Yesterday, I headed for the mountains to meet my buddy Travis from the Fishing Fanatic. We try to fish a few times a year, but often getting our schedules to match up can be a little tricky. Despite the cold weather, we decided to fish no matter what. Our original plan involved the South Holston but TVA's generation schedule has been a little strange to say the least. Plan B was to head for the freestone streams of the Smokies.
After exploring our options, we finally settled on a good pool that always has a few willing fish. A smattering of midges were hatching so I suggested to Travis that he start out with some type of nymph (preferably a stonefly) and a midge as a dropper. From a good vantage point above the water, everything appeared to be completely dead at first glance. However, our patience was rewarded and we soon saw fish moving around on the bottom. The water was frigid but fish still have to eat, and they were moving around quite a bit.
Travis completed his setup with some split shot and moved into position while I stayed put so I could spot fish. After a few casts, he was getting a perfect drift each time. Eventually the inevitable happened and his indicator dove under. Soon a beautiful wild rainbow was brought to hand, and I snapped a quick picture to prove we really did go fishing. Some people have a hard time believing that I fish in such weather so pictures are always helpful.
We fished that pool awhile longer with Travis catching some more fish. Finally we decided to head downstream to try another spot or two. I picked up a nice rainbow at another favorite spot before we called it a day. For as much time as we were out, neither of us actually fished a ton. We both spent a good amount of time looking for nicer fish. None of the better fish we saw were in a good spot to fish to so we left them without harassing them.
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