Things Have Been Slow

The fishing side of life has been a little slow for me as of late and I apologize for the lack of new material. I'm getting back into the swing of things at school but I'm taking fly fishing as a class so things aren't looking entirely down. I'll even have to take a field trip to go fishing which will get me out of other regular classes...

While you're checking out my blog, please weigh in on the newest poll. I'm curious about how far everyone else out there will hike on a day trip so let me know!!!

Water Revisited

As I mentioned recently, things are looking much better as far as the water situation is concerned in the Smokies. To further bring home the severity of the drought and also the current improvement in water levels, I searched through my old photos for one of a favorite run that I took during the drought. On Christmas day, I took several more to compare. Here are the resulting pictures...first is during some of the worst part of the drought in September 2007.

The following picture contains the same section which is of course tight to the far bank. Notice the lack of flow in the above picture and the nice holding water that exists at "normal" water levels. I've caught browns up to around 12 inches in this run so it is good to see some water in it again.

Here's a closeup for easier comparison...

For yet another view of this run, it is featured as our current Photo of the Month for January.

Fishing in 2008

Following the theme of change so prevalent in the presidential primary campaigns, 2008 is going to be about change for me on the fishing scene. I'm going back to my beginnings as a fly fisherman so to speak, back to the smaller streams and eager trout. Perhaps putting it more succinctly, less fishing on the tailwaters. Sure, I'll still fish the Caney when I'm home on the weekend occasionally and probably will still try to make it up to the Cumberland if they ever quit running water. I'll probably even make a trip or two up to the upper east Tennessee tailwaters. However, more than anything I want to spend my time back in the woods and hills of east Tennessee chasing the wild jewels that inhabit our streams.

I want to try some different flies and better learn how to fish some of the more technical hatches. This of course will undoubtedly involve learning some new techniques. Also, not only will I be fishing my favorite mountain streams, I also want to explore new ones, maybe even find a new favorite. This will involve a lot of time in the backcountry, both on day trips and longer overnight type trips as well. I have plans to experience more of what the Smokies have to offer. Specifically, I plan on checking some rumors of lake run fish on the south side of the park and all those streams that drain into Fontana Lake. Of course, I've been saying that I intend to do these trips for awhile so time will only tell if I really make it. I better start planning now so it happens...

Just in Time

Temperatures have plummeted over the last couple of days and they are now running generators for several hours in the morning and evening on the Caney which means my fishing is severely restricted. Thankfully, I got in one last (or perhaps next to last, I might have to go again Friday) trip on Monday.

I met up with a fishing buddy that had only fished the Caney once and wanted to see some access points. We started up high on the river not too far below the dam and things started out kinda slow. I was experimenting with a 3 fly rig, a dry for an indicator followed by a zebra midge and then some type of weighted nymph pattern. Early on, I tried the Copper John that had been doing well during previous recent trips. After that didn't work, I tried another nymph pattern or two before checking a rock off the bottom. Several scuds in the #18-#22 size range were scurrying around ranging in color from gray to olive. I had recently tied up some new patterns that I thought would imitate a scud well and tied it on. Soon I had my first fish and things were looking up. One of my nicest (not largest) fish of the day soon followed, so richly colored that if I hadn't known any better, I would have said it was a wild fish from an East Tennessee freestone stream. Sometimes the biggest fish aren't the best...


The rest of the day continued much better than the first part. It seemed like many of the fish in the river were feeding on scuds. In the deep runs, you could see the flashing of light off the sides of fish as they fed right on the bottom. After getting tired of fishing the upper river, we headed down and caught up with the generation pulse were the water was still falling out. Fish were up in the shallows over weed beds once again feeding heavily, and this time we did well with quite a few browns coming to hand. None were huge but all were healthy fish that fought well, often putting on acrobatic aerial displays. A few fish even took the dry that was serving as an indicator so all in all it was a nice day.

Water!!!

After months of drought, it looks like we might be turning the corner. The last 2 months have featured close to normal rainfall and the most recent precipitation event brought Little River in the Smokies up to its highest level in months. The gauge height chart for Little River shows a significant spike in flow yesterday to over 4 feet.

It isn't often I can say this but I'm glad I wasn't trying to fish there yesterday. Water conditions like that are extremely dangerous for wading. The water is falling fairly fast though and should be quite fishable for the next couple of days before our first serious cold snap arrives and shuts down the fishing. Forecast highs for the middle of the week in the mountains aren't supposed to get out of the 20's so I'll be home tying lots of flies for the upcoming year hopefully.

The weather around the country is cold and bringing lots of precipitation as well. Yellowstone had a tough summer this past year with low water because of the low snowpack. Things are looking much better for next summer with yet another big storm system moving through the northern Rockies. A glance at the national weather map from the National Weather Service shows winter storm warnings, winter weather advisories, and even blizzard warnings for much of the area.

Look for the Rocky Mountain states to fish well next year and possibly even be on a "normal" schedule as far as runoff is concerned. Of course, a lot of factors still have to come together to make that happen, but so far things are looking up. I think its about time for me to start trying to figure out a way to have another Yellowstone trip this next summer...wish me luck!!!

Caney Fork Again

The generation schedule on the Caney was finally decent enough for a fishing trip yesterday so despite being tired still from fighting the monsters on the SoHo, I wandered down to my home tailwater to check things out.

Overall, the fishing was pretty good but it was really crowded at the main access points which made things a bit annoying. The highlight of the day was watching a big 20"+ brown moving up into a shallow run above a nice hole to feed. I made several perfect casts and got some nice drifts over him but stuck a decent rainbow instead and that was the last I saw of the big guy. Oh well, another time.




The top flies for me were various midges and a red copper john. I've been fishing copper johns more and more in all types of water and am surprised by the results. It seems like it shouldn't catch fish on a river like the Caney but you just never know.



As 2007 winds down, it is time to start thinking forward to '08 and the adventures it will undoubtedly hold. I think I'm going to be adjusting my fishing habits some, more on that later...

Holiday Magic

Normally, a great day of fishing means I will attempt to wax eloquent to recapture the magic by painting a picture with words. Today is different though because I'm exhausted and must get some sleep so I can get up and fish some more in the morning. What a rough life...

The reason I'm so tired is that I've been battling big browns all day which is hard work. Someone has to do it and I'll make that sacrifice so the rest of you can go back to work...

Anyway, for those that are dying to know, the river is the South Holston and that's just about all I'm going to say on here... If anyone has any specific questions, feel free to contact me via email and I might provide a few details.

Fishing Soon

As the end of the semester is now knocking on the door, I'm starting to come to terms with the fact that I have two and a half weeks to fish at my leisure. My first fishing experience will be taking place on the South Holston where the big browns are being caught regularly now. For more info on this interesting fact, check out the fishing report from the South Holston River Flyshop where they have pictures of several hogs...

I've been tying a few flies in between studying for finals and as soon as I get home, I'll be tying fast and furiously trying to prepare for the behemoth browns that await and will probably tear my flies to shreds. Of course, I'll likely get some time on the home river, the Caney Fork. Also, a trip to a new river is in the works. I've been hearing great things for several years now about the Cumberland River below Wolf Creek Dam and will finally attempt a trip. The sad part is that the Cumberland is closer to my house than the Smokies and only about 30 miles farther than the Caney and yet, I've never been. The rumors of big fish have finally convinced me that an investigation should be carried out. The last month or so I've really been missing the tug of a big fish on the other end of the line so this break will be dedicated to looking for the big guys. Check back soon for updates...