Colorado Outing

Even though I've moved back to Tennessee, I still love fishing in Colorado.  Yesterday I made it out to the stream to battle the wind and hopefully find a few fish.  Initially I was thinking of hitting Boulder Creek, but at the last second I decided to make a run over the mountain so to speak and fish South Boulder Creek instead.  I'm glad I did.

When I arrived at the trailhead, I could see glimpses of the stream below and the most obvious feature was a distinct lack of snow and ice on the pools.  Looking good so far!  When I got down to the water after a short walk, I tied on a streamer to bounce around a couple of pools.  When absolutely nothing seemed interested, I quickly changed over to a two fly rig consisting of a mysis shrimp pattern and a small midge.  A little stick on indicator a couple of feet up completed the rig, and I got back to casting again.  It only took 3-4 casts before the indicator hesitated.  When I set, I saw a flash but missed the connection.  Thankful that the fish were at least interested, I worked the pool a bit more before heading on downstream to some new water.  

I came to a favorite pool that reminds me a LOT of a pool in the Smokies on Lynn Camp Prong.  The water flows through both holes in an almost identical fashion and it just so happens that it makes for some very tough drifts.  I was fishing in hiking boots so repositioning across the creek wasn't an option.  Thankfully, since it is winter, several fish were stacked in a slow back eddy on my side of the pool.  Several drifts around that eddy and 3 fish later, I was pretty happy about how things were going.

The wind was becoming increasingly annoying however.  It was blowing straight down the canyon in fits and bursts that made casting frustrating from time to time.  After another pool and another trout, I decided that it wasn't worth fighting any longer and headed back towards town.  

Stopping by Boulder Creek, I made a few half hearted casts with a streamer for old time's sake but there was very little open water.  That should be changing in the next few days thankfully with highs forecast to be in the 50s and even 60s for the next week or so.  I'm hoping to get another chance to wet a line while I'm here in Colorado, but the big news is that all my paperwork is back to the NPS for my Commercial Use permit to guide in the Great Smoky Mountains.  I'm predicting that late next week into next weekend will see some fantastic fishing in the Park.  More on that over at the fishing report on Trout Zone Anglers.  

Gone Fishing

Yep, I'm getting out today.  I fully expect to have to break all the ice off the creek before I fish, but with a little luck I'll find some open water.  A report will follow sometime late today or tonight.  Hopefully there will be fish caught to report on.  I'm here in Colorado for another week before heading home.  The last of the paperwork is in so I'll be booking trips in the very near future.  Expect a Grand Opening Sale over on Trout Zone Anglers for guided trips as soon as my permit is finalized with the NPS.

March is the Month

I've caught many nice browns over the years.  March and April have been particularly kind to me when it comes to catching big browns in the Smokies.  Here is one really nice brown from Little River from March a couple of years ago.

The best part about this fish?  I didn't actually catch it.  Well, not exactly anyway.  For those that have not read the story, go back a couple of years in time and check out this old blog post.   It is one of the crazier fishing stories I've ever been a participant in.

Story Time

Today's entertainment is over on the fishing report at Trout Zone Anglers.  I got to rambling about trips to Yellowstone in warm weather.  Enjoy the story and the pictures of the big brown trout!

Brush Up On Your Skills

A new page has been added to Trout Zone Anglers.  This one is a page of useful links.  Right now, I have provided links to several articles I wrote a few years ago for the Little River Journal.  Depending on your mood, you can brush up on your skills, read fishing tails, or perhaps get inspired to journey further afield in your search for that untouched gem of a trout stream.  Just don't explore this page unless you have some time on your hands.  You will get the most out of each story if you can take the time to enjoy the read.

Also, if you have a page that you think would be useful for my readers and clients and would like to have a link on the Trout Zone Anglers' page, please contact me and let me know why I should include your page.

There She Goes

If you enjoy fishing tailwaters, I hope you made it to the Caney or are swinging by today.  Just like that, we get a good rain and everything is blowing out.  I'm guessing the generators come on tomorrow but we might, if we are extremely lucky, get one more day out of the recent lack of precipitation.  Here is a streamflow chart for the Collins River, a tributary of the upper Caney Fork at Great Falls Reservoir.

Spikes like that are not what any of us want to see, but I'm sure it is probably better to be getting all this cold water now.  The fish will appreciate it by late summer and so will the fishermen.  Great Falls lake is showing forecast releases somewhere north of 10,000 cfs.  I'm sure we can all guess what that will do to Center Hill dam and the Caney Fork tailwater.  It looks like two generators around the clock for a while again.

On a more positive note, the rain has cleared out the Smokies streams of ice.  The ice buildup should be a thing of the past unless we get some more extremely cold weather.  Now it is time to start thinking about the spring hatches.  Head over to the fishing report on my new guide site to see a fly I like tying for the Quill Gordon hatches.  For the Blue Quills and Quill Gordons, it is also hard to beat an appropriately sized Parachute Adams. I've had fish doing backflips (literal ones mind you) to eat that fly all day.  For a really picky fish, I'm a big fan of Comparaduns and Sparkle Duns.  Whatever pattern you decide to tie, just make sure you have plenty.  When the fishing is really on, you can never have too many flies.

It's Official

Trout Zone Anglers is now officially in business.  The paperwork with the National Park Service that will allow me to guide in the Great Smoky Mountains will take at least another two weeks and probably longer.  I anticipate being up and running in terms of doing trips by about the first of March.  In the meantime, check out my new page and give me some feedback.  I'm still working on the site almost continually trying to make it more user friendly and easy to navigate/understand.  While you're at it, I would really appreciate it if you would head over to Facebook and 'Like' Trout Zone Anglers.  Finally, please spread the word about Trout Zone Anglers.  The more exposure the better.  Thanks!

Book Review: "Selectivity: The Theory and Method of Fly Fishing for Fussy Trout, Salmon, & Steelhead"

Books.  I can never get enough of them, fly fishing ones in particular of course.  Some books prove to be better than others.  When I was first contacted by the editor at Stackpole Books about the possibility of a book review, I quickly accepted.  Mostly it was just because of the title, Selectivity: The Theory and Method of Fly Fishing for Fussy Trout, Salmon, & Steelhead.  Later, when I had the opportunity to do a question and answer with the author, Matt Supinski, my excitement grew again.  This time it was because Matt let it slip that when it really came down to it, he preferred big, fussy brown trout over all other fish.  Hey! I can relate to that.

Matt's qualifications for writing Selectivity are impeccable.  He has spent a lot of time with some of the legends of our sport including Vince Marinaro and Carl Richards.  Both of these anglers played a large role in guiding Matt's growth not only as an angler, but specifically as a selectivity expert.  Matt has fished throughout the world, but still prefers the legendary spring creeks right here in the United States, such as the Paradise Valley creeks in Montana, above anything else.

My first glimpse of the book produced a good first impression.  The hardcover book has a beautiful dust jacket with great photography.  Opening the book, I was already expecting more of the same and was not disappointed.

Matt Supinski is very engaging as an author because he has the ability to drive home a point through the use of stories.  The "theory" of fussy trout can be quite dry, but Matt has found a way to combine the textbook information with tons of practical stream side applications and stories.  Early in the book, he introduces the central idea behind this book, which is the fact that there are three phases of selectivity: aggressive/active, selective/reflective, and passive/dormant.  Throughout the rest of the book, Matt delves into each phase by breaking it all the way down to each species.

The dialogue with the reader is supported by many fantastic photographs from some of the best anglers and photographers in the sport.  The book also has inserts in various chapters highlighting a key point through a particular story or a study of a particular stream.  One of my favorites is a section called "The Catoctin Creek Conundrum: When Mountain Freestone Trout Behave like Spring Creek Sophisticates" (p. 56-57).  While most people think that trout born and raised in the freestone streams high in the Smoky Mountains are always easy to catch and relatively stupid, I would beg to differ.

I can recall a particularly nice brook trout, one of the largest I've caught in the Smokies in fact, that came up and eyed the fly slowly before refusing.  It took several casts, all of which I thought were perfect, before I caught that fish.  On another trip, I remember a little 6 inch rainbow that I fished to for 20 minutes before cracking the code and hooking up.  Could I have moved on and caught plenty of trout working the fast pocket water?  Definitely, but that's not the point.  Figuring out that fish is what I wanted to do, and that is what Selectivity is all about.

If you are a beginning angler, this book will be a wealth of knowledge that will cut many years off of the learning curve.  If you are a veteran angler, Matt Supinski has finally compiled just about anything you will ever need to know about tough fish all into one spot.  I have learned a lot already and as I read and reread this great book, I'm sure I'll continue to absorb more and more information.

One specific item that any angler will benefit from is the All Systems Go Checklist (p. 62).  It helps the angler focus on exactly how to go about fooling difficult fish. The four checks (#1 Wings, #2 Shape and Body Size, #3 Color, Translucency, and Hue, and #4 Behavior) is much like a formula for figuring out a tough fish.  As a mathematician, I like formulas so this jumped right out at me.

Another tremendous benefit of this book are the full page photographs of flies.  Also, at the end of the book, Matt provides full recipes for all of the flies he shares (p. 207-253).  The book is worth a read just for the information it contains on fly patterns, much less everything else it contains.  I've already been inspired at the bench because of reading this book.

Overall, I can definitely recommend this book to anyone who fishes for trout, salmon, or steelhead.  The entertainment factor is an added bonus right now that the weather is so cold.  If you can't be out fishing, at least you can be honing your skills by reading this book and preparing for the spring hatches which are soon to follow.

For complete disclosure, I was sent a free copy of this book by the publisher for review purposes.    

Arctic Outbreak

We are returning to the deep freeze for a few more days here in Tennessee.  Cold air is now pouring into the area and will affect us through Wednesday.  By Thursday we will see the temperature reach a balmy 41 degrees, good enough to make me think about hitting the river again.

Speaking of the river, I made it down to the Caney Fork yesterday.  The catching was on the slow side.  The fish did seem to like my tiny #24 thread and Krystal Flash midge pattern.  Best of all, I made a couple of observations that should lead to a much more successful trip on Thursday.  The tying bench will be getting a good workout over the next couple of days.

In the long term, I'm contemplating another trip to the Smokies sometime in the next week or so and then I head out to Colorado for a couple of weeks.  While there, I might get a bit of fishing time in but mostly it will be time to spend with friends.

By late February, I'll be tying in earnest and hopefully the cold weather will be ready to give way to the spring hatches.  I still have to finish paperwork with the National Park Service to run guided trips in the Smokies, but as soon as that is complete I'll be booking trips for anyone looking for a guided trip in the Park.  As the weather warms, I'll be adding some options here on the Cumberland Plateau as well including remote backcountry smallmouth wade trips and possibly musky as well.  When generation schedules allow, wade trips on tailwaters will also be a possibility.

Stay tuned here for fishing updates as well as some good patterns I hope to be sharing soon!

Great Start

This is how to start a great day of fishing! My Smokies trip from a couple of weeks ago was a success.  The day got off to an amazing start with this sunrise!