The Latest Entry Into the 20 + Club

Jim, Brent and I were drowning nymphs all day. It started on one generator and ended on low water, what happened in between was nothing short of fantastic. 

Jim has been fishing on the drifter since 2000 and something. I was lucky enough to be standing in the Elk teaching Jim to fly fish when he caught his first trout.

We made a trip to the Watauga where he was skunked in the morning, after lunch we waded out from where we were camping and he worked on getting a good drift. That day he really got the hang on nymph fishing and began catching fish on every trip.

Later that year there was a trip to the Caney where he bagged an 18" rainbow in the midst of 5 or so other anglers and boats. A few years ago we made a trip to the Hi where I went the entire weekend fishless and Jim caught every fish that came to the net.

Fast forward this year Jim moved from Ohio and has been able to spend more time on the drifter. He has been making the most of his time in TN and on this day he commented about how he had spent a lot of time fishing on the drifter, but still wasn't a member of the 20 + Club...

A short time later Jim dropped a nymph on the edge of a good seam. The indicator dipped, Jim set the hook and an absolute pig came out of the water. I mean it jumped a foot up and four feet sideways. There wasn't a doubt in anyone's mind after the first jump this was a fish of a lifetime...

There were two things running through my mind for the entire fight. The first, that's a toad and the second, dang I hope the knots hold, actually the thought was... I really hope the knots hold. After several minutes of head-shaking runs and the fish trying to rub the fly off on the rocks. But, Jim got the head up and slid the brown into the net. 

If we had cigars on the boat we might still be sitting on the river smoking them. But we didn't and there were more fish to be caught before we made the gravel bar at the take-out. So we finished the day as the sun was just beginning to fall. Congratulations Jim on your fish and your first entry into the 20 + Club.