Southeastern Fly: Caney Fork Flyfishing Saturday, November 1st, 2008

Barry H. from Murfreesboro, TN and I spent the day on the river Saturday. Barry has fished many different places here in the states. Just coming off a recent trip to the Awyhee River out west, Barry was up for a day on the Caney Fork to drown some nymphs and midges.

We met at the usual rendezvous point at an early 5:30 a.m. With coffee in hand, because of the crisp morning, we took off to the ramp. After launching the boat and shaking a few cobwebs off, Barry was soon hooked up with a small rainbow, which removed the skunk early. He landed the fish on a bead head pheasant tail and was soon back into a good casting groove. A few more casts and Barry was hooked up again.

The sun and the fog are just starting to rise...

We passed by a deep cut in the bank and offered up a pike fly. The fly flushed a large brown from the undercut in the back. As the fly swam for the safety of the boat the fish was hot on it’s tail. Just when the brown was moving in for the kill the fish forgave the fly for invading the space and returned back to the depths.

There were some long stretches of no rising fish, but we kept the day interesting picking off rainbows. The browns did not seem to be on the shoals like they have been over the past month. This is better for their well being and keeps the larger browns from getting freezer burn in peoples freezers. The browns appeared to be random, showing up here and there. The rainbows however were all stacked up on the shoals waiting for their next meal to come floating through the feeding lanes. The Tutto worked well today on the larger fish and the smaller fish seemed to go for the zebra midge more often than not.

This brown was holding in slack water

The weather is changing now as Fall gets up to full speed. The mornings are cool and have required a change from shorts and sandals; to layers of clothing with the addition of waders. As the mornings heat up the layers are shed and short sleeves suffice. The leaves are changing to the usual oranges, reds, and yellows. The colors on the trees reflecting on the water can make an orange indicator easily disappear without dipping below the surface.

There is a possibility of a mid week float or two out there and it looks like we have another float shaping up next Saturday. So, it will be interesting to see where the fish are holding as Fall passes and the fish get ready for Winter…

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We hit the Caney Fork again for another float. This time I fished with Anthony and Mark, a couple of regulars. We were on the water early and found a nip in the air. The flies for the day were BHPT’s, Hare’s Ears, Zebra Midges in various colors and a Tutto as an attractor. We passed the previously pounded water and coaxed a few to the hook early. We picked up a brown or two and several rainbows.

It Wouldn't Be A Fishing Report Without a Fish

When the early morning calm was interrupted by the late morning winds, the leaf action picked up as well. When the leaf action picked up the fish became tight lipped. My guess was the fish were dodging leaves and just forgot about eating. We brought the largest fish into the boat just before the wind started to pick up.

Anthony at the Oars of Mark's Hyde Skiff

The quote of the day came when we were talking about the cost of boats and if one of us hadn’t spent $3500.00 on a boat and spent it on a jet we could be somewhere a little more casting friendly. Mark made the statement “I ain't going nowhere in a $3,500.00 jet.......” This statement makes a lot of sense considering the cost of a good jet these days.

Some Fall Color and a Leaf or Two

Overall it was another great Fall morning and a windy Fall afternoon, which turned a little cold as the wind picked up. With a couple more rains the leaves will be off the trees and somewhere down stream. The water should clear up and things should turn back to normal. Midge hatches will be the winter fish food of choice and thread midges will start taking up the first couple rows in the die hard's fly box. More layers will be added to our wardrobe and we will pass the previously pounded water and coax a few to the hook early.