Still High Water on the Caney

The Caney Fork: Anglers who have been tying flies for this river, hopefully they will be tied to some tippet before too long. The USACoE is turning back the flow at Center Hill Dam. The water in the Caney Fork is not in a Summer flow yet, but hopefully we will see the good falling water flows before too long. We were on the Caney in the last several days and the water was high....real darn high. One of the canoe rental companies has been turning people loose on 11,000+ CFS. Because of the high water we have opted for fishing the side channels, behind islands and in the trees, for the most part out of the main channel. 

The fish responded to streamers and took looks at nymphs, but with the high flows on the Caney it is a better place for a boat ride than a fly fishing trip. The lake level is at 636' behind the dam as this report is written and hopefully in a couple weeks... When the releases are less than one generator the usual patterns should work, but with the wacky weather it is tough to predict.

Elk River: Finally a place to fish on somewhat lower water. The flows on the Elk have been good over the past several days. This river has fish that are willing to eat and they aren't too far from the access points. The fish are responding to nymphs and some soft hackles, but nymphs have been working for us.

The water quality is pretty good right and other than some grass the bottom is fairly clear. With that being said one might think the fish would be looking up. The fish may be looking up but they aren't eating off the surface. Not yet anyway.

We are hoping there will be some more angler friendly flows throughout Middle TN in the next several weeks. All this rain may have been needed, but we want to fish.