The last few months have been an excruciating roller coaster of hope that repeatedly ends up dashed in rain swollen creeks and rivers. My local tailwater has seen high water forever. Granted, the fishing has still been okay, but for those of us who enjoy wading at least as much as floating, the situation has now become dire. This weekend featured the first low water in a long time, and of course I was too busy to make it down. Oh, and it also rained this weekend.
Yes, the rain is the culprit. Knowing how some of my friends out in California have been parched for years, it seems just a little selfish to complain about rain. Seriously though, every time the river gets to the point that we can have some low water, it rains again. Every. Single. Time. So, I'll continue to enjoy my fresh air in other ways.
This weekend, a quick outing to a nearby creek helped me to at least get out of the house. I'm not sure if it was that good for me. Seeing all that water flowing downhill towards the upper Caney Fork drainage confirmed what I had been afraid of: now we'll be lucky to be able to wade by Christmas.
So, I'm back to hoping that it doesn't rain for a couple of weeks and thinking about other places to fish. Up in the Smokies, the brown trout have finished their spawn so they should be feeding well over the next few weeks. I've got musky on the brain as well and may have to get out there and chase them within the next week or two. Fishing must go on, even if it isn't where I had hoped...
