Back on the River

Joe Mcgroom photograph

Once again I spent some time on the river this past weekend. Unfortunately it looks like that will be my last time on the water until next week during break. The cold weather kept a lot of people off the river for a second weekend in a row. This was good for us because it meant we were able to fish all the best runs without any competition for a change.

Our first stop didn't produce any fish over 16 inches or so. Despite the lack of larger fish, the fishing was still excellent. There were several times that we were all hooked up simultaneously. The river is absolutely on fire right now if you have the correct flies and know where the fish like to feed.

The water started coming up after we had fished for a couple of hours so we headed up to fish just below the dam. This proved to be a good choice and we found the largest fish we spotted all day. After working a pod of good fish for several minutes, I finally hooked one and it immediately went ballistic. Thankfully all my knots held and I was soon admiring a beautiful male brown in the shallows. After a couple photographs, I released the fish and watched it bolt back to the dark run it calls home.

Joe Mcgroom photograph

Later on I came back to the same pod after they had calmed down and hooked a beast. The fish tore across the river towards a log on the far bank but I somehow managed to keep it from hanging up. Next it decided to head downriver. Moving quickly in pursuit, I grew increasingly nervous as the battle was becoming drawn out and I knew it was a monster. Suddenly the line went limp and I was left to ponder what might have been. Reeling in my line I discovered that it was no fault of my own. The #16 hook had straightened out partially, just enough for the big fish to gain its freedom.

Joe's big brown

My buddy Joe Mcgroom also managed to catch a pig. If he wasn't ruined last week he definitely is now.

Joe with his big brown...

We're planning a trip to another Tennessee tailwater during Thanksgiving break and this trip will include some monster browns hopefully. I'm hoping to find that 32 inch monster I mentioned in the previous post...

"Hero" shot of my big brown - Joe Mcgroom photograph

Massive South Holston Brown

Yesterday I drove up to fish the Smokies and look for big browns. While the fishing was not bad, I didn't catch any of the monsters that I was hoping for. In fact we didn't even see fish over 18" although we probably just didn't look in the right spots. There is at least one large brown somewhere in the park because Smokies guide Ian Rutter caught it last week. Most people would love to catch a fish that nice (myself included) but catching the large fish in the park doesn't happen overnight. It takes a lot of time on the water learning the stream and the fish before it happens...until I catch one of my own, I'll be looking at the pictures of Rutter's brown a few more times... I'm sure there are at least a few more to be caught, so while the tailwaters are fun I'll definitely be heading for the park again sometime soon.

Last night a quick check of some favorite websites indicated that I should have headed for the South Holston. Matt Champion from the South Holston River Fly Shop landed an unbelievable 32 inch monster. No, that's not a typo...32 inches.... For pictures and more details, check out the link. Plans are now underway for a trip up that way sometime in the not too distant future. In the meantime, I'm fishing this weekend so check back for updates in two or three days...

Current Poll

So far the overwhelming majority of you claim to fish even when the weather gets nasty. Based on my own observations, I know that this is not a good representation of the overall fishing population. For example, this past Sunday was a chilly day on the Caney. The number of fisherman on the river was definitely down from what it has been. Easily the majority of fisherman that were still out were fly fisherman which I found interesting. I'm not sure if that's always the case so I'll have to pay a little better attention from now on... Anyway, if you haven't voted yet in the poll, just look over to the right side of the page and let me know if you fish in the winter or not...

Sight Fishing

Late day on the Caney...

Tiny flies, light tippet, sight fishing...this is about as much fun as you can have while fly fishing for trout in my opinion. Large flies with heavy tippet may produce explosive strikes but then it is just a tug of war. With light tippet and small flies you have to be gentle so as not to break off the fish, bend the hook or pop the hook free.

Joe's big brown...

The tailwaters have been providing some excellent opportunities for large fish lately and I've been on three separate tailwaters in the last three weeks or so. This past Sunday I fished with my buddy Joe Mcgroom of Little River Outfitters and my cousin Nathan Stanaway. Joe wanted to check out the Caney Fork River. My cousin just likes to catch fish so I've been teaching him the way of the long rod after he was forced to admit that it was superior to his beloved spinning rod. Impressively he has taken to it like a natural. This past Sunday he caught plenty of nice fish including the Caney slam of a rainbow, brown and brook trout.

Nice brown caught by Nathan

The best action lately has been on midges but other patterns are working as well including red copper johns. Sight fishing opportunities are good early in the day before the water comes up and again very late in the day once the water falls out.

Big male brown...(Nathan Stanaway photo)

Closeup of my big brown...(Nathan Stanaway photo)

The day was a success with Joe being ruined by a large tailwater brown. I warned him early in the day that it would be addicting. Even worse, fishing tailwaters tends to dull your mountain small stream skills. After catching a big male with an attitude, I'm sure Joe will be fishing the tailwaters with us again sometime soon...


The weather was frigid and we all finally gave up by mid afternoon. Not so much because we weren't catching fish as because it was really cold and we all had places to be. I'm sure I'll be fishing again soon, perhaps in the mountains and maybe on a tailwater. Check back for more on that... Finally, a few more pictures from recent fishing...

(Nathan Stanaway photo)

(Nathan Stanaway photo)

The Weekend In Pictures

I did the tailwater thing again this weekend and found some decent fish. Things are not exactly on fire, probably due to the continued pleasant fall weather. Clear days and nights with temps reaching the low 70's during the day is nice, but I would much rather get some nasty weather sometime soon. Hopefully I'll get away from the tailwaters soon as well. The Smokies have been calling my name again and despite the fact that a front will be moving through just before the weekend, I might make an effort to get up there at the end of the week...

Anyway, without any further rambling, here's a few pictures from the weekend...

New Links and The Fly Carriage

Being short on time means that I decided to combine a couple of topics I've been wanting to post about. My fishing time has been suffering as a result of student teaching as has my writing time. Hopefully that will start to change as the end of the semester approaches. Once again I plan on looking for some big fish this weekend on either the Caney or the Cumberland. Of course you'll be the first to read the fishing report.

Those that pay close attention might have noticed that I have added some new links. The first is the Fly Fish Addiction Blog by Troutdawg. Based out of Denver, Colorado, the author has access to some of the finest water in the west and also seems to make plenty of trips further abroad in the quest for great fishing. You'll find plenty of fishing reports, excellent photography, and even how-to articles on this blog.

The other new blog is the Four Corner Fly Fishing blog about fishing in the Southwest. There is a strong emphasis on Arizona which I have a soft spot for. I spent about a year in Arizona during 2004-2005 and discovered the incredible fishing opportunities that can be had in that state. My first Apache trout (and many more) were caught while I was out there along with plenty of nice rainbows, browns, cutts, and even some brookies. This blog has fishing reports along with some great pictures and even some fly tying articles. If you've ever thought about fishing in the Southwest or enjoy reading reports from other areas, this is a great blog to check out.

You've been wondering what the Fly Carriage is all about. This summer while working at Little River Outfitters, Daniel Drake offered me a sample of a new product to test. It was called The Fly Carriage and is a new way to keep used flies. Before, I used one of two options for used flies: either a fleece patch or one of the little fly cups you get when you buy flies from a fly shop. The problem with the fly cups is that it retains the moisture which speeds up the rusting process. I've never really liked the fleece patches because I smash my barbs and the hooks seem to always mysteriously fall off the patch. The Fly Carriage is an excellent alternative. Flies don't seem to have the problem of randomly falling off due to the hard foam used for this great fly holder. The Carriage is basically a zinger with a holder (kind of like the fly floatant holder) that holds a tube-shaped piece of foam that is around an inch in diameter. You simply hook the fly into the foam and it stays put. It has been the perfect compliment to my new keep it simple approach of a lanyard and a couple boxes of flies. I just hang it off the side of the lanyard and have the perfect place to store used flies. The only downside is that people who don't like gadgets hanging off their vest probably won't like it as much. The Fly Carriage is made by Simplifly Gear which is a small company started by Edward Philpot here in Tennessee. He lives not too far from my home tailwater, the Caney Fork so he fishes some great water regularly. If you've been looking for a new way to carry your used flies, definitely give this a try...

Colors of a Brookie

This weekend provided another opportunity to go fishing here in Tennessee. I'm going to be purposefully vague and mostly just show a few pictures. Several nice fish came to hand but I didn't get too many pictures. The two fish that were worthy were interesting for a couple of reasons. The first was the brookie and I believe the pictures speak for themselves. The colors are incredible and were even better there in person. I might have to do a trip to the Smokies in the near future to catch a few more brookies because I haven't fished for them enough this year. On Sunday I was reminded why I ought to pursue them more often...

The other fish was also memorable but for another reason. Despite the pictures, I really don't count this fish because it wasn't fair hooked unfortunately. I was a little slow on the hook set by which time the fish had already spit out the fly. Thankfully I was still able to slow it down so the fight didn't last too long and I didn't have to break it off...I'm hoping to go chase some big browns somewhere to the north next weekend...hopefully they'll all eat and I'll be quick on the set...

Smokies Camping Trip

Each fall I try to make at least one camping trip somewhere in the mountains. Here in Tennessee that means I almost always head for the Smokies. The year I was in Arizona gave me the opportunity to visit the White Mountains where you can fish with a backdrop of golden aspen while listening to the elk bugling in the distance. No matter where I am though, the theme of visiting mountains stays the same. This year I made the trip to the Smokies for my annual trip.

The plan was to camp out Smokemont Campground which I had never stayed at before. Now that I've been there, I have to admit that I like Elkmont better but that might just be because the Little River watershed is really my home waters. The North Carolina side of the park has plenty of great water to fish including one of my park favorites, Deep Creek. Other than Little River, Deep Creek would have to be my favorite for several reasons including the excellent population of brown trout and also it receives less pressure than Little River once you get into the backcountry.

While camping at Smokemont, I enjoyed fishing Deep Creek, a small blueline that will remain nameless, and Straight Fork. The fishing at Deep Creek was a bit more crowded than usual which was surprising but I still managed to catch a nice little brown to go along with some small rainbows. While over there we also took in some of the area scenery including the Indian Creek falls.

On Saturday, we decided to do some hiking to enjoy the great fall colors. We also wanted a hike with a view so that meant a trip up to the top of the ridge where we decided to hike to Andrews Bald. I have been wanting to hike to one of the balds for some time now. This was the first time that I've visited one and the scenery was fantastic.

Straight Fork was a blast to fish. I've always enjoyed fishing it and am always surprised at how well it fishes despite the easy roadside access for several miles. By this time the rest of our group had left to head back to Chattanooga so I enjoyed a couple of hours of solo fishing. The fish rose steadily to my October Caddis pattern which I tied on after seeing some giant caddis flying around. I even managed a couple rainbows that were larger than the normal park average by a couple of inches.

Overall it was a great camping trip with the main downside being the low water that is still affecting our area. On the bright side, the continued drought has kept generation on the tailwaters to a minimum meaning that fishing opportunities there are maximized. Tomorrow I'm going to take advantage of that and go looking for some more monsters somewhere. Next weekend I'm starting to think about another trip for monster fish so stay tuned for more...

Caney Float

First Fish of the Day (Photo by Brett Romer)

Last week during my break I had the opportunity to float with Brett (from The Trout Addiction) and Gerry Romer in Brett's sweet Hyde. It was an absolutely incredible day on the water with several very nice fish boated and a few more lost. I hooked the largest rainbow I've had on in the Caney but unfortunately lost it a few minutes into the fight. The fish would have been an easy 20 inches and possibly even a couple more. Needless to say I was pretty bummed but we found more than enough fish to make up for it.

Brett Romer Photo

Chunky Brown (Brett Romer Photo)

Brett let me have some time behind the oars since I've been wanting to give it a shot. I've gotta say that he makes it look a lot easier than it was for me. I'm sure if I have more time behind the oars it will become easier but it took a lot of thought and effort to even pretend to keep the boat pointed in the right direction.

The strange thing about the day was that fishing was best during the first half of the day. Later on things slowed down dramatically until it basically went dead up to around the last half hour or so of daylight when things picked up again.


The Caney is fishing fairly well but will be much better in another couple of months. Winter is my favorite time on the river largely because the cold weather keeps down the boat traffic. I'm thinking a wade trip might be in order for this weekend on either the Caney or the Cumberland so stay tuned for that information...

Yet Another Brown (Brett Romer Photo)

Beautifully Colored Brown (Gerry Romer Photo)

I just want to give a big shout out to the Romer's for a great day on the river! I seriously owe Brett since he did the vast majority of the rowing allowing me to fish most of the way...thanks again Brett!

Cumberland River Outing: Abbreviated Report

Today I finally made the trip up to the Cumberland River for the first time. Thankfully I went ahead and got the annual license for Kentucky because I'm sure I'll be back soon. The fishing was slow at first until I figured out what was going on and then it was game on for the rest of the afternoon.

Before hitting the river I stopped by the Wolf Creek National Fish Hatchery to gawk at the hogs. Unfortunately they won't let you fish here but it is still a lot of fun to watch them...

While impressive, watching the pellet fed hogs soon got boring and it was time to go fishing. After wandering around the countryside for awhile I finally found a place to fish. Things started out really slow but later on I found some really nice fish and started catching a few...

All in all it was a great day and I can't wait to spend more time on this amazing river. Tomorrow I'm off to the Caney and the next day will be the beginning of my Smokies trip so stay tuned for more updates soon...