog. I was getting cold and needed both to warm up and also to get down in elevation and out of the wind. I had long since stopped kicking myself for forgetting my neck gaiter which is AWESOME in the wind. Originally purchased for skiing in Colorado where temps are often in the single digits, it has come in handy for cold weather fishing here in Tennessee and also cold weather hiking.

The jogging helped a little with warming me up, but the real trick for warming up was just getting down the hill in a hurry and into my nice warm car. Once I cranked the heat up, I was thankful that I had gotten up the mountain on such a blustery day. Scenes I got to enjoy are something most people will never get to see. Next time we get a good chance for rime ice, I'll be back up there looking again. Next time I'll have my neck gaiter and maybe an extra jacket just in case....