Featured Photo: Autumn Glow
Friday, December 23, 2011
Fly Tying Material?
Need some feathers for the winter fly tying? Maybe you should head to Utah where dead waterfowl were apparently laying all over the ground. According to the story from CBS, the birds crash landed when they mistook a Walmart parking lot for a lake. At least 1500 birds didn't survive, but close to 3000 were rescued and taken to area lakes. The legality of taking the dead birds for their feathers is probably sketchy at best, but just think of all the flies you could be tying...
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Merry Christmas To Me
Yesterday, a dream that began when I was a small boy was finally fulfilled. Yet even in that fulfillment there is the desire for something better. Despite all the big browns I have caught over the years, a fish twenty inches or better has eluded me in the Smokies...until now. After countless hours pursuing big browns in the Park, I can finally say I landed a fish over twenty inches but naturally now want to catch one over 24 inches. This 21 inch male hammered an olive sculpin pattern...Merry Christmas to me...
Monday, December 19, 2011
Two New Blogs
Finally, I have started catching up on some updates here at the Trout Zone. The biggest I would like to point out to everyone is the addition of two more blogs to our list of "Great Blogs." These are the blogs that I personally frequent the most although I check in with many others from time to time as well. The newest additions to this list are the Backcountry Journal and the Gink and Gasoline Blog. Both contain great writing as well as great pictures and stories on fly fishing, a sure promise of interesting reading. Check them both out!
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Fall Browns
Here is a short collection of some of the better browns I encountered over the last few months. Some photos have been altered slightly to protect my favorite fishing spots although if you're familiar with the rivers and streams represented you can probably still figure it out. Right now, I'm preparing to venture into the wilderness of east Tennessee in search of big rainbows and browns. Hopefully I'll return with lots of good stories and maybe a few pictures as well...
Monday, December 12, 2011
Memories: Part 1
A thread started today on the Little River Outfitters Message Board started me thinking about fly fishing memories. I'm going to start sharing some of my favorite fishing related memories. For starters, here's one about a brown trout and a boy with a fly rod.
Before I even understood how to go about catching any trout, I dreamed of catching big browns. Early in my fly fishing career, I was doing good to scare up a small rainbow or two, but that didn't stop me from hoping for something more special.
One day, my dad (who usually drove me to the park to fish) had taken me fishing. He never actually fished but was the first one to take me fishing when I was 4 or 5 and almost the only one who ever took me before I was able to drive myself. This particular day was a beautiful early June day. We had explored several areas, but I was not having particularly good luck with just a few small rainbows to hand (from Tremont if I remember correctly).
As sunset was approaching, we stopped at one last pullout, this time on Little River. My dad was tired and decided to stay in the car. When I started driving myself, I came to understand why people would be tired late in the day, but at this point I was blissfully unaware. I trekked down a dim but short path to the stream and began tossing a yellow Stimulator.
I worked my way to the head of the pool and was casting in the pocket immediately above the main hole when I first saw the flash of gold. A nice brown came out and circled furiously around my fly before disappearing back under the white froth. Two more casts produced similar results and then the brown seemed to have vanished for good. Desperate measures would be needed.
Recalling how I had enticed a big Abrams Creek rainbow by dancing the fly on the surface during a hatch, I contemplated a similar trick. The big Stimulator was soon skittering across the surface and almost immediately the brown reappeared, charging through the water towards my now tantalizing fly. One last mighty twitch brought the intended result. I was now attached to what I then viewed as a monster.
Carefully battling the fish down through the pool, I finally brought it close enough to land. The 14 inch brown was heavier than many similar sized fish I have since caught. I will always remember that first nice brown even though I now dream of fish measured in pounds and reaching well over twenty inches. That fish was a major accomplishment to me as I am mostly self-taught, and at this point in my fishing career wondered if I would ever catch anything over 10 inches.
I have many other amazing memories from the Park. In fact, that is one thing that I love so much about it. Every trip gives me a special memory, and that is the way it should be. As soon as it becomes common or everyday, then it will no longer be the magical place that it should. I still get excited the night before a fishing trip and hope that will never change...
Before I even understood how to go about catching any trout, I dreamed of catching big browns. Early in my fly fishing career, I was doing good to scare up a small rainbow or two, but that didn't stop me from hoping for something more special.
One day, my dad (who usually drove me to the park to fish) had taken me fishing. He never actually fished but was the first one to take me fishing when I was 4 or 5 and almost the only one who ever took me before I was able to drive myself. This particular day was a beautiful early June day. We had explored several areas, but I was not having particularly good luck with just a few small rainbows to hand (from Tremont if I remember correctly).
As sunset was approaching, we stopped at one last pullout, this time on Little River. My dad was tired and decided to stay in the car. When I started driving myself, I came to understand why people would be tired late in the day, but at this point I was blissfully unaware. I trekked down a dim but short path to the stream and began tossing a yellow Stimulator.
I worked my way to the head of the pool and was casting in the pocket immediately above the main hole when I first saw the flash of gold. A nice brown came out and circled furiously around my fly before disappearing back under the white froth. Two more casts produced similar results and then the brown seemed to have vanished for good. Desperate measures would be needed.
Recalling how I had enticed a big Abrams Creek rainbow by dancing the fly on the surface during a hatch, I contemplated a similar trick. The big Stimulator was soon skittering across the surface and almost immediately the brown reappeared, charging through the water towards my now tantalizing fly. One last mighty twitch brought the intended result. I was now attached to what I then viewed as a monster.
Carefully battling the fish down through the pool, I finally brought it close enough to land. The 14 inch brown was heavier than many similar sized fish I have since caught. I will always remember that first nice brown even though I now dream of fish measured in pounds and reaching well over twenty inches. That fish was a major accomplishment to me as I am mostly self-taught, and at this point in my fishing career wondered if I would ever catch anything over 10 inches.
I have many other amazing memories from the Park. In fact, that is one thing that I love so much about it. Every trip gives me a special memory, and that is the way it should be. As soon as it becomes common or everyday, then it will no longer be the magical place that it should. I still get excited the night before a fishing trip and hope that will never change...
Drive Through Fishing
While perusing random local news stories, I came across a new method for fishing Little River, drive through fishing. The main benefit is in never having to go to the effort to get out of your vehicle. This idea, of course, was quickly discarded as I read the rest of the article. Apparently the benefits don't outweigh the costs... The driver of the vehicle probably was not testing out this novice idea by the way as the crash apparently occurred around 11:00 p.m.
The Little River road is no joke and I'm always at least a little surprised that things like this don't happen more often. I have carefully maneuvered my way around curves in the Park many times only to discover an oncoming vehicle whose driver apparently feels it is necessary to use part of both lanes. This and the poor folk who apparently don't know what a curve is and thus are terrified to drive above 15 mph always leads me to suspect that more accidents of this type should be occurring but thankfully that impression is not founded on facts.
Regardless, be careful out there on the way to the stream and be even more careful while on the stream. Just imagine if it had been daylight and a fisherman was working up that bank picking the pockets...
The Little River road is no joke and I'm always at least a little surprised that things like this don't happen more often. I have carefully maneuvered my way around curves in the Park many times only to discover an oncoming vehicle whose driver apparently feels it is necessary to use part of both lanes. This and the poor folk who apparently don't know what a curve is and thus are terrified to drive above 15 mph always leads me to suspect that more accidents of this type should be occurring but thankfully that impression is not founded on facts.
Regardless, be careful out there on the way to the stream and be even more careful while on the stream. Just imagine if it had been daylight and a fisherman was working up that bank picking the pockets...
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Musky!!!
I joined David from Southeastern Fly out on the river today along with Brent for a day chasing musky! Brent ended up having the magic touch and we all enjoyed getting to see one of these awesome fish up close. For a little more on our trip, read David's report here...
Friday, December 09, 2011
Great Article on Winter Fishing
I just enjoyed an excellent article on one of my favorite subjects, winter fly fishing. The Hopper Juan is one of the blogs I frequent the most and always has great information. Check out the story and get inspired to head out in the cold months ahead. Most people don't realize that with the proper flies and techniques, the fish will still respond well even in very cold water. Those fish still have to eat!!!
Wednesday, December 07, 2011
Snow!!!
Today we had snow for the second time this year, although some people wouldn't condescend to label the dusting we got as snow. Still, for this part of the country, the first snow of the year is a welcome sight as we never know how much will actually fall any given winter. After the snow tapered off, I hurried out with the new camera to have a little fun. Here are some of the results...
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