Caney Fork River Fishing Report

The Elk- The big story on the Elk is the water release. TVA is drawing down Tims Ford Lake, for winter pool, and the water release is tough to forecast. Over the weekend the water release was showing 800+ CFS and the next few days are up and down. Anglers should call TVA before going to the river and shouldn't be surprised if the info changes on the drive. If you find an opening in the water release keep a sharp eye on the water levels. I have been on the Elk when water is released unexpectantly and getting out wasn't the easiest thing to accomplish. In short be careful and stay on your toes.

Center Hill Dam Sluice Release

The Caney Fork- Expect the water to be somewhat more clear than the past month. Visability is getting better, although it still is not back to where we all like it. In a few weeks hopefully it will be running at normal clarity (whatever that is) and the fish will respond. The browns apppear to be finishing their normal Fall activities. The water tempratures are running 62 degrees at the 4' mark, taken about 2.5 miles from the dam. So, really the water temps are about the same as usual for this time of the year.

This Heron Kept a Close Eye as We Passed Under

It has been a lazy past couple weeks as we wait for the water to clear and the scheduled trips get back underway. Brent and I went to the Caney and started the float on one generator. We both threw streamers and were trying to move some bigger fish before the US Army Corps turned off the generation. The water was a bit more clear than a few weeks back, when I took the pictures of the sluice release.  We found two things...1) the brookies are aggressive toward streamers. 2) there is a large brown lurking right down by the

Some Brookies are Very Colorful and Some Are Just Starting to Get Their Color

Brent was on the oars and we were working a shoreline. The water was slow on the edge with some faster current toward the middle of the river. I watched the streamer come out of the darker water and a large fish coming in behind. The fish was within striking distance, but wasn't making any moves to get in front of the offering to make an eat. At first the fish looked like a striper, but as it got closer it proved to be a brown. The big brown came to the boat following the streamer and then when it got to the tip of the rod, the fish turned and went under the oar blade. The big brown made two circles under the oar blade and then turned back toward the darker water. The fish hesitated for an instant and then swam away and down toward from where it came. Yes. I threw the streamer back in and no the brown never ate. The fish was one of those fish that sticks with an angler for a while. 

An After Lunch Snack & A Couple Sticks

After that brown we waited for the water to begin to fall out and dug out the nymph rod. We went with a bead head nymph and an egg pattern. Last year we had luck on eggs and picked up some nice rainbows. This year the egg patterns haven't been as productive. Brent got back in the casting brace and we were working a bank on falling water. We worked some blowdowns and stayed mostly in current seams. As Brent worked the nymph I worked the oars. We fell into a steady pace and spotted some fish, then the indicator took a dive and Brent set the hook. At first we thought it was just a usual customer, but then the headshakes started and Brent was in a fight. The fish made a couple short runs and then started to come to the boat. When fish come to the boat they either do one of two things. 1) they run under the boat possibly seeking shelter, or 2) they make a reel screaming run. Personally I like to hear a reel sing so option 2 gets my vote. This brown turned it's tail and took off. Brent got the rod turned, then brown's head turned, and the fish came to the net. The nymphs were catching nice fish again. This brown looked to be fresh off a spawn. It has the big tail, long body and appears to be in need of some protein.

Brent's Largest Brown of the Year

This time of the year leaves and blowing wind create a hostile dry fly environment. When we arrived at my favorite dry fly stretch the wind and leaves made it pretty miserable to fish dries. So, we went back to nymphs and picked up more rainbows. Toward the end of the day, when the winds dies down, we went back to the dry fly and fished to rising fish. The story wasn't as exciting as Brent's brown trout but we had the dry ready, saw the fish rise, threw the dry upstream of the rise, the fly drifted a few feet and the rainbow ate the dry. Yep, it seemed easy and if nothing else it was a cool take. Streamers brought out the big ones, nymphs took the fish of the day and dries capped off a good day of just "Gettin Out There".