Annual "End of School" Trip

The last week has been very busy for me. Semester finals and the end of school meant it was time to go fishing for a few days. Each year I do a trip, sometimes brief, sometimes long. This year I had planned a long weekend in the Smokies. The weather forecast was for a 60% change of rain for Friday night and Saturday. Usually this means you will have some showers or storms but they will not last too long. Throw in a variable in the form of the Trout Underground's Tom Chandler visiting on his yearly Tennessee trip and you should expect a significant rain event. Significant rain is usually not good for the streams. Little River still looked like this on Monday.

I had forgotten the strange effect he has on Tennessee weather so I went ahead with the camping trip. Thankfully, we had changed from a backpacking trip to just car camping at the last minute and this made things much better.

I met my cousin and his girlfriend at Little River Outfitters in Townsend before driving up to Elkmont to camp. This gave me the opportunity to drop off my St. Croix Legend Ultra that had broke just days before to be sent back to St. Croix for repair. After getting fixed up at LRO, we went and set up camp.

Friday evening included the traditional drive around Cades Cove to gawk at the everpresent wildlife. After seeing plenty of deer and turkeys, I managed to get a few minutes of fishing in on Abrams Creek. This nice trout took a #16 sulphur parachute pattern.

A few other fish came to hand on nymphs and then it was back to camp for a hot meal. We sat around the fire sipping hot cocoa and roasting marshmellows, enjoying the warmth in the cool mountian air. Then it was off to bed, presumably to wake up to a nice day. Instead, it started raining at some point during the night and didn't let up until well into Saturday afternoon. I can't complain though because my Big Agnes tent kept me dry the whole time and the streams never really got blown out.

Saturday morning, we finally got up in the light rain and cooked a huge breakfast that included the staples of eggs and hashbrowns. Once again, I was glad I wasn't backpacking. We then all piled into my car to drive over the the North Carolina side to drive a small park road up Straight Fork and then back down the Blue Ridge Parkway. Straight Fork turned out to be a beautiful little stream and I got in some more fishing time. Only a few minutes were necessary to catch several rainbows and one brown, all on a Tellico nymph.

I also saw this nice March Brown flying around. We continued on up the road only to find a "Road Closed" sign blocking our way. So we drove back down and then headed back over the hill. As we came over the ridge, we saw just why mountains are named "Smoky." Shortly after this, I got a few minutes on a brookie stream and caught this beautiful fish while wet wading in the chilly 51 degree water.

The rain had finally quit so we went back to camp and started putting a fire together to cook supper. After a bit of effort splitting wood to get dry kindling, we had a great fire going and supper was soon cooking. We were tired and so we just ate and went to bed.

The next day I had made plans to fish Deep Creek with a buddy. He showed up promptly at 10:00 and we drove over the hill. I had fished upper Deep Creek before but this was my first trip to the lower end. It proved to be a beautiful stream full of healthy rainbows and browns. The fish seemed to all be sitting down on the bottom and despite what turned out to be a gorgeous day, would not take our dries. Tellico Nymphs accounted for plenty of fish however. Later, we drove back to the Tennessee side to hit the evening hatch at Metcalf Bottoms. The fishing here was excellent. I caught rainbows and browns and broke off on a couple nice fish. The hatch was incredible as well with Yellow Sallies and Sulphurs (two types) coming off in large numbers plus lots of other random bugs. Most of my fish here came in the heavier pockets and runs but I managed a few on dries as well.

Monday was my last day in the mountains and I decided to just fish Little River. I packed up my stuff and tied a few Tellico nymphs before heading out to fish. The fish were cooperative again but they were still on the bottom. Tellicos and George Nymphs accounted for most of my fish. I got a nice brown to eat a midge in one of the large pools on Little River but didn't get the hook set. Later I broke off on a good fish in heavy pocket water. The nicer fish were obviously feeding but catching them was a different story.

There were more snakes around then I care to ever see while fishing...

Overall, this was a great trip!

Smokies and Crowds

As finals are wrapping up today and tomorrow, I can start looking forward to my upcoming weekend in the mountains. Each year when school gets out, I make at least a weekend trip to fish, camp, relax and recuperate from the demands of the academic world. One year it was the Black Hills, the next it was Yellowstone AND the Black Hills. Last year it was the Smokies and it this year I will be returning to where I learned the intricacies of the sport. The Smokies are my home waters and probably my favorite place to be (please remind me I said this when I start bragging about the great fishing out west later this summer). They provide the perfect opportunity to relax and enjoy myself.

The main concern about the upcoming weekend is the crowds. Tom Chandler of the Trout Underground is supposed to be in the area and we can only assume that there will be hundreds of fans out hoping to catch a glimpse of him fishing dries to rising trout. The potential exists for the traffic snarls to eclipse the famed bear jams of Cades Cove. Thankfully, I really prefer the backcountry and won't think twice about hiking the extra mile (or 7 or 8) to avoid the crowds. My idea of a good day trip is in the 10-15 mile round trip range which will put me beyond all but the most dedicated day trippers. The weather should be nearly perfect with highs in the mountains forecast to be in the 70's. The Yellow Sallies are rumored to be hatching already so look for me flinging a yellow stimulator somewhere on the Tennessee side of the park this weekend. Unfortunately, coming just after a full moon, the fishing may be on the slow side but that is unimportant. Just get me away from the books for a few days and I'll be satisfied. Catching fish will just be a bonus...

Make Your Voice Heard

From the Knoxville New Sentinel, we have learned of a great opportunity to make your voice heard in the states fisheries department. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency

is seeking comments from fishermen about the 2008 sport fishing regulations. Fishermen can make suggestions about size limits, creel limits or any other idea or concern they have about the state's fishing regulations. Public comments are considered by fisheries managers and may be presented as proposals for regulation changes.

While I don't know if it will make a difference to send in my comments, I do know that nothing will happen if I keep quiet. I definitely have some suggestions I would like to see implemented, specifically about my "home" tailwater, the Caney Fork. It has the ability to grow very large fish if people would just leave 'em in there a little while. Even with the high pressure from the catch and keep crowd, it still produces very nice fish consistently. While enforcement would be an issue, I would love to see a slot limit on the rainbows. My idea of a good slot limit would be 12-14 or 12-16 inches. This river can support plenty of large trout and I know I would have a great time fishing over 16-20 inch fish each trip. There are already special regulations on the browns so I believe it is time to do the same for the rainbows.

Regardless of what you want to see, take the opportunity to make your voice heard. To send your comments, simply take the time to send a brief email to twra.comment@state.tn.us and be sure to include "sport fish comments" in the subject line.

Hitting the Books

Finals Week has arrived. Perhaps the worst week from a fishing standpoint of the whole year. Gone are the days where I can procrastinate with "I'll just do it later." It is crunch time and as such, my fishing time will suffer for a few days. Thankfully, tomorrow is they hardest day and by Tuesday, if the weather cooperates and I feel like it, I can take a bit of time to bother the Hiwassee fish one last time (or maybe Wednesday will be the last) before I head home for the summer. Once I leave the Chattanooga area, my fishing focus will shift to the Caney Fork, the Smokies, and perhaps a trip or two to NE Tennessee and the fine tailwaters there. Still, I have a fish I need to pay a visit to on the Hiwassee so I'll probably fish it once more before I quit there for the summer...

Environmental Advocates Push TVA

Environmental groups are pushing the Tennessee Valley Authority to work towards providing more renewable energy. According to the Knoxville News Sentinel,

A group of environmental advocates used a public meeting Monday to urge TVA to meet energy demand by looking to conservation and renewable energy instead of new power plants.

Several of the people in attendance at the meeting

stressed the need for TVA to grow its renewable energy production. The federal utility gets most of its power from coal-fired plants, which emit the greenhouse gases that are blamed for global warming.

This is a topic that should be important to east Tennessee fisherman, particularly the ones that enjoy fishing the freestone streams of the mountains. The biggest obstacle to all the trout streams is the continuing problem of acid rain. Of course, we all know that coal-fired plants are not helping the acid rain problem so we applaud the efforts to get TVA to work more on renewable energy production. Some of our favorite brook trout streams are very acidic, keeping the fish stunted. Hopefully TVA will listen to the concerned citizens and work towards more environmentally friendly solutions to the problem of providing enough electricity to the growing population in the Tennessee Valley region.

Peak Fishing

Great fishing once again looms just around the corner, or at least, it does if you believe the solunar fishing tables. Available from many different sources, we will occasionally check in with the Best Fishing Times Charts from In-Fisherman. The latest glance at the fishing charts indicates that the best fishing will be occurring this next week during the full moon. This is terrible timing because of final exams that are scheduled for the first half of the week. Thankfully, I'm done with the last one by noon on Wednesday and after that, it will be out to the stream for me!!!

Eyes Turn Westward

As summer approaches, the realization that my trip west is approaching has me scouring the Internet for any and all information on the Montana and Wyoming areas. I enjoy keeping track of the fishing Journal at Blue Ribbon Flies in West Yellowstone just to see what they have been catching and what works at various times of the year. The Dakota Angler & Outfitter maintains a fishing report as well that I check from time to time. Western South Dakota really has some excellent fishing and is a must-fish stop for me when heading to the Yellowstone area.

The latest word from the Billings Gazette in Montana appears to indicate the the Mother's Day Caddis are starting on the Yellowstone River. Rumors have been floating around of good numbers of caddis showing on the famed Arkansas River in Colorado as well. Of course, this leaves me wondering why I chose to head west at the hottest and most crowded time of the summer. Some of my best fishing in western South Dakota has been during early May to mid June. The early season in Yellowstone National Park can be an experience as well. The Firehole is often one of the best options for early season fishing in the park and it provides reliable hatches of BWOs, PMDs and evening caddis.

The early season can be a hazardous time to plan a trip around however. Depending on runoff, most western rivers will be high and dirty at best and quite possibly downright unfishable. If you time it right however, early season fishing can be among the best of the year as the crowds are nowhere to be seen and big trout hungrily feast on the bounty of spring. This can be the best time to fish the high country lakes throughout the Rockies. The expert stillwater fisherman will generally all tell you that the time for large fish is either soon after ice-out or in the late fall just before everything freezes. Some of my best early spring memories involve high country lakes. From Apache trout in Arizona to Grayling in Yellowstone, the early season often provides non-stop action for the adventuresome angler.

That's all well and good, but this year I'm going to settle for the terrestrial action of summer. I've been dreaming about the big Cutts in Yellowstone for awhile now and this is the year to make it happen, which reminds me...I've gotta tie some flies....

Stuck a Couple Nice Ones

As promised, I went fishing yesterday afternoon for a couple of hours. The rain that was falling as I rolled east gave me high hopes for a good hatch. However, it had basically quit raining by the time I got to the river. The clouds were still thick though and I figured the bugs should pour off sometime in the middle of the afternoon. I started fishing with a parachute Adams and red Copper John as a dropper. "Assuming the hatch was about to start, the fish should be looking for nymphs drifting in the current," I reasoned. The fish were feeding occasionally on top when I arrived, providing me a good opportunity to figure out where they were. I waded slowly, watching for feeding fish and as often as I saw a rise, I got a fish to eat.

It was one of those magic days when you feel that you can do no wrong. Everything happened naturally and smoothly as fish after fish succumbed to the dropper. I would cast straight ahead only to see a fish rise at a 90 degree angle away but no problem. One back cast and then a quick change of direction and my fly was floating right over the feeding fish. Unfortunately, this couldn't go on to long as the generation pulse was rapidly approaching. I saw the water rising upriver and quickly worked my way out and back to the car. A short drive upriver put me above the pulse and back into fish.

Frustratingly, the sun was making a reappearance putting an end to any hopes of a large hatch with fish slashing everywhere. Recalling something I read by Dave Hughes where he recommends using wet flies on small streams when the sun is on the water, I figured maybe it would work on a larger river as well. This proved to be the ticket and I soon was catching lots of fish again until something big broke off my fly. I quickly retied and continued slowly down the river, swinging the softhackle through every likely spot. More often than not, a fish would hit and sometimes I would catch several out of one little pocket.

I finally worked my way to a spot that has a nice deep run with some big overhanging rocks breaking the monotony. "There's got to be fish better than these little stockers in there" I thought to myself. I cast my parachute with the softhackle dropper to the top of the undercut boulder and watched as the dry sucked under. "This better not be hung up on the rock" I grumbled. The hook set provided quick proof that it was definitely NOT stuck on a rock as something on the other end started shaking its head. I immediately started putting a lot of pressure on the fish, trying to get it out from under the rock and it came out but not towards me. It rain downstream a little ways and then back up, bulldogging hard the whole time. A glance at the red flash and I knew it was a rainbow, and a bit better than the usual 8-12 inch stockers also. After a battle that seemed unusually long, I had the nice fish in for a quick picture. It was sporting what was left of a kype jaw which was interesting. While not a huge fish, this was the best rainbow I've caught on the Hiwassee and made the day worthwhile.

"Maybe, just maybe....." was running through my head as I approached the second undercut boulder. This time, my dry was soaked through and so I highsticked the unweighted flies along the rock. The leader gave a brief twitch and I set the hook, again feeling the weight of a better than average fish. After another battle, I admired a beautiful brown that was fat and healthy.

These two fish definitely made my day. I always catch a bunch of the recent stockers and while that is okay, the larger fish provide a much better challenge to land. The softhackle was easily the fly of the day and continues to produce the best fish so far this year.