January 2011 Caney Fork Fishing Report

Christmas and New Years are now in the books. It was a good time at our house and hopefully it was a good time at yours as well. During the off moments, I tied flies and experimented with new patterns. Some patterns I even tied and put in the boat. David and I hit the river below Center Hill Dam and immediately the bite was on. We got into some skip jack and browns early on and with streamer rods in hand we made our way down the Caney Fork River.

The First Fish

David was in the casting brace and boated the first fish of 2011. The crappie was not only his first fish of the yea and the first fish in the boat for 2011, it was David's first crappie on the fly. The day was shaping up to get interesting. We finally moved on from the honey hole and began pounding the banks.

The Drifter at Rest

A Nice Way to Kick-off the New Year

Skipjack Getting Away

The skip jack were running on the river and although we did not have the preferred colors of pink & white, we did have half the combo and cleaned up with the streamers of choice. The skip jack were fun and we could have probably stayed with them all day, however we were on the hunt for trout and off we went.

David at Work on Another Fish

Lots of Green

The water was reasonably clear, especially considering the lake level. The river had a green tint, which is normal....whatever normal is, for this time of year. The flies did not have to land in front of the fish's eyes and they would come off the bottom to eat. This was a good thing because the flies would get to the fish before they could be spooked by the boat as it approached.

One of the Many Rainbows David Brought to the Net

Coming At'cha

When an articulated fly travels through the water and the angler stops, the fly will normally break down in the middle. If the head of the fly is made with something buoyant, like this Bank Maggot is made, the head will travel up toward the surface and the rear (without buoyancy) will break and fall. This action is not natural and many times the fish will break away from the fly. One way to assist is by tying in additional material and another is shorter-faster strips.

Rainbow Tails

That is a Little Better

(the shadow in the background is the Oar Blade)

It Took a Bit But We found Some Good Fish

Caney Fork Guide, First Decent Bow of the Day

David on the Echo Six Weight

We got off the river just in time. Because, yesterday the Army Corps dumped water from Great Falls and open up the generators at Center Hill. Our day was done, but not before we learned more about streamers. If you would like to learn more about fishing the marabou and bucktail, let me know. I am considering a streamer class to teach some of the basics and a few of the fundamentals of a great way to spend time on the river.

We Caught Several of These

The Last Fish of the Afternoon