Jacob's Slam and Other Musings

Jacob and I started the day at the take out. He wanted to learn some more about the river while bringing some fish to the net. We loaded his gear in the truck and headed up river to put in. We began the float in front of several boats and behind a group of fishing kayaks. 

Before too long a usual suspect, who was where he was supposed to be, was tricked and headed for the net in a roundabout way. Jacob was a trooper and stayed with it even through the slower times. There were some slow times early and water we had to miss because others had stopped where I wanted to feed the fish, if you know what I mean.

We finally drifted to the edge of one of my favorite holes on the float and a healthy rainbow took the fly for dive. The fly responded just as it was trained and hung on for the ride, or at least the hook stuck the fish's lip and stayed there until it got to the net...whichever way you want to put it. We were well on the way to a productive afternoon. Then we hooked a brown which brought Jacob his slam and things began to get even better.

Jacob was giving fish a sore lips at most every turn and at one point we pulled several fish from one hole on the low water. Oh yes I almost forgot, we were well ahead of the generation and well behind the last pulse. The fish were spooky and had a long time to inspect the drift. When fishing the low clear water like we have on the Middle Tennessee rivers right now, drag is evil.

All those fish, all those quick hook sets, and all those subtle mends eventually pay off. We were floating from hole to hole and bouncing the fly into each one. We had a good system going that including fish in the net. Then the indicator dove, the hook was set and the rod was bent. After a couple rounds of give and take at just the right times, Jacob brought a nice brown to the net! We snapped the appropriate photos and released the fish unharmed to catch again. Then we picked up the pace to make the take out, stopping only at the most productive spots.

Both the Elk and the Caney Fork have been fishing good for us as of late. July really could be an outstanding month if the cards fall just right. Jacob was a pleasure to fish with and it was good to see an angler learn some things about the river that he will go back and use again in his upcoming trips.