This Week

My immediate future doesn't hold a lot of promise as far as fishing is concerned. However it is starting to appear that there may be a chance at fishing the Caney before I head to Colorado. Since it is close and convenient, if the opportunity arises I'll definitely take it. Still, there's no point in getting too excited yet as this is purely speculation with a healthy dose of wishful thinking thrown in for good measure.

Later this week I'll be doing a presentation on midge fishing for Calvary Outfitters over in Murfreesboro. I'll be working over in Nashville for a few days this week and my evenings will probably be dedicated to tying for Colorado 2009 and preparing for the presentation... I have a LOT of salmonfly patterns to tie not to mention all the other random flies that I haven't tied yet.

I just got a new rod that will be used on this trip to chase some pike and maybe throw streamers for big trout. The rod is a TFO TiCr X 9' 7 weight rod and the thing is absolutely a cannon. I threw the whole line (85') out in the yard the first time I strung it up and while 85 feet is not as long as some lines, it was still a first for me, and I'm definitely not a distance caster...

Right now the plan is to leave Tennessee in two weeks. This year I might try to get into town often enough to provide at least a few short updates so you can look forward to reading about the excitement while it happens...

Results May Vary

One reason I keep returning to the stream with a fly rod in hand is because I can always count on Mother Nature to keep things interesting. There are days where I can do no wrong and it seems the fish are literally throwing themselves onto the hook. Other days are much different and it is only through patience and perserverence that I catch fish. Yesterday was one of those more difficult days.

I made another quick trip to the Smokies because I needed to stop by Little River Outfitters. Not that I need an excuse to go fishing but it does make it seem more reasonable to everyone around me. Two trips to the Smokies in a week is a bit extravagant on my salary, but at least I'm keeping my priorities straight.

After stopping by the shop, I drove up to the trailhead at Elkmont. I had a friend with me that I'm teaching to fly fish and wanted some pocket water that would not require long casts. The plan was to fish some bead head nymphs under an indicator. In the past, this has been a fool proof way to put beginners on fish...not pretty of course, but the important thing is that they start catching fish. After fishing up through a normally productive stretch without catching anything I started getting suspicious. I fished some as well and only missed a couple of strikes for the effort.

Finally in one hole we had lots of fish hit but my buddy was having a hard time with the hookset on these extremely fast fish. I was getting hungry and decided a break might be in order. On the way back down the trail, we stopped at a hole that I can always find a fish in so I could catch one to show him. Success finally smiled on us and I was able to show him what a wild rainbow trout from the Smokies looked like.

We headed back to Subway in Townsend and then went over to Tremont. The first stretch of water that we fished was really nice and should have been producing well. Once again the fishing seemed off. I was really suspicious this time, thinking that most likely someone had already fished through there ahead of us. My suspicions were confirmed this time when we hiked back down the road, following wet footprints nearly all the way back to the car.

Once again we moved upstream and finally found some decent fishing. The fish were still picky and seemed to prefer the flies down in the surface film instead of riding high. The highlight of the day was when my friend caught his first trout and it was on a dry fly! It was not a large fish but that one fish meant a lot to him. Shortly after he hooked and landed another. Unfortunately, the increasingly dim light caused the pictures to come out blurry but I don't think it matters too much. He is enjoying learning to fly fish and has made a lot of progress already. I don't think he lost one fly in the trees all day long!

Overall it was a strange day on the water. I felt that we were fishing behind someone for a large portion of the trip. There were a ton of anglers on the water as we drove up Little River Road and I'm becoming thoroughly convinced that everyone that is losing their job due to the recession is going fishing. I just don't remember ever seeing so many people fishing on weekdays as there have been over the last few months.

The bugs were largely absent until very late in the day. Near sunset, things improved dramatically with light cahills, little yellow stoneflies and golden stoneflies all making an appearance in good numbers with lots of other random bugs thrown in for good measure. After the great hatch Sunday evening, it was a bit frustrating to wait so long on the bugs to show up but it was worth it. Our last fishing was all done with dry flies and the fish weren't too picky... The stream was beautiful in the evening light as sunset approached. I grabbed my DSLR and took a few pictures from the bridge at the traihead on Middle Prong...

Caney Flows Dropping

Finally, it looks like flows on the Caney are about to drop to a fishable range. Center Hill Lake has been rapidly dropping for several days, and I anticipate the river to be fishable, at least by boats, in the near future. Happily I won't be around to experience the joys of fishing it anytime soon due to my impending trip to Colorado. Normally I would regret missing opportunities to fish the Caney but in the case of Colorado I will make an exception.

As flows drop, I want to leave you with some reminders of what the river looked like at the peak of the high water event. These pictures were sent to me by my friend Daniel Freeman. He took them during a camping trip to the Caney last weekend. The trip didn't produce any trout but they did catch striper, hybrids, shad and even a largemouth bass.

This first picture is of the "wooden steps" at Buffalo Valley...scary high if you ask me... The last two are of the Buffalo Valley boat ramp...

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!