First Clinch Trip of the Year

Finally got a chance today to hit the Clinch. The wind was a little strong, and TVA did not give the best schedule for my plans, but still managed to get out. Since the area I frequently hit was going to be under water most of the day, I decided to go to the weir dam. Needless to say it was crowded today. I took a pic to try and show the people there, but it is hard to see all the people with the sun glare. You can't see them all, but there are at least a dozen fishermen in this little area. Not my idea of fun!

Crowded Weir Dam

What does one do, when your primary fishing area is unavailable and you expect the public access to be overrun by others? You hoof it. I walked down the road about 1/2 mile to another set of shoals I know about and had the entire area all to myself. The only other people I saw were in boats drifting past me. There was lots of activity when I arrived at the shoals around 12:30, which left about 45 minutes before the water fell. I slowly made my way out into the high water and swift current and began catching fish immediately. The fish were very actively feeding on midges and my #22 zebra midge apparently looked very appetizing to them. I ended up landing just shy of 2 dozen bows, but none of them were in the slot. That is quite a dramatic departure from my usual areas where the majority of the bows are in the 14-17" range, and are very acrobatic. All the fish I caught today appeared to be fresh off the stocking truck. I did hook into one fish that would probably have went 17" or so, but I had so much slack in my line due to the wind that I didn't have a chance at landing him.

It was very nice getting back out to the Clinch again after almost 2 months of continuous generation from TVA. There are a couple more months until the sulfur hatches start picking up, but until then the midge and BWO hatches should be very consistent. Spring is on its way, and I am ready for it.




Trip Summary
Time: 12:30 till 2:30
Water Temp: 43.5 F
Weather: Sunny, Windy, 53F
Tackle: 8.5' mid flex Orvis ZG 5wt
Fly of the Day: #22 black/silver zebra midge
# of fish caught: 22

Trey is No Longer Stationary

Here is a video of Trey and his latest advancement. He is crawling all over the place. Enjoy the video.

My Latest Project

I have been working on another project recently, and figured I would share it with my readers. I have been looking for a better way to share pictures with my family and friends, and this is what I have come up with. As you have seen on here before, I am steadily working on increasing my photography skills, and was looking for a better way of sharing my work. There are a couple of guys over on the Itinerant Angler message board who I have been taking a lot of cues from. These guys have some amazing talent, as well as another blogger buddy David Knapp (The Trout Zone). The cool thing about this site is that it allows me to easily share any photos I feel are publishable with various magazines and websites. Hopefully some day, I will have developed the skills to allow me to produce magazine quality images and gain a little side income. This is still a very young work in progress, but I plan to spend quite a bit of time in the coming days adding some older photos and getting ready for the coming year's additions. Give the site a look and feel free to offer any comments.

T Reynolds Photography

First Trip of 2009

I am writing this report from Phoenix while on a business trip, so it will be brief.

This past Saturday, I couldn't wait any longer to get out and try the new rod. However, TVA was determined to keep me from fishing any of the local tailwaters. So I ended up deciding on Little River thru Townsend in hopes of getting a few of the winter stockers there.

When I arrived at the river, I checked the water temps and it was around 40 degrees. Not a very good sign. I put on a wire bodied stonefly nymph and a zebra midge and began to dredge the deep runs. After an hour of this with not even a bump, I switched up locations and techniques. Still no luck. I then chose to change locations, and went with a small BHPT on bottom. That didn't even work. So after about 3 hours of fishing in town and not even a strike, I chose to call it a day. The most depressing part of this trip is that this is the first skunking I have had in over 40 consecutive trout fishing trips. Oh well, all streaks must end, and now I can begin working on my next one. Daniel Drake put it in terms that I really like. He said, "People can extend streaks for a very long time if they only fish under ideal conditions. Very few people will have productive days if they are fishing in the dead of winter in 40 degree water." I have to agree with that.

If I can get some decent pics while out here in desert land, I will throw them up when I return. By the way, it is snowing today back home, and it was 78 degrees here. It is going to be in the 80's for the next 3 days..... GOTTA LOVE IT!