Caney March 19, 2010

Low flows are much more common on the Caney now. A corresponding increase in fishing pressure was obvious at all the major access points this past Friday. I arrived at the river around 2:30 in the afternoon and spent the first 20 minutes checking all the main access points from Happy upstream to the dam. With all the other spots crowded I settled on fishing at Happy.

There has been a lot of discontented rumbling about the river for weeks now, and I was really curious to see for myself how the fishing was. While I can’t provide much optimism, I can report that there are still at least a few fish in the river.

The first rig of the day was my Caney standard of a dry and dropper. After fishing for a good long while without catching anything, I decided to sit on the shore and just wait for something to rise. Once, a larger fish that had already rose a couple of times swirled on the surface across the river. However, I wasn’t about to wade across the river again unless the fish showed some consistency with its rises. After waiting for around 30 minutes, a fish rose out in the middle, just out of casting range from where I was sitting. A couple of minutes passed before it rose again, and then again. Finally, a fish with a rhythm.

Wading quietly out while stripping line off the reel, I started casting. The first cast was about a foot long and the fish rose between me and my fly. The second cast was perfect and a sudden swirl proved the fish was hungry. A major battle ensued as I brought the huge 8 inch fish to hand. The fish didn’t really fight much, and I quickly removed the hook to get the little brown back in the water.

Encouraged, I started probing the water again. Blindly covering water just wasn’t the answer so I finally reeled in and started walking down the bank while thinking about just calling it a day. Just before turning to head up the ramp, I saw a rise and decided to give it another shot. Again, I fished for awhile without hooking up. Finally I found a fish with some consistency and made up my mind to catch it. For such a little fish, it proved very difficult to catch. There wasn’t a very good rhythm to its rises so I just kept casting away. By this time I had tied on a small #20 parachute pattern that was close in color to the blackflies that were hatching. I probably cast over this fish for 30 minutes. Normally on the Caney I wouldn’t waste that much time on such a small fish but there weren’t exactly tons of fish to be caught and besides, I wanted to catch fish on dries. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I hooked the little fish and decided to take a quick picture. Sometimes I’m just as proud of catching little fish as I am of big fish. It is all a matter of perspective and the little brown I caught took a lot of patience and persistence.

I fished for just a few more minutes before deciding to call it a day. It was really nice to be back on the river again. I wish I could provide more optimism about the fishing but for now things are going to be tough. The river will fish well again but it may take a few months. Thankfully it is time to really start fishing hard in the Smokies and the warm water species should be turning on soon as well. I just ordered a float tube to aid in fishing area lakes and ponds. With the price of gas creeping up again, I’ll probably spend more time this year looking for local alternatives to trout fishing.

Coming Soon

I am really behind on posting here. I have several fishing reports as well as some stories from a canoe trip in Florida and a product review. This weekend I fished the Caney on Friday and the Smokies on Sunday so check back soon for those reports. This afternoon I should have some free time and plan on doing some updates...

A Little Help

I'm currently thinking about heading down to Florida for spring break to camp and fish in the Everglades. I know absolutely nothing about that area. Thus, I'm shamelessly begging for a little information to help me decide whether it is a trip I want to do. The spring hatches should be starting here in the Smokies, and I'm having a hard time being convinced that it is worth the trip to FL. Currently I don't own any saltwater gear so I only need information on the freshwater portion of the Everglades...no ocean fishing for me... If you are willing to offer advice, feel free to reply here or you can email me. Thanks!

Almost Spring?

Traditionally, the first week of March also brings the first quality hatches in the Smokies. This year has brought colder than normal temperatures meaning that many people here in east Tennessee have a severe case of cabin fever. The cold weather is hanging on strong, bringing snow across the area today. The high elevations in the Park have a lot of snow with Mt. Leconte probably well over 4 feet by now due to this latest storm.

Even the low elevation streams will be running cool for awhile due to the effects of snowmelt. The Quill Gordons and Blue Quills should be hatching any day now, but the cool water temperatures will probably keep the hatch from getting heavy anytime soon. In addition to the first mayflies of the year, we should also be seeing brown and black stoneflies and also little black caddis.

I've been tying hard the last several days trying to prepare for the new season. This weekend I intend to put all those flies to good use and will likely fish the Caney and also hopefully the Smokies. The following week I'll be off for a few days for spring break and will spend as much time on the water as possible. It is about time as I have only averaged 3 days on the water a month so far this year. Those that know me realize that I normally fish a lot more than that. I'm looking forward to the spring fishing for various warmwater species as well. Bluegill are always fun, and it should be time for white bass and stripers soon as well... Hopefully all of you will be getting out a lot over the next few weeks as fishing heats up with the weather!

Caney Finally!!!

The Caney was finally fishable to wade fisherman after weeks of high flows. I arrived at the dam around 1:30 Sunday afternoon hoping for a good hatch and some active fish. After gearing up, I walked down the trail to the wooden steps and made my way into the water. There were already several other fisherman working the off-color water so I moved further downstream to get some distance.

Finally, a couple of splashy rises got my attention so I paused to rig up. After being away from the river for so long, I decided to go back to my favorite rig, a dry and dropper. My starting dropper on the Caney is normally a Zebra midge, and I wanted to try a new color combination. The stained water made things a bit difficult, but I quickly developed a routine. For the rest of the day, if I found a consistently rising fish, then I could generally get it to eat the midge. Here's an example of the water where I was finding fish.

A sparse hatch of blackflies was in progress when I arrived on the river, and it appeared that the fish were keying on the insects as they fluttered across the surface. My dry fly was a little too large to get their interest. However, once the water clears and the fish start keying on adults, I will be casting tiny dries to Caney Fork fish sipping adults or emergers in the film.

The river is still very off-color, and I'm a little concerned about the health of the fishery. However, over the course of the 3 or so hours I fished, I managed to catch several and also saw a few larger fish. I'm guessing the turbidity of the water is at least partially due to the continuing efforts to reinforce Center Hill Dam. If we continue to see some low flows on the river, the fishing should improve. In general, the first few days of lower flows provide slower fishing as the fish get accustomed to the change. Once the flows stabilize, the fishing should turn on. Hopefully the water will clear up as well which should help tremendously.

Good Pictures and Slow Fishing

As planned, I was able to get out and both hike and fish this weekend. The hiking was good and provided me some good opportunities to do some photography. On the other hand the fishing was slow to say the least. In fact, this was my first trip without a fish landed in quite a long while. Not that I didn't have my chances. Over the course of the day yesterday, I had several follows and at least one fish that ate. I just couldn't finish the deal with a good hookset.

On Saturday I hiked to Virgin Falls on the Cumberland Plateau. I have been there a few other times and always enjoy seeing it again. The waterfalls in this area are all very unique in that they fall into caves or just vanish underground. Virgin Falls itself had a greater volume of water than any other time I have visited it. Also, the spray off of the falls had collected into beautiful ice deposits on the trees and bushes, giving the forest the appearance of a large ice storm. The other area falls were nice as well. On the way back up the trail I spent some time photographing one of the area streams. The pocket water and plunge pools would constitute an amazing trout stream, but unfortunately the water temperatures and flow are too inconsistent to support trout.

Here are some of the pictures from the hike this past weekend. I should have spent some time photographing the Smokies streams in the snow but was too concentrated on the fishing.

Deep Freeze

Winter continues relentlessly here in Tennessee. I'm going to try to get out this weekend to cure the cabin fever. Between hiking and fishing I might actually be cured...for a few days anyway. The fishing will include a lot of hunting for big fish so wish me luck! One of these days I'll get a big one in the Smokies...

Rising Water

High water has been the theme lately, both on tailwaters and on the freestone streams of East Tennessee. I had been planning to fish the Smokies this past weekend for awhile now. High water just meant a better chance for large fish.

Friday was perfect for throwing big stuff on Little River. After stopping at Little River Outfitters, I drove on up the river. The water was up to around 1800 cfs when I started and continued to rise throughout the day. Eventually it peaked at somewhere around 2500 cfs.

Finally I found the pool that I wanted to start on. After rigging up, I thoroughly fished the first pool without glimpsing any fish. That is never a good way to start, but I moved on to the next pool with high hopes.

Things improved but not immediately. I worked the pool slowly and methodically and finally had a brown come out and slam my offering. Thankfully the fish found the hook, and I was soon admiring my first fish of the day. The brown was pretty but not very large. Still, a fish is a fish, and I wasn't about to complain.


The rest of the day brought a lot of hope but each time I was disappointed. Several fish came out to play but each one just couldn't seem to find the hook. Visiting the Park is probably just about my favorite thing to do though so I had an enjoyable day. Fishing in high water is always sketchy. Catching one fish is always better than catching no fish. Next time I hope to fish during normal flows. Sight fishing is the way to go but almost impossible during high water. Of course, in a month or so we'll be fishing the spring hatches.

Those of you that are looking forward to the hatches just remember that there are bugs hatching now. Everyone is excited to fish the "big" hatches in the spring but there are plenty of bugs hatching now. You just have to spend a little more time finding the hatch. Midges, various dark stoneflies, and even a few blue quills and blue-winged olives are hatching.

Don't let bad weather or high water keep you from fishing. The fish are still there and still hungry...

Winter in Tennessee

Finally some snow!!! Here in Tennessee, we don't get as much snow as when I was a kid. A snowfall is always an exciting event. Starting January 29, we got more than the usual snow.

The first several inces fell just like normal but around 11:00 p.m. on the 29th, warm air above the surface started changing the snow to freezing rain. The flakes were melting before hitting the ground but the surface temperatures were still below freezing. The result was quite unusual for this area. We had a layer of snow with a layer of ice on top. Usually when we get both, the order is reversed.

The trees were covered with a sparkling glaze of ice, and the result was extremely beautiful...

Force Feeding

Sometimes you have to hit a fish in the nose to get it to eat....literally. A couple of weekends ago I was fishing in the Smokies with a couple of fishing buddies, Joe and Caleb. Joe was fishing a nice flat run while I spotted from on top of the bank. In the back, a brown aggressively chased his offering but wouldn't quite eat. After a couple of repeat performances, the fish finally saw him and moved into the middle of the stream where it sat motionless on the bottom.

Not wanting to bother with a fish that was only eleven or twelve inches, Joe worked on upstream. I continued to watch the fish. Finally it occurred to me that the fish would probably eat if I could just force feed it. I grabbed my fly rod which had a weighted wooly bugger and crept into position. The first several casts drifted close but there was little interest from the fish. Once it gave a half-hearted glance at the fly drifting by but that was it.

I couldn't shake the feeling that the fish would eat and decided to try and drift the fly directly into the fish. A couple of casts later, the fly was drifting perfectly and a well-timed mend set up the final drift. Suddenly the fly seemed to disappear into the fish, and I set the hook hard. I can't say that I actually saw the fish open its mouth, but I did notice the fly just seemed to vanish with the fish being the only likely culprit. After a brief but lively battle, I brought the fish to hand and Joe came back downstream to snap a couple of pictures for me. It definitely wasn't the largest fish I've ever landed but it was one of the more satisfying. I believe it was the first time I ever force fed a fish intentionally without having it ever move to take the fly...