Dark Skies, Drizzle, Rising Trout

Sunday I fished and worked hard for a few fish until I went up to the dam and things improved. Several fish came to hand including the rainbow above. Nothing could compare with the more recent outing though. Yesterday I witnessed probably the best rise I've ever encountered on the Caney Fork. The dreary weather was probably largely responsible and for this reason I had headed to the river hoping for a good hatch of craneflies. I must have been late because they were all over the vegetation along the river but there were very few hatching while I was actually there. The blackflies more than made up for the lack of larger bugs however. Nothing in my box was a good match unfortunately, a mistake I won't make again. Thankfully the fish were not picky and took small nymphs often enough to keep me happy. The number of rising fish was ridiculous, reminiscent of some of the most spectacular days on the Hiwassee this spring. Fish were sipping, slashing, slurping, even leaping clear of the water occasionally to take the tiny bugs. It even seemed the fish were more colorful than usual on this amazing day...

I fished until I grew tired, the late afternoon and evening blended together in the growing fog from the cold river. The sun slowly slid out of the sky and over the hills, ushering in the shadows that signaled the approach of nightfall. I eventually quit fishing, not so much because of the impending dark but because the fog was becoming too thick to see my indicator dry and I didn't feel like blindly stripping buggers or softhackles.

Fog, something we haven't seen in middle Tennessee for months it seems. The current drought conditions have kept things dry enough to generally prevent the development of fog. It was even cold, and in the middle of June no less. The frigid discharge from Center Hill Lake kept freezing my hands every time I had to dip them in the water to land my fish. You won't find me complaining. After days of temperatures in the mid 90's, I'll be downright glad to shiver for an hour or two.

This next weekend is my trip to the South Holston. Hopefully the fishing will be good, even half as good as what I experienced yesterday would be fine.