Severe Weather Strikes

A random tornado and way too much water made life interesting here in Crossville over the last 24 hours. May 3rd will long be remembered from a meteorological standpoint for the tornado outbreak that included the Moore Oklahoma F5 back in 1999. Here in Crossville, we celebrated with a tornado of our very own and one that no one was really expecting. To their credit, the National Weather service was on top of things and got a warning out but the storm really came out of nowhere and shortly after producing the tornado it seemingly vanished back to wherever it came from. Synoptically, the overall weather pattern favored severe weather but well to our south. In fact, the Storm Prediction Center did not even have our area outlined for a slight risk for severe weather.

The main threat to middle Tennessee was from flooding. Here in Crossville, we went from a flood watch, to a flood advisory, to a flash flood warning. Area creeks, including the headwaters of the Caney Fork, where well out of their banks. Center Hill Lake on the Caney Fork has come up over 10 feet in 2 days which is truly incredible.

Despite all the water, I didn't really expect much in the way of flood damage. Last night, something strange happened which would make a lot more sense this morning. Our water pressure suddenly dropped off, not all the way but much lower than normal. As I drove to work this morning I found the road closed. Immediately I guess what had happened but wanted to see for myself. After teaching my first class I have some free time so I headed down to check it out. The people manning the barricades kindly let me drive around so I could take some pictures. What I found surprised me even though I already had assumed what happened. The road bed was completely gone and the debris line showed that the water had been within a couple of feet of coming over the road before washing it out.

No one had started repairs yet so I got some great pictures of the damage and then headed over to get some tornado damage pictures. Thankfully, most houses were still in good shape. The tornado knocked down a lot of trees and damaged some outbuildings but it could have been much worse. Anyway, here are some pictures, first of the washed out road and last of the tornado damage.

Bluegills Galore

The rain does not want to stop but that's just fine as far as I'm concerned. Foul weather just seems to turn the fish on. The obvious downside is that our tailwaters will be generating for several more weeks, but I'm okay with that as well. After 2+ years of severe drought, too much rain is definitely preferred over not enough rain.

This afternoon I made a quick run over to the nearby lake I've been hitting more frequently lately. When I arrived, a gentle rain was breaking up the surface so it was hard to spot fish. I decided to try something different today. Instead of just carrying one rod I carried two, one for 'gills and one for bass. My four weight was rigged with two simple flies, a #10 white Wooly Bugger variation and trailing behind was a #16 purple Simi Seal Leech. The rain began to taper off and I started spotting a few fish in close to the bank. After varying the retrieve, I settled on fairly fast 6 inch strips and the fish were soon jumping all over my flies. Early on, the white fly was killer but as the afternoon wore on, the fish became increasingly keyed on the smaller leech pattern and wanted it fished slower.

I never landed any good bass although I did hook a couple on the little leech. A bass on a #16 hook and 6X tippet doesn't stay on long without a lot of luck and while mine was good, it wasn't that good. I had to be satisfied with a bunch of feisty bluegill which were actually a lot of fun since most of them were caught while sight fishing. One of the large specimens of the afternoon had been gorging on earthworms. When I landed the fish, it commenced spitting up worm after worm. I finally got it to stay still long enough to get a picture with a nice juicy worm dangling out of its mouth.

Now I know why worms worked so well back when I was a little kid with a cane poll and bobber. Apparently all the rain brought the worms out and they got washed into the lake where the fish were waiting for the feast.

As the rain came down harder, I started thinking about how nice it would be to go home and dry out. Finally I gave in and called it a day. Not a bad way to spend a few hours in the afternoon!

Just In Time

Yesterday's fishing trip was taken just in time. The Caney Fork is back to running 2+ generators 24/7 again after heavy rain over middle Tennessee has caused Center Hill Lake to start rising fairly quickly again.

Releases
Date Time (Central) Generators
5/2/2009 6pm - midnight 2 or more
5/3/2009 midnight - midnight 2 or more

The 5 day generation forecasat is not showing any relief in sight. With flood watches posted across the area and more rain on the way, it could be June before the Caney is wadeable again. Hopefully by then I'll be headed west to Colorado. Until then, I'll be doing most of my fishing in East Tennessee and will also be chasing area bass and bream. Most of all, I need to start tying a LOT of flies. Every year I say that I'm going to tie my flies ahead of time but invariably I end up tying on picnic tables at the campsite I'm staying at. Maybe this will really be there year. With all the water we're getting I won't be making any trips to the area tailwaters for a long while so I should have plenty of time on my hands...

Silver Rockets

Here in Tennessee, TWRA stocks more than one strain of rainbow trout. While not as beautiful to look at, the lightly colored fish that almost resemble steelhead go absolutely ballistic when hooked. Sure, I enjoy catching a big colorful rainbow but when it comes to straight up fighting power, the silver rockets cannot be beat...

Today I took advantage of a few hours of wader friendly water on the nearest tailwater. My timing was good because it appears that the generators will be coming back on for the next few days. This will be good for those with boats, but all of us that wade will have to wait awhile again.

Thunder and lightning made the trip interesting, but in between those electrifying close calls I actually caught a few. The fish were feeding very heavily to the midges that were having a hard time becoming airborne with all the water falling out of the sky. After getting a few on the standard dead drift, I started stripping my flies and quickly picked up this acrobatic freight train...errr, silver rocket...

Instant Classic at the Underground

Tom Chandler over at the Trout Underground has a story today so wild and far-fetched yet supported with undeniable photographic evidence that it has to be true. The instant classic involves trout raining from the sky...yep, that's right...foot-long brown trout raining from the sky! Only at the Trout Underground I'm guessing although if it ever starts happening here at the Trout Zone I'll probably think that I've died and gone to Heaven. That's probably the only other place where trout fall from the sky. Regardless, I highly recommend a quick trip over to check the great story...

West Trip 2009

Right now, as I mentioned in a previous post, I'm in the early planning stages of a possible West Trip 2009. The idea this year is to try and hit the famed Salmonfly hatch somewhere in the Rockies, and if all goes well, several somewheres. Early June it will be in Colorado, specifically the Gunnison and Colorado rivers. I'm hoping to fish Colorado for at least a week or two and maybe longer before heading north towards Yellowstone and Montana. Up there, I'm hoping to fish YNP and also the Madison outside the park and perhaps the Yellowstone. Other rivers that are under consideration to fish on this trip include the Green and Bighorn.

As I said, I'm currently searching for any useful information for this trip. I've done a lot of research online and will continue to do more. However the main problem for me is money so this trip needs to be cheap. What I want to know is, what campgrounds do you recommend staying at while fishing the Yampa in Colorado, the Green in Utah, and the Madison and Bighorn rivers in Montana? Any other advice would be appreciated and if you would be willing to answer some other questions that would be great. Feel free to reply here or you can email me.

The biggest problem with these trips is that there is so much water and only limited time to fish it all... I'm hoping to get to Yellowstone while the Firehole and Gibbon are still fishing well since it has been a few years since I've got to fish that side of the park. In Colorado, the Taylor, Gunnison, Frying Pan, Roaring Fork, Colorado, and Yampa are all on my list of rivers that I would like to hit. In Yellowstone, I would like to fish the above mentioned waters as well as doing some exploring and probably fish the Yellowstone if it is fishable while I'm there...

Back to the 'Gills

Since I wasn't in the Smokies as I originally intended, I decided that chasing some bluegill and bass late in the day would be a good idea. The small lake nearby that I like to fish had several other people out fishing on it but there were still plenty of good spots to work. My favorite area was deserted so I worked my way over.

When I got there, I tied on a swimming frog (slider style bass bug) from James Marsh and on probably the third cast, this little bass nailed it. The visual aspect of fly fishing is probably the most exciting. Watching fish sip dry flies, nail streamers, explode on popping bugs, all of these add up to make fly fishing the enjoyable sport it is. I'm really starting to enjoy fishing bigger flies and watching fish come chasing them. It all started when I floated the Caney with David Perry and he got me started on streamers. The bug just keeps getting worse. I'm currently in the very early planning stages of a trip out west and am hoping to do some streamer fishing out there as well...

After catching the bass, I started working back towards the car. There are lots of bluegill in this particular lake so I decided to try and catch a few. I tied on two flies, the second of which is one of my most deadly bluegill flies. I've mentioned this fly before but it is well worth mentioning again. It is the Simi Seal Leech and I was fishing a size #16 with a small beadhead in purple. I finally hooked one and for a second thought that maybe a bass had taken the first fly in the two fly rig. However, when I got it close, I saw it was indeed a bluegill and it had taken the small leech pattern. This was one of the fattest bluegill I've ever seen and it fought really well... That fish really made my day. I caught a few more smaller bluegill and sight fished over a bass for awhile, changing flies several times, but he was on to me and wouldn't eat.

Today I'll probably tie a bunch of flies and start planning for my potential trip out west. I've got to do some research on different rivers I hope to fish, fishing license fees, camping fees, and lots of other things. Also, I might try to get a little more time in today fishing...check back to see if I catch that big bass!

Bear Trouble

For the last few weeks I've been looking forward to a backpacking trip in the Smokies. The upper Little River watershed is one of my favorite areas to fish, not so much because the fishing is great as because it is really where I learned to fly fish. My plans for this trip included 2 nights at backcountry site #24 and then up the trail to #30 for another night. I intended to hit Fish Camp Prong and upper Little River over the course of 2-3 days of fishing.

Heading up to the park Wednesday afternoon, I stopped by Little River Outfitters to pick up some tying supplies (thinking about West Trip 2009). After chatting with Byron Begley for awhile, I headed on towards Elkmont. After filling out my backcountry permit, I took off up the trail. There were only two hours of daylight left and I wanted to get into camp and have time to eat supper before dark. I made it in plenty of time and after eating supper went to bed. Sleeping right by the creek is extremely peaceful and relaxing. The sound of a rushing mountain stream is one of natures most soothing sounds and I enjoyed it to the fullest.

Thursday morning I woke up ready for a long day of fishing. As I ate breakfast, I contemplated about how much money it takes to get started backpacking. While I don't have great gear, it still represents a decent investment monetarily and I thought about how terrible it would be if someone took all my gear. I never even thought about Mother Nature destroying anything. After breakfast I was ready to go. Day one was going to be Fish Camp Prong and I hoped to get the Smoky Mountain slam of a rainbow, brook and brown.

The lowest stretch of the stream is the place to catch brown trout so I started there, working my way up slowly from Little River. Things started out a little slow, but finally I picked up a rainbow on a Tellico nymph. Little Yellow stoneflies started making an appearance and I decided to try a Neversink Caddis. This proved good for several fish including a nice brown that ghosted up out of a deeper run to inhale the fly.

After catching the brown, I got back on the trail and started walking to get into brookie territory. I've caught brook trout within a mile of Little River but they seem to be a bit scarce in the lower sections. Finally I got tired of walking and decided to try my luck. As I moved up the stream, the fishing continued to be very inconsistent. It seemed that every run, pool, and pocket required a different fly. I would catch a few fish on one fly only to have it seemingly quit working. Different sections of the stream had different bugs hatching and overall it seemed that a Parachute Adams or Neversink Caddis was a fair representation of most of the adult insects. I fished a double nymph rig as well with a Tellico and one other nymph. After several rainbows, a brookie finally took one of my "secret" soft hackle patterns fished deep as a standard nymph and the slam was complete.

I was fishing through a bit of a gorge and fished until I thought I could scale the high bank back to the trail. Back on Little River I decided to fish up from the Goshen Prong trail bridge to #24. Here the dry fly fishing really picked up. I fished a Parachute Adams for awhile and then switched to a yellow Neversink. The fish liked both equally well it seemed and I caught several nice rainbows and one more brown. After what seemed a short distance, I saw my tent and decided to call it a day.

As I approached my tent, I did a double take. Something didn't seem quite right. My tent was all lopsided and as I got closer, I saw gashes in the side. Upon closer inspection, 2 out of the three poles were broken and the third was bent. Some of the broken pools had tore through the sleeves and there was another gash in the bottom corner where the stake loop used to be attached. Dirt was on the side of the tent and I quickly realized that a bear had stopped by while I was gone. Greatly annoyed, I saw a pile of trash and a hole in the ground and realized that someone had buried trash near where I set up the tent (before I was there). The bear had come through and dug up the trash. Not finding anything to eat, it apparently decided to make my tent uninhabitable on its way through. Maybe it was angry since there wasn't any food. Regardless, I'm now in the market for a new tent. It was ironic that a bear would tear up my tent just hours after I had considered how bad it would be if something happened to my gear...

After taking in the whole situation, I decided it would be in my best interest to pack everything up and head out. I would have to really hustle because it would be dark soon. I got everything in my pack and hit the trail by 7:30 Eastern time. One hour later I had made it back to my car.

Shortly after leaving camp, probably about 300 yards below #24, I saw a fairly large bear feeding near the trail. I clapped to try and scare it away but it just stared back at my completely unconcerned. Bears without fear always make me nervous and I was glad that I was heading out for the night. On the way back down I ran into a guy from the Wildlife Division who was out hunting wild pigs. I told him what had happened and he asked for my name and phone number so he could do a bear report. He mentioned that #24 would probably be closed in the next day or two.

Overall I had a great trip. The fishing was good although I can't quite call it great. I caught a lot of fish but was working a little harder for them than I sometimes have to. There is even a blessing in disguise about my tent being ruined. I could have been in the tent or in camp when the bear decided to show up or it could have more thoroughly destroyed my tent. While the tent won't work for camping anymore, it could have been much worse. The bear could have shredded it and then got the sleeping bag and thermarest inside. That would have made things even worse for me. Replacing a tent is bad enough, but the rest would have been very hard to do anytime soon.

Gone Fishing...

Report to come in a couple of days...

Favorite Tippet

Our latest poll ended yesterday and it looks like the majority of you either use Orvis or Rio tippet products. Lots of others with a loyal following as as but it looks like those two are the favorites. Personally I've fished Orvis Super Strong for years but lately have switched over to Rio. I'm not really sure if I'll stick with the Rio or not though because it feels just a little stiff in my opinion. I do like the Rio Fluoroflex Plus and use it in place of my favorite but more expensive Seaguar Grand Max FX.

For those that haven't made the switch to fluoro for some of their fishing yet, give it a shot. I can honestly say that I feel I land many more fish because of the fluorocarbon tippet used. The "invisible" effect is not really the main reason I fish it. Instead, I feel much more confident that nothing is going to break when I hook that nice fish. Mono tippet seems to break so much easier, and I can pressure fish a lot more with fluoro tippet meaning it is possible to land those large fish much quicker. This is important anytime you intend to release that nice fish which I always do.