Huntsville Fly Fishing

Some days on the river are absolutely the best days. Sometimes because the fish are cooperating, sometimes because the bigger fish are eating, and sometimes because the folks in the casting braces are old friends who make the day enjoyable. Greg and Brooke have fished with me for several years now and when we get together, we tend to get good results. Brooke seems to catch the big ones and sometimes the most. Greg, being a dad, seems to enjoy it as much almost as much as if he had caught’em all himself. Greg is no stranger to big fish or the 20+ Club so maybe it is healthy to see your kid catch the big fish every once in a while.

On this day we chose to leave the ramp a little early and try to stay in front of the recreational folks. It wasn’t long before Brooke was bringing her first fish to the net and Greg brought his first a short time later. 

We were sticking close to structure on this day. Structure can mean rocks, pockets in the gravel on the river bottom, and of course the blowdowns. Brooke was catching most her fish close to the different structures. Greg was batting clean-up with his usual accuracy. Blowdowns and pockets along the bank were running up the numbers.

Depth- We kept going after the fish, moving along with the slower currents and picking out the best places. One other thing we focused on was depth. There are blowdowns that look fishy and get the most attention from practically every angler who has a fly and some even toss their favorite lure. One thing I notice when folks are fishing these structures is a high percentage are not adjusting their depth. Most anglers leave their nymph at the same depth and pretty much fish it all day, streamer anglers don’t always let the streamer sink, with timing, or fly weight, or sinking lines. The blowdown is fished hard by angler after angler, but often the flies are not in the fish’s field of vision. 

After a morning of good fishing we stopped at one of my favorite spots for lunch. As Brooke and Greg ate and caught up on their lives, I adjusted the rigs and dropped a few flies in front of a few fish, just to make sure the flies were “well trained and ready for some serious afternoon catching”. 

We loaded the boat, Brooke and Greg slipped into the casting braces and we got the boat into some slack water. We backed up the bank to take another shot at some water that was productive just before we ate. It was the right choice as Brooke and Greg had a few more takes and they added a couple more fish to the count.

One more depth adjustment and we entered one of my favorite stretches of river. It’s heavy with structure and ledges and it’s just super-fishy. Brooke was fishing particularly well and getting real good drifts. Greg had his fly right behind Brooke’s fly. But Brooke’s fly got to the rainbow first and the fish ate. Brooke came tight with a solid hookset and the rainbow started the fight with a quick run to the bottom and into deeper water. Although Brooke had hooked and landed big fish before, this rainbow was a bit on the active side. She stayed with the fish and countered every move. The fish made a blistering run across the river and tried to get to some structure, but Brooke kept just the right amount of pressure on the fish and was able to get the head to turn back toward the boat. After a couple shorter runs the fish finally gave up. Brooke got the head of the fish up and slid the rainbow into the net. Score another one for the green boat and the happy anglers in the casting braces. We snapped some photos and made sure the fish was ready for a good release. We dipped the front of the net and rainbow slid out, then back to the depths.

We were letting our lunch settle and pretty much catching fish in all the likely places with just a few slow spots throughout the afternoon.  Greg and Brooke kept throwing the flies and for the most part the fish responded. Both anglers got their slams and both caught some nice fish.

Brooke and Greg proved again that some days on the river are absolutely the best days. Sometimes because the fish are cooperating, sometimes because the bigger fish are eating, and sometimes because the folks in the casting braces are old friends who just make the day enjoyable.

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.