The Fishing Fanatic

Epic Quill Gordon Day

2012-02-19T13:24:00.008-05:00

I had originally planned a trip to the mountains Sunday to watch David Knapp tie, and get a couple hours on the water. However, a change of plans for Saturday prompted the wife to suggest I take advantage of the weather and go fish. After a lengthy deliberation of about 1.5 milliseconds, I said okay.

While driving in I saw somebody in about every other pull-off either gearing up or fishing. When I arrived at the trailhead I was surprised to find plenty of open spaces. So, it appears that most everybody was focusing their efforts roadside.

I was anxious to try out some new Patagonia gear, so I had a little more clothing on than was probably necessary. Thankfully, I elected to pack in my waders and put them on after walking a couple miles up the trail.

This is where things began to get interesting....

I found this nice little run and saw one small head poke out of the water, so I decided to give it a go.

I rigged up a #12 Quill Gordon and made my first cast to the middle rear portion of the run. My fly hadn't drifted more than 2 ft before BAM! I caught this little guy.

Keeping with Buzz's posting requirements I took his picture because I figured he would be the only fish of the day. What I didn't expect to happen was to catch 5 more fish on the next 5 consecutive casts.... I actually had a group of hikers see me land the second one, and they hung around to watch me land the next four fish. Eventually they started applauding every time I landed one. I have to say it was quite an experience.

The 5th fish in the 6 fish streak was this 12" beauty that ran me up and down this little run.

I believe this is the best rainbow I have landed on the TN side of the park.

I caught a few more, but eventually wore out this run before moving upstream in search of more water. This was when I met up with RKeeton from the message board and had a nice little chat while searching for more water. I ended up walking another 3/4 mile or so upstream with less than stellar results. I caught a couple more, but there was absolutely no surface activity going on. Thinking that I may have walked above the Quill Gordon hatch range, I walked back downstream and soon got back into the action.

Throughout the day, there were not large numbers of Gordons hatching. However, of all the ones I did see bouncing on the water, none got away free. I did see large numbers of brown stoneflies in a size 16, but had no reason to switch away from the Quill Gordon.

It was an absolutely beautiful day to be in the mountains and on the water. I would hate to speculate as to the quantity of fish landed today. However, a day like today causes one to completely lose track of numbers and just enjoy God's creation. I feel extremely blessed to have been able to enjoy such inspiring scenery and spectacular fishing.

Tight Lines and God Bless!

My Review of Patagonia Nano Puff Pullover Jacket - Men's

2012-02-12T16:38:00.001-05:00

Originally submitted at REI

The Patagonia Nano Puff pullover is wind- and water-resistant and highly compressible. Very warm for it's weight, the pullover can be worn as insulation or outerwear in cold climates.

Don't Hesitate, Get One Now

By Travis the Chemengr from knoxville, TN on 2/12/2012

Fit: Feels true to size

Sleeve Length: Feels true to length

Chest Size: Feels true to size

Pros: Stylish, Windproof, Warm, Comfortable, Lightweight

Cons: Doesn't Breathe

Best Uses: Hiking and Camping, Cold Weather

Describe Yourself: Avid Adventurer

Was this a gift?: No

Been eyeing these for a while, but couldn't justify it with the mild winter we have been having. Then I found the mango version on clearance, and jumped on it. This pullover is the softest puffy I have ever tried on. Medium is large enough to fit over a Cap 1, R1 pullover, and R2 vest layering combo comfortably. I am 5'-8" and 165 lbs. Also small enough to fit under my MH Epic Jacket if needed during rain/snow. Can't wait to try this out on an upcoming late winter fly fishing trip. Recently wore the R1, R2, Nano combo while 20 deg and 25 mph winds and very low activity, and stayed toasty. Windproof and highly compressible. Excellent warmth to weight ratio.

Durability is only concern as the material is ultra light weight and thin. But Patagonia quality leads me to believe this will not be an issue.

Fantastic pullover, and I highly recommend it!

(legalese)

Back to the woods!

2011-12-09T17:37:00.005-05:00

As is the typically the case this time of year, I put my fishing gear away from mid-November thru mid-December in hopes of bagging some meat for the freezer. The past two years I have a combined 6 hours in the woods and two deer to account for that. This year, I knew that my luck would probably begin to wear thin, but still had hopes of getting one early on and not having to log lots of hours in the woods.

You see, one large deer or 1.5 average deer will get us through the year and allow us to almost completely eliminate the need to purchase beef at the grocery store.

This year I spent 4 hours in the woods the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and managed to see a couple but no shots were fired. That was it for the weekend, as I had other obligations to tend to.

This past Saturday, I wanted to give it another go. It didn't take long for me to get my deer on the ground, and this one was a dandy. I am quite pleased with it, and am currently having a euro mount prepared to set on top of my fly tying desk.

My hunting for the year is probably over. So, it is time to focus my attention back to fishing and fly tying. I may even try to sneak a couple of winter hiking and camping trips in there somewhere if the wife allows me to.

I hope everybody out there has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

A Little Cold Front Trout Action

2011-10-21T10:57:00.006-04:00

With the changing of the leaves usually comes the spawning of trout in the mountains and tailwaters. Most commonly on the tailwaters is the brown trout spawn on the Caney, South Holston, and Clinch (to an extent). In addition to that there are spawning rainbow and brown trout in the mountains. The pre-spawn period allows anglers opportunities to catch large wild trout that they otherwise may not ever even know existed.

This week East TN experienced its first cold snap of the year along with a cold rainfall. Those two events generally kick start the spawning cycle of trout, so I thought it best to take some time off work and give it a shot. I had intended to go up to the South Holston for some lake run brown trout action, but those plans fell through. So, instead I stayed a little closer to home and wanted to focus on some small stream brown, rainbow, and steelhead action. I also managed to convince my long time fishing buddy and friend Scott to join me even though the weather was predicted to not get above 50 degrees and blustery winds.

When we arrived at the stream we realized that the winds were being blocked by the mountains, always a good thing. The temps topped out around 50 degrees and the sun stayed hidden most of the day. However, we went prepared for those conditions, and it was a very nice day to be out on the water.

After gearing up we took our time looking for any sign of pre-spawn trout. That turned out to be less than promising, so we chose to just blindly fish a productive pool from seasons past. Scott was still tying his flies on, so I went ahead and entered the water and started fishing the pool. The recent rainfall had stained the water some, and there was a decent leaf hatch going on. Regardless, I was determined to give the pool my best effort. I had on a #8 golden stonefly and an egg pattern. On about my third drift I saw my indicator dive in a very deep area of the pool. Knowing it wasn't bottom, I set the hook hard. Due to the water clarity and fish we were chasing I was using 5X tippet, so I was not too concerned about breaking off with a strong hookset. My rod immediately bent double and I started yelling for Scott to come help. I managed to keep the fish isolated to the pool we were in and out of the tree limbs on the opposite side. After a brief two minute battle, we were looking at an 18" rainbow.

That got us pretty excited for the days potential, but little did we know that Scott would only land one other fish the rest of the time. I believe we probably timed our trip a little too soon, and may have to make a return trip in a couple weeks to see how things have progressed.

After our fishing time was up we went back to the parking lot and I put some of my new backpacking gear to use by having hot homemade chili and hot chocolate before making our way back home.

My Review of Big Agnes Little Red +15 Sleeping Bag - Kids'

2011-09-18T23:16:00.001-04:00

Originally submitted at REI

Give them a good night's sleep in the Big Agnes Little Red 15°F kids' sleeping bag that provides softness, warmth and breathability all season long.

Perfect for my little camper

By Travis the Chemengr from knoxville, TN on 9/18/2011

Pros: Roomy, Durable, Adjustable Hood, Warm, Comfortable

Cons: Heavy / Bulky

Best Uses: Cold Conditions, Backpacking, Car Camping, 4 Season camping

Describe Yourself: Casual/ Recreational

What Is Your Gear Style: Comfort Driven

Was this a gift?: Yes

I was looking for a bag that would satisfy the following for my 3-yr old:
- Cold weather comfort while not being uncomfortable in the summer
- Kid friendly color scheme
- Also suitable for future backpacking excursions
- Provided some type of design to prevent him from rolling off his pad

This bag satisfied all those requirements. So far he has used in on probably half a dozen occasions with night temps ranging from 49 to 70 degrees. He uses this pad in conjunction with a BA Insulated Air Core, and sleeps very well in it. Even in the summer with night time temps approaching 70 degrees, I just unzipped the lower zipper to allow air circulation into the footbox.

The No-draft collar and zipper tube are fantastic, and I expect to give them a test this October in the Smoky Mountains.

The interior material is a very comfortable and stain resistant cotton/poly blend that is soft to the touch.

My Primary complaint is the overall size of the bag when compressed. It is a bit bulky for backpacking. However, I realize that this is a synthetic bag and I sacrifice pack-ability.

This is still a fantastic bag, and I would highly recommend it to anybody looking for a bag for their little camper.

(legalese)

My Review of Big Agnes Cross Mountain +45 Sleeping Bag

2011-09-10T22:31:00.001-04:00

Originally submitted at REI

The Big Agnes Cross Mountain +45°F synthetic bag is the ultimate rectangular bag for space-conscious, warm-weather hikers and travelers.

Good East TN May thru Sept bag

By Travis the Chemengr from knoxville, TN on 9/10/2011

Pros: Packs Small, Versatile, Lightweight, Roomy, Comfortable

Cons: Inaccurate Temp Rating

Best Uses: Backpacking, 3 Season Camping

Describe Yourself: Casual/ Recreational

Was this a gift?: No

Used this bag the first weekend I had it paired with a BA Insulated AC. Temps were predicted to get down to 59 with reasonably high humidity, so I figured this was the perfect opportunity to give it a try. However, I woke up around 6AM to a tent saturated in dew and 51 degrees.

Although I was not uncomfortable during the night (I had on a light base layer and Smartwool socks), I could tell that I was nearing the limit for this bag. The area of primary concern was in the foot box area, however I just threw a light fleece over my feet and all was well again. I consider myself a mildly cold sleeper, but would probably rate this bag as a 50 degree bag.

Before making this purchase I was looking at the Therm-A-Rest Tech Blanket (~55 deg) paired with a light fleece liner to achieve the 45 degree mark. I think this bag was a much better purchase. It packs down unbelievably small (7" dia x 6") and is incredibly roomy with a draw string at the top to reduce heat loss.

One additional selling feature was the fact that I can use it as an overbag for my 30 degree bag to extend it's comfort rating by another 20 degrees while still featuring that comfortable BA integrated pad sleeve design.

(legalese)

Sleeping Pad Comparo....

2011-08-12T16:31:00.018-04:00

Doing something a little differently today. Recently been working on building my hiking/camping/backpacking inventory since my little guy enjoys the outdoors so much. All of my previous camping experience was base camping, and after the old Coleman air mattress bit the dust back in the spring I chose to look into sleeping pads.

I found a great deal at Riversports Outfitters on a 2010 model Therm-A-Rest TrailLite mattress.

In addition to that we bought my son a Big Agnes Little Red sleeping bag for his birthday. Big Agnes bags have this amazing concept of incorporating a sleeping pad sleeve into the bottom of the bag. See more about it here. For his sleeping bag, we purchased an Insulated Air Core pad.

These are the two bags I will be comparing today in this entry.

Therm-A-Rest TrailLite:
20" wide x 72" long x 1.5" thick
R-value is 3.8 (manufacturer claimed)
weight is 2lb 0oz
Packed size is 21" long x 4.3" diameter
Materials: 150 Denier Polyester & brass valve
Self Inflating
Retail Value: $69.95 Amount Paid: $55.95

Big Agnes Insulated Air Core
20" wide x 72" long x 2.5" thick
R-value is 4.1 (manufacturer claimed)
weight is 24oz
Packed size is 9" long x 4.5" diameter
Materials: 50 Denier Ripstop Nylon
Manual Inflation (lungs or accessory)
Retail Value: $74.95 Amount Paid: $55.95

So far I have used the TrailLite on three camping trips and in the living room with my son three times. I also purchased a fitted sheet for the TrailLite that makes the surface much more comfortable to sleep directly on. This is also very useful when mated to one of the Therm-A-Rest comforters or Tech Blanket. More on that later, for now the comparison.

First of all these two pads differ in that one is self inflating and the other is a manual inflation pad. Both are insulated, the Big Agnes contains a synthetic insulation laminated to one side of the pad. This is the reason that some people refer to this as a "dual pad" or a "flip pad". Depending on the temperature you can either lay directly on the side with insulation, or flip it over and lay on the side without insulation. Either way, it shields the sleeper from the cold ground, but allows for customization per each user's comfort level.

The Therm-A-Rest feels extremely durable, although a bit bulky at times. This is due to the thick foam padding that attributes to its self inflating categorization. It comes complete a brass valve with a plastic coating. The entire setup feels well built and bullet proof. The 1.5" thickness also feels sufficient for sleeping on all but the most rough terrain.

The Big Agnes Insulated Air Core, while it does not feel as durable as the TrailLite still feels quite substantial. The brass valve does feel more robust than the TrailLite's version. It does not have that raft like feeling one would expect from an inflatable pad that is 2.5" thick. So far, my son has used it three times in the living room floor, and I have taken one nap on it. Not once has it lost air during use, and was very comfortable. This pad has the thickness to allow the user to sleep on their side and not worry about having their hipbone or shoulder touch the ground. Overall I am very pleased with this product, although I do have some question as to the validity of the claimed R-value of 4.1.

These are two completely different pads, and I expect to use them in different manners. The Big Agnes will be primarily used with my son's Little Red, but when he isn't using it I intend to use it when backpacking in temps as low as probably 30 degrees. I will use my TrailLite when the Big Agnes isn't available or when base camping in tandem with my cot. That is how I have used it camping so far, and it was an extremely comfortable setup.

Both are well built and comfortable pads. I highly recommend both of them, and don't believe either is a bad choice for somebody in the market for a new one. Just to further muddy the waters, I have been trying to locate an Exped Synmat for a comparison as well. I have also heard positive comments regarding the Exped pads, unfortunately they are not common in the US, are quite pricey, and don't have the lifetime warranty like the Big Agnes or Therm-A-Rest.

10 minutes on Little River

2011-07-30T20:24:00.005-04:00

Had a church outing today at Elkmont, and the family and I got there a little early. So, while the wife and son were waiting for everybody else to arrive, I geared up and went down to the river before all the tubers got there. Found a decent little run and tied on a #16 stimulator and a green weenie. Immediately had a fish come up and inspect the stimulator on the first cast. After a couple minutes with no activity I walked up to the head of the run. First cast into the side current at the head of the run a nice little bow thought my stimulator looked appetizing.

Fished for a couple more minutes before heading back to the car to see if everybody else had arrived. In that next couple minutes I had one fish strike the green weenie, and another inspect the stimulator.

Shortly afterward the sun popped up and the vinyl hatch began. It was a very productive 10 minutes on the water. Wish I had more time to go farther upstream and take advantage of the excellent water levels.

Also picked up a new C&F fly box that I hope to have a review on soon. I hope to post some additional reviews of some recent camping gear purchases I have made.

In Search of a Secret Smokies Gem

2011-07-26T12:21:00.002-04:00

I got a chance to fish the mountains this past Friday. I stopped by LRO about 11:30 with hopes of heading above Elkmont for a few hours of solitude. Daniel told me that a guy just left the shop reporting about how crowded Elkmont was that morning. So it was recommended that I pick somewhere else to go. I passed a group of probably 300 motorcycles, so apparently Elkmont was heavily crowded.

I don't know what possessed me to pass up the zoo-like atmosphere at Elkmont for the circus-like atmosphere of Forge Creek, but I did. It has been a long time since I last fished Forge Creek, but the results that time were quite surprising. Unfortunately this trip it wasn't the case, and I saw and caught more chubs than I ever thought was possible. After an hour and too many trash fish, I packed up to make my way to Tremont. Little did I know but apparently everybody in the area must have selected that same time frame to do the Cades Cove loop. I didn't imagine anybody in their right mind would try to drive the loop looking for wildlife on a 90 degree day at 2:00. I was wrong! Boy, was I wrong!

It was so bad that there were actually park rangers out directing traffic past the one and only deer to be seen that day. You read that correct, one deer had the traffic at a standstill. I am talking about a 40 car backup to see one deer! I will give that young fellow credit, he was quite a decent specimen with all six of his velvet covered antlers. However, I hardly believe he was worthy of a two park ranger escort....

About an hour after I set out from Forge Creek, I arrived at my destination above the Institute to try my hand up there. I was quite surprised to see water running off the hillside and into the river quite heavily. Also, the water clarity was somewhere between tea colored and chocolate milk. Apparently it had rained quite heavily on the middle prong while I was fishing Forge Creek, and I got there just as the water was getting muddy and rising.

I put on a large nymph and tried fishing some of the deep runs around that area, but had no luck. Eventually, I chose to call it a day and head on back home to rescue my 8 month pregnant wife from our 3-yr son who was basically having his run of the place. Seeing as how this will probably be my last chance to wet a line until late fall due to the upcoming baby, I was hoping to have a fruitful day on Forge Creek. Unfortunately, this trip allows me to scratch Forge Creek off my list of potential hidden gems for the time being.

1st Father/Son Smokies Outing

2011-07-17T22:17:00.010-04:00

Took the little guy out for some father/son time yesterday. So far he has been camping two times, turkey hunting (kinda) once, and bluegill fishing three times at age three. So, I thought it was about time to get his feet wet with some hiking and fly fishing in the mountains.

I didn't really have much faith in it being an overwhelming success, but thought it would be fun either way.

I chose Elkmont because of the relatively flat trail and the easy access to the river. He quickly decided daddy's walking stick was better than his, so he confiscated it...

About 1/4 mile up the trail he wanted to get in the water and play, so I found a convenient spot and let him play for a while....

After about 15 minutes of playing he was anxious to fish in a particular spot....

Working on his technique....

Only had patience to fish for about 10 minutes, but managed to miss two in that short time frame. By this time he was starting to get tired, so we turned around to slowly make our way back to the parking area. Surprisingly he was more excited to see all the old houses and walk through the Appalachian Clubhouse. He is already asking to go back again, and told everybody today about the old houses and hiking. I think I have myself a lifetime outdoor buddy, and am so glad that he had a great time.

Introducing New Fly Tying Tutorials Page

2011-07-04T22:31:00.003-04:00

At the top of my blog, just below my banner, you will find a Fly Tying Tutorial page. I will be working to populate that page with some of my favorite flies. Today, I have added the first of these how-to segments with my first subject being a Sulfur Sparkledun. Give it a look, and I hope that maybe you learn a new pattern or trick from these tutorials.

Tight Lines and God Bless!

Father's Day Weekend SoHo Camping Trip

2011-06-25T22:24:00.011-04:00

I recently got back from a 3-day trip to the SoHo June 16th thru 18th. This was a regular trip for us, however since Trey was born we haven't made this trip in 3 yrs. I was very surprised to see the number of anglers out there beginning on Thursday, and increasing each following day. Water was a bit higher than normal, but still very wadable. This was due to TVA sluicing a continuous 280 CFS from the dam while they are performing maintenance.

Upon arrival, there was only one other tent setup and two other gentlemen sitting there. I talked to the older gentleman who has fished the river for two weeks consecutively for each of the past three months, and he said that the past two days have been the best sulfur hatch of the year. I quickly geared up and hit the water around 2:30, deciding that the tent could wait until after it had cooled down some. About 3:00 the hatch began, and I picked up a couple fish on sulfur nymphs tied klinkhammer style and sulfur duns. I couldn't get into consistent action and was frustrated a couple times when I saw some big heads sucking down dozens of bugs. After a couple hours I headed back to camp to begin setting up the tent. About this time Scott showed up and helped set things up and run over to the fly shop. When we returned from the shop Dave was sitting at the campsite trying to figure out if it was the right spot. Shortly afterward our camp neighbors returned from their afternoon jaunt. I couldn't see them where they were fishing, but I was told that the older man Darrell probably caught 70 fish to the younger's 15. He showed me his fly, and it definitely had been abused.

As evening was approaching, Darrell recommended that I swing a wet fly in the riffles and seams downstream of camp. So, I did as he said and was rewarded with probably a dozen fish in 1.5 hours of fishing. Light was getting low, so I headed back to camp to help Dave cook up some deer steaks and corn on the cob. That is always a tasty meal when on these camping trips. It was a beautiful full moon night, and perfect weather for camping.

The next morning Darrell recommended that I try swinging tiny softhackles, size 24, in the seams for early morning trout. I didn't have any that small, but had some #20 BWO softhackles that the fish were very willing to eat. I fished for probably two hours and landed another dozen fish. Most were probably 8 to 12", but I did manage one brown around 13". Called it quits about 10:00 and came back to camp for a little midmorning snack. After the snack, I tried my luck out on the slackwater area, and was abused by those super selective trout. Did manage a couple more on some sulfur emergers that I swung in the seams. It was very hit-or-miss for most people on the water. I saw and talked to plenty of people who were skunked.

I took a break and came back for lunch and sat down to tie up some comparaduns for the afternoon sulfur hatch. From 3:00 on is when the magic began. However, it only was magical if you had the exact fly imitation. Thankfully, I got into them taking a #18 medium yellow sulfur w/ bleached deer hair sparkle dun pattern. I tried two other shades of sulfur, and both bleach and natural hair wings before finding the one that worked. So, I spent an hour trying to find the right fly, but once I found it the fish were taking it so hard that I had three swallow the fly. One brown actually jumped out of the water and ate the fly as he was entering the water. I fished that fly in two runs for the last hour of the day. I was probably on a 20 trout/hr pace with the fly I mentioned above.

Saturday morning was nuts! People were walking in on top of each other, and I just chose to pack up and come on back home. That is not my cup of tea. I even saw quite a few bait slingers today out there keeping anything with size to it. However, I think the sulfur hatch up there is just now getting ramped up. Be advised though to take a wide variety of sulfur patterns in different shades of yellow, orange, or some combination. Those trout can be some the most finicky I have ever fished for. If you go good luck, and happy Father's Day!

SULFURS! They are back!

2011-06-06T20:09:00.008-04:00

The time that so many fly fishermen in East TN wait for every year is finally upon us. The mayfly commonly referred to as the sulfur is hatching on East TN waters. From the freestone mountain streams, to the Clinch and South Holston rivers. See my previous post on the various species of sulfurs that are found in our area Understanding Sulfurs.

I have been lucky enough to make it out a couple times lately to the Clinch. Both trips have been early morning trips that began around 7:00 and end around 11:00. Action both times was consistent, with things really beginning to pick up around 9:30. Although activity was at a decent level, the surface activity was minimal. Most fish have been caught using either a flashback pheasant tail or a standard pheasant tail. Some fish were looking up though, as I did manage to get a couple using my sulfur hackle stacker cripple pattern.

If I were to rate this years hatch on a scale from 1 to 10, I would probably give it a 7. In comparison, last year was probably a 9 and two years ago was a 6. I expect to get out on the water a couple more times in the coming week, along with a two night camping trip on the South Holston. So, keep checking back for an update on those trips.

Below are some pics from the past couple trips.

Early Morning on the Clinch

Battle Scars...

Durango 2011.wmv

2011-04-16T20:00:00.000-04:00

Return to the Four Corners 2011 - Part 2

2011-04-16T19:05:00.014-04:00

Part 2 - The fishing part

On our last trip to Durango, we took a float trip with Animas Valley Anglers on the upper San Juan above Navajo Dam. Amy and I both had a blast on that trip, and we caught a good number of quality fish and saw some amazing scenery. So, prior to this trip I called up Will Blanchard, owner of AVA, and he said that he thinks we may as well complete the San Juan float by doing the quality water below the dam. I agreed, and we made arrangements to go on a Monday in order to avoid the typical weekend masses that flock to this world famous tailwater for large trout.

Weather the first two days of our trip was not very favorable for a float, thankfully the conditions changed by the morning of the float. Will picked us up at the hotel, and we made the one hour drive to the tailwater. After getting my one day license for $17, we drove on over to the launch point. While sitting there gearing up the shuttle guys came by and told us that there were at least ten boats currently fishing in the quality water section. The quality water is four miles long, and basically the boats just follow a rotation routine so that everybody has a chance to fish all the good runs. Upon hearing about the quantity of people on the water, Will and I just looked at each other. Will, knowing that I am not a fan of crowds, recommended that we try something a little different. You see, he also doesn't like crowds, and we really wanted to avoid them if possible.

Will's proposal was that we shift gears and float the lower tailwater. The only catch was that the lower tailwater was typically a later season float, and he had not done it since sometime back in the fall. Not only that, but the shuttle guys had told us that they had not ran a shuttle down there in months either. So, it was a little bit of a gamble, but Will thought he could put us on some quality fish. Also, this lower float was 14 miles compared to the 4 miles for the quality water.

We all agreed that it was worth the gamble and shortly took off downstream. It wasn't long before we were into some fish using baetis nymphs:

Most in this first run were about this size

We caught a good number out of this first hole before moving on downstream in hopes of finding better quality fish. The next run we came upon was a beauty, and once again it wasn't long before I hooked up:

The quality did get better here, and we found ourselves pulling a lot of fish out of this run. Plus the browns began to start showing up in the net at this point.

We picked this spot to stop for lunch, and the scenery was quite appealing too:

After lunch, we hesitantly left this spot since we still had a lot of water to cover. Just downstream at the next run we hooked into possibly the best fish of the day. Well, that we landed anyway:

After this fish we switched to large streamers in hopes of turning some big browns. We weren't disappointed as we had several over 20" give chase. Unfortunately, I was unable to get a decent hookset on any of them, and therefore no pictures of big browns to show for it.

It was a wonderful day on the water. A little longer than we originally planned, but the fishing, scenery, and guide was spectacular. We definitely made the right choice by going with this lower section float.

Amy and I are anxiously awaiting our next trip to Durango, and highly recommend Animas Valley Anglers to anyone who is looking for a guide in the area.

I would like to thank my lovely wife for taking the majority of these photos, and the video also in a separate post on the blog.

Return to the Four Corners 2011 - Part 1

2011-04-14T21:09:00.018-04:00

Part 1 - The Non-Fishing Part

Four years ago, Amy and I were desperately needing a vacation. Unfortunately, we were running short on time, and our timeshare options on short notice were pretty limited. So, we took a chance and elected to go to a sleepy little town named Durango in Colorado. Little did we know that we would fall in love with the area. Not only is it saturated in beautiful scenery, but the people, fishing, food, and atmosphere are phenomenal. I have been trying hard to get back out there since our last trip, and this year we were supposed to go out in September for some high elevation small stream fishing. However, with baby Taryn growing inside mommy, that altered our plans; and we elected to go out in April again.

When we arrived, we were greeted with high winds, rain, and snow. Not much different than the first time. Thankfully, the weather forecast was showing a significant improvement in the coming days. We tried to drive up the mountain on the second day only to find that the roads were impassable thanks to the previous days snowstorms. So, we just walked around town enjoy the sights and sounds. People in Durango are very health and physically conscious, plus a lot walk to the beat of a different drum (like the fellow below riding a mountain unicycle):

No matter how strange some may appear, they are all very friendly. As I said previously, not only are the people and sights appealing, but the food is fantastic. Day 2 had us hitting up our favorite BBQ joint from the previous trip.

Walking along the river in town enjoying the warming weather provided us with some beautiful backdrops and photo opportunities:

While walking through town, we stumbled upon this little pond. We almost walked on by without giving it a second look.

Thankfully we didn't, and when we looked down into the clear waters we saw a pond chock full of rainbow and cutthroat trout feeding on midges. More on the fishing later.

Later we went to dinner, and I figured I would enjoy some trout prior to the next days float trip. Some may consider this to be bad fishing karma, I just thought it was tasty. Our meal was once again fantastic.

The day before we were supposed to fly back to Knoxville the weather warmed to 74 degrees, the roads in the mountains cleared up, and we elected to take a little trip. The scenery was breathtaking:

Trey's First Camping Trip

2011-03-26T22:31:00.002-04:00

Last weekend as we were returning from a conference in Nashville, Trey asked to go camping. What was unusual was that it was completely out of the blue, and we hadn't even been discussing camping. So, my mind immediately went to work thinking about how we could do it. Considering we were still driving home on I-40 with about another two hours left ahead of us, I started calling my parents. I figured that if we got home and threw the camping gear in the truck we could at least go out to the farm and put the tent up for the night. This way if Trey didn't like it or got scared we could drive up to my parents house and let him sleep there for the night. We didn't even bother changing clothes after the conference, we just put the camping gear in the truck and drove to the farm. I was even putting the tent up and starting the campfire in what I had worn to the conference earlier. Thankfully he loved it, and behaved himself well around the campfire.

That night we were all sitting around the campfire talking about how big the moon was. It wasn't until the next night that we were experiencing a super moon, and it would be a long time before the moon was this close to earth again.

The next morning I was awakened by the sound of a turkey gobbling. So, I unzipped my window and nearly fell out of my bed when I saw a flock of turkeys walking past. Four of which were in full strut trying to track down the hens. What a way to wake up.

I let Trey and Amy sleep in some before going to wake them for breakfast. When I checked on them I found Amy had moved up to my cot and Trey was asleep on the air mattress. Unfortunately the air mattress had deflated on them during the night, and has officially seen its last camping trip.

As we were leaving Trey asked to go camping again, so it looks like I now have myself a little camping buddy from now on. YES!

Spending more time in the mountains

2011-03-26T21:45:00.005-04:00

I took the Tuesday afternoon off from work and et up with a couple of message board friends for a short fishing outing. Met Buzz at LRO around 1:30 and then Jeremy at the trailhead around 2:15. After a few minutes spent gearing up we headed up the trail. Jeremy and I elected to wear waders while Buzz chose the more manly alternative. Shortly into our hike, we came upon this little jewel. It was the only trillium we would see the whole day.

We walked up the trail for about 45 minutes before hopping into the river at our first spot. It was tight quarters, and I primarily hung out in the back taking pictures.

It wasn't long before Jeremy had one on using a double nymph rig.

We all three worked our way upstream for probably 1/4 mile, all of us catching fish regularly as we went. I would occasionally get out and move farther upstream so as not to put too much pressure on the fish. Many looked like this:

Buzz was fishing a Quill Gordon, I had on a QG with a BHPT dropper, and Jeremy was using his double nymph rig. Buzz and I missed countless fish on the dry, but we still managed to hook our fair share of surface feeders. Most of the fish I caught were significantly larger than those that were caught along WPLR in previous outings, including the one below.

After catching my first couple fish, I took a short break again. Mainly I was just taking in the scenery and snapping a few pictures along the way. It was such a beautiful day, and the river and its fish were so beautiful.

I had to cut my trip shorter than the other guys in order to exchange a cot at BPS, however just before leaving I managed to see Buzz land a very nice rainbow from the last run. It was a very enjoyable trip thanks to these two fine fisherman, and I hope to meet up with them again in the future.

Taking Advantage of Smokies Hatches

2011-03-14T18:52:00.009-04:00

I to got out for a little while on Sunday. I had the option of fishing either the high flows of the larger rivers for big browns, or looking for calmer conditions of side streams and a possible hatch. I chose the second.

I expected to have to dredge the bottom with heavy weight to get any hookups. However, I was surprised to see Quill Gordons and blue quills coming off by the dozens in the little area I was fishing. So, I tied on a #12 Quill Gordon and alternated between a #16 BHPT or a #14 Quill Gordon wet fly dropper, and was into fish consistently all afternoon. All of my better fish came on the nymph and wet fly, however had lots of takers on the dry. Surprisingly lots of the small fish were hooked on the outside of the head. When I say small I am talking about 4", so I assume it was because their mouths were too small to take the whole fly. I tried to catch a couple Quill Gordons for a photo, but it was a little difficult to move around very quickly in the higher water.

I actually ran out of Frog's Fanny in the mid-afternoon, and had pretty much fished my area thoroughly. Not to mention I was book ended by a couple other fisherman. So, I chose to try and find another small stream and swing back by LRO to replenish my supply. I then made my way up to Jake's Creek in hope of finding some decent pocket water to fish, but was surprised to see it still flowing extremely heavy. I guess maybe the snow runoff kept it a little higher than the stream I was fishing previously. However, there were still lots of bugs fluttering around above the surface. On my way to Jake's Creek I saw one brave angler standing in the middle of a very high and swift Little River. About 100 yards upstream from him was a kayaker coming downstream very quickly. Didn't see how that turned out for either of them, but I hope both came out okay.

Looking back, I probably should have never left the original spot I was in as the hatch probably just continued to get better as the day progressed. Regardless, it was a beautiful day, and my best day fishing in the Smokies in a long time. Just in time for those of you coming into town for spring break. Now, if we can just get the weather to cooperate for a while. Be sure to have a good supply of quill gordons, blue quills, and pheasant tails with you.

Here are a couple pics: (No pics of fish with dry fly since they were all really small)

Little bow taken on a Quill Gordon emerger

Best bow of the day on a BHPT

P.S. - While I was in LRO checked out some of the new Fishpond gear. Wow, they have really outdone themselves this year. I love the new Piney Creek tech pack. Gonna have to get me one of those.

Here are some shots from the Jake's Creek area. These old houses really intrigue me, and anyone interested in the history around Townsend and Elkmont should read the book Last Train to Elkmont.

Smokies Report: Things are warming up....

2011-02-20T14:18:00.008-05:00

WPLR at Laurel Creek Confluence

Made it out today after my fly tying demo at LRO for a few hours of fishing. Chose to focus my efforts on the smaller waters and tributaries of LR, hoping for less spooky fish and less pressure. Things started off a little slow with a heavy stonefly nymph (for weight) and a zebra midge. Then it happened.......

I saw a lone blue quill ascend from the surface of a pool just downstream from a riffle. So, I immediately switched over to a #16 flashback pheasant tail, and it was game on. In nearly every good looking run I would get a take. My landing-to-strike ratio was way too low, and I was probably close to 20% today.

Had one big fella take my nymph as I drifted it just inches from a rock wall, and he immediately rocketed downstream. Never even got a look at him, as he came unbuttoned pretty quickly. Never saw another blue quill or a single rise. Chose to not use a dry since the water I was fishing had quite a bit of current and would have been a nightmare to have kept afloat with the FBPT dropped 18" below it.

However, I hope this report helps to brighten the mood of some of you out there anxiously awaiting Spring. Here are a couple pics from the day:

My First Fish of the Day

Another shot of the first fish

Another - a little larger

And another

Great day to be out, can't wait to do it again.

Until next time, Tight Lines and god bless.

Early Season Skunk

2011-02-14T19:29:00.004-05:00

Desperately needing some time on the water, I headed out to the Clinch this afternoon. I wanted to fish lower on the river, but the generation schedule was not very favorable for the early afternoon. So, I elected to start the afternoon up near the dam, and then migrate downstream around 4:00. There were a few midging fish below the dam, but none of the usual suspects were working. After a little while I made my way downstream to my regular fishing spot. Unfortunately the water was still higher than I am comfortable fishing so I just fished near the shore to prevent getting too far out into the swift current. There was quite a dramatic difference in the midge activity between the dam and lower river. Down low I didn't see a single bug floating above the surface, and therefore I saw no rising trout. Needless to say I picked up the skunk today, but hopefully I got it out of the way so I don't have to think about it again this year. Guess I will have to bite the bullet and go out on a Saturday with everybody else when TVA has a more favorable schedule.

One good thing about today is that I got to take the D90 out on the water. It is quite a significant step up from the D40, and am thrilled with the results. Can't wait to try and get some good fish shots this year with the new camera and good prime glass.

Here are two scenery shots from today.

Spring is just around the corner....

2011-01-15T14:19:00.003-05:00

I know, I am a bit early, but we have rounded the corner and daylight is starting to increase. To me, that is always a plus. Don't think about this being the second snowiest winter on record for Knoxville, just think that time change is only two months away. Then it is game on for the spring mayfly hatches in the mountains and the the tiny black caddis flies on the Holston. I can't wait, this winter has already been so terribly long. Excessive precipitation and work travel has prevented me from making my typical number of trips to the river. So, forgive me if I am being a bit overzealous in my desire for spring to get here. Hopefully I will have the opportunity to make it to the Clinch and fish some of my favorite runs for some hard charging bows that shouldn't have seen more than a dozen flies drift past in the past two months. That is if the weather allows the river to thaw out, and maybe a little help from TVA as far as generation schedule goes would be nice.....

Welcoming in Winter with the Long Rod

2010-12-23T16:25:00.009-05:00

Finally was able to get out on the water for a little while lately. I met up with David Knapp of The Trout Zone in hopes of getting my big fish fix in for 2010. The weather was just as we planned, highs in the low 40's and rainy. This should keep most other people off the water, and allow us to get close to some of the big boys. Unfortunately, TVA had other plans, and we found ourselves looking at a generation schedule that was unfavorable for the South Holston. So we made our way over to NC to try for some rainbows. I found myself driving along the dragon in 35 degree temps with snow in the ditch in some locations. Not something I ever imagined I would experience. Needless to say we were about the only two people on the road that day, so it was quite a pleasurable ride.

After spending a couple hours at our destination, it was obvious that the fishing was very slow. So, we loaded up, drove back across the dragon, over the foothills parkway, and up to Elkmont. Oh, and on the way, we had to make our required stop by Little River Outfitters to shoot the breeze with Byron and Paula. We eventually found ourselves at Elkmont, and I just left my #20 blood midge tied on and started fishing at the first location David recommended. He played spotter for me and shortly thereafter I landed my first fish of the day. I was quite surprised at how active the fish were in the cold water, and how many missed strikes I had. We only stayed in this location for probably 45 minutes because the light was fading and it was getting dark. So, we made our way downstream to another location, where this time I just sat back and watched David work a run, and I took pictures. When we realized that we had virtually no chance of satisfying our big fish fix on this day, we immediately shifted into backup mode. Backup mode was for us both to catch our required fish for the LRO message board One Fish Per Month Challenge, and for me to look for some good photo ops while David was fishing. In summary, it was a very good day to be out. Even though the weather was bad, and we didn't catch many fish; it felt good to be on the water again. And the amount of effort we put in for our fish made the day's catch very rewarding. Maybe we will get our chance to go to the South Holston next week. Until next time though, below are some pictures for your viewing pleasure:

David Working a Swift Run

David working the same run

A Bridge we came across

Getting the Perfect Drift

Making the Cast

Another Run

Unusually Early Winter Weather

2010-12-17T23:05:00.004-05:00

Although I have been in town all week long, the recent surge of winter weather has prevented me from getting out on the water. Sunday evening was snowfall around 2" in West Knoxville, and then Wednesday night we had an ice storm roll through. Below are a couple pics from the ice storm:

Plans are underway for a trip to the South Holston next week, and maybe I can get David from The Trout Zone to meet up with me for some potentially fantastic brown trout action. David is a phenomenal fisherman, with a knack for finding large trout wherever he goes. So, when you mix David and large prespawn browns, the results have the potential to be astonishing. Check back later to see if the trip happens.

A Recent Lack of Outdoor Time

2010-12-05T17:31:00.003-05:00

It has been awhile since my last post, and that is in large part to a busy work schedule for the past two months. I spent 5 of the last 7 weeks in New Jersey working, and when I was at home I had a hard time tearing myself away from the family to hit the water. I did make it out to the Clinch one afternoon to fish in the weir pool for a relatively productive day. However, nothing of any size was landed. Also, I managed to have most of the week of Thanksgiving off work, so I spent that time with the family. During that time I put in a days worth of hunting with dad, and we both killed a buck within two hours of each other. Hopefully I will have more time in the coming weeks to either make it up to the South Holston or maybe over to North Carolina for some prespawn trout.

Much Needed Fishing Break

2010-09-25T20:58:00.006-04:00

My work schedule has been really hectic lately. And even though I had a week of vacation in the past 6 weeks, it really didn't allow me to fully unwind because of knowing what was awaiting when I returned home. Today was the first chance to get back on the water since August 9th, which is a very long drought for me.

Leading up to this morning I saw that the weather was forecasting light showers for the morning. On top of that there was a noon football game and it was the first day of bow season. So, for my first day on the water in a long time, it looked like things were falling into place for me.

I got a late start this morning, after turning off my alarm clock accidentally. So, instead of leaving home at 7:00, it was 8:00 before I left. So, it was 8:45 before I stepped foot into the river, but found only one other person there. I slowly made my way downstream to my usual haunts, and got rigged up with my typical midge rigs. I scanned the area and found a trout that appeared to be rising in a regular pattern, and made my presentation. About 5 seconds later, and fish on. First cast and first fish. I looked for another active trout, and presented a fly to it. Second cast, and another hookup. However, this one managed to give me the shake. Fourth cast and another fish, but this one broke my 6X fluoro after wrapping me around a deep rock. At this point, I was on a roll and thinking it was going to be a fabulous day. Little did I know that it would be an hour and 15 minutes before I landed another fish.

After the long dry spell, I settled into another spot and found the fly and depth that was working. I stood in this one pool and managed to pull about another 15 fish out of this one location. The average fish was around 12 - 14", with three pushing 16".

It was exactly what I needed to unwind from the stressful past 6 weeks at work. Hopefully, it won't be as long before I make it back out on the water.

Until next time,
Tight Lines and God Bless

Clinch Settles Into Typical Summer Patterns

2010-08-09T20:20:00.018-04:00

Fog Burning Off Around 10:00

Made it out to the Clinch over the weekend, and the typical summer techniques and patterns were working well. My typical summer technique is dredging the bottom in slow deep water where midges are most often found. Sometimes I will even change it up and use a scud if there is vegetation present. The key is to be bouncing bottom, and that often requires fishing with an indicator as much as 7' above the fly and 6X fluorocarbon tippet. Also, as the day progresses, the fish tend to change from taking midge larva, to pupae, and then finally to emergers and dries. So, the fisherman needs to adapt to the changing conditions. Below are some pics from Saturday.

My First Fish of the Day - 16" Bow on an Olive Buzzer

First Victim to the Blood Worm

Blood Worm Strikes Again

Same Fish, Slightly Different Perspective

My Best Fish of the Day - 18" Bow

A Successful Release

Ended the day with about a dozen fish in 4 hours. Not what I would call a good day, but it definitely was nice to get back on the Clinch after a 3 month absence. Expect to see more reports from the Clinch now that the typical summer crowds should start thinning out. Plus in another couple months the browns will start staging for the spawn, and you never know when you will tie into a big one.

Until next time,
Tight Lines and God Bless

Recent Warmwater Outings

2010-07-10T17:19:00.004-04:00

Not going to post a full report, but I have been primarily fishing for smallies, redeye, and carp the past few weeks. Below are some pics. Hopefully, I will be able to make it out to the Clinch again soon for a reunion. I also picked up a new 8-wt and reel after assisting with a flyfishing class at the Orvis in Sevierville today, and I plan on posting an evaluation after using it today for some Little River smallmouth.

Greenbrier Trip 6/12

2010-06-12T22:15:00.004-04:00

Made it out this morning to an area that I really enjoy. I had intentions of fishing Elkmont this morning, but then figured that it would probably be quite crowded. So, I switched plans and went to a stream that I don't recall ever seeing another person fishing at. I commonly ask myself why I don't venture over to the various streams around Greenbrier more often, and I remembered today why. My thoughts on Gatlinburg remain the same today as in previous years, and I consider it a necessary evil to have to endure the traffic en-route to some very good fishing.

Fished from 8 till 11:30 today, never more than about 300 yards from my car, and the fishing was productive throughout. Caught fish on a variety of flies with most success on Para Adams, Yellow Stimis, and BHPT. It took me a while to get my reaction time back to normal after mostly fishing the Clinch for the past couple months, but once I got that figured out things really picked up. Next time I will have to walk farther up the trail before getting in the water, but that is easier said than done.

Still Waiting on the Sulfur Duns

2010-05-28T22:13:00.000-04:00

Scott and I hit the water this morning from 7:45 till 11:00. Saw maybe three sulfur duns and six rises during that time. However, the fish were taking BHPT actively once again. Well, that is until the sun burned off the fog and made it's way overhead. Once that happened I had to dredge the bottom and fish deep structure to pick up any fish. Not too big a deal since that is how I typically fish my midges during the summer and fall anyway. The water was really high, even with the pulse. We fished thru it, but I don't recall a typical pulse bringing that much flow.

TVA website shows a pulse today at 7AM of 3385 CFS as compared to the typical pulse of 1200 to 1500 CFS that I usually fish thru. Do they have one small variable flow turbine and one large constant flow turbine? Just trying to figure out how they are able to have flows in the 1500 CFS, 3400 CFS, and then 6700 CFS. Or is the 1500 CFS number just a short 30 minute pulse kind of like what I have been told the SoHo does at times?

No big fish were caught this morning, as most were in the 9 to 11 inch range with the biggest fish being around 13". However, I did land my first brookie in a long long time there, and it was a decent little one. Surprised to see four other people on the water with us this morning. However, it is a holiday weekend, and that combined with the storms predicted for this afternoon contributed to our decision to head out early in the morning.

Good Morning to be out

2010-05-07T22:13:00.007-04:00

I usually get off work on Fridays at noon, however today I flipped my schedule. I went to the river first thing and then went into the office. Note to self: just take a vacation day since you didn't feel like doing anything after an excellent morning of fishing.

I just have to tell this little story before getting to the fishing report:

Scott and I arrived at the river around 8:00, and proceeded to gear up. We walked down to the river and strung up our rods and tied our flies on. About 8:15 we heard a car pull up and didn't think much of it. I finished tying up quicker than Scott, so I started making my way downstream. About this time I look up and there is a guy walking quickly along the bank above me. He then slides down the steep bank (not at the access point I must say), quickly says I will go down here out of your way, and starts walking downstream in front of me. Keep in mind that I was already walking downstream. This guy had to have set a land speed record trying to beat me to a particular quality piece of water. Now, just for the record, I have to add that the particular location he was in a race to is a nice little section of water. It is not uncommon to have 25 or 30 fish days in this little 50 yard stretch of water. However, the vast majority of the fish there are small, in the range of 8 to 11". Scott was with me, and I wanted him to get into some action quickly before taking him down to some more technical water that tends to hold larger fish. Needless to say this guy streaked straight for this particular section without even having his rod together, and it was obvious that he had his mind set on fishing this particular location. We let him have it, and he didn't move from it for over 3 hours. I just wish the guy would have shown some common courtesy and etiquette by asking where we were going since we were there first. I wasn't even going to fish that section, I was going to send Scott there. I have met many different people on this little section of the Clinch, and this is the first time that I have encountered this type of behavior, and I hope it isn't a developing trend.

Now to the fishing:

The river bottom was covered with a thick layer of silt due to the lack of generation lately. The floating scum that was present during the last outing was not such an issue this time. I don't recall seeing a single sulfur hatch, but that didn't seem to bother the trout. They were aggressively taking BHPTs in every run we fished. We ended up catching plenty of fish, and of those a high number were in the slot. I counted 8 fish over 14", and 2 at 17". Before leaving I took a temperature reading, and it was a surprisingly high 63 degrees. I looked back on my fishing log for the past two years and don't see the Clinch hitting that temp until August during that time frame. Not only that, but the water was up over 10 degrees since my last outing just over a week ago. That is an alarmingly fast warm rate, and I feel that TVA needs to do something to slow this trend. The lake is nearly to full pool, so maybe they will start generating soon. I took a few pics, so I hope you enjoy.

My First Fish of the Day - 17" Bow

Scott with a nice 13" bow

Until next time, tight lines and God bless.

And So It Begins....

2010-04-21T21:49:00.007-04:00

Made it out to the Clinch today for a few hours. When I arrived at 1:00 there was no surface activity, but that didn't keep the fish from actively taking a #16 BHPT in the pocket water and runs. However, most of the fish in this water was of the small variety, averaging around 10". They sure were colorful though.

Finally, around 2:00 some larger heads started poking through the surface sucking down sulfur emergers. I took this opportunity to try out a new pattern I have been working on, a cripple/hackle stacker combination. I was quite pleased with the results and eventually the fish started focusing on duns, so I switched over to a #17 sulfur thorax for those fish. Very few fish were taking dries, so I had to did quite a bit of stalking. I would take a break and have a drink and snack while watching for the most consistently rising fish. I would then coat my fly with frog's fanny and slowly move into casting range. It wasn't uncommon to make probably 10 drifts over the same fish before it would take. However, it sure made for some very rewarding fishing.

Just as quickly as they started rising to sulfurs, they quit. About 4:00 things really slowed down. Not long after that a couple other guys showed up and slowly started moving downstream toward me, so I leapfrogged them upstream into some historically less productive water. I piddled around there with no success, and so I elected to call it a day.

Until next time, tight lines and God bless.

Farm Fun With The Boys

2010-04-18T21:17:00.013-04:00

The weather forecast for Saturday was fantastic. High's in the low 70's, low humidity, and clearing skies. Amy and I loaded Trey up to take out to my parents house to play with cousin Bryce.

When we got there I found out dad had already killed a turkey, so had to take a couple quick pics of it:

Afterward, the boys wanted to walk down to the barn and play in the stream. Along the way, they just had to stop and enjoy some dandelions:

Bryce Showing Excellent Form

Shortly after picking every dandelion around, we were confronted with our first slithering friend for the year.

This black snake was out sunning in the middle of our path, and so I took this time to educate the boys a little about snakes. I quizzed Bryce throughout the day about what he had learned and what to do if he saw a snake again while out playing. After our snake encounter, it was just a short walk further until the found the stream. What else would one expect to happen when you mix boys with water than a little rock throwing.

I figured I would take this opportunity to introduce the boys to a common resident of the stream.

Got a dirt hill, need somebody to climb or dig on it? They spent the rest of the evening playing in the dirt and throwing balls. As we were leaving I couldn't help but snap this pic as the sun was setting.

It was most definitely a boys day, and I enjoyed every minute.

BHPT Feeding Frenzy

2010-04-12T12:31:00.012-04:00

My mom kept Trey Friday night, so that gave me Saturday morning free. I checked the generation schedule, and TVA was turning on one generator at 7AM, so that would give me till 10:30 to fish. I also figured since the window was so small combined with the cold temperatures there would be limited numbers of people out to start the morning. I was correct, only saw two other fisherman in the two hours and fifteen minutes I fished.

I started fishing in a run that my buddies were catching fish out of on Wednesday evening using a #16 BHPT and a #20 midge larva. After the first couple of fish attacked my BHPT, I cut off the midge and continued to catch a total of 8 fish out of the first run. After about 45 minutes, I couldn't get any more takes so I moved downstream to a couple places I know that typically harbor some pigs. I managed to catch a few more on my way, also on the BHPT before reaching my destination.

Average Rainbow

Before making any casts I checked my fly and found that the last fish had completely destroyed it. So, I figured this would be a good time to try out a slightly modified split case pattern that my buddy Brett Romer had some influence in.

I spotted a fish cruising around actively on the other side of some large rocks, and slowly fished my way out to him. Eventually I made my way to within casting range, and he inhaled my nymph offering on the first drift. He vaulted out of the water, and I could tell he was a very nice rainbow. After a brief fight I landed him, snapped some pics, and released him to catch another day. The fishing was phenomenal nearly the entire time I was on the water, with a total of 14 brought to hand, two break offs, multiple misses and long distance releases.

16" Bow

One unusual thing I witnessed on Saturday morning was three different rainbows clearing redds at the tail of one pool. I have watched browns clearing redds on the Clinch before, but never saw rainbows doing it. I have noticed that some of the smaller 6 - 8" bows in this area are brightly colored, refer to some previous posts. I wonder if we are seeing some reproduction taking place for once. Next time out, I will look again to see if the redds are still occupied. If TVA does maintain the current generation schedule, these fish are not sterile, and people leave them alone I would venture to say that this year could have some river born rainbows added to the mix.

Conditions:
Weather - Sunny, Calm, 37 to 60 degrees
Water - 51 degrees, clear
Flies - #16 BHPT & #16 Split Case

Clinch Sulfur Preparation

2010-04-08T20:52:00.003-04:00

Fished the Clinch yesterday late afternoon, and the trout are beginning to move out of their typical winter/summer lies into typical sulfur holding spots. I also started picking up some fish yesterday on pheasant tail nymphs, whereas I have had to use midges all spring so far. Water was up another couple degrees to 50, so we are only about 5 degrees away for full on sulfur hatches. Can't wait, so I am going to tie up more pheasant tails, sulfur emergers, thorax duns, and comparaduns in preparation.

Here are a couple of my best from yesterday, around 14" each:

Bagged My First Bird

2010-04-06T12:51:00.007-04:00

On Easter we went to my parents house in the afternoon. While watching the boys playing outside I heard a turkey gobble a couple times. So, I ran inside and told my dad, changed clothes, and off we went. I had brought my stuff along just in case, but this was my first time turkey hunting so I enlisted my dad as my caller. We made our way down near it, and called for nearly an hour with limited response. We finally decided that it wasn't going to move, and walked up the logging road to see if we could find any activity. Shortly thereafter we walked up on 5 birds, 4 of which spooked when they saw us. Unfortunately for the brave one, he is now going to be dinner.

I feel a little disappointed however, because I did not call the bird in. They say that is an adrenaline rush, so I may have to give it another try soon. In the meantime "there are fish in them thar hills and cricks", and I plan on catching some.

Below are some pics:

18 pounds

Bright Red Headed Gobbler

Look at those colors!

10-1/2 inch beard

3/4" Spurs

Now it is time to get some revenge on some Clinch rainbows. Bring it on!

Clinch is Coming Out of Hibernation

2010-04-03T21:37:00.013-04:00

Dave and I went back over to the lease yesterday to see if the warm weather over the past week has made a difference. I arrived with the water still high, and a couple of other people were gearing up. Dave showed up about an hour later. Surface activity was virtually non-existent when I got in the water, so I went with a double nymph rig.

The River

It didn't take long to hook up with my first fish, a nicely colored 8" rainbow. The coloration was much more fitting of a smokies rainbow of this size than a clinch bow. Not long afterward I tied into the largest fish I have hooked all year, and it absolutely man-handled me. I could tell that it has been a long time since I last tussled with a 16"+ fish. The 9 to 12" fish I have been catching recently really have not helped me stay on my game.

My Best Bow

Between 2:30 and 5:30, I had only landed the one little fish and had two break me off. However, at 5:30, it was like somebody flipped a switch, and there were fish rising everywhere. I was getting a take on nearly every cast, and it was a nice ending to a beautiful day. However, in the back of my mind there was still that one nice one that got away. Oh well, I know where he lives, as it isn't the first time I have had a fish break me off in this one run.

Dave Landing One

Last Fish of the Day

Getting Ready for Smallies

2010-03-28T21:59:00.004-04:00

Been working on some new popper creations for the Spring smallmouth bonanza on the area waters. Prismacolor markers are magical, and there are no limits on what your can create. My most recent creation is the firetiger popper. Get yourself some foam poppers and half a dozen assorted colors of markers, including the "blender", and open up your mind.

--- Recipe ---
TMC 777SP #6
Yellow foam popper
Chartreuse and red krystal flash
Dun Hackle
Prismacolor markers
Yellow rubber for legs

Skunk Off! Clinch Treatment

2010-03-26T22:49:00.004-04:00

Made it out today from 3:00 till 5:30, and managed to catch 4. They were very tough again today. I would watch for a consistently rising fish and have to put it right on his nose before he would take. The first fish probably required 20+ drifts before it finally took my blackfly larva. The others didn't require as much effort, but still demanded a perfect presentation.

Water temp was 42 degrees, and the wind was brutal for strike detection. Made for a tough day, but at least I got the skunk off after last trip. A steady dose of blackfly larva is just what the doctor ordered to relieve the pain and irritation of a skunking.

The Clinch is fishing really tough right now, and is showing it's bipolar characteristic. Some days people are lighting it up and others you have to force feed the trout.

Conditions:
Weather - Cloudy, Breezy, 46 degrees
Water - Some discoloration, 42 degrees, receding water level
Flies - midge and blackfly larva

Trey's First Fishing Adventure

2010-03-22T21:34:00.011-04:00

I was supposed to meet up with a buddy on Friday to fish the Clinch, but some external circumstances prevented me from doing so. Luckily, I managed to wrap those items up earlier than expected, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to take my son fishing and enjoy the mid-afternoon beautiful weather. He is 21 months old, and loves looking at my Flyfisherman magazines, watching people catch "ish" on Saturday's with daddy, and looking at fish pics online. I took him to a little remote park on Melton Hill lake to catch him a bluegill. It didn't take long for him to catch his first fish, and he wanted to participate in the landing, unhooking, and release of the fish. After about 10 minutes he needed to take a rock throwing break, before catching his second fish and heading home. It was so much fun, and I just tried to let him do things that would keep him interested and not bored. I look forward to taking him more as he gets older, as those are some of the fondest memories I have with my dad. Unfortunately those trips are few and far between now. Hopefully one day Trey will pick up the long rod, and I will be able to report on many more father & son trips. Here are a couple pics from the trip.

Taking the bad with the good

2010-03-17T21:48:00.006-04:00

Made it out to the river this afternoon around 3:45, and was very excited about the possibilities. Dave hooked up with two bows within the first 10 minutes. However, we didn't realize that it would be 2 1/2 hours before another fish would take one of our offerings. The trout were rising quite regularly taking adult blackflies, unfortunately I did not have anything that they thought looked tasty. I fished for three hours today and never even got a single strike, I can't remember the last time that happened. It has been more than two years since I have been skunked on the Clinch, so I guess I was due. I threw everything I had at them, including streamers, with absolutely no interest. I took a water temp reading before leaving and it was 42.5 degrees. Surprisingly that was 1.5 degrees colder than when I last fished the Clinch two weeks ago. The overcast skies for the past couple days apparently have slowed the water warming trend.

This only adds fuel to the fire for my return trip.

Conditions:
Weather - Cloudy, Calm, 52 deg
Water - Clear, 42.5 deg
Best Patterns - ?????
Tackle - 9' 4 wt

Is Spring around the corner?

2010-03-05T21:57:00.004-05:00

It appears we will have some decent weather for a few days. Has winter loosed its strangle hold on us finally? Winter is my least favorite season, and this past has been the longest, coldest, and wettest I can remember. Bring on the spring weather, flowers, birds, and good fishing.

Speaking of fishing, I made it out to the Clinch today for a few hours. I expected to see all the parking lots full, but was surprised that it wasn't all that bad. The generation schedule kept me off the lease, so I was limited to fishing near the dam. I have an area below the weir dam that I fish when I am forced to stay in that area, however it requires quite a long walk. I have never seen anybody in this area, so you can imagine my surprise when I showed up there today and found three other people fishing. So, I forced myself to get in amongst everybody below the weir dam. I tied on my clinch river typical tandem with a #18 midge pupae and a #20 midge larva point fly. I quickly picked up two fish, and then the wind started blowing. The waves created by the wind were so large that they easily overtook my little poly yarn indicator. Add to the fact that it was very chilly, and I chose to try my luck in another area I am familiar with.

I got out of the river and hoofed it way above the weir dam and got into a section of river that was deserted. I then strung up my sinking tip line and an olive streamer. Not long afterward I was into some more fish. I fished the streamer for about another 45 minutes before calling it quits for the day. My final tally for the day was six. Four bows and two browns, however none of them were of any significant size. The largest bow was about 12", but I did see some larger fish working the weir pool. Also, there was not much surface activity today, and I was a little surprised by that as well since I expected the sunshine to spark lots of midge activity.

I met six fishermen walking out today that all had limits of trout with them, and most of the fish were in the 12 to 13" range. This along with the number of fisherman just reminded me today why I prefer to fish down at the lease. The peace and quiet along with the quality of fish is just so much better. I am anxious to get reacquainted for the first time since probably August.

Until next time,
Tight Lines and God Bless

Finally some fishing weather

2010-02-25T21:38:00.004-05:00

This past weekend my wife gave me a pass to go fishing Saturday and Sunday. I can't remember the last time I went fishing two consecutive days, but it was nice.

On Saturday since none of the tailwaters had generation schedules that were suitable to wading I decided to try Little River in Townsend. When I got to the river there were no cars or people around, so I slowly geared up and headed down to the water. I got in and surveyed the area for activity, but saw nothing. So, I found a couple of decent runs and went with a double nymph rig with lots of weight to dredge the bottom. 45 minutes later still nothing, and I start moving upriver. It is about this time that I notice 4 guys coming downriver toward me, so I stay where I am at trying to delay the meeting as long as possible. Suddenly I see some movement downstream in the run I just walked out of and see two guys getting in the water with spinning rods. I thought they would see me and work downstream into the deep water where nobody was fishing. Now why would they do that when I was standing right there for them to come bookend and start casting around. I was having to watch out and not hit them on every cast as they continued to inch closer with ever step. After about 10 minutes of this mess, I just got out and called it a day. I went to LRO to check out what was going on and the parking lot was full. I have never seen that place so crowded, so I guess the nice weather brought everybody out of their winter hiding places. After leaving the shop I grabbed a couple slaw dogs and an A&W soda and made my way into the mountains for some photo ops of the new car.

On Sunday I met Scott and his brother Jason after church and went over to the Holston River. This river was not nearly as crowded, but it was still more crowded than I have ever seen it in the area that we fish. As the sunlight moved overhead the surface activity slowly began to pick up, and we were picking up the occasional fish on midges and streamers. However, we had to put them on their nose in order for them to bite. All of the fish were around 9" and appeared to be recent stockers, except for the last fish of the day that Jason landed. It was only around 14", but shaped like a football.

So, the good news is that there definitely appear to be some holdover fish from last year. That should make this spring's caddis hatch interesting when it heats up. I need to get back over to the Holston sometime in the coming weeks, but I am really anxious to get back on the Clinch again. I expect good things from that tailwater this year after two full years of the slot limit being in place and generation all winter long keeping people off the water. Should make for a fun sulfur hatch in May....

Until next time, tight lines and God bless.

Nothing Lately

2010-02-13T13:10:00.002-05:00

Haven't been on the water in some time, and it doesn't look like I will anytime soon thanks to all the rain. Also, I have spent the past two weeks in Wisconsin for work, and that also limited my fishing time. If I get time later I will post some pics from Wisconsin. I actually drove over one of Wisconsin's blue ribbon trout streams on my way to the plant every day. Wish I had known that before hand. Not to mention all the ice fishing going on just feet away on the Mississippi River. That would have been an adventure I would have liked to try, maybe next time.

Just noticed that the title of my fly of the month has been incorrect all along. I have now changed it to the correct fly - Garcia's Rojo Midge.

Until next time, Tight Lines and God Bless

New Online Magazine

2010-02-06T14:50:00.002-05:00

Check out this new magazine Aaron Otto from The Itinerant Angler forum put together with help from some other members. Really cool stuff here.

Sleeping in the Dirt Mag

Check out Aaron's blog at Sleeping in the Dirt Blog

January Day on the Clinch

2010-01-16T20:43:00.005-05:00

Today I was heading to north Knoxville to pick up my son, and took along my fishing gear just in case I had time to fish the Clinch. I fully expected the river to be a mad house since it was the first Saturday that the generators have been turned off. My thoughts were confirmed when I came upon the parking lot at the weir dam. There was not a single open space, and I have never seen it that crowded. I made my way on up the road to where the horse trailers park and made my way into the water there. There were already 4 people fishing in this area, but I managed to find an open spot slightly upstream of them.

Very Healthy 14" Bow

I spent some time watching the water and saw a good amount of surface activity and chose to try a midge pupae and larva tandem. It didn't take long for the fish to tell me that they approved of my selections. I only fished today from 3:30 til 4:30, but managed to bring 8 to hand in that time frame. That is one of the most active days I have seen in a long time, and I am anxious to return. Talked to some others at the river and results were very wide ranging. Some had a terrible day, and others were slaying them. I think the biggest mistake newcomers make on the Clinch is they fish flies that are way too large. Basically they are failing to match the hatch. I talked to one guy there before who was very frustrated, so I asked him what he was using. He replied with San Juan Worm, #12 BHPT, #10 hare's ear, #14 Copper John, etc. I then told him that I never use anything other than streamers on the Clinch larger than a #16 and usually my choices are more in the #20 - 22 midge range. Which is exactly what I was fishing today.

First Fish - 12" Brown

Until next time,
Tight Lines and God Bless

Season Finale

2009-12-30T21:16:00.007-05:00

This past week has been a blast. Not only was I able to get over into North Carolina in search of some lake run rainbows, but I also found myself in the woods a couple of days. I don't hunt much, maybe one day a year, but this year I wanted some meat for the freezer. I found myself missing a doe by 7:30 the first morning, and then with a buck on the ground by 8:30 the second morning. So, that was quite an active time in the woods.

Now to what most people who read this blog are anxious to hear about, the lake run rainbows I found on Tuesday. I use found very loosely because a good fishing buddy David Knapp over at The Trout Zone called me up and turned me onto this particular tributary. I originally had planned on going to a larger stream in NC, but a late call from David had me plotting a new course to another unfamiliar stream with visions of large bows in my dreams. We arrived to a crowded parking lot, but thankfully everybody was there for hiking purposes. It was a beautifully clear but cold 40 degrees when we arrived. Before gearing up we walked about 100 yards searching the water for signs of active fish. Shortly upstream we found what we were looking for. There were 4 or 5 large bows stacked up in one pool, and that was all the motivation we needed. The fishing was by no means easy, in fact it was quite tough. However, sight fishing to these large bows was all that was needed for us to stay positive. We threw everything we had at them, but they were not having any of it. We ended up landing two fish and had two come off. The last fish I landed was hooked outside the lower jaw, but I actually watched it swim over and take my streamer. After quickly and carefully landing the hen, we slid her back into the water to finish what she came to do.

Which Fly, Which Fly?

Tie Those Knots Securely

The Presentation

Lake Run Hen photo by Jacob Hoekstra

Lake Run Buck photo by Jacob Hoekstra

I look forward to doing this again, as it allowed for some exciting fishing. The water temp was a cold 41 degrees, and the water was running swiftly.

Hopefully next week.....

2009-12-22T11:40:00.003-05:00

I will be able to get on the water. This rainy season has dramatically reduced the number of trips to the river I have made this year. I typically fish on Friday afternoons, but this year it seems as if all the major rains come thru on Thursdays and blow the streams out for Friday and Saturday.

If everything works out, I will try to make the trip over to NC next Monday or Tuesday and try for some lake run trout and steelhead. Hopefully it will not be too crowded. This will be a first for me, but I have been wanting to try it for a long time. Not a chance at getting on the tailwaters in the area, as most of them are running all generators and some are even sluicing. I think I heard that Appalachia is actually spilling, I can't imagine that is doing much good for the fish population downstream. That was once a great tailwater, just as recently as 4 years ago. But something happened once we entered into our drought, and that river just hasn't been the same since.

I hope everyone out there has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Until next time, Tight Lines & God Bless.

Thanksgiving Raven!?

2009-11-26T11:56:00.006-05:00

It has been a long time since I wet a line for some trout. So I took a vacation day yesterday and drove over to Cherokee, NC to fish the trophy section on the Raven Fork. The weather was beautiful and the traffic was light. Surprisingly I found the river relatively empty. Actually two of the higher traffic areas were completely deserted when I arrived around 1:00. So, I geared up and slowly made my way to the river.

If you have never been to the trophy section in Cherokee, the palomino trout are a sight to see. Very bright yellow and easily seen by everybody. However, seeing them is like a car wreck, you can't tear your eyes away. I saw a couple feeding in a small area and before I knew it I had wasted about an hour trying to catch them. One of them was actively surface feeding, so I switched over to a stimulator. To my amazement I saw its head slowly pop up out of the water and suck my stimulator in. I was so shocked I set the hook immediately, and completely missed it. That was the end of the story for that trout, it disappeared after that.

I gave up on the palomino trout and made my way to another productive spot and began working the deep run for some of the bruiser rainbows that hang out in this area. I tried dredging the bottom with nymphs of all types and even threw an assortment of streamers at them. Nada! Finally after about 2 1/2 hours of fishing I chose to call it quits. As I was walking to my car I chose to hit one tiny little run before leaving. So, as I was stripping my woolly bugger back, I felt what I thought was a leaf on the end of my line. Then that leaf started pulling back. Somehow I managed to fool an average sized bow on my streamer to prevent the goose egg.

I am a tailwater guy, and my small stream skills are really lacking. I need to work on them more next year. Thanks to all of the rainfall this year and TVA, I have had to resort to the small streams when I would typically be on the Clinch or South Holston. It is completely different, and I am having major tailwater withdrawals.

Raven Fork Bow

Hopefully in the next couple weeks TVA will back off the generation schedule on the Clinch and I can renew my passion for my old friend. Until then, I hope everybody has a Happy Thanksgiving and God bless.

Beautiful but Crowded Smokies Saturday

2009-11-07T22:13:00.012-05:00

The weather was beautiful yesterday and we didn't really have anything else going on, so I headed up to the mountains for a little relaxation. I grabbed myself some lunch on the way in, and ate streamside on Little River. Afterward I put on my fishing gear and proceeded to start searching for some large browns. I did not have any definite sightings, but wanted to try a few spots anyway. Fished for about an hour in this general area before electing to move on. Next, I drove up to Elkmont and was surprised to see droves of people out on the water. Nearly every pullout had a vehicle in it, and a majority of them had people fishing nearby. I just spent some time watching the water and enjoying the scenery before making my way back to Townsend and on home. I typically stay away from the mountains on the weekends during this time of the year because the tourists really aggravate me, but I am undergoing therapy for this sickness... :) Of course, I could have probably walked half a mile and gotten away from 90% of them all, but I didn't really have the time today to walk very far before needing to head back home.

I took some photos with my little camera, but have not uploaded them yet. If any of them turn out okay, I will put them up later. I wish I had taken my DSLR along with me, the weather was perfect for some streamside photos.

I definitely need to work on my mountain fishing skills. Not being on the water much this fall combined with the skittish Smokies trout combined to provide me a skunking. I need to focus more next year on fishing the mountains, but I am in desperate need of some tailwater trout action soon.

Long Time, No Feeshin'

2009-10-30T17:42:00.003-04:00

It seems like it has been forever since I have wet a line. Work obligations and family vacation as well as TVA's lovely generation schedule have kept me off the water. Was hoping to make it out today, but NOPE! TVA was running wide open all day long today. So much for a successful spawn this year.

On another note, just returned from a family vacation to the Caribbean. Didn't do any fishing there either, but the scenery was amazing. Trying to convince the wifely to go on a 3 or 4 day Bahamas bonefishing trip in the near future. We will see if I can sell her on it.... Also while in St. Maarten I picked up a new lens that I hope to post a review for in the near future. A couple of the St. Thomas pics were taken using the new lens.

Use the links below to see some of the scenery from the trip.

The Bahamas

St. Maarten

St. Thomas

Grand Turk

Cades Cove loop to close in March

2009-10-14T21:24:00.003-04:00

From the NPS website:

The Cades Cove Loop Road is scheduled to be closed to all public use from March 1-May 21, 2010 for repaving. Weather conditions may affect these closure dates.

The loop is in desperate need of repair. Not only is the road extremely rough, but there is not enough room to pass when all the tourons park in the middle of the road to take pics of a squirrel. The plan is to completely repave the road and existing pullouts, as well as increase the number of pulloffs. The hope is that these improvements will also help the park by reducing the erosion caused by cars driving off the pavement.

Personally I would like to see them initiate some sort of shuttle service, but I don't expect that to ever happen. I don't go near that place on weekends, but midweek typically is very peaceful.

Recent Clinch Outings

2009-10-03T11:56:00.006-04:00

I have been on out on the river twice in the past week now, but there hasn't really been much to report on. The first outing was immediately following a heavy shower and the river looked like chocolate milk. I only fished a little over an hour with a big wooly bugger, and managed to stick one hefty fish. However, I never saw the fish before it broke off my 4X tippet, so it could have even been a carp for all I know. Shortly thereafter I left the river and found my truck was short about 1/3 tank of gas. Apparently somebody thought they would help themselves to some free gasoline. Don't want to dwell on that for now, just know I will pay more attention to the cars around me from now on.

Also managed to get on the water yesterday morning. I took the day off work and wanted to take advantage of a little Friday solitude on the water. The water still had some stain to it from the runoff I mentioned above, but it didn't look all that bad. I rigged up with a double nymph rig and started probing the typical runs. Nada. Switched over to a streamer and fished these same runs, still nothing. I slowly made my way to the flats where I saw some big browns spawning last year, and they were untouched. So, I checked the water temp, and found that it was around 55 degrees. That is about 5 degrees warmer than this time last year, so that could account for why the fish are not where they were this time last year. I left the streamer on and went up to the slow deep water and started probing the bottom for some brownies. I managed to pick up a couple fish doing this during the heavy rainfall, but they were rainbows. So, I continued to look for that brown. I continued to stick some and miss some when just upstream from me I heard a terrible commotion. I looked up just in time to see a rainbow probably 8 or 9 inches long jumping out of the water and right on its tail was a brown trout probably 10 pounds. I immediately pulled up and fired a cast in its direction, but knew that I probably did not have a chance. Oh well, at least I know there are some big bows in there, and I think they are staging for the spawn. I hope to make one trip a week over there for the next month or so until they do start to spawn. However, I think I will shoot for afternoon fishing instead of morning fishing, as long as TVA cooperates. It just takes so long for the fog to burn off and the fish to get active in the morning, I am about to rule out any more morning fishing trips to the Clinch until next spring.

Until next time,
Tight Lines and God Bless

Be Careful Out There

2009-09-16T09:21:00.011-04:00

I am reasonably certain that all of us have enjoyed this mild summer. However, a couple things to keep in mind for the outdoorsman is that not only do us humans enjoy the mild summers but so do our 8 legged and legless co-inhabitants. I am speaking of snakes, spiders, and ticks. Most people are already conscious of snakes when in the woods or streamside. My experience has been that they tend to congregate alongside water sources, and this year there is plenty of water to go around. Also, the frequency of venomous snakes in the Smokies appears to be on the incline this year after two consecutive years of drought. However, the wild pig population is doing their best to reduce the population of snakes in certain areas of the park. Hard to imagine that wild pigs dine on snakes, that is just hard for me to grasp.

A couple of lesser considered threats are spiders and ticks. Spiders are much more easily avoided since you can see and feel their webs, so this lends them to detection more easily. However, ticks are sneaky little buggers. Not only are they sneaky, but they can carry serious infection with them. While not as immediately dangerous as some of their spider counterparts, their damage is more of a delayed impact. Two such infections are Lyme Disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, the latter of which my boss's wife just contracted after finding hundreds of seed ticks on her. All of these critters thrive in mild climates, and this past summer was the definition of a mild summer. Hopefully we will have a really cold winter to eradicate some of our creepy crawling friends, so that next year we don't have a population explosion.

Some steps to take to prevent potential disaster:
1. Wear long pants, hiking boots, and long socks
2. Wear a hat to prevent spiders and ticks from dropping into you hair
3. Spray your clothing with a tick spray like Repel Permanone
4. Watch where you are stepping, snakes typically aren't aggressive unless they feel threatened.
5. Be aware of your surroundings. If you find yourself in a tightly confined area take extra precaution. It is commonly said that you can smell a copperhead den, and that they smell very similar to a freshly cut cucumber or squash.
6. If rock hopping in the river, realize that snakes like to sunbathe just as much as we do. They like to lay on top of rocks, so please "look before you leap".

As summer comes to a close, I expect many people to get out and enjoy the typically wonderful East TN weather and scenery. However, the snake and insect activity will continue to be high until we begin to have consistent near freezing nighttime temps. So please be careful out there, and I hope some of these steps will help you prevent having a sour end to what began as an enjoyable experience. If you think of any other steps that I have forgotten, please feel free to add them in the comments section.

Tremont Yesterday

2009-09-05T08:18:00.011-04:00

Yesterday, I left work around 11:30 to meet a co-worker and fishing buddy to do some small stream fishing. Dave, who is also a ChemE and frequents the Clinch with me, had only fished the Smokies once before. So, we figured that with high water on all the tailwaters, we may as well give the mountains a chance. We took our time getting to Townsend and chatted with Byron in Little River Outfitters for awhile. While there we picked up Jim Casada's new book, which I will offer a review on at a later date due to the 400+ pages of information.

We arrived at our fishing destination above Tremont around 2:30, and surprisingly we only saw one other fisherman on the way in.

Dave Gearing Up

Middle Prong was not my first choice for a destination, but I figured it would provide much more opportunity in the event that the mountains were crowded on this holiday weekend. We got into the water, and I hooked up with a small bow on the first pocket I fished. This is one thing you don't see on the tailwaters, the very bright colors of these wild trout. Sorry for the lack of picture quality, but I left the DSLR at home and took along my el cheap-o Olympus 740.

First Fish

Dave was working a nice looking run across from me, but he was experiencing the same type results that I would for about the next hour or so. Dave was using a foam hopper pattern and I was using a yellow stimulator. We both were getting lots of strikes on the dry, but none were large enough to take it. Finally towards the end of the day, I managed to hook a little bow on the stimulator.

Green Weenie Bow

Fishing was a little slower today than I expected, but the green weenie did perform well for us. There were what appeared to be Tricos everywhere, but I did not have anything small enough to pass for one. I usually have that stuff in my tailwater box, and didn't take it with me yesterday. It is quite obvious that I need to work on my small stream skills.

Dave Fishing a Run

On the drive out, we saw three other fishermen. That is significantly lower than what I expected. The last time Amy and I drove up to the trailhead we counted around 13 fishermen from the Institute up, and that is way too crowded for my comfort. I do need to take advantage of this wonderful resource that we have so close to home. Not just the fishing, but the scenery, history, wildlife, and flora. It truly is a very relaxing experience, and I hope to take advantage of this resource more often.

A Little Saturday R&R

2009-08-29T22:30:00.011-04:00

I have been planning on heading to the Smokies for some fishing the past two Fridays. Well, both times outside factors have influenced my plans, and prevented me from going. Yesterday, I did manage to make it to the mountains with Amy and Trey, and I even brought along my rod for good measure. At one point, Trey was asleep and I crept out to do some fishing while Amy set with him. Just as I closed the door, I heard "Daaadaaa?". So, I got back in and carried on with our driving and sight-seeing. On the positive side, I did manage to see my first ever bear in the Smokies. Hard to believe that after making hundreds of trips camping, hiking, and fishing that I had never seen one until yesterday. No pics of the bears(my 50mm lens just didn't have the reach), but maybe I will post some other pics from that trip later. Enough talking about yesterday, this post is supposed to be about today's fishing adventure.

I have been really wanting to get back out to the Clinch again after the last few barn-burner trips. The previous trips I had fantastic days, and seemed that I could do nothing wrong. Not only was the fishing good, but the quality of fish was not bad either. So, I woke up this morning at 6:00 and headed out the door around 6:20 to get to the river. When I arrived at 7:00, I found the parking lot empty. PERFECT! That is what I like to see. I enjoy fishing with friends and offering advice to people usually, but sometimes I just enjoy the solitude of the river and the fish. After gearing up and walking about 1/2 mile downstream to my favorite areas I began fishing around 7:45. There was absolutely no surface activity when I got to the river, but that didn't affect my game plan. Today my plan was to work some deeper runs in an attempt to pick up some of the larger fish that broke me off last time. So, I put on my double nymph rig, set my indicator around 5', and started probing the deep runs. The water was still extremely high since TVA did not turn off two generators until 1AM, so the water level was still a bit tricky to navigate.

Private Driveway to River

Things started off a little slow, but I managed to bring my first fish to the net around 9:00. It was a very nice fish of around 17", not fat but long. As the day progressed I began to see some other people making their way into the river well upstream of me, and another older fella who came in below me. He was also hooking up frequently as well, and they all appeared to be the average 11 to 13" bows that this area is loaded with. During the next three hours I managed to land about 5 more fish, and had a couple more break me off in the tangle of log jams that cover the river bottom in this area. My numbers were off a little today, but the quality made up for the lack of quantity. I ended up landing 6 fish today, 2 of which being 17" and one pushing 16". The others were the standard sized bows and even a 10" brookie thrown in for good measure. I really tried catching a decent brown today, but it just wasn't meant to be.

First Fish - Skinny 17" Bow

Another Good Rainbow

Can't wait to get back out there, and hopefully TVA will offer up some better schedules to allow me to fish some on Friday afternoons. Hopefully all the rain this year will not lead to a poor spawning season due to high water flows. TVA has another couple months to get things to normal before that becomes a concern.

Until next time,
Tight Lines and God Bless

A short hike along Porter's Creek

2009-08-15T20:33:00.004-04:00

Today Jeff and I got a house pass from the wives and went to the Smokies for a little hike. We left the house around 8:30 and hit up the Cracker Barrel to fill up before the hike. We eventually came to our destination at 11:00, and found the parking lot almost empty. This is part of the reason we chose this trail for today, is due to it not being a very crowded trail and is paralleled for a long distance by Porter's Creek. This trail is in the Greenbrier area, and is most notably overshadowed by the Ramsey's Cascade trail less than a mile away. Ramsey's is also a beautiful trail that reaches it climax with a very tall set of cascades. Similar to Ramsey's Cascades, Porter's Creek is a much more enjoyable hike during seasons with significant rainfall. Luckily this is such a year.

For this trip, I left my fishing gear at home since I wanted to concentrate primarily on just enjoying the hike and doing some photography. Otherwise, I would be too distracted by each run and trying to spot every fish holding rock. However, this is definitely a stream I would like to take a rod back to and see what I can find hiding out behind the large rocks that dot the stream bed. Until that time, some of my photos will just work to fuel the anticipation of that trip.

Here are some photos from today's hike, I hope you enjoy them.

Nashville and Caney Weekend

2009-08-09T19:59:00.005-04:00

This weekend Amy and I went to Nashville for our 4th anniversary. While there we enjoyed some peace and quiet while we left Trey at home with family. We had an amazing dinner on Friday night of fried green tomatoes w/ a corn and Jonah crab salsa, oysters bienville, and antelope steak over a bed of wild grains, tomatoes, and huckleberries. Absolutely outstanding. Saturday we basically spent the day relaxing and starting to really miss the tiny kid.

On the trip back to Knoxville Sunday we had made plans to meet David Knapp from the Trout Zone and do a little fishing. We got a late start and made it to the river around 9:30. I got in the water and found David in short order. This was my second trip to the river ever, and I have to say this time left a much better taste in my mouth than the first. The first trip was way over-crowded and the bait fishermen really got me agitated. Today, the river was surprisingly empty, and I saw some sizeable browns rising right in front of the boat ramp. I only got to fish for around an hour, but managed to land 2 and stuck one that was pretty nice as well. I am already planning out my next trip to the Caney, and hoping for a chance to connect with some of those larger browns I saw today.

Above is a sample video taken on the river. Nothing spectacular, just an idea of what the camcorder can do. This was taken in full auto, so it could be optimized if it had been taken in manual mode.

Until next time, tight lines and God bless.

Some new purchases

2009-08-06T17:10:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I splurged and made quite a few impulse purchases. Interestingly they were all photo related. I bought an external flash for my D40, to be used primarily as a bounce flash while shooting indoor photos. I also bought a new camera sling bag that can carry my D40 with a long range zoom, 2 mid range lenses, external flash, all cords and accessories and it comes with a waterproof cover for those venturing outdoors. I hope to have a review of it after next Saturday when I take it on a hike in the Smokies. The final impulse buy was one my wife and I made together. We have been thinking about getting a digital comcorder for a while now, and broke down and bought one last night. We found a full HD digicam on clearance at HHGregg lastnight for 50% off. We couldn't help but snatch it up. This will be used 90% of the time to record the little man's progress, but I imagine it may make itself out to the river with us at some future destination.

Stay tuned for the reviews.

Gear Review: Korkers Kling-On Soles

2009-08-04T18:56:00.003-04:00

I recently purchased a pair of new soles for my Korkers wading boots. My previous pair of boots had studded felt soles, and I loved the secure footing they provided on the Clinch and South Holston rivers. When Daniel at LRO told me about the new soles being released, I just had to have a pair. The new soles have rubber grippy protrusions along with metal studs. This allows the boot to dig into the Didymo covered rocks and ledges and therefore provides better grip.

I wore these boots during my last outage on the Clinch, and my footing was much more positive than when I was using the traditional felt soles that come with the boots at the time of purchase. I was shoal hopping a couple of times since I typically fish in and around deeper water that most people ignore. My foot did not slip once on any of the rock snot covered rocks. Also, walking into the river requires scurrying down a muddy cow trampled bank, and the design of these soles allows for excellent grip outside of the water as well. I can see these soles coming in very handy for people who do a lot of hiking and fishing the Smokies.

I can't say enough about the Korkers products, and if you are looking for a new pair of wading boots give them a look.

Korkers Kling-On

Typical Clinch Summer Duldrums......NOT!

2009-08-01T19:26:00.008-04:00

Made it out to the river today for the first time in what seems like forever. I didn't really know what to expect, except for no sulfurs to be present. So, I tied up a bunch of midge patterns in an effort to restock my supply before going, and it is a good thing that I did. The fishing was excellent, and the catching was probably the best I have had all year. The fish were in their typical summer lies, but they were very aggressive. And not just the 11 - 12" bows, I am also talking about some of the big boys. I landed 3 that were in the 16 - 17" range, and numerous in the 12 - 15" range. I also had three break me off that I didn't even get a chance to see. It was like I hooked a freight train each time. One of them managed to peel nearly all of my fly line off before I even knew what happened, just to wrap me up in a log jam and break me off. The cool thing is that all 3 of those bruisers came from the same 25 yard section of water. I will be trying that section out again. I will stop talking and share some pics.

First Fish of the day - 11" Bow

Last Fish of the Day - A hefty 16" Brown

I used them today for the first time, so stay tuned for a product review of the Korkers Kling-On soles.

Still no fishing

2009-07-23T20:37:00.002-04:00

I haven't been on the river in 4 weeks, and I am going nuts. It doesn't look like I will be getting out there this weekend either, but Friday the 31st is game on. I just hope the article in the News Sentinel doesn't bring people out of every corner looking to get in on the action. I believe that article was a plug for Orvis Sevierville and trying to boost their guide service. It primarily talked about the phenomenal spring fishing on the Clinch and people catching 70 fish per day. Yes, the spring sulfur hatch was something to see, but most people will not have that kind of success on the Clinch. I have had some amazing days on the Clinch this past year, but days like the paper was reporting are very rare. The casual angler should not expect that kind of success. I just hope that that article doesn't have a negative impact on the fishery for a short while.

I can't wait for football season and deer season to get here and the river will be much less crowded on the weekend.

July Update

2009-07-15T18:41:00.002-04:00

Well, most of my business trips for the month are over now, but I still am unable to head to the river. I just had sinus surgery, and need to wait about another week for everything to heal up before I venture out for an extended period. I don't see me getting onto the river before Saturday the 25th, but that is better than not fishing at all. The good news is that I am planning on taking advantage of being at home to restock my fly supplies over the course of the next few days.

Stay tuned for a report as soon as I get out, and also expect to see another lens review shortly.

Independence Day at the Park

2009-07-05T21:50:00.004-04:00

Saturday we spent the day at a local state park where we rented out a building to celebrate July 4th. This small local park is probably the place where I officially learned to fish, and I don't visit it often enough. When GSMNP is overrun by tourists, this small park is just about perfect. Yes it does get a little crowded, but not nearly as smothering as the droves of people who swarm on Townsend and Gatlinburg.

Below are a few pics from the day, and I do plan on going back much sooner than later.

We Cooked Hard

We Ate Hard

We Napped Hard

We Even Caught Some Bluegill

Thingamabobbers

2009-07-02T22:20:00.006-04:00

I have been using thingamabobber strike indicators for quite some time now. I have to tell you that they are by far the best indicator I have ever used. However, they do require some modification in order to get the best performance out of them. Straight out of the package they work just fine, but they do tend to slip some on your leader. I use the 1/2" size 90% of the time since they are perfectly sized for the smaller nymphs and midges I frequently use. Below is how I modify them to reduce line slippage and they even seem to reduce line twist.

First I buy a package of small O-rings from Lowe's plumbing department. The smallest size that I can find is usually just about perfect.

I then cut them and slip them through the hole on the indicator.

Finally, I super glue the O-ring back together.

When fishing I loop my leader thru the O-ring instead of the standard loop on the bottom.

Busy July Schedule

2009-07-02T07:33:00.004-04:00

As I mentioned in my previous post, July is going to be busy. So busy in fact that I may not even be able to get on the water. I have business trips and a sinus surgery that will keep me occupied. Typically my travels take me to destinations where I can at least entertain the thought of bringing my fly rod along and doing a little fishing. However, this month I will be travelling to western Iowa. West Iowa, the land of corn, cows, and not much else. The only piece of water I have seen the past week is the muddy Missouri as it winds its way past the plant. At least the weather has been nice, but it is only the 2nd and I am ready for this month to be over already.

Sulfur Season Finale

2009-06-27T17:18:00.004-04:00

I have a busy July schedule, so I don't expect to make it to the river more than once the entire month. So today, Scott and I decided to try and get into some more sulfur action on the Clinch one last time before it ends. I have been averaging over 20 fish per trip recently, and it has gotten me spoiled. While I am not catching the large fish I caught last year, my numbers are almost 2.5 times higher this year. (I keep a log of every fishing trip, that includes weather conditions, water temps, fly patterns, and techniques.) I know that this is in large part to the fish just being overly aggressive this year during a phenomenal sulfur hatch, but I like to think that my skills are improving.

We got to the water today around 8:15 and found only one other person in the water when we arrived. We easily made our way downstream to our run of choice and I hooked up on my first cast. I also performed a long distance release that you would think I had been practicing for months. This immediately got me excited thinking it was going to be a wonderful day. Unfortunately, that was not the case. As I said earlier, I have been spoiled recently on the Clinch, and today was a little disappointing. The hatch did not pick up today until around 11:30, but the fish were very skittish today. Usually I don't have a problem spotting risers and working within casting distance and picking them off one by one. However, today, they were very line shy, and required a down and across approach. I do this quite often with nymphs, but it was a totally new experience with dries. I found that I could get a good 50 to 60' drift downstream, but I had so much slack in my line that I couldn't connect when I did entice the trout to take.

The general consensus today at the river seemed to be that things were a little slower today than past weeks. With the exception of one guy who I watched haul in fish after fish on what appeared to be a dry fly of some sort.

Looking back on my log, it was this week last year that the sulfurs started to dry up on the Clinch. You could somewhat tell it today, as the fish seemed to be stuck somewhere in between typical sulfur holding places and midge holding places. When they are actively taking sulfurs they are stacked up on shoals. Typically downstream in the seams and eddies, but I find the larger ones to be upstream sucking in the emergers before they reach the shoal. Today they were not in those places like they have been the past month or so. I also tried going to my typical midge locations, and only had minimal success there too. My midge locations tend to be deep and have very little current, where I can bounce my larva along the bottom picking up nice sized fish hugging the bottom structure. I think in the next couple weeks the fish will move to the more traditional midge locations, once the sulfurs have completed their season finale.

Trip Summary
Weather: 90 deg and Sunny
Water Temp: 53 deg
# of fish landed: 7
Size Range: 10 - 13"

Dad's First Fly Fishing Trip

2009-06-20T19:02:00.006-04:00

I was planning on taking dad to the South Holston for a weekend long camping trip for Father's Day. However, the generation schedule did not look favorable, so we opted to fish this morning. The only other time dad had a fly rod in his hand was at Big Ridge State Park, and that was only for about 15 minutes. I spent quite a bit of time trying to help him with his casting, and once he got over the fear of breaking the rod he started getting the hang of it. His casting motion was so slow and careful since he was afraid that he couldn't put much oomph behind the cast. I rigged him up and put him in a run that typically is loaded with easy fish, and walked below him to do some coaching and a little fishing of my own.

On my second cast I hooked into this colorful guy, and dad got all excited.

He could see the fish swimming around and rising, but just could not get the distance on his cast. Eventually he managed to get enough distance and the correct drift and hooked up with his first fly caught trout.

A little while later he caught his second, and he ended the day with about half a dozen. I told him that those were pretty good results for a first timer on the Clinch.

Dad kept wanting to see a brown trout, and I managed to bring this guy to hand just before leaving. He was just as excited, you would have thought he had caught it himself.

As we were leaving, he was telling me that this is something that he could get into. I hope he does, it was a very enjoyable day, and I look forward to many more with him and hopefully someday my son.

Summary:
Weather: Mostly Sunny 93 degrees
Water Temp: 53 degrees
# Fish Landed: 20+ (4 in the slot)
Very crowded river. Numerous waders and at least 6 boats drifted by while fishing.

One Year Birthday

2009-06-06T22:07:00.003-04:00

This past week we celebrated Trey's one year birthday. Where has the time gone? It seems like only yesterday that I was rushing Amy to the hospital. What a wonderful year it has been, and my little buddy is getting so big. Unfortunately I had to travel for work this past week, but luckily I was able to come home on his birthday. Below are some pics from his birthday. I am one proud daddy, and I am at a loss of words to explain the emotions I have experienced the past year.

Enjoy.

Back on the Clinch

2009-05-29T22:07:00.010-04:00

I took a vacation day today, and Scott and I hit the Clinch after a long absence. We got to the water around 9:00 and fished thru the pulse until 3:00. Needless to say, had the water not been coming up on us, we would have stayed even longer. It was perhaps the most outstanding day of fishing we have ever had. The fish were stupidly aggressive feeding on sulfurs. And it was good to see a very good hatch coming off today, after much debate as to whether there would be any present due to the high generation flows.

The trout were absolutely crushing pheasant tails, sulfur thorax duns, and sulfur wulff patterns. Most were in the 12-14" range, however we did catch our fare share in the slot. I also had four fish break me off today on 5X fluorocarbon tippet, I guess it is time to upgrade to some Seaguar GrandMax fluoro. Even using the 5X tippet, the fish were not line shy like they typically are. By lunch time I had already lost count of the number of fish caught, and as we were walking out all we could do was talk about how good of a day it was. Our estimation is that we easily caught 50 fish between the two of us, and that isn't taking into consideration the fish that either broke off or came off during the fight. I have to travel to Nebraska for work next week, but I will try to get out on the water shortly afterward.

Today also marked the first time I took my D40 to the river with me. I was quite pleased with the pictures I got, and there is a sample of some below. I was limited in the number of fish pictures I got since I took along my 50mm f/1.8 lens that is a manual focus on my camera. Next time I will bring along my kit lens so that I can get more fish shots.

Summary:
# of fish caught: 50+ (between the two of us)
Weather: Cloudy and upper 70's
Water Temp: N/A
Fly Patterns: #16 BHPT, #16 Sulfur Thorax, #14 Sulfur Wulff

Decent Brown with Bite Marks

Wadeable Clinch Flows Finally

2009-05-23T18:04:00.003-04:00

Well, now that the rain runoff has subsided and the holiday weekend is upon us, TVA has backed off the generators on the Clinch. However, with it being the holiday weekend you will not see me anywhere near the water. But midweek next week, you can expect me to take a couple half days and hit the water. This week following Troutfest, I have been hard at tying lots of splitback patterns as well as various forms of pheasant tail patterns in preparation for what I hope is going to be an excellent sulfur season.

Here is what we are looking at currently on the Clinch:

midnight - 5am 0
5am - 6am 1
6am - 10am 0
10am - 2pm 1
2pm - 7pm 2 or more
7pm - midnight 0

This schedule allows me to fish downstream until 2:00 easily. So, I may have to take a couple morning fishing trips to the river, and come into work late those days. I will let you know how the sulfurs are doing, but I have word from a very capable Clinch fisherman that they are doing just fine.

Until next time, Tight Lines and God Bless.

Troutfest Tomorrow

2009-05-16T21:08:00.006-04:00

Well, tomorrow is the big day. I am scheduled to be tying at Troutfest tomorrow from 1:00 till 5:00. However, I plan on getting there around 11:30 to look around and get my stuff set up. Also looking at the recent poll, it appears the majority of you out there would like to see me tie either a stripper midge or a woolly bugger. I definitely plan on tying those patterns as well as some of the others on the poll. I am somewhat surprised by the woolly bugger since it is a reasonably well known pattern. On the other hand I did expect to see the stripper midge near the top of the list. This is an absolutely phenomenal pattern on the South Holston River when you can't get the fish to take any typical sulfur fare.

I hope some of you were able to make it to Troutfest at some point this weekend, and I look forward to seeing all the positive ways this benefit is used to improve the fishing in the Smokies.

Finally on the water again....

2009-05-13T17:34:00.006-04:00

Well, I managed to get out on the water again today for the first time in what seems like forever. Where did I find water at levels suitable for fishing you may ask. Well, the only place I could find that wasn't pushing as much water as possible was the Holston. And thanks to me having to travel to Missouri this past weekend, I had this beautiful Wednesday off work to go fishing.

I got to Nance's Ferry around noon, and immediately could see fish rising from the parking lot. I got rigged up and walked way upstream to my favorite couple runs in that area, and tied on a sulfur thorax dry. Nothing! So I tried a black EHC, and same result. So I decided to switch over to a beadhead hare's ear and a BHPT dropper. I immediately started hooking up. At one time I had caught 4 fish on 4 consecutive casts. It was one of the most spectacular periods of fishing I have ever had. In a matter of about 1.5 hours, I landed over 20 fish. Keep in mind that none of those fish were larger than 13", but it sure made for an enjoyable day on the water.

After having caught my fair share of trout for the day, I switched over to streamers in search of smallies in the area. I tried out the old faithful olive slumpbuster with some success, and figured it was time to try some new patterns out. So I tied on a new yellow popper I had tied up, and had some strikes. However, I guess my adrenaline was pumping so much that I kept pulling it away from the fish. Later on I also tried a copperhead, hoping that it would be a successful pattern. That did not work out for me, at least on this day.

My next trip I am hoping will be to the Clinch. It seems like an eternity since I have fished my old stomping grounds, and until TVA stops pushing water it will stay that way. I just hope that the spilling over the top doesn't harm the sulfur hatch that appeared to be coming back last spring. Only time will tell, and hopefully I will have a report for you in the next week or so.

Fishing Summary:
Water Temp: 63 deg F
Weather: 75 deg F, sunny
Productive Patterns: BHPT (#1), BH Hare's Ear (#2), Olive Slumpbuster, Olive Wolly Bugger.
Technique: Across and down approach below shoals to rising fish. Also stripping streamers in the tails of large pools, and looking for obvious fish holding structure to strip the fly by.
Total Fish Count: Somewhere around 25

Edisto Island Vacation

2009-05-04T20:39:00.006-04:00

I just returned from my family vacation to Edisto Island, SC yesterday. It was my first trip to this island, and it was quite nice. I had a guide trip scheduled, however just before leaving the guide contacted me to tell me that he had to cancel due to engine trouble on his boat. So, I guess it was for the best since nobody wants to be stranded in some of those backwater areas at the mercy of the tides. It was a very enjoyable trip and we even did a little fishing. However, the best parts were watching Trey and his cousin Bryce play on the beach for the first time and seeing dad enjoy himself fishing each day..

Trey and Bryce Playing

My parents also went along as well as my long time friend Scott and his girlfriend. It was a very enjoyable experience and we even managed to catch some fish from the surf.

Dad with one of his whiting

Scott's catch of the week

Not only was the weather beautiful, upper 70's with zero rain all week, but the resort was very beautiful.

Lagoon Footbridge

Edisto Island Lagoon

Upon arrival back in Knoxville, I found out that there has been significant rainfall while I was away. So much water that many of the tailwaters are expected to be blown out for the next week or so. And it is right smack in the middle of the sulfur hatch on the Clinch River. Hopefully, all this water will not end any chance of a hatch before it begins. I plan on trying to hit the water as soon as I return from business trip to Missouri, and have a report on here for you. Until then I plan on tying up lots of BHPT and split case nymphs in preparation.

Until next time, tight lines and God Bless.

New Blogs

2009-05-04T20:03:00.005-04:00

I have recently found some new blogs that I would like to share with you.

First is http://www.52trout.blogspot.com/. It is a blog that incorporates fishing and fish art into a single interesting location. I recommend giving it a look, especially if you enjoy artistic displays of the sport we enjoy so much.

Next, is http://www.troutu.com/. It is a general flyfishing blog that also offers product reviews and interesting fishing stories.

Also, check out my LRO message board friend Hans blog at tennswede.blogspot.com. It is an informative blog detailing Hans many adventures primarily in the mountain streams of East TN and North Carolina. However, sometimes he throws a little tailwater action in there just as a changeup.

Finally, check out the http://theflyfishingbroker.com/. It is a blog dedicated to fishing in the Northern Arizona area. Having spent some quality time there, I have to attest to the beauty and amazing outdoor potential of the area. I need to take along my fly rod during my next business trip to the area. There is also a fly of the week section as well as generally informative posts to help educate the fly fishing public.

Low Country Trip

2009-04-25T22:06:00.001-04:00

Well, it is here. I am leaving for my family vacation to the South Carolina low country. I am looking forward to the time of relaxation, family, fun, fishing, & seafood. Stay tuned for hopefully some exciting fishing reports and pics. The weather is supposed to be wonderful, and I may rent a kayak and search the marshes for some redfish and speckled trout.

Cherokee Trophy Section

2009-04-21T18:38:00.004-04:00

This report is a little late, but hey at least it is here.

This past Friday I met up with David Knapp from The Trout Zone to fish the trophy section over in Cherokee. I have been hearing good things about it, and David's last post really made me want to give it a try. We got to the river around 2:30, and the guy at Big Don's told us he had sold 300 permits that day. However, most of those were for the general regs waters. It didn't take long for David to get into the action. He hooked up on what must have been his first or second cast. A little later I hooked into this nice bow.

Photo by David Knapp

We ended up leaving around 6:30, and David ended the day with a fine Palomino trout. The pic can be seen on his blog, check it out.

Until next time,
Tight Lines and God Bless

Low Country Trip Preparation

2009-04-11T23:22:00.006-04:00

Our South Carolina fishing trip is two weeks away, and I have been hard at it today tying up some flies for the trip. A couple weeks ago I tied up some copperheads, and today I have been working on some clousers and electric chickens. The electric chickens, from what I am told, are clousers in a particular color scheme (or at least my interpretation of the color scheme). I hope to tie up a few Enrico Puglisi style streamers in the coming days to have just in case. However, those appear to be quite difficult, and I don't know that I will have much more free time to work on them. I believe I have a pretty good base supply, but I believe I will take along some of my tying gear just in case things go well.

Clousers Stand Waiting

New Lens Review: Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8

2009-04-10T20:55:00.007-04:00

I recently received my new lens. I originally was looking for a semi-pro grade long distance zoom in the 100-300mm range. However, after thinking about it, since most of my shots are either landscape or portrait type shots, a lens in the 18-70mm range would suit most of my needs. So after doing extensive research and comparing raw data, I selected the Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 EX DC Macro HSM. The HSM is required with my D40 in order to autofocus.

I have had the lens for 24 hours and have probably taken 100 photos with it already, and I am very impressed. This Sigma lens' zoom operforms way better than the Quantaray zoom I reviewed earlier. However, that is to be expected. The Quantaray was a bargain basement lens, and this is Sigma's high end EX model. The autofocus is very fast and spot on everytime. It consists of 15 lens elements, 4 of which are extremely low dispersion lenses. This means that there is very little color loss or chromatic aberration with this lens throughout the zoom range. Also, it is a constant f/2.8 lens, which allows for excellent low lighting photos and excellent bokeh. It is also a very sharp lens and provides excellent contrast. The build quality is fantastic, and feels very heavy and well built.

Not only does this lens perform well for landscapes and portraits, but the macro function is very useful. It has a minimum focus distance of 7 inches, but I believe that is from the rear of the lens. Since I have held the lens less than 3 inches from my subject and it focuses dead on every time. This will allow me to experiment with my fly photography in the coming weeks. Here are a couple sample shots from the past few days.

I am very pleased with this lens and recommend it to anyone wanting to upgrade from the kit lens into a semi-professional quality lens for less than $400. When comparing this lens to it's Nikon counterpart, it provides similar performance for 1/3 the cost.

New Pattern of the Month

2009-04-08T22:18:00.003-04:00

In anticipation of my upcoming trip to Edisto Island, I have been tying up some low country flies. One can be seen at left in the fly of the month category. It is the Copperhead, which I have on good faith is an absolute killer on redfish and speckled trout. We will see I guess. I am also looking forward to trying it out on the smallies on the Holston river. With a little tweaking, it would make a decent crawfish pattern.

We are planning on doing a guided trip for some meat fish like whiting, speckled trout, etc. However, the guide has said that if we want to break off early and try for some redfish, tarpon, or shark on the fly he is game for that. Now that sounds like an exciting time....

Check back in a few weeks for some pics from that trip. Until then, I will be hitting up the local waters for some trout, smallies, and maybe a carp or two.

Tight Lines and God Bless

Product Review: Fishpond Dragonfly

2009-04-05T21:13:00.003-04:00

Recently, I mentioned my purchase of a Fishpond Dragonfly Chest/Waist pack from Little River Outfitters. I got to try it out for the first time this past weekend on the Holston. I have to say I am very pleased with it.

When I made the purchase, I was torn between the Arroyo and the Dragonfly. The Arroyo was very comfortable and an attractive pack, but the Dragonfly was larger and had space for a water bottle. I believe I made the correct choice.

The Dragonfly has an extremely comfortable compression belt with wide side bolsters. This allows for more area to carry the weight of the pack, and greatly reduces the wear on the hips. It also comes with a handy removable neck strap that converts the Dragonfly from a lumbar pack to a chest pack. The pack is large enough to carry two C&F fly boxes, granola bars, water bottle, camera, 8 spools of tippet, plenty of leader packs, and all the other accessories clipped on the front. It has very handy tabs for retractors to connect to, however they are made primarily for the Fishpond swivel retractor.

In summary, I am very pleased with my purchase. It is a very nice compromise between the Arroyo and the Waterdance, and I expect my vest to collect a lot of dust.

Holston Mixed Bag

2009-04-03T19:07:00.008-04:00

I took today off work to unwind from a very busy and stressful past couple of weeks at work. After doing my work around the house, I loaded up and went to Nance's Ferry. I had originally intended to go to the Smokies, but we are going tomorrow. So, this gave me a chance to try the Holston out again. When I arrived, the parking lot was deserted. I geared up and made my way out into the river watching for risers as I went. Not long after my first cast 4 vehicles pulled into the parking lot, so much for solitary fishing today. Oh well, I just went a significant distance upstream and the new arrivals never got within a couple hundred yards of me.

There were lots of fish rising to what appeared to be midges, and I checked the water temp. It was in the low 50's, that was very surprising. I guess the past couple days of warm rainfall had spiked the temps. Not only were fish rising everywhere, but carp were up in the shallows jumping. I guess 50 degrees is the temp where they begin to get really active. I saw a couple that would have easily been 25 or 30 lbs.

Now to the fishing....

After getting my indicator depth set correctly, I began to pick up fish. Most were about the same size as last time, 12 - 14". However, this trip there was a surprise waiting for me. After catching my first few bows on a zebra midge, I switched to an olive slumpbuster in hopes of finding something larger. What I found was a shoal that was jam packed with eager to eat smallmouth. These guys were absolutely crushing the slumpbuster as I stripped across the end of a large pool. In this same pool, I also caught quite a few more bows on the streamer. The smallies just put up such a fierce battle everytime, and a couple treated me with an aerial display. I can see why smallies on the fly can be addictive, I may have to try this again in the future.

Holston River Smallie

Another Shot

Until then, Tight Lines and God Bless

Trip Summary:
Weather: Cloudy, Windy, Low 50's
Water Temp: Low 50's
# of fish caught: 20-ish
Best Fly: Olive Slumpbuster
Technique: Stripping slowly along the tail of pools, and at the head of runs.

Bold Colors

Rainy Smokies Friday

2009-03-28T09:01:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, my buddy Scott and I had planned on hitting up a local tailwater. Ordinarily a little rain does not slow us down, but yesterday neither of us were up to six hours straight of potentially significant rainfall. Especially since it would require a float, and it would be an extended day. So, we chose to run up to Little River Outfitters for some supplies, but took my rod along just in case. Scott neeeded some new Wonderline and I wanted to try out the Fishpond packs. I ended up buying the Fishpond Dragonfly, just because of the volume it could hold along with two water bottle holders. Once I take it on a trip, I will post a review.

Afterward, we drove up to Cades Cove heading to Abrams Creek or possibly Parsons Branch. We ended up not even getting the rod out, but I thought I would report back on what the water looked like. I haven't seen the Smokies streams looking this good in probably 4 years. The water temps should be very good since we had a couple days of 55+ degree rainfall. While at Parson's Branch we did notice quite a bit of bug activity. Tons of midges were hatching, some blue quills and an olive/brown caddis. I haven't heard many people mention the caddis, so that was a little surprising to me.

I need to get back up there in another week or so and give it a try. The smallie water through Walland looked phenomenal, and very tempting as well. As we were leaving, we saw three flyfisherman on the west prong right around the tunnel.

The weather is really getting nice right now in East TN, and I am anxious for my first camping trip of the year. I am debating on where to go and take Trey on his first trip. I would like to go to the South Holston, but I don't know if my wife is up to that just yet.

Until next time....

Tight Lines and God Bless

New Lens Update

2009-03-25T22:34:00.003-04:00

Well, apparently I have the worst luck when it comes to lenses. After returning the Quantaray lens and ordering a Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8, I have found out that the company I ordered it from did not actually have the lens in stock even though they told me they did. The bad news is that this is a discontinued lens from Sigma, so there is no guarantee that the lens will ever come in. I am in the process of arguing for a refund, and looking for another lens. The 50-150mm was perfect for what I needed, so now I am back to square one. If anybody has any suggestions, please feel free to offer them.

I am looking for a fast lens - constant f/2.8
Reasonable price - <$500
Good build quality
Adequate reach - 150mm +
Ultra low dispersion glass
Built in focus motor

Until next time....Tight lines and God bless.

New Poll: Troutfest Flies

2009-03-22T21:39:00.003-04:00

With Troutfest about 7 weeks away, I am trying to get an idea of what people would like to see me tie. I plan on tying mostly tailwater flies since that is where most of my experience is. However, I do have experience with smokies flies such as the neversink caddis, tellico nymph, Adams, and blue quills. I would like to focus my efforts on 4 or 5 flies during the course of the day, unless I get a special request from a visitor. Please vote, and you can vote for more than one fly. If you have another request, please feel free to leave a comment as such.

Tight Lines and God Bless.

Nance's Ferry Midges

2009-03-21T21:44:00.007-04:00

Due to the crazy generation schedule on the Clinch, I chose to hit up the Holston at Nance's Ferry. I got to the river around 1:30 to a flurry of surface activity. I didn't even rig up until I waded out into the river and studied the water for about 10 minutes. The fish appeared to be taking midges, so I went with my trusty brassie/zebra midge combo. I hooked into a fish shortly afterward, and they proved to be very cooperative for the next 3 hours. There were 4 other fishermen on the water, but they were all focusing on swift water and riffles. I took a different approach and went to the relatively smooth water that midges are present in. Once again, I don't know why some people continue to get into a pattern of going to the same type of water regardless of time of year or condition. The water these gents were fishing is prime caddis water in the late spring and summer, but this time of year midges are the primary hatch.

It was a relaxing day on the water. I didn't rush my casts, or try to pressure the fish. A couple times I just walked to shore and took a break to warm up my legs, and watch the others fish. I noticed one guy below me land a couple decent size fish using a streamer. However, other than that the guys in the riffles were not having much luck. Oh well, each to his own I guess. Later on, I walked farther upstream to a deep slow pool and fished a #18 BHPT/#20 stripper about 5' deep. I was surprised at the number of fish I got on this rig, especially since the Holston is not considered to be a mayfly tailwater.

Best fish of the day were a pair of 15" bows that put a deep bend in the 5 wt ZG and 6x tippet.

Trip Summary:
Water Temp: Low 40's
Weather: Sunny, Breezy, upper 50's
Best Flies: #18 BHPT, #20 stripper
# of fish landed: 6 (probably twice as many long distance released due to a bent hook)

Crazy PETA Whack Jobs

2009-03-08T21:49:00.004-04:00

How many of you out there have heard about what the PETA whack jobs are up to now? They have always been out there, but now they are targeting our children. Their latest campaign is to personify fish and change their identity from "fish" to "sea-kittens". Their angle is to ask children if they would like to see somebody take their pet and put a hook through them, abuse them, and then thrown them out to die. I am not making this up, here is the website:

PETA SeaKittens

I read about this first in the latest edition of FlyFisherman Magazine, but have been hearing that they are changing their focus to the younger generation for the past couple months. Now most people I know realize that these people are off their rocker, but if they start trying to spread this message in our schools that would not be good. I know we cannot prevent them from taking this position or trying to spread it, but I believe it is imperative that we all join TU or some similar fishing organization to help fight for our right to fish.

Beautiful Weather

2009-03-08T21:38:00.003-04:00

Yesterday Amy, Trey, and I went to Melton Hill dam for the day. We didn't get there until around 1:30, which was just about perfect. The temps were in the 70's and there was a slight breeze blowing. I only spent about 30 minutes fishing, but didn't land anything. I fished in the tailwater for about 20 minutes and in the lake for about 10. I didn't even break out the fly rod, I just used my spinning rod. The day was not about the fishing, but just spending time with Amy and Trey on a beautiful day. I did manage to snap this picture of Trey on his first fishing trip. Well, I guess it doesn't really count, but it was too tempting of a photo op.

Water temps are still a bit low right now for the stripers and white bass. Surprisingly there were not very many fishermen out considering the nice weather. So I guess that is also a sign that it hasn't started heating up yet. However, after this week and a couple days of 60 degree rainfall, things should start to change quickly. As soon as it does, I will be sure to update everybody. This Friday I plan on going to the Clinch, well assuming TVA has a favorable schedule....

New Lens Review

2009-03-06T22:03:00.015-05:00

I recently purchased a 70-300mm lens for my D40. I went with an off brand since the sticker shock of the Nikkor 70-300 was too much for me to justify. I purchased the lens from the local Wolf Camera, and they allowed me 10 days to try it out and return it for a full refund, no questions asked. That is pretty hard to beat. I mainly wanted to test out the long distance zoom capability, and see if I would really miss the VR of the Nikkor lens. Also, I was curious as to how the build quality would feel in comparison to some other Nikkor lenses. This lens also has a macro function, but I haven't gotten around to testing it yet. Below are some sample pics:

200mm @ f/9 @ 1/125 @ ISO200

300mm @ f/9 @ 1/160 @ ISO200

300mm @ f/10 @ 1/60 @ ISO250

Overall impression is that you get what you pay for. The image quality is good enough to stand up against the Nikkor lens. What it is lacking is build quality, fast focus, and consistent focus. One positive is that this lens is smaller and weighs less than the comparable Nikkor, but this could also be due to the lesser build quality.

My suggestion is that if you are looking for a reasonably priced telephoto zoom lens that is used 99% of the time outdoors, focus speed is not a priority, and you routinely take very good care of your gear then this lens is probably good for you. I still have not made up my mind about it yet. I am going to take it out again tomorrow and give it a try in the direct sunlight. The biggest area of concern for me is the way the focus seemed to hunt a lot in the low lighting in the dark valleys of the Smokies today. If it still has this trouble in the bright daylight, then I will probably be returning it on Sunday.

I do recommend that if anybody is interested in buying this lens or one similar to go to a local camera store and test one yourself. Some of these off brand lens companies save money on QA/QC practices, and lemons are common.

Update

Today I returned this lens. I found the inconsistent focus and unsure build quality to be too much for me to risk. I tried to order a Nkon 70-300mm, but the vendor I was using was very inconsistent with their pricing. I ordered a Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8 that I am very excited about. When it arrives, I will post a review for it on here as well. Unfortunately it appears that the old saying, "You get what you pay for" not only holds true for rods but for lenses as well.

Warm Weather a Comin'

2009-03-05T18:31:00.002-05:00

Just saw the 6 day forecast and temps are supposed to be in the 60's and 70's everyday. On top of that, we are also forecast to have more rain 3 of those days. A good inch or so of 60 degree rainfall should do wonders for the hatches in the Smokies. That would probably be all that is needed to set them into full swing. I am talking about the Quill Gordons and Blue Quills. I may get some time to head up there this year for that hatch.

Also, it is getting closer to time for the white bass to start making their run up the rivers. That means it is time to tie up some big clousers and buggers in any color similar to white in preparation. So, that is what I have been working on the past week or so. Also, I am working on patterns for my Edisto Island redfish trip in April.

It looks like I will be getting out somewhere this Saturday. I am hoping to also take along my new 70-300mm lens and see how it performs. Spring is East Tennessee is unbeatable, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. So many species and a plethora of streams and lakes to choose from. How could it get any better?

First Clinch Trip of the Year

2009-02-21T15:55:00.012-05:00

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

2009-02-21T15:30:00.002-05:00

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

My Latest Project

2009-02-10T22:36:00.004-05:00

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

2009-02-02T23:05:00.003-05:00

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!

Found Myself A Bargain

2009-01-24T15:51:00.009-05:00

Yesterday, Amy and I wanted to take advantage of the beautiful weather so we headed up to Gatlinburg. I know what you are thinking, Gatlinburg!?! I stay away from G-burg during the summer and fall, but it is quite nice in the winter. I can stroll along the streets peacefully, and stop in at any of the little shops I feel like. I don't have to worry about where to park or how much I am going to gouged for.

Anyway, on our way up there, Trey started getting really fussy as we were going through Sevierville. So, we chose to stop in at Orvis to walk around to get Trey out of his seat. While at Orvis, I thought I would ask about the outgoing Zero Gravity series of rods. The guy working the counter informed me that they only had one left in stock, an 8.5' 5wt. This is the same length and weight that I have been planning to purchase to round out my arsenal. I took the rod outside and made some casts with it. With a very strong side wind, it still was the easist casting rod I have ever had in my hands. I couldn't not believe the distance at such ease I was achieving with this rod, and it weighed in at about 70% of what my go-to 9' 4wt weighs. When I asked about the price, they told me that they are selling for 40% off, but since this rod was missing the cap for the rod tube theY would let it go for 60% off. Also, more temptation came in the form of the following statement, "Orvis will most likely replace this rod in the event of breakage with a new Helios." That was all the temptation I needed. This was a $625 rod that I walked away with for $200 (thanks to a $50 gift card).

I do 95% of my shopping with Little River Outfitters, but I don't expect to ever find another bargain like this again. I had to jump on this deal.

Still no Fishing

2009-01-22T20:15:00.002-05:00

All the rains we received during December and early January have all the tailwaters generating full force. The Clinch has been running at over 9,000 CFS for the past couple weeks, and I expect it to take another week or so before they get the lake levels down to normal.

Temperatures over the next 10 days appear to be coming back to normal for this time of year. So hopefully, if I can find a local tailwater not generating I can get out some. At least I have been getting some good tying time in lately. I am trying to extend my pattern library to include stonefly patterns. This is something I very rarely tie due to my lack of park fishing. However, there is a decent population of winter black stoneflies on the Hiwassee, if I decide to make a trip down there this year.

I will be in Phoenix the first week of February, and I wish I had time to take along my fly rod. The White Mountains are only a couple hours to the east, Lee's Ferry is probably 3 hours to the north, and the Salt River is about 45 minutes to the East. However, I think by the time the conference is over, I will be ready to come home. I was in Arizona the first week of March last year, and it was absolutely beautiful. Temps in the 70's and sunny everyday, you couldn't ask for much more. If I have time to get out and take some pics, I will post them when I return.

Troutfest

2009-01-12T20:20:00.005-05:00

Things have been a little slow lately on the fishing side of things. All of the recent rains have had all the tailwaters blown out, and I don't expect to get on the water for at least another week.

However, I wanted to share with everyone that I will be at Troutfest this year as one of the fly tyers. A couple other blogger buds will also be there tying. What is Troutfest? See the link below to find out, and try to come out if you are available.

Troutfest

I haven't done any public demonstrations since my days tying for The Creel here in Knoxville. That has been almost 15 years ago, but I figured it was time that I come out of my comfort zone and do it again. I always enjoyed tying in front of others, so I don't really know how I got away from it. I would have my dad drop me off at the shop on his way to work (I didn't have my license yet), and I would stay there and tie and talk flyfishing all day long. Those are some good memories I had long forgotten. As the time draws near, I will probably solicit comments from you to let me know what flies you would like to see me tie if you were attending. I am definitely planning on tying Blake's Stripper Midge, Sulfur Biot Softhackle, Slumpbusters, and Woolly Buggers, but I will need a few others in my arsenal.

Until next time.....

Tight Lines and God Bless

2008 by the Numbers

2009-01-03T09:14:00.005-05:00

So, I checked over my fishing log for the year, and here is a summary of the year.

Number of trips: 37

Average # of fish per trip: 8

Most fish in a day: 24 (3 times)

Skunkings: 0 (first time ever)

Largest fish: 22" Clinch River Brown

Most Memorable Fish: 19" Clinch Brown on a #18 Sulfur Thorax

Different fishing locations: Clinch, South Holston, Watauga, Hiwassee, Holston, GSMNP

2008 was the best year of fishing I have ever had. Granted, in 2007 I went to Colorado and had some outstanding fishing, all of 2008 was local fishing. I caught more quality fish this past year than ever before. I like to credit the slot limit on the Clinch for that, and I am very excited about this Spring's sulfur hatch on the Clinch. The results of the slot limit should be even more visible.

Until next time....

Tight Lines and God Bless

New Products Review

2008-12-30T11:19:00.004-05:00

I figured I would give a brief review of three Christmas gifts I received this year.

FISHPOND TIMBERLINE VACUUM FLASK

My mother and father-in-law got me this flask for Christmas to help with those cold mornings out on the river. I put it to the test yesterday while on the South Holston. I filled the flask with steaming hot chocolate at 7:00 AM, and at 2:30 PM it was still hot enough to burn my tongue. The insulated carry case also is very aesthetically pleasing, and also functional. The flask itself has a very handy pour spout and the cap, as expected, doubles as a very handy cup. The zipper is large, and doesn't snag. Overall a very nice product. This is my first Fishpond product purchase, and I am so pleased with it that I am looking to replace my fishing vest with a Fishpond product.

KORKERS CROSS CURRENT WADING BOOTS

Another gift from my in-laws, this is a very comfortable pair of wading boots. I especially like the interchangeable soles. It comes with a pair of felt and hiking soles. However, Korkers offers the following choices: Aquastealth, studded Aquastealth, studded felt, and a boat sole. My cheap pair of Orvis wading boots were a studded felt, and I missed not having that option yesterday on the "rock snot" covered bottom of the South Holston. So the first upgrade I will make to these boots is to purchase a pair of studded aquastealth soles. These boots are very comfortable, reasonably priced, and are quick drying so you don't leave a puddle in your trunk if you fish out of a car.

BRODIN CUTTHROAT GHOST LANDING NET

This was a gift from my wonderful wife after my luck on the Clinch a couple times this year. I was desperately needing a larger net with a longer handle to help with some of the nice Clinch browns I have caught this year. This is one of the Ghost Series of nets from Brodin, meaning the bag is made of a clear PVC material. This causes the bag to disappear when submerged. The handle and frame are made of teak and come in at an overall length of 28". This makes for an extra long reach when fishing in that swift water and you just can't get the fish any closer. Also because the net is made of PVC, you don't have to worry about flies snagging in the bag nor the protective slime being scraped clean of the trout. An outstanding product, and I highly recommend it to anybody looking for a new net.

HONORABLE MENTION - LRO OLIVE/BROOKIE CAP - From Trey

I don't know how the little guy got the funds, but he bought me a very nice hat. I think Daniel at LRO hooked him up, I just can't figure out how he placed the order... This is a very attractive cap and is my new lucky fishing cap. My old UT cap was in desperate need of replacing, so it has now been retired.

Stay tuned for more fishing reports, and as always....

Tight Lines and God Bless

South Holston 12-29

2008-12-29T22:55:00.001-05:00

Well, the trip I have long been waiting for occurred today. I have been seeing pictures and reports of large browns being caught on the South Holston. Scott, Jacob, Jason, and I ventured up that way in hopes of sight fishing to some large trout. The grates and bridge were very crowded, as expected. So we went about a mile downstream to a lesser fished portion of water. Upon arrival at our fishing destination we found some spawning browns, and some of them were large. We managed to pick up a couple of the smaller aggressive ones in the area, but this activity slowed around 11:30. At this time I moved over to a deep slow run and began fishing my typical midge setup. I picked up three decent browns on three consecutive casts. My largest fish of the day came out of this deep run, and was around 15". Not the bruiser I was looking for at the beginning of the day, but a decent fight on the 7x tippet. Not long afterward other fishermen started moving into the area and started to crowd us. So we made our way out and up to the weirs for a little combat fishing. None of us managed to pick up anything there, but there was another fisherman who was absolutely killing them there. He landed a couple in the 20" range and many smaller ones. From the bridge you could see the pod of fish he was casting to, and there was probably a dozen or so in this little 6' diameter area. Of the dozen, there were a couple of large fish. He appeared to be fishing a very small egg pattern, smaller than anything I had used all day. However, I don't know if the fish were actually eating the eggs or just slapping at them. Some of the fish this guy landed were foul hooked, but I guess that is the nature of shallow water sight fishing to a large pod of fish.

I don't expect to make another trip up that way again until the spring. But check back soon, I plan on giving a brief product review of some of my Christmas gifts after using them today.

Until then, Tight Lines and God Bless