M.E. Gets Herself Into the 20+ Club

The calendar can be your friend and enemy. Lately it is tough to get dates on the calendar, but after a fly tying event at Cumberland Transit, M.E., Ethan and I, finally got our calendars in sync. Time is something of which we all seem to be in short supply. We wanted to get a day on the river before they charged off into the Wild, Wild West for their walk from Mexico to Canada. You can follow along with their hike at this link.

Every great adventure starts, well, in the back of an SUV? Once everything was transferred from the SUV to the F/V Southeastern Fly, including our anglers and the guy in the rower's seat, we were ready. Ethan would score fish early and included in that score was a nice walleye. It wasn't real big, but nice. Although we've heard some big walleye in the river, they have been like coyotes...you hear about'em but you never see'em.

We started down the river and immediately went into a dry-spell. Some were fish busting but nothing super-intense. A few stops along the way for wildlife viewing and some killer sandwiches seemed to be the highlights of our early adventure. Then we came into a stretch of river that produces nice fish. M.E. was struggling a little in the catching department. Tossing heavy sinking lines in fast moving water isn't easy but M.E. put the fly in the right place and began to move the fly off the shelf. With a "hopping retrieve" and some good mojo the fly never made it off the shelf. The brown struck the little fly and began to head-shake. M.E. did a nice job playing the brown and just like she did last year, she brought the brown to the net. And that fish was known as just a warm-up.

The sun began to move toward a set and we found ourselves still on the water. I called for last cast and Ethan took me at my word. M.E. however had other ideas.  Still throwing the sinking line and now on a Clouser, M.E. kept at it. The fish hit and immediately the Echo II bent almost double. Neither Ethan or myself thought the fish was big, but M.E. was quiet. Ethan even asked "are you just messing with us?" Then the rod began to bounce, big head-shakes answered that question. No one was messing with anyone because it isn't easy bounce the Echo II.  For those of you  who have fished the rod you can attest to that statement. This fish is the exact reason the Echo is on the boat during streamer season. M.E. was still trying to stay ahead of the fish, that was now trying to get her into the weeds. M.E. did a nice job pulling on the fish and letting it have some line when needed. Our first glimpse of the fish soon came and then she was able to get the fish to the net. Arms extended way over the drifter and the fish slid into the net. A Quick measurement confirmed the fish was indeed long enough for the Southeastern Fly 20+ Club and then a few photos before the fish was released to be caught one more time. Nice work M.E and Ethan. #honorablemention

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.