...of Trout and Pepper Jelly

Anyone following this report will recognize Howard. He is a member of the 20+ Club, a fine angler, and we make a good team, if I do say so myself. What may not be apparent is, we are both aficionados of fine pepper jelly. That's right one of the snacks for the trip was cream cheese smothered in pepper jelly. I am getting a little ahead of myself here so let's start at the beginning.

Slow Flows

Howard and I pushed off for another trip. We have fished together for a couple years and all the trips are fun and for the most are relaxing. When the drifter left the gravel bar it gave me the usual feeling of leaving any worries on the bank. We rowed through the first part of the float to hit what is usually a productive pool. The pool is slow moving with plenty of structure including a bottom full of ups and downs. We fished nymphs and dries to sparsely rising fish. The pool is usually good for a couple fish, but on this float it was a wasteland of, well you get the picture it was unproductive. The only wildlife present was an otter (part of the problem) and a big beaver looking for a tree to drop.

The First Fish of the Trip

After we covered the fishless pool, I changed the complete rig.  We entered a run on fresh tippet and a fresh, well trained fly. Howard dropped the nymph in the feeding lane and gave it a good mend. Right on queue the indicator dove and we were hooked up with our first fish of the float. I stopped the boat and got the fish in the net, then took the appropriate photos.  By the time I raised the anchor Howard was into another fish. This time a rainbow came to the fly and took the indicator for a dive.  Then it was on.

Interesting

Some Middle Tennessee Brown Trout Goodness

The fish continued to respond. Most of the flat water was unproductive and the majority of the faster moving water would produce a fish or two. The weather for the day was cloudy with short periods of sun. The wind was light for most of the day which made the mid 50's quite comfortable.
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So we slipped into the gravel bar for lunch within eye-shot of what should be a productive run. Cream cheese and pepper jelly waited. Howard is a knowledgeable guy and he gave me some information on the finer parts of pepper jelly. (Hey we aren't all about the fish, but dang close to it). There are many different types of pepper jellies with many different ingredients. We had a couple different types and with cream cheese it was an excellent way to spend our lunchtime. Then it was back to work. 

Hard at Work on the Long Rod

A front was moving through and the fishing slowed after lunch. The action was actually at a crawl. For a bit we could not fool a fish with any of the nymphs we tried and nothing was rising. Finally we started getting a take here and another take there. The fishing was tougher as the skies were growing darker. We ended the day in a long slow pool. When the drifter slipped into the gravel bar all those troubles weren't that big of a deal anymore.

Just Missed the 20+ Club With This Healthy Rainbow