Blizzard Hatch

In the Smokies, a blizzard hatch is probably a little different from one in more nutrient-rich waters. Still, from time to time the stars will align and the bugs will pour off the water all at once. Yesterday was such a day and I was fortunate enough to be there to enjoy the event.

I drove up to the Smokies planning to enjoy the last few hours of Troutfest but also planned on fishing. Driving into Townsend I noticed that LR was up and muddy. Thoughts of big browns were soon roaming through my head but I decided to check out Troutfest first. That proved to be an excellent choice. I got to meet a lot of great tiers but the pinnacle was watching Joe Humphreys do his casting seminar. I learned a lot of great stuff watching a true master who is also blessed with the ability to teach!

After the seminar, I headed over to LRO to pick up some stuff I've been needing and then drove up LR road to look for some good fishing. The first few places I stopped all had a few scattered bugs coming off but nothing special. The water was very high and I tried to avoid wading as much as possible. Chucking big nymphs and streamers was the order of the day until my 3rd or 4th stop. The pool is one of the better known ones on Little River and is known for producing good fish. I was hoping to find a large brown out looking for a big meal. As I ran my streamer through the pool, I couldn't help but notice that the bugs were quickly becoming thicker and despite the high, stained water, the fish were rising enthusiastically for the banquet. I ran back up to the car and grabbed my dry fly box and a new leader and hurried back.

The surface activity was better than before and I had a hard time tying everything on and watching all the fish rising at the same time. Finally I had a parachute light cahill and started casting. I tried to remember the tips that Joe had talked about. The tricky currents required a lot of slack in both the line and leader or a reach cast with slack in the leader. Most of the fish were rising on the far side of the pool right along the current seam and into the softer water. This made getting a good drift difficult but I started getting it figured out and the fish responded.

Naturally the best activity was impossible to get to with the high water. If I had my waders with me I probably would have attempted a suicidal stream crossing because the fish on the far side under the overhanging trees looked a lot bigger than the 7-10 inch fish I was catching. Fully satisfied with the fishing, I decided to do some exploring...well, kind of anyway... I went up to another popular pool to see if the hatch was as good.

When I got there things seemed a little slower. The fish weren't rising as enthusiastically that I could see and the bugs were definitely fewer. Still, I figured, I might as well give it a shot. Over the next 30 minutes, I had some of the best dry fly action I might have this whole year. The fish were going absolutely crazy. I got some nicer fish up to around 10 inches to take the fly including a couple of browns along with some smaller fish as well. The light cahills were hatching better than I have ever personally experienced. I think it was probably a combination of higher flow and also the cloud cover. Did I mention that NO ONE else was fishing? I could have fished literally wherever I wanted to... The fishing definitely provided the perfect end to a day at Troutfest! Here's a few of the fish I managed to fool...

First Time

Yesterday I took a friend fishing that had never fly fished before. He has been asking to go for a little while and I finally had a few hours free. We hit the small lake nearby that has been producing well lately in hopes of finding a few bluegill. First timers with a fly rod need agreeable fish and I was hoping that they would be hitting as well as they were a week ago.

We arrived to find a small crowd fishing and decided to walk down towards the dam to get away from everyone. I decided to start out on the same bank that was hot last week. After rigging up, I showed him the basics of casting. After a little experimentation he soon found the proper motion and was casting 20 -25 feet easily. About the time he really started casting well we moved on down to another spot. The fish were obviously not up feeding as shallow as they were last time so we decided to start exploring in hopes of finding the fish. The next spot produced a couple of fish really quickly for me and I started thinking that our luck might improve.

After working up and down the bank, I walked back past my buddy and threw in not far away. Almost immediately my line went tight and then my friend hollered. Looking over, I saw his rod bent as well. Quickly fighting my fish and coaching at the same time, I finally released mine and got out the camera to document the first fish he had ever caught on the fly rod. We took a couple of pictures and then released the fish to catch again another time...

Small Stream Poll

If you have not done so already, please vote in the poll (on the right side of the page) on your favorite water type in a small streams. Most small streams are largely pocket water with the occasional large pool to break the pattern. Pocket water is probably my favorite type of fishing, but pools provide special opportunities as well. Sometimes the difference between the two can be blurred. On really small streams, the pools may be the size of most small pockets on a larger river. Still, the pools generally require a more stealthy approach than the pocket water regardless of size. Normally my preference is pocket water, but some days I just want to fish pools and hustle past all the prime pockets in the stream...really, it is all fun...

So, which do you prefer?

Nothing But Busy

My fishing time has been suffering a lot lately. Unfortunately that is what happens when you get a real job. Today, I'll probably sneak off a few hours for the first time in a while. Time on the water will help ease my stress levels and also get me excited for this summer when I'll be fishing a lot more.

I have some good stuff coming. This weekend is Troutfest in Townsend, Tennessee, and all be heading up for the day on Sunday most likely. There will be several famous fly fishermen there including Lefty Kreh, Joe Humphries, and Bob Clouser. My plan is to check out some of the events and seminars for a couple of hours and then head into the park to fish a little also. There is no way I can be that close to the Smokies streams and not fish.

Mid-May through mid-June is prime time in the park for good hatches and rising trout. Many of my best days in the Park have been at this time of the year so I'll hopefully be returning often until I leave for Colorado.

Anyway, check back sometime tonight or tomorrow morning to find out how today's fishing went. I'll be chasing bass and bream on a local pond. Maybe I'll finally get that big bass I've been looking for...

Spilling Water

With the abundance of rainfall, hydroelectric dams across middle Tennessee have begun spilling recently. Yesterday, my sister kindly stopped by Center Hill dam on the way to Nashville and took a few pictures for me. All of you that enjoy fishing the Caney Fork will be interested to see the river up and out of its banks. Currently, 5 out of 7 flood gates are open making for an impressive sight after the last few years of drought. Because of the ongoing repairs to the dam, TVA is trying to draw the lake back down to target levels. As a result, we can expect lots of water for at least the next month and probably until July. The benefit is that the fish that survive will be relatively untouched for awhile and will probably grow well with the high water. Much thanks to my sister, Amy Wren, for taking all of these pictures...

Remembering Trips Past

Today, as I was thinking about my upcoming trip or trips, my thoughts turned to past trips to places like Colorado and Yellowstone. Some of my favorite memories have no photographic documentation unfortunately. Of course, it seems like having a camera around is the surest way to NOT have a memorable experience. Still, I've been fortunate enough to get many of my memorable moments documented. The large brown on the Taylor that was sipping PMD spinners at sunset, the day of catching big rainbows on the Gunnison, elk in Rocky Mountain National Park, and buffalo in Yellowstone. All of these together form some of my favorite memories of fishing trips past.

While thinking about past trips, I started looking back at some of my favorite pictures from past years. Here are a few examples of why I love to travel "out west:"

(All pictures not labeled as "David Knapp Photography" are by Trevor Smart)

Update: West Trip 2009 Planning

Right now I'm still trying to work everything out for my trip or trips out west this summer. The way things are shaping up, my first trip might be just to Colorado plus the Green in Utah. If everything goes the way we're hoping, we'll be fishing lots of West Slope streams, rivers and lakes for 2-3 weeks give or take in mid to late June. Most of the freestoners will be high from runoff at that time but the tailwaters should fish very well. This time should also give us a chance to target pike before the lakes warm up too much. Also we'll get to see some different hatches compared to what we normally see. I've always wanted to hit the Salmonflies in Colorado and maybe the Cicadas on the Green and with our schedule there's a good chance we'll get lucky this year!

Later on, I'm looking at a possible trip to Yellowstone near the end of July. If it works out, I'll be in that area for around 10 days chasing big browns, rainbows and cutts. As much snow as they have, there might even be a few salmonflies around on the Yellowstone in the Park!

Once again, if anyone has any advice on any of these streams and areas it would be appreciated. In particular, I'm interested in the Green, Yampa, and Colorado rivers in June. Runoff will be a problem but big bugs might make up for the limited wading opportunities!

Update on Middle Tennessee Weather

Just when it was looking like the lakes and rivers around here might be starting to slow down, the National Weather Service in Nashville has issued another Flood Watch for our area for Wednesday. At this rate, we might not fish the Caney again this year...at least, not with any fish in there. Late last week they stocked the river but fresh stockers plus high water is going to equal a lot of fish that vanish.

Another item of interest meteorologically is the tornado survey for the Cumberland County tornado. In addition to details on the actual survey (they rated it an EF-1), they have put lots of pictures up of the damage. If you are interested in severe weather, you should check out the survey page.

While our streams continue to be unfishable, I might have to resort to fishing lakes some more. There should be some good fishing to be had for warm water species and I also have my eyes on a lake that should produce trout for another few weeks before the water warms too much. These trout that remain from the winter stocking program by TWRA are generally destined to die once the lake warms too much but until then they should provide some fun fishing. I also still have that big bass to catch at the lake nearby so check back soon to see if I actually find a little time to go fishing...

Caney Update

The updated forecast releases on the Caney are now showing over twenty thousand cubic feet per second for the next several days. Here's hoping some of the trout actually stay in the river and don't end up clear down in the Mississippi... I'll see you on the Caney to fish, sometime next fall...:(

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.