Sometimes It's Just Your Day

Our late fall/summer-like weather is coming to an end. It is ending slowly but ending none the less. John and his son Alex came to fish and the day started off cold. Well let's say the day started off cold for late Fall. But if the temperature was like this in the Spring we would all be in shorts. It is November so we were wearing waders and layers. Later we would remove some of those layers in the name of comfort. 

The sky was clear and the water just a little stained, but the fish began to respond early. Good presentation, as always, meant more than most anything else. Alex and John had been on the F/V Southeastern Fly before and took their spots in the braces, both know the drill. John had offered the front but Alex had fished from the rear brace before and apparently was comfortable...time would tell if this was entirely the right decision. Fishing from the front of the boat was at a premium and John got on the board first. We boated his smallish rainbow and it wasn't long before Alex came back with his own smallish brown trout out of the same big pool.

The fish score was even and then the overall fish count escalated. Alex began to get better presentations. John wasn't far off and then we moved into some of the slowest flow on the river. Alex began to pick up some of the better fish.

We would hit every likely spot we could find and the guys would pull their fair share of fish to the net throughout the day. But after a while it was apparent that Alex would be the one who had the hot stick on this day

That slow flow had produced good fish over the Summer but now the grass has grown to the point that angler's need to pick just the right areas to drop their fly. Clean and short drifts through grassy waters were key. Alex found a path through the grass and produced a decent bow. After we released the fish Alex "went back to the well".

John put down his rod to watch his son fish the slot just off the wall. The Cast was a good one and the presentation was near perfect. I can't speak for John. But I thought, if anything a fish pulled from that spot would be smaller than the last. My thought was the bigger fish gets the best position and therefore gets the food first...sometimes. Sometimes that happens and sometimes not. This time Alex's presentation was still moving full speed slowly at best and when the fish ate, Alex was there to set the hook. Keeping the fish out of the heavy grass was a miracle in itself. The fish made more than a couple good runs but Alex kept the fish in the upper part of the water column. Finally we slipped the Brodin under the fish. Alex did a very good job with the cast, presentation and fight to get the fish to the net. All of us were smiling after this one and the fish certainly wasn't smaller than the last.

We pulled anchor rope and the anchor hit the stop on the arm. The float continued. The guys caught their share of fish at other stops along the way and finished with strong numbers before the drifter came to a stop on the gravel bar at the takeout.  The float came to an end but didn't end their fishing for the day. After a few more casts we were cranking the winch and the drifter was settling on the front trailer bunk.

If you are a seasoned angler or have never picked up a fly rod and want to set up a day on the river e-mail or call/text 615-796-5143 to book a day on the water. For additional booking information see our Homepage and to see the latest fishing report click here.