Richard and Alex on the River

We slid into our first stop and worked on some basic casting skills. Richard had booked a trip for himself and his son Alex. Both had fly fished once before and had brought fish to hand on that trip. This day would be the same plus a couple dozen fish.

We worked for a bit on casting, then mending and after that we were ready to bring some fish to the boat. We gave the first run the once-over and it produced no fish. The usual plan is to grind it out, but after spending quite a bit of time on the river and a lot of time watching good drifts we discussed the mend. A short time later we slid into a slow pool and Alex made a good cast, flipped a good mend and was setting the hook on the first fish of the trip.

Richard wasn't far behind and the guys got into catching pretty quick. We had a few doubles on the day as the rain fell. Oh I also should mention the rain was steady and unrelenting at times. But, both guys were troopers and never complained throughout the day. We even ate lunch in the rain, hoping it would stop for the second half of the trip.

After lunch I advised that usually the second half of the trip would be slower for a while. Alex didn't listen and immediately resumed bringing fish the the net. Richard followed suit and we kept making our way through the rain toward the ramp.

The big fish of the day came from the rear of the drifter...again. The rear casting brace is a hotspot for catching larger fish. Alex was locked in the rear brace and Richard was up front. Richard was fishing deep and Alex was drifting his nymph a little more shallow. Richard threw a few feet off the bank in some moving water and Alex tossed a little tighter to the rocks on the bank. Alex threw in a mend and the fly settled in the current. It floated several feet and the indicator twitched then took a dive. Alex raised the rod, set the hook and the fish did the rest. The fight was intense but short as Alex quickly gained control. 

The fish was still hot when it got to the net. We took some quick photos and released the fish back to the moving water where it was plucked.  Alex had is "Lucky" hat on but he also showed he has some skills on boating bigger fish. The guys kept fishing hard and the rain kept falling.

Tennessee has been experiencing some heavy downpours over the last month or so. In the photo below the mouth of a small creek and small island can be seen. A few weeks ago this small island was a shoal that normally is covered with 4" - 6" of water. Creek mouths on several rivers in Middle Tennessee show flash floods have been moving rocks into rivers and pushing shoals around. This particular creek is an extreme case but it does show how large amounts of rain can affect the river bottom.

We made it to the ramp as the rain slowed to a stop. Richard and Alex boated their fair share of fish and overall had a good time in-spite of the less than favorable weather conditions. It was good to have another Father-Son trip for the year.
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