Frigid Temperatures and the Shad Kill

This week it looks like we will actually get some good winter weather. The main question right now is how much snow will we get, but overall things are looking good for some extremely cold air. That means I'm thinking about the shad kill. David Perry over at Southeasternfly saw some coming through a week or two ago, but so far the fish have not seen enough to be keying on them real well.

Besides, when it is truly on, the fish look like little footballs and the largest fish in the river start feeding on the white morsels. With at least the possibility of low temperatures below zero but Wednesday night this week, I'm expecting a full blown shad kill by next weekend if we are going to get a good one this year. That is always a big if.

Depending on whether the temperatures continue to be unusually low or not, the shad kill could go on for a couple of weeks or even into early March. The best year I remember had a good shad kill into March so things could be awesome for a while now.

Even if the shad kill does not get particularly exciting, the nymph and midge fishing has been good recently. When we can get good flows to float (0 or 1 generator), then it is worth getting out on the water. Things should get even better in March so if you are looking for a tailwater float on the Caney Fork in the next couple of months, please contact me and I would be glad to help you get a trip set up.

Fly Tying Related to Golf?

Back in January, I wrote a short article about the link between fly tying searches on Google and cabin fever. Alert Trout Zone reader Alex contacted me with another interesting graph shortly after the article was published that demonstrated a connection between fly tying and golf. His thinking was that golf was another sport that required good weather. Thus, golfers were also probably starting to get cabin fever pretty bad.

You can see in the graph below that the correlation is pretty strong. As a side note, it is also interesting to me that in both graphs, overall search numbers decreased with time. I'm going to hypothesize that the decrease is a reflection of Google's decrease in search engine market share but of course I don't know that for a fact. Just in case you can't see very well, the red line represents the number of searches for "golf florida," while the blue line represents the number of searches for "fly tying." Pretty interesting huh?

People are definitely getting some cabin fever. With frigid cold weather looming here in Tennessee, I probably won't be getting out as much for at least a week or so, but maybe I'll get out there and suffer in the cold for the sake of catching a few fish.

Also check out today's post, Xboundary: Wild Alaska is Threatened by Canadian Mines.

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Xboundary: Wild Alaska is Threatened by Canadian Mines

This new film from Salmon Beyond Borders tells the story of the disaster at the Mt. Polley Mine in British Columbia while making a call to action to prevent further open pit mine development throughout the region. 

Unfortunately, it seems like money usually wins out in these cases. Looking back in history we can see numerous examples of huge environmental disasters that have affected broad geographic areas, but ultimately companies keep using the same dangerous practices because they are getting rich from them.

Watch this film to see the threats facing southeast Alaska and the pristine environment there.


Xboundary from Salmon Beyond Borders on Vimeo.

Alaska is on my bucket list of places to fish as well as British Columbia. Unfortunately the Canadian government is choosing to risk the future of these fisheries as well as the beautiful landscapes that contain them.

Having lived in Colorado and seen the landscapes there that are affected by mining, not to mention the effects we still experience here in Tennessee due to coal mining, I am skeptical about just about any mining. Retaining dams with earth fills fail more often than most people probably care to acknowledge. Here in Tennessee, we had a coal ash spill near the Kingston coal fired power plant that caused a lot of damage. Unfortunately, in the name of progress we go right on destroying the world around us.

More from the Trout Zone:

• Why I Love Winter Fishing
• Frosting on the Trees
• Master Fisherman
• Country Evenings

Why I Love Winter Fishing

Winter is one of my favorite times to fish. Those that know me well know that I claim fall as my favorite season, with spring close behind. However there is something special about winter. Here is a great video that explains why in a post I wrote over at Wide Open Spaces. Of course, winter is not the only way to obtain solitude, but it definitely helps!

Frosting on the Trees

Yesterday, I had some business to attend to at the Park Headquarters for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. After finishing that up and also spending some time chatting with the Park fisheries guys (thanks again Matt and Caleb for taking the time to talk with me!), I headed up into the Park to see if anything was going on. Let's just say that I never even got my waders out. That had a fair amount to do with the fact that I was feeling lazy from getting up super early. However, it was still a fantastic day to be out and my camera captured a few images. Here is one of my favorites from the day.

I'll share some more later, but right now I'm heading out to float on the Caney Fork. Today we got a surprise low water day that coincided with the last "warm" day for a while (think 50s for highs). From here on out, it looks like the great arctic chill is on the way. In fact, this might be the two weeks of really cold air that we need to get the shad kill kicked into high gear. More on that later as it develops.

If you are interested in a guided fly fishing trip on the Caney Fork or in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, please visit my guide site for more information. The fishing is about to take off so don't delay in setting up your day of guided fly fishing!

Missing Big Fish

Lost any big fish lately? I have, and I can tell you that they are still fresh in my memory. The last two streamer floats I've done have resulted in losing nice fish. One was two weeks ago, and the other was this past Sunday. At least I'm still getting out and catching a few fish though.

On Sunday, my buddy Dan Munger from Little River Outfitters, and I had planned on doing a float. Going back and forth between trout and musky, we finally decided to hit the Caney Fork. Putting in on low water, we stirred up a few fish with nymphs as we waited for the rising water from the power generation to catch up. Once the water hit, we drifted and threw streamers.

Overall, the fishing was slow, but I did have that one moment with a big brown trout. We were well along in our day at this point. I was in the front of the boat and was working a good fishy looking bank. Suddenly I saw the dark shadow take a swing at my fly and miss. Pausing just briefly for the fish to find the fly again, I continued my retrieve. The second time the fish nailed it, but somehow I just missed the hook set plain and simple.

On my previous trip, I had the fish on long enough for a couple of jumps before the fly shook loose. Clearly I'm in some sort of a rut, and one where the main feature is loosing or missing big browns is depressing indeed. The only solution I can think of is to get out and fish some more. So for the next two days, I'll suffer and get out some more in search of more fish. Someone's got to do it...

Master Fisherman

Have you ever been humbled by another fisherman while out on the water? I have, and I've noticed that there is something in common with each of those masters, well at least most of them that is. They are all birds.

One of my all-time favorite stories of this happening is from at least 10 years ago and probably a little more. I was fishing a high mountain lake in Arizona's White Mountains in the hopes of catching my first apache trout. The fishing was slow to the point that I started to wonder if there were even any fish in the lake.

Right about that time, a large bald eagle came soaring overhead. Soon the bird spotted a large trout. I watched in awe as it dove and snatched what looked to be a 24" trout, give or take a couple of inches. I never did catch a fish on that particular fishing trip, or at least not on that lake. That much I clearly remember, almost as clearly as I can still see the bird struggling to fly away with its heavy catch.

I've seen herons take fish on many occasions as well. In fact, When they are around, they generally seem to be doing better than I am on the catching scene.

Have you ever been humbled by a master fisherman?

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Country Evenings

There is nothing like watching the sun slowly sink out of sight while surrounded by the sights and sounds of the country. The past two evenings have been a tremendous blessing to me.

Last evening, at the end of jogging four miles, I got back home just as the sky exploded with color. As I had been running, I noticed the high clouds streaming in and thought that we had the perfect setup for a good sunset. Thankfully, the best was saved until I was home and could grab my camera.

This evening I enjoyed a short one mile walk instead of more vigorous exercise. Instead of the aerial display in the sky, the rich evening light was a treat to watch as it lit up the barns, fences, and even cows, especially since I had brought my camera on this walk.

I'm so glad that I live out in the country. It just doesn't get much better!

Visiting Cataloochee With Someone Who Used To Live There

Cataloochee Valley is one of my favorite places in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The out of the way valley sees plenty of visitors who mostly come to see the elk that the National Park Service has reintroduced there, but the history of the valley is fascinating as well. As in many other parts of the Park, Cataloochee was a thriving community before the Park was created and those living within the boundaries of the newly created Park were forced to move.

This video is of someone who lived in the valley early in life. Hattie Caldwell Davis shares her memories from the valley and this video from www.smokiesinformation.org will help you look at Cataloochee in a whole different way next time you visit. For anyone who loves the Smokies, this is a must watch!

© GSMA 2012. All rights reserved.

Next time I'm camping there, I'll have to make the hike up the Rough Fork trail. The house up there is one I have not visited yet. If you have never visited Cataloochee, don't forget your fly rod. The fishing there is pretty good also!

Hiwassee River Round Two

After such a fantastic day on the Hiwassee River last week, I had to go back for more. A couple of friends planned to meet me for an afternoon of fishing.

We planned on meeting just about the time they cut off the generators, but instead of starting at the powerhouse as I did two days prior (if you haven't read it, you will want to do so then come back), we started a bit further down the river. Since the water was still high, we had to be extremely careful wading as the water slowly dropped out. The Hiwassee is one of the slickest rivers I know, and more than once I came close to taking a spill when my wading boots slipped on the slick ledges of the big river.

Both of my friends quickly got into a trout or two on nymphs and streamers. There were a couple of flashes in the vicinity of the streamer I started out with but otherwise it was slow compared to the last trip.

Once the water dropped out enough, I switched over to the same dry/dropper rig that had produced so well for me earlier in the week. That proved to be the ticket once again, especially once the water levels dropped out close to the minimum flow level. Fish again showed a distinct preference for my subsurface offerings instead of the dry fly.

Not too long after we had slowly slipped and stumbled our way across the river, my buddy Chase hooked a hot fish. After a strong fight, he finally managed to land it. We were both surprised that the fish wasn't any larger. Based on the fight, this fish should have gone more like 16-17 inches, but that is the effect a tailwater has on fish. I never cease to be amazed at how strong fish from area tailwaters are.

Meanwhile, Jayson was off fishing some ledges above us. He continued to catch a fish here and there. I happened to be nearby for at least one of them and snapped a picture of one of his fish as well.

I was pleasantly surprised to catch my first ever brookies on the Hiwassee River on this trip. While they may not be the best use of TWRA's money (seriously, they just become bait for big browns and stripers), they do provide a bit of a break from the routine of stocker rainbows and fingerling browns. The average size of stocked trout on the Tennessee tailwaters seems to have decreased over the years. I'm guessing that it has something to do with the budget and cost associated with raising larger fish. Interestingly, in some states at least, they have discovered that they can stock fewer but larger trout and actually provide better catch rates.

Catching a Hiwassee River slam was a nice first for me. The brookies are sadly pale compared to their wild counterparts that I love catching so much in the Smokies but they are still brookies.

The day had one last high point for me. With the sun sinking quickly, I found myself in the same area that I caught the nice brown on the previous trip. Throwing my fly in the same run the brown came from, I hooked a strong fish. When I got it closer, I saw that it was one of the prettiest rainbows I have seen in a long time. It reminded me a lot of the beautiful rainbows I caught in Colorado.

Shortly after catching the rainbow, the generators came back on for the night. With rising water approaching, we made our exit from the riverbed and headed home completely satisfied with another great day on the water!

You may enjoy reading some of these other recent articles:

• Stripping Streamers
• Greedy Smallmouth
• Birthday Brown Trout

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