This is the first of what I hope will be quite a few video projects showing patterns that I tie. Some are my own while most are existing patterns or my adaption of existing patterns. For the first one I chose to demonstrate one of the easiest Yellow Sally patterns I know of. This time of year sees the first hatches starting in the Smokies and as the summer goes on, this little insect will be important on many waters across the country. Try it out, but even better, once you've tried it start experimenting. There are some great variations that can be done with this simple pattern.
Featured Photo: Native Colors
Monday, May 05, 2014
A Well Spent Sunday
A couple of months ago, my friend David Perry contacted me about helping out with a great cause, Casting for Recovery (CFR). Put on locally by the Music City Fly Girls, CFR is an opportunity for breast cancer survivors to try out the sport of fly fishing while enjoying a relaxing weekend retreat with others who have experienced breast cancer. The last day of the event was the on the water day where each of the ladies would be paired with a guide and given the chance to hopefully catch some fish.
Fast forward to yesterday, and I found myself getting up at an unearthly hour to make the drive over to the Duck River below Normandy Dam. The drive over was mostly uneventful other than the random cop that decided to come out of nowhere and terrorize me for a minute or so by riding my bumper in McMinnville. After my heart rate came back down to normal and he had pulled off somewhere, I was back to the races, trying to make it to the event site by 8:00 a.m. At least I would have had a good excuse for speeding if he had pulled me over.
Once I arrived, I was surprised to find out how small this tailwater is. I'm not sure what I was expecting but this is a small stream compared to other tailwaters I fish. Small is good though when it comes to putting people on fish who are new to the sport. Trout were rising to a healthy caddis hatch and the occasional Light Cahill and even a Sulfur or two. We had a delicious breakfast prepared by the Music City Fly Girls and got a nice CFR hat.
Eventually the ladies showed up and we headed down to the stream to fish. The lady I was assigned to was pleasant and we quickly hit it off. Once we got on the water, we covered some basic casting to reinforce what she had learned the previous day and then started working one of my favorite patterns for stocked rainbows through a good looking run. Only a couple of casts later, she hooked her first fish! Okay, so it was just a chub of some sort, but we were still glad to see a fish. Not long after, we started catching trout, and missing trout, and catching some more trout.
She did a great job and finished the morning with close to 10 trout. Not bad for a first timer on the fly rod!
After the fishing excursion, we headed in for lunch and a short program. There, the lady I had been working with was the lucky recipient of a CFR fly rod and reel combo! The day couldn't get much better, and by the time I headed home, I was tired, but also happy to have been a part of this great event. Special thanks go out to David Perry for inviting me to help and the Music City Fly Girls for putting on such a fantastic weekend!!!
Fast forward to yesterday, and I found myself getting up at an unearthly hour to make the drive over to the Duck River below Normandy Dam. The drive over was mostly uneventful other than the random cop that decided to come out of nowhere and terrorize me for a minute or so by riding my bumper in McMinnville. After my heart rate came back down to normal and he had pulled off somewhere, I was back to the races, trying to make it to the event site by 8:00 a.m. At least I would have had a good excuse for speeding if he had pulled me over.
Once I arrived, I was surprised to find out how small this tailwater is. I'm not sure what I was expecting but this is a small stream compared to other tailwaters I fish. Small is good though when it comes to putting people on fish who are new to the sport. Trout were rising to a healthy caddis hatch and the occasional Light Cahill and even a Sulfur or two. We had a delicious breakfast prepared by the Music City Fly Girls and got a nice CFR hat.
Eventually the ladies showed up and we headed down to the stream to fish. The lady I was assigned to was pleasant and we quickly hit it off. Once we got on the water, we covered some basic casting to reinforce what she had learned the previous day and then started working one of my favorite patterns for stocked rainbows through a good looking run. Only a couple of casts later, she hooked her first fish! Okay, so it was just a chub of some sort, but we were still glad to see a fish. Not long after, we started catching trout, and missing trout, and catching some more trout.
Photo by David Perry of Southeastern Fly
She did a great job and finished the morning with close to 10 trout. Not bad for a first timer on the fly rod!
After the fishing excursion, we headed in for lunch and a short program. There, the lady I had been working with was the lucky recipient of a CFR fly rod and reel combo! The day couldn't get much better, and by the time I headed home, I was tired, but also happy to have been a part of this great event. Special thanks go out to David Perry for inviting me to help and the Music City Fly Girls for putting on such a fantastic weekend!!!
Saturday, May 03, 2014
Availability
The spring fishing is finally settling into a predictable pattern and this next week is looking perfect. Trout are active and looking up for a good number of their meals although fishing subsurface will sometimes be best for overall numbers. May is the one month of the year where anglers will likely catch more fish on dries than on nymphs. In fact, my best day on Little River ever was in May, and I caught all my fish on dries.
If you are visiting in the area and would like to set up a day to get out on the water, I still have a couple of days available this week, specifically Monday and Tuesday. Please head over to Trout Zone Anglers or email me if you want to set up a trip. If you are willing to hike, the Smoky Mountain backcountry is at its best right now. An easy 3-4 mile hike (easy meaning no major elevation gains/losses) can put us on lots of willing fish or if you want to hit up some brookie streams we can do that as well.
If you are visiting in the area and would like to set up a day to get out on the water, I still have a couple of days available this week, specifically Monday and Tuesday. Please head over to Trout Zone Anglers or email me if you want to set up a trip. If you are willing to hike, the Smoky Mountain backcountry is at its best right now. An easy 3-4 mile hike (easy meaning no major elevation gains/losses) can put us on lots of willing fish or if you want to hit up some brookie streams we can do that as well.
Thursday, May 01, 2014
Last Chance
Being a tailwater fisherman can be a roller coaster from joy to disappointment and back again. Hours are spent poring over forecast rain amounts, then analyzing actual rainfall totals during and after a precipitation event. If you live out west then you might spend your winters checking out the latest Snotel information to see how the snowpack is coming along. Long term generation guidance is also consulted on a regular basis, all in an effort to figure out when your favorite tailwater might be fishable. Of course, in a dry year, all of this becomes unnecessary as anglers enjoy the rare opportunity to fish whenever and wherever they desire.
Over the past few weeks, I've been checking the generation schedules daily, sometimes even multiple times a day. I guess I'm just optimistic. Maybe the schedule will change for the better, and of course, eventually it did. Unfortunately, the theme this year is that low flows signal the next round of heavy rain. Streams here on the Plateau shot up from around 500 cubic feet per second (cfs) to over 15,000 cfs over the last few days. One stream went from 70 cfs to over 3,500 cfs. That's a lot of water no matter where you live, and when you consider that 3,500 cfs is approximately the amount of water that one generator releases at a time on my favorite tailwater, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that many days of generation are on the horizon. All that water here on the Plateau eventually drains into the valleys on either side and into either Tennessee Valley Authority or Corps of Engineers controlled dam systems.
As the major weather system this week started to really get cranking, my nearest tailwater finally cut back on the generation. I planned to fish Monday morning, but early day storms were already rolling in and prompting the first local tornado warning of the year. My fishing trip became a storm chasing trip, and I was stuck waiting for the next opportunity. Tuesday morning was shot as well, and Wednesday was the last day of low flows, my last chance to get on the water.
My friend Tyler, who has quickly become addicted to fly fishing, had never fished a tailwater before. I explained that the water would be cold but that people had been known to wet wade there before. He was all for it so we planned on when and where to meet. Wednesday morning couldn't come soon enough for me, and before long I had scarfed down a quick breakfast, made a sandwich, loaded my gear, and headed out the door. Tyler was on time and we were soon headed for the river.
Muddy water...
Upon arriving, I headed straight for a favorite run that requires less wading than some spots. After all, I knew Tyler was excited but if he didn't have to freeze then all the better. Driving along the river, the first thing we noticed was mud thick enough to walk all the way across the river on. On second glance, we realized it wasn't quite that bad but we definitely weren't going to fish in the slop. Back up the river we headed to the clear water just below the dam. Several other anglers were already crowded in the best spots (for easy wading that is), and I was concerned that Tyler was going to be stuck getting soaked and cold.
One possibility remained and we headed down to a favorite spot of mine. Another angler was fishing just upstream but otherwise we had the water to ourselves. Showing Tyler a rising trout and explaining the process of mending and fly placement, I started downstream to get some fishing of my own in. Just as I was getting my own rod ready to cast, Tyler yelled as he hooked the first trout of the day. It turned out to be his first brown trout so I brought the net and camera for a quick picture. As I made my way back down the river he hooked another, and another, and so on and so forth. In fact, he soon lost track of how many he had caught.
I found a nice hole and started catching a few of my own, and then more, until I was catching fish after fish as well. Over the next two hours, we never ventured far. Tyler didn't have to wade deeply to fish, and I was having some of the best midge fishing I've had in a long time. Both of us quickly lost count of how many fish we caught and even had several doubles as the fish were almost racing each other to get to our flies.
Now that tailwater is pushing a lot of water down the river as the lake continues to rise. We'll be lucky if it is fishable anytime in the next two weeks and if we get more rain it will take a lot longer than that. A more realistic prediction is a minimum of 3 weeks but we'll have to wait and see what happens. When it does drop again, I'll be back looking for another fantastic day on the water.
Oh, and I should mention that Tyler forgot to be cold. He was catching so many fish he didn't even notice the 50 degree water flowing around his legs. His comment to me was, "Knapp, you've created a monster!" Yep, tailwaters can be fun, and I'll look forward to getting on one again. Hopefully it will be sooner instead of later...
On our way home, we stopped to chase some bass, and I had my best bass day on this particular lake ever, but more on that a bit later.
Monday, April 28, 2014
Scouting
As we move closer to summer, our warm water streams here on the Cumberland Plateau are beginning to wake up. On Sunday afternoon, I headed out with a friend to check a new spot off the list. Most of these streams on the Plateau are remote and often much more rugged than anything I've ever encountered in the Smokies. The hike in can often be brutal, but if you put in your time and do your homework, there are places with better access that can be found. In fact, we never fished more than 1/3 of a mile from the car.
The best water is usually much tougher to get to though so I'm planning a return trip that will involve a bit more hiking. While these streams are full of small bass and sunfish, some nicer fish can be found as well as evidenced by this nice smallmouth I found.
Fishing was still a bit slow and will heat up over the next 3 weeks as waters warm and flows drop. By June, things should be moving right along and will continue to be good through September most likely. By late in the season, the fish in these streams are spooky as flows drop to a fraction of what they are now. Long clear pools interspersed with gentle riffles and pockets make long casts a necessity as well as smaller flies.
But now, for the next few weeks at least, I'll be out there tossing larger flies like my PB&J streamer. Bright colors worked best and the PB&J in Firetiger got the most looks. Soon they'll be taking bugs on top as well. The smaller fish were working the hatching Hendricksons pretty well, but soon we'll be tossing Stealth Bombers, Wiggle Minnows, and hopper patterns at the bass and panfish. If you live in the area, Plateau streams and creeks are a worthy target in lieu of driving somewhere further to trout fish.
The best water is usually much tougher to get to though so I'm planning a return trip that will involve a bit more hiking. While these streams are full of small bass and sunfish, some nicer fish can be found as well as evidenced by this nice smallmouth I found.
Photograph by Seth Arnold
Fishing was still a bit slow and will heat up over the next 3 weeks as waters warm and flows drop. By June, things should be moving right along and will continue to be good through September most likely. By late in the season, the fish in these streams are spooky as flows drop to a fraction of what they are now. Long clear pools interspersed with gentle riffles and pockets make long casts a necessity as well as smaller flies.
But now, for the next few weeks at least, I'll be out there tossing larger flies like my PB&J streamer. Bright colors worked best and the PB&J in Firetiger got the most looks. Soon they'll be taking bugs on top as well. The smaller fish were working the hatching Hendricksons pretty well, but soon we'll be tossing Stealth Bombers, Wiggle Minnows, and hopper patterns at the bass and panfish. If you live in the area, Plateau streams and creeks are a worthy target in lieu of driving somewhere further to trout fish.
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Drifting with Friends
One of the best things about the sport of fly fishing is all of the great people you meet. From fly shops across the country, to stream side chats, I've met some of the nicest and most generous people. Meeting for a float is about as fun as it gets so when my friend Breck checked in about a possible Caney Fork float, I was all in.
He was wanting to see the Caney since he hadn't fished it yet and was bringing his boat. The generation schedule called for high water so it would be a day of throwing streamers the whole way. I tied up a few more flies the night before and got up early for a start at daybreak.
Once he arrived, we dropped my car for the shuttle later and headed on up the river. Breck is a streamer fanatic and with good reason I might add. He has caught some huge browns on rivers like the Clinch while drifting and knows what it takes to have a good day on the water. His boat boxes were full of monstrosities designed to turn the largest fish in the river.
It didn't take long to get the first fish of the day as well as some drive by action that resulted in the usual exclamation of "Did you see that?!?!?" The skipjack are up in the river right now but not in the size that I'm accustomed to from the Chickamauga tailwater in Chattanooga where 18 and 20 inch skipjack are normal. Once we started drifting, the early cold started to wear off as the sun rose higher. Fish started to flash with some regularity and Breck came up with the first rainbow and brown of the day.
I love rowing and stayed with it for a while even after Breck offered to take a turn, but eventually the pull of throwing big flies was too strong, and I finally agreed to take a turn with the fly rod. We covered a lot of water, pounding the banks as well as trying to work over deep water in the middle near shoals and structure. Fish came from a lot of different places with most of mine coming off of banks and Breck's coming from out in the middle.
It wasn't until we were near or past the halfway point that Breck got excited. I looked and saw a dark shape swirling before hammering the streamer. Unfortunately luck was not on our side as the hook pulled from the big brown's mouth and we were both left plotting how to return again for another try some day. Finally, as we came into the homestretch, Breck offered to switch again, and I was back on the fly rod. Flashes and swipes became more common and soon I had my own fish as well.
When I offered to row again so Breck could fish, he told me to keep fishing. See what I mean about generous? I didn't argue too long and kept at it strong until the takeout. We had a great trip even if we didn't get that big fish. Thanks again Breck for a great day out on the water!
You can see Breck's report on our trip on the Little River Outfitters message board here.
He was wanting to see the Caney since he hadn't fished it yet and was bringing his boat. The generation schedule called for high water so it would be a day of throwing streamers the whole way. I tied up a few more flies the night before and got up early for a start at daybreak.
Once he arrived, we dropped my car for the shuttle later and headed on up the river. Breck is a streamer fanatic and with good reason I might add. He has caught some huge browns on rivers like the Clinch while drifting and knows what it takes to have a good day on the water. His boat boxes were full of monstrosities designed to turn the largest fish in the river.
It didn't take long to get the first fish of the day as well as some drive by action that resulted in the usual exclamation of "Did you see that?!?!?" The skipjack are up in the river right now but not in the size that I'm accustomed to from the Chickamauga tailwater in Chattanooga where 18 and 20 inch skipjack are normal. Once we started drifting, the early cold started to wear off as the sun rose higher. Fish started to flash with some regularity and Breck came up with the first rainbow and brown of the day.
I love rowing and stayed with it for a while even after Breck offered to take a turn, but eventually the pull of throwing big flies was too strong, and I finally agreed to take a turn with the fly rod. We covered a lot of water, pounding the banks as well as trying to work over deep water in the middle near shoals and structure. Fish came from a lot of different places with most of mine coming off of banks and Breck's coming from out in the middle.
It wasn't until we were near or past the halfway point that Breck got excited. I looked and saw a dark shape swirling before hammering the streamer. Unfortunately luck was not on our side as the hook pulled from the big brown's mouth and we were both left plotting how to return again for another try some day. Finally, as we came into the homestretch, Breck offered to switch again, and I was back on the fly rod. Flashes and swipes became more common and soon I had my own fish as well.
When I offered to row again so Breck could fish, he told me to keep fishing. See what I mean about generous? I didn't argue too long and kept at it strong until the takeout. We had a great trip even if we didn't get that big fish. Thanks again Breck for a great day out on the water!
You can see Breck's report on our trip on the Little River Outfitters message board here.
Monday, April 21, 2014
Fishing to Refocus???
While perusing the World Wide Web this morning, I came across this news story about the Indiana Pacers' Paul George. Apparently he has offended many people because he went fishing after a big loss in Game One of the 1st round playoff series against the Atlanta Hawks. Sports columnists and commentators are ripping him for not being focused and suggesting that the Pacers are going to lose the series to Atlanta the way things are going.
I'll offer a different perspective. For many years, fishing has been my way to escape and relax. I usually return from fishing trips feeling refocused and energized. While the majority of the non-fishing populace doesn't understand this, mostly because they've never given fishing a fair shake, those of us who do fish totally get what Paul George is up to. In fact, I'll go out on a limb and predict a big game from him in Game 2.
Anyone else think he was just relaxing and collecting his thoughts so he could refocus or am I way off here?
I'll offer a different perspective. For many years, fishing has been my way to escape and relax. I usually return from fishing trips feeling refocused and energized. While the majority of the non-fishing populace doesn't understand this, mostly because they've never given fishing a fair shake, those of us who do fish totally get what Paul George is up to. In fact, I'll go out on a limb and predict a big game from him in Game 2.
Anyone else think he was just relaxing and collecting his thoughts so he could refocus or am I way off here?
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Sunday News
I don't have a whole lot to share today but for those of you on Twitter, you can now find me there. In a few minutes I'm heading out to chase some crappie and perhaps some bass and bluegill so there should be a warm water report in soon. This week will feature some time on the tailwaters and I'm starting to plan some backpacking excursions in the Smokies.
Currently, I have some open days as well for guided trips late this month and through May. The Smokies are settling into a routine and will be awesome for the next few weeks. If you are willing to hike there are always the possibilities of big days for numbers. I can set up a trip for whatever you are looking for.
The tailwaters are starting to show some windows as well. Last week was phenomenal on the Caney. Bring your A-game and there is always opportunity for big browns. I hooked and promptly lost a large fish last week but it didn't matter as I had already wore out my arm on the buffalo that were all over the river. The trout fishing this year is going to be incredible as long as we can find some sections without too many people.
Head over to Trout Zone Anglers to learn more about trip options and pricing or send me an email to set up your trip!
Currently, I have some open days as well for guided trips late this month and through May. The Smokies are settling into a routine and will be awesome for the next few weeks. If you are willing to hike there are always the possibilities of big days for numbers. I can set up a trip for whatever you are looking for.
The tailwaters are starting to show some windows as well. Last week was phenomenal on the Caney. Bring your A-game and there is always opportunity for big browns. I hooked and promptly lost a large fish last week but it didn't matter as I had already wore out my arm on the buffalo that were all over the river. The trout fishing this year is going to be incredible as long as we can find some sections without too many people.
Head over to Trout Zone Anglers to learn more about trip options and pricing or send me an email to set up your trip!
Friday, April 18, 2014
Friday Quick Report: Guide's Day Off
So I'm running low on time today so I'll keep this as brief as possible. The last two days, the Caney Fork had a couple of windows with no generation for all of us wade fisherman. That didn't last long as today they are running water all day again, but it was nice to get out while I could.
With no trips scheduled on Wednesday and of course wanting to see how the river is fishing, I took off and timed it so I would arrive just as the water was falling out enough to get in the river and fish. It didn't take long for me to see some MASSIVE fish busting on the surface or at least so it appeared. My first thought was, "Oh no, the stripers are already here. Too bad for the trout!" After getting a glimpse of fins and tails breaking the surface, I soon concluded that it wasn't stripers and started to wonder what in the world was going on.
Eventually I discovered the commotion was made by spawning Bigmouth Buffalo. I'm not entirely convinced that there weren't some carp in the mix as well but let's just say I was in awe. I've always heard about these fish but never run into them in large numbers on the upper river and by the time I see them on the lower river later in the year, they are very tightlipped.
Running my nymph/midge rig through the deeper water eventually resulted in a hookup. Wow! These things can pull!!! My arm is still sore. After catching a couple on the midge, yeah, that's right, I said a MIDGE on 6x no less, I was worn out and decided to go looking for trout.
That's a size 22 gray midge
The net opening is 16" x 22" for reference and this was not the largest I caught...
In some deeper water downstream I started catching some rainbows with regularity and had a large trout, probably a brown, break me off with just a couple of good headshakes. The trout were showing a preference for the nymphs which was interesting. I never did get around to fishing a dry/dropper rig but they probably would have eaten the Zebra Midge fished that way. Late in the day I even found a skipjack for a rather unusual slam of rainbow and brown trout, buffalo, and skipjack. Fun trip for sure!
Fresh hatchery 'bow
Deeper water was the ticket...
The good news is that the midge hatches are getting stronger and the fish are responding. The Buffalo are in the river as well and can definitely provide some entertainment if you've never hooked one.
This brown fought twice his size and had me convinced a big fish was on for a while.
Yep, spring is definitely here when the dogwoods start blooming!
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