Crossing the Ridge

Fishing trips are often planned, and of course those are generally the most successful. Poring over maps, imagining every possible eventuality and planning for it, tying lots of flies to match whatever you expect to hatch, all of these add up to create the perfect trip. Then there are those other trips, the spur of the moment "decide as you go" type trips. Flexibility may not always generate the best fishing, but sometimes it can. Of course, since you cannot pursue both options simultaneously and independently, it is impossible to know which course of action would have give you a better trip, but if you ask me, spontaneity is good for the soul at least occasionally.

Last week, a planned two-day fishing trip to sample the spring fishing for myself was cut short. That was all fine and good since the reason was morning guide trip the first day. Seeing an opportunity to pay a few bills and pay for the trip as well, I reasoned that giving up a morning of my own fishing trip was not a bad price. As a guide, I have to take trips when I can get them.

The original plan was to camp at Elkmont, and with the guide trip in the morning that seemed like an even better idea. I didn't account for the spring break crowd though. Driving through the campground in mid afternoon, I discovered that all sites were full except for one or two handicap accessible sites. Technically those are first come first served for anyone once the rest of the campground fills up, but I don't like crowds and decided to go with the flow.

My backup plan became Smokemont on the other side of the Park. Crossing the ridge into North Carolina, I enjoyed the excellent views from the top before rolling down the hill to the campground. The campground was probably only half full which, while still not perfect, is a lot better than what I saw on the Tennessee side.

The tent was put up in short order, and I got organized with my gear. Guide rods were disassembled and or the rigging modified to suit my fishing needs for the next 24 hours. When the pack of 1x leaders turned up missing because they were sitting safely back home, I simply cut back a leader and then extended it with 1x tippet to make a suitable streamer leader. The nine foot four weight rod was outfitted with a dry/dropper consisting of a #12 Parachute Adams and a bead head caddis pupa of my own design in size 14.

Carrying both rods, I strolled down through the campground with the plan of fishing back up to camp. The light was only going to last so long and I wasn't wasting any of it by hiking or driving to fish.

In an hour or so of fishing, I had two good tugs on the Olive Sculpin that was on the streamer rod and caught a couple of little fish on the four weight. The water was a tad lower than ideal for streamer fishing so I focused more on the lighter rod after the first good pool. Back near camp, a kind gentleman offered a bit of advice and told me that a dropper would probably help my fishing. I smiled and thanked him for his generosity and advice.

A sudden craving reminded me why camping at Smokemont is so nice: Cherokee, North Carolina has a Taco Bell a short distance away! Normally, once I immerse myself in the calm of nature, I won't return to "civilization" until absolutely necessary, but on this occasion, it seemed like the thing to do. Flexibility tasted delicious.

Awakening early the next day, I was on the water well before the sun came up over the ridge. One good fish that I've been chasing for a while gave a half hearted tap on the streamer and was gone. A switch to white in the form of a PB&J produced better results. Shortly after switching, I nailed one of the fish I missed the previous evening. Further down I was chased by a goose and missed another trout. Talk about high adventure! Since the goose didn't quite catch up with me, I soon realized that I was still alive and vowed to keep a close on the large birds in the future.

Getting hungry, I found my way back to camp and discovered that the camp stove that I had "packed" wasn't actually there. Never assume that your camp stove is in a bag just because you glance in and see canisters of fuel. Another quick trip into town for breakfast soon had me fueled up, and shortly thereafter I found myself at the chosen North Carolina trailhead ready to hike in for the day's fishing in the Smokies.

Determined to fish new-to-me water, I set a good pace until the wildflowers distracted me. Stopping for a while with my camera, I enjoyed the show. Flexibility was gorgeous I must say.

About the time I was finishing with the pictures, a couple of guys came down the trail. Having talked to them in camp the evening before, I knew they had fished up above that morning. They reported slow fishing with the high water levels of spring making the catching tough. Wondering if I had made the right decision, sticking with the plan seemed like the thing to do although I had misgivings. Not too far upstream, a perfect pocket called for my dry fly so I decided to try and pick off a fish.

After a few drifts, I hooked what turned out to be a very solid rainbow and the theme of the day would begin to establish itself: decent numbers of fish with the nicer fish generally (though not always) taking the dry fly and coming from the obvious prime lies. After a quick picture, the rainbow swam away to be caught on my next trip hopefully.

Moving up the stream was a challenge. The water was a bit higher than I often like to wade. Wet wading kept me from doing anything stupid since the water was cold enough that I wouldn't get in too deep. Still, if I could find a good pocket or slick, I was generally rewarded with a fat trout.

An interesting pattern began to develop when I hooked my 10th trout of the day, a nice brown, on a dry fly. Significant numerical milestones for fish caught were also turning out to be nicer than average trout. Fish number 20, 25, and 30 continued that pattern before finally being broken at trout number 35.

While I was catching a lot of fish, the actual catch rate was not what I would call excellent. Good perhaps but not excellent. Having experienced days in the Smokies where 20-25 fish an hour are legitimately possible, averaging 7-10 fish an hour is probably a bit more realistic for normal conditions on a backcountry stream. Putting in a long day on the water was the recipe for a lot of fish on this trip. The fish I was catching were beautiful. Here are a couple of the prettier fish I caught during the day. Look at the blue dot on the cheek of that brown and the bright colors on the rainbow.

In between catching fish, I also paused and took time to enjoy the scenery. Admittedly, I generally remembered to relax after catching a nice trout, but at least I was relaxing!

By the time I was getting close to 40 trout, the clouds were looking darker and an occasional rumble of thunder sent me back down the trail. After a quick dose of rain, I stopped and caught a few more trout to bring me up to 40 fish exactly for the day. Rarely do I ever keep track of numbers, but occasionally I like to see how many I'm actually catching. On this trip where flexibility ruled, I was somehow able to keep track of the numbers. Normally I forget after fish number five or six and just give up. Possibly that is a sign of getting older. My brain is apparently not high powered enough anymore to keep track of the details of a well-planned trip and the number of fish I'm catching. 

Back at the car, a quick check of the time told me there was still hours of daylight left to fish. The morning and early afternoon had featured rainbow and brown trout so a quick stop for brook trout seemed like the logical next step in my fishing adventure. Crossing back over the ridge, I settled for some roadside water that gets a fair amount of pressure and lucked into a stretch that had obviously not been fished that day or for a while. Both rainbows and brook trout rose willingly to the dry fly although the dropper was getting more action at this higher altitude.

Frustration flared briefly when I snagged a couple of hungry tree branches, but thankfully I was able to retrieve my flies. Finally, realizing that I had been fishing for 12+ hours, it dawned on my why I was getting tired. Whenever I start to lose my edge on the stream, I know that I'm getting tired. In this instance, I didn't have to fall on my butt to realize I was getting tired so I guess tangling some flies in the tree is not so bad after all. Quitting is always the smart thing at this point, either temporarily to refuel and rehydrate or for the day. With another 30 trout caught on this stream, I was ready to call it a day. The walk back to my car was a splendid last dose of fresh mountain air before the drive home. 

Relaxed from my trip, I realized I was not in the same rush as the day before. Instead of passing the slow cars, I found myself pulling off to let the faster people pass me on the curvy roads. Eventually, as the sky was getting dark, I was driving out of the foothills. When I got home, I was soon in bed and fell asleep almost instantly.

My next trip to the mountains will probably be planned with the meticulous detail that accompanies the majority of my excursions. Then again, I had so much fun on my spontaneous trip that I just might have to do it again.

If you are interested in a guided fly fishing trip in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee or North Carolina, please call or text me (David Knapp) at (931) 261-1884 or email me at TroutZoneAnglers@gmail.com. I can also be reached through the Contact Me page at Trout Zone Anglers. I offer both front country and backcountry fishing trips. Backcountry trips are generally only full day trips but offer anglers the chance to fish less pressured water like I did on this trip. The results are often more and sometimes even larger trout.

Active at Sunset

Yesterday, after helping at Little River Outfitters with day two of their beginner fly fishing school, I headed back into the Park for a couple of quick adventures. I'll tell about the other one later. For now, I'm still remembering the evening hatch with satisfaction.

With the sun sinking below the ridge line, the river was left in the shade of a warm spring evening. The bugs were becoming more active. Working up through first one pool and then some pocket water,  I managed a small wild rainbow that just happened to be one of the coolest takes I've seen in a while. My outfit of choice was again the Sage Accel 904-4 that I've been enjoying lately. A #12 Parachute Adams with a bead head nymph of my own devising as the dropper completed the rig.

Instead of coming up to hit the suspended nymph like I would have expected, the rainbow shot all the way from the bottom to the surface to inhale the dry fly without any hesitation. I was peering over the top of a rock and watched as the trout came all the way from the bottom in 4 feet or so of water. After releasing that beautiful little fish of maybe 6 inches, I headed on up to the next pool while noting how slippery the rocks were for so early in the season.

Soon the stream would be shrouded in darkness, but at this magical moment as the sun was setting, bugs were hatching and the trout were happy. Some small fish, mostly warpaint shiners, were hitting the surface, but I was interested in larger quarry. Finally positioning myself at the bottom of the next pool, I took a moment to look all around.

There was a flicker of movement under the fast current near the tailout, and I noticed what appeared to be a quality fish moving back and forth as it fed on whatever was coming by in the drift. Without hesitating, I dropped the flies about 3 feet above the trout and watched in satisfaction as it came off the bottom to inhale the dry fly.

The fish was much larger than most rainbows in the Smokies, so I played it carefully out of the heavier current. Somehow I kept it from plunging into the rapids below and soon had it close enough for a quick picture. Slipping out the hook, I cradled it for a moment before it swam strongly away, hopefully to be caught another day.

South Carolina Trout Fishing: Day Two

Now that we are a month removed from my South Carolina excursion, I'm finally getting around to day two of the adventure. Things got busy in a hurry once the weather turned nice so I'm a little behind. Other great stuff is on the way this week including a trip report from the Smokies last week in which I matched my second best all time day for numbers. The quality was good as well.

So, back to the headwater streams in the northwest corner of South Carolina, after our day one trip to explore the lower reaches of the stream, we were excited to hike in a bit and see how the stream fished higher up. The weather was again perfect and the only fly in the ointment so to speak was the necessity to get back home to help my cousin do some work around the house before it got too late. Seeing as how the stream was relatively close, that was actually not really a problem so we headed out early for a great day on the water.

We headed up the trail, completely unsure of what to expect from the fish. The stream was beautiful though and it was not too hard to imagine a trout or three in every pool and pocket.

Dry flies were still tied on from the day before so we were ready to fish! Heading slowly upstream, we had a few hits and even caught some smaller trout. The fish were obviously there but the action was not quite as fast and furious as the day before. Overcast conditions probably did not help since the sun was not warming the water as early in the day.  Eventually, however, the bugs did start to show up. Quill Gordons were hatching along with a few stoneflies and caddis.

By the time we were getting hungry, we had progressed on up the stream a ways and were needing some energy to fuel our last hours of fishing for this particular trip. Some delicious chili and chips on a cool spring day hit the spot.

Not long after lunch, we started finding some nicer fish. The pools were perfect and obviously provided habitat for quality trout.

While the fish were still not large, they were better than the tiny two to three inch fish we also were catching at times. These wild streams always provide a variety when it comes to the fish size. Most streams have large numbers of one and two year old fish and fewer of the three and four year old fish just because of the natural cycles. That means that any time you are on these streams you better expect to catch a few of the little guys also.

While stopping to catch pictures instead of fish, I had fun with my camera and my cousin took the opportunity to catch a nice rainbow.

What was particularly interesting to me about this rainbow is how golden it appeared and also how dense the spotting is. I'm quite curious about the genetics in this stream. Does anyone know how much coloration like this is a product of genetics versus the environment? The stream produced several of these golden colored rainbows with a lot more yellow compared to the fish I catch in the Smokies. Some of the rainbows looked a little more "normal," though still with a yellow tint.

Eventually, after having more fun with the camera along the way, we reached a good point where we could get out and hustle back down the trail. We were pushing our deadline to get back to my cousin's house and knew we better hurry. What a fantastic day though! I'll be looking forward to getting back down there. I went ahead and got an annual fishing license and am sure there will be more fishing adventures in South Carolina!

Dry Flies and Brook Trout

Have you ever developed a sudden craving? Hopefully it is for some delicious food and not that bad habit you kicked years ago. The other day I developed a craving for some brook trout in the Great Smoky Mountains. The fish were all glad that it just involved catching them and not eating them.

Late Tuesday afternoon, I drove over to my local farm pond to see what was going on. When I got there, the weather was so perfect that I started thinking about fishing again on Wednesday. Suddenly, I knew I had to go brook trout fishing in the Smokies. Just like that.

Somehow, spending April Fools out fishing just makes a lot of sense. Away from civilization, the only tricks that can be played are either on yourself or on the fish, hopefully the latter. While I love guiding, I don't always get to fish as much for my own enjoyment and with a couple of open days on an otherwise busy calendar, I knew it was best to get out while I could. After a stop by Little River Outfitters to pick up a couple of awesome fly cups with built in dividers (I use these cheap plastic fly cups ALL the time), I headed on up to the trailhead.

Now, I know you are thinking that you have figured out where I was going if you know much about the Smokies. Turns out you probably don't know after all, because it wasn't where you are thinking and where everyone else is going. That was intentional. I didn't want to fight crowds all day.

When I hit the trail, I was confident that I would be the only person on the water, and I was right. On the hike in, the trail is fairly clear for a while but slowly dissolves. This stream involves getting a little off the more travelled trails which is at least one reason not many people know about it or fish there. Here the path is still fairly obvious while it runs along a carpet of wildflowers.

Even though I was focused on fishing, I did stop long enough to enjoy the tiny flowers and dug out the camera to take a couple of pictures. Here is one of the better ones.

Not long after, the sound of roaring water got louder and the creek came into view. Even though I know that the fishing is better farther up, I wanted to see what the lower section was like and started fishing right away.

This trip was the first time using my new toy. People who book a trip with me will enjoy using this rod I think. I've seen reviews on this rod both praising it as well as people who do not like it. I will say this about the rod: it was extremely accurate with dry flies at the close ranges (8-25 feet) I fish on the brook trout streams and was fairly sensitive while having enough backbone to be a fantastic nymph rod when necessary as well.

The action on the lower creek was slow as is normal. The average sized fish was also really small which led me to believe that the creek may have been fished in the last day or two. Or it could just be not as good. Clearly, further investigation is necessary. Larger fish were there, however, but appeared to need a few extra meals. This relatively long fish compared with the little guys I started out catching was as skinny as any brook trout I have ever caught.

As the water slowly warmed, so did the action. By the time I was moving higher up the creek, I had cut off the dropper and ditched the short experiment of a double nymph rig (which to be fair did catch a fair number of fish). A simple Parachute Adams or Elk Hair Caddis was all the fish seemed to want and so that's what I fished.

Moving up the creek, I paused to eat lunch before catching more brook trout. I decided that one sandwich was not enough and made a mental note to bring two next time.

The stream was so beautiful that I stopped to take pictures of the water from time to time as well as the usual pictures of the trout I was catching.

Eventually, with the nice bright sunlight to allow fast exposures, the wheels started turning in my brain, and I decided to plan around with some in the water shots. While I have no problem with a quick fish picture as long as one is careful to wet their hands and being fast to get the fish back in the water, shots of fish in the water are nice because they look more natural. Here are two of my favorite results.

By this time, I was getting hungry. Wishing for a second sandwich didn't seem to fix the problem so I started the hike out before things got desperate. On the way, I stopped to take a shot of the "trail."

The stream also begged for another shot or two as well.

Walking through one section where I had been in the stream on the way up, I noticed the flowers were even better than on the hike in further down the mountain. Out came the camera and if anyone had come along they would have been calling for a rescue probably as I was all sprawled out on the ground trying to get just the right angle.

Farther down the mountain, I again stopped to catch a second species for the day. The stream I had been fishing was strictly a brook trout stream and hopefully it stays that way. Down below, the stream is a good rainbow trout fishery. Watching this fish come up all the way from the bottom to eat the Elk Hair Caddis was a good ending to a fun day on the water.

One more stop with the camera not far from the trailhead made for two more enjoyable pictures and then I was back to the car and heading home for something to eat.

This day was a great reminder that this is not all about the fishing. The little things along the way from flowers to trailside reflections help make each day out something special to be remembered for years to come. The brook trout were just a bonus. I did get to spend the day out in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park after all...

Colorado Presentation Tonight in Knoxville

Tonight I will be giving a presentation on fly fishing in Colorado for the Great Smoky Mountains TU chapter. Ever visited Colorado or maybe you have been thinking of a trip but do not know where to start? I will be covering a few favorite fisheries including the best season to hit them and some other information that will have you ready for a road trip. For more information on the meeting time and location, check out this post on the Little River Outfitters message board from the chapter president. Hope to see you there!

Shining Fins

As you well know if you have paid much attention to this blog, I enjoy messing around with a camera. On a recent trip to the nearby cow pasture lake, I decided to have some fun with a couple of the crappie that I caught. Here is the result. Both of these are versions of the exact same picture. I just cannot decide which one I prefer. Which one do you like better and why?

#1

#2

South Carolina Trout Fishing: Day One

Ever since my cousin moved to Greenville, SC, he has been trying to convince me to visit and experience some South Carolina trout fishing.

Not that I needed much arm twisting when fishing was involved, but you know how life gets in the way and things get busy. Last week, with the memory of the ice storm of 2015 still fresh in my memory, the thought of a warmer climate and spring hatches had me thinking about a road trip.

Most people probably don't even realize that South Carolina trout fishing even exists. I must admit that I was a bit skeptical about the quality of fishing that I would find, but then part of the charm of fishing new water is in the exploration as much as in the catching. After doing a fair amount of research, I discovered that, yes, South Carolina does have some trout fishing although it remained to be seen whether it would be worth a second trip.

A few weeks back, when the Cumberland Plateau was stuck in winter's icy grip, I called my cousin and made plans to visit during his spring break. When last week turned out to be one continuous rain shower here in Tennessee, I knew I had picked the right time to travel. While my local waters were all high and blown out, the streams in South Carolina were almost perfect or at least the ones we were experiencing were.

All of our fishing was on the same stream although on different sections. This particular stream had an interesting catch and release section that is apparently only open 3 days a week. At some point in the past it appears that the fish received supplemental feedings, but we could not find any current evidence of such taking place. The fish were your average mountain freestone stream trout with a heavy dose of fingerlings and small fish up to about 5 inches. The occasional nice trout kept things interesting though.

Photograph by Nathan Stanaway.

Photograph by Nathan Stanaway.

On our first day out fishing, we noticed little black caddis, little black winter stoneflies, and early brown stoneflies in addition to the usual collection of assorted midges. A stray mayfly or two was spotted as well but not in enough numbers to get the fish keyed in. the good thing about this stream is that the fish did not seem to be very selective and we caught them on a variety of both dry fly and nymph patterns.

By the end of the first day, it was clear that the stream had potential and we were excited to get back for round two fishing higher up the drainage. So far, South Carolina trout fishing was pretty good!

Spring Panfish Action Heats Up

What a difference a week makes if you are looking looking for panfish! 

When I took a few minutes to run to a nearby small lake last week looking for some crappie and bluegill, things were pretty slow and ice was still melting in a few spots. One hungry bass did grace the end of my line, but that was the only fish spotted.

Fast forward to this week and I'm naturally wondering whether things have improved. With much warmer air temperatures and at least a couple of sunny days since my last quick trip, I figured the fish might be more active. One rod was already rigged and I decided to string up the seven weight in case I found some larger bass willing to plan.

The lake was again devoid of other fishermen. That won't last very long with such nice spring weather finally here, but I'll take it and enjoy it while I can. When I first walked up on the big rock that I normally start fishing from and peaked over the edge, I saw fish spook every which way. That is always a good sign.

As it turns out, the fish had mostly moved up into the shallows, probably enjoying the warmer water where the sun could do the most good. Oh, and they were hungry. I caught more and larger fish than I have caught in a long time from that lake. All the larger bluegill and crappie were hungry and were the more aggressive than even the little guys which meant I only caught three smaller fish.

In the end, I didn't fish all that long but caught a lot of fish. From now on, things will only get even better for panfish. Along with the warming temperatures has come a huge increase in the number of migrating birds which leads me to believe that spring might actually be here for real this time. Sandhill cranes, ducks, geese, and of course plenty of robins and other indicators of spring have been arriving. Some pass on to points much farther north, but every spring and fall I enjoy seeing the variety of feathered friends heading north and south respectively.

Even though spring appears to really be here, if we have learned anything from this winter it is to expect something unusual. In Tennessee, some of our largest snows have come in March so its not over until its over. Still, with hatching bugs and rising trout, not to mention hungry panfish, I'm fairly confident that we are starting to turn the corner.