The last time we were on the Obey was back in September. TVA was releasing one generator and it pushed us past the good water pretty quick. We made the statement that "fishing could be good after they turn off the generators and the flow slows down a little".
Today I fished with Gary W. from Nolensville, TN on the Obey River. This was Gary's first trip to the Obey. After we launched the boat it was only a few minutes before Gary hooked his very first brook trout. Gary has fished the Smoky's, from Michigan to Maine, and out West, but never had caught a brookie. I was glad he was able to have "a first" on such a fine day.
Gary's First Brook Trout
We picked up several brook trout throughout the upper part of the float, as well as a rainbow here and there. The weather conditions today were good....unless a person took a look at the wind charts. The temperature was in the 60's for the most part, with sunny to partly cloudy skies. The wind was blowing on most parts of the river, but we were able to find some places with calm water where we could get a good drift. Those good drifts were often rewarded with a hungry fish.
Nice Rainbow in the Boat Net
At one point the main part of the river was impossible to navigate and get a clean drift due to the wind. So we took option II, which was to seek refuge behind an island with some shelter from the wind. Gary was throwing the Sage and playing with a three fly rig that had two BHPT's and a Miracle Midge. He hooked a strong rainbow that came up from some deep water. The fish sent me scrambling for the oars to keep it from running too far under the boat and the net for the appropriate scoop of the fish. Gary played the fish and brought it onto the reel. After a few short runs toward a downed log Gary turned the fish and brought the fish into the boat. Gary had another rainbow to show for the day.
A Healthy Rainbow
The day was good in-spite of the wind. The wind was a difficult at times and gave quite a workout at the oars. But, considering the amount of food I ate over the past week I probably need to row another 7 miles! And, what better way to end a trip than BBQ! There is a place I have been wanting to try for several years. It is close too the river and it seems like every morning we drive by to launch the boat, they are cranking up the hickory to start their cooking. Well tonight when we got off the river we went to the One Stop so I could try the BBQ. There aren't many Mom-Pop places around like there used to be. But, if you are up on the Obey, fishing for trout, I would recommend a stop by for some of their BBQ to top off a good day on the river.
A Great Way to Top Off the Day
Friday, December 26, 2008
I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas this year! We sure had one at our house and I am still feeling the effects of the food we ate......and continue to eat. We will be back on the water tomorrow, if the generation will permit. For now, tonight, I am listening to Jimmy Buffett and working on some new flies that we will try tomorrow and hopefully throughout the shad kill on the Caney Fork River. If everything goes good we should have another report posted sometime this week.
We have one or two more slideshows to go from 2008 the Year in Review. Then we will start on 2009, which I hope to kick off in Townsend chasing those Smoky Mountain trout and then moving into some more cold weather fishing. For now click on the photo below for some more of the Year in Review.
A few months back I said we would have some different things available on the Fishing Report. One of the things is, we are going to have different folks writing about their fishing adventures. Rachel (ALflygirl) and her husband Jamie H. are a couple of people who fish with me several times a year. Last week they went to North Georgia for one of their annual trips and brought back some photos as well as a report. Rachel was kind enough to send the report onto me so it could be posted on our fishing report. So, without further interruption here is a report in her own words as well as some pics.........Thanks David
The Toccoa River in North Georgia
So, it hasn't rained much here in the South in a long time, but the skies opened up this past week just in time for our trip to N Georgia. My husband Jamie and I try to take a couple of trips a year over to the Blue Ridge/McCaysville area.We arrived in McCaysville around mid day on Wednesday the 17th hoping to fish the at Horseshoe Bend on the Toccoa. Negative! They were generating at Blue Ridge dam and it was flowing swiftly and looked like chocolate milk. So we went to option # 2 - the Toccoa Delayed Harvest section that is above the dam thereby not affected by generation. (Did I mention that it was finally raining in N GA???) The DH section is absolutely beautiful and usually has flows around 200 cfs. Needless to say, it was not flowing at 200....it was around double that....somewhere in the 400 cfs range. Not to be outdone, Jamie put his waders on and fished extremely close to the bank and I opted for the bank. The fish did not come out to play so we packed it up and headed to the cabin....just as it started raining again!
Thursday we had a trip planned with Guide Kent Klewein. Kent is a great guide and really wants you to have a good time, but also wants you to learn. Just as David is our go to guide in Tennessee, Kent will be our go to guide in Georgia. We fished the private section of Noontootla Creek which had a good bit more water than when we fished it last year, but was not as affected by the heavy rains as the Toccoa. We fished one section in the morning and had one pretty rainbow to hand and several good hookups....one that even took me into my backing before it broke off!
Rachel with a Nice North Georgia Rainbow
Jamie with His Nice North Gerogia Rainbow
We took a break for lunch and re-fueled and moved to another section. We got into a section that proved to be MUCH FUN! We tied on some flies that Jamie had tied up for the trip and it was ON! I hooked into a nice rainbow and landed it. I managed to get a nice tangle in the midst of trying to get my rig out of the way, so Jamie moved into the same spot. WHAM! He landed a 21" rainbow that had some beautiful colors! Jamie moved upstream a little and I moved back into the spot! WHAM! After fighting this fish for what seemed like 30 minutes (reality...probably 10 minutes) and going downstream for what seemed like 100 yards (reality....probably 30 yards) I landed a beautiful 23" rainbow. Whew! After those two brutes, we were both pretty much pooped. We fished a while longer and called it a day....a GREAT day! Thanks Kent!
The Nantahala River in North Carolina
The next day, we woke up to....yes, you guessed it...rain. We headed over into North Carolina to the Nantahala DH. This is an absolutely beautiful river that I would like to fish again....with a little less water in it. Jamie hooked up with one rainbow and we kept on trying for a while, but we finally gave in and went in search of BBQ!
Tuesday night I went and visited the Lynchburg Flyfishers and we tied some knots. Now don't be fooled , we didn't watch anyone "tie the knot" or didn't hear of anyone's stomach being tied in knots", we just sat around and tied some knots, fishing knots that is. This group of folks are from various backgrounds and of different fly fishing disciplines. In the next couple months some of the group will attending the TU meeting here in M'boro and they will have a saltwater fly fishing meeting as well.
As far as the slideshow goes, just click on the photo below and see part II of the Year in Review. Oh yeah and Merry Christmas everybody and hope you enjoy...
I have spent a good number of days on the water this year with a lot good folks including my family, and clients, new friends and old friends. I've had the pleasure of fishing several different rivers, some small streams and in the Gulf of Mexico as well this year. We've caught fish on nymphs with indicators, dry flys with droppers, and small streamers trailing bigger streamers and a lot of other stuff I can't remember. I didn't get to go cat fishin so I didn't use worms, but hopefully next summer I can get away, take the spinning rod, put it in the Y of a stick and wait for the twitch. Don't have a heart attack you want to go too.
Since the rivers are blown out here in Middle Tennessee and the Caney Fork is high, the Elk is rolling and since our trip down the Stones River through the middle of Murfreesboro didn't come about this weekend, well I thought I would make a slide show. With so many photos and many trips I finally stopped at four shows, so that should get us through the rest of the year. Hopefully I'll sneak out on the water if we can get Christmas taken care of and the weather will cooperate.
I started working on the slide show in between tying some fies for this weeks Lynchburg Flyfisher's meeting and digging through the garage looking for my 3 weight to take on the annual family New Year Smoky's trip. If you were in the boat over the past year and don't see your picture, stay tuned for the next slide show, because your photo is Prego (in there somewhere). By the way I found the three weight in with all the five weights and got most of the flies tied.
Also, let me know what you think about all this new (old to most people) technology. So, click on the brown trout below and see the first of four slide shows from 2008......and thanks to everyone who made 2008 a very good year on the water.
24 degrees. That is what the digital thermometer above the rearview mirror in my truck read Saturday morning. We layered up our clothing and shoved the boat off the trailer. A fog was coming off the water, because it was a lot warmer than the air outside. Our third partner dropped out at the last minute, which left me and Dan S. to float the Caney ForkRiver.
Shuttle Dan dropped Dan off at the top of the ramp and waved as he pulled off for his next shuttle. I haven’t seen his new dog Midge yet, but we had a good conversation about her on Friday night when I called to set up the shuttle. Midge must be a good dog because I hear rumors that she likes drifters.
The Caney Fork Was Quiet With No-One in Sight
We shoved off from the ramp and were quickly out into the middle of the river and drifting with the flow of one generator.Neither Dan nor I were in a big hurry to fish and were content just watch the herons and other wildlife while drinking our coffee. The first part of the trip was simply us floating along with good discussion, hot coffee and an occasional pull on the oars to help avoid landfall.
Finally I gave in, stepped up to the front casting platform and put a black Deceiver through its paces. The freshly tied fly brought several looks and flashes, but no takers for the first minutes. We concentrated on structure early in the float and with structure fishing comes boat positioning. Dan did a very good job taking the drifter through the stumps, downed logs and limbs were close to the bank.
Lefty's Deceiver
We anchored up in the midst of several hard hitting acrobatic browns. The first fish of the day was Dan’s. It was brown trout that was caught on a streamer that we named the Chicken Fly, because underwater, well, it looks like it is the size of a chicken. Quickly the conversation went downhill and considering the temperature, which was still very cold, The Chicken Fly was re-named the Frozen Chicken Fly.
A good Brown on the Chicken
Between knocking the ice out of our guides; we caught a couple more browns, a couple rainbows and a nice brookie to complete the slam. You can tell when the action is fast, because the first thing to be thrown by the wayside is the camera for the hero shot. Only the most colorful or nicest fish got their picture taken. The brook trout in the photo below measured just over 13” (or 19” on the Caney Conversion Chart), but the colors of the fish were among the most impressive of all the fish caught.
Colorful Brookie
A fly that I haven’t been using much this year is a Bust-a-Brown. This fly is one I developed one evening when I combined my poor tying habits with some red wine. The Bust-a-Brown first started as a soft hackle, but I quickly determined the soft hackle material did not cooperate with the wine and the fly rapidly became a soft hackle/streamer. The following day I was standing below Tims Ford Dam, in the Elk River with a couple friends. The TWRA apparently had just released several thousand 9-11” browns. Those browns couldn’t get enough of my new creation, but I couldn’t buy anything over 11” that day. I caught lots of fish, but never could get it down below those stockers, to see what else might be hungry.Over the years I would go back to the Bust-a-Brown from time to time, if I want to see if there is any action in a riffle here or drop off there.
#14 Bust-a-Brown
I tied several #14 Bust-a-Browns the other evening while working on my poor tying habits. When the action slowed a little I tied one on and threw it into the swift riffles against the bank. On the third cast a healthy 14” brown took the fly and quickly got a chance to see the inside of the boat net as well as a measuring tape. Yep, the fly still produces the browns when called upon.
We continued downriver as the sun came out from behind the clouds and warmed the day a little. The Chicken began to thaw and the fishing slowed to a crawl. We picked up a few here and there on nymphs and had some flashes on Deceivers. With the day winding down Dan noticed the Chicken was down to one eye and some of the tail material was tangled as well. The now One Eyed Chicken Fly continued to produce fish and flashes from the more curious fish.
The Brook Trout are Growing
“This is the last cast” is something we really don’t mean, but all seem to say. We look for every excuse to say those words one more time as we pull in slack to start another back cast. We had said those dreaded words at least twice already, as Dan was standing in the front casting brace looking at some downed structure. He had to get home for a Preds game and I wanted to surprise the family by getting home before dark.
Dan said “this is the last cast” again, as he dumped the forward cast. He started stripping the line fast. I knew he was going to take one more shot at the structure, because he had been looking at it out of the corner of his eye, as the current pushed us closer and closer. The dumped cast was unintentional; I shifted the nose of the boat a little more down stream for angle. Dan pulled the line, double hauled and put the One Eyed Chicken at the base of a stump, and then he gave a couple quick strips to take out any slack. With the first good pull a fish boiled and Dan set the hook. We backed into the middle of the river to keep the fish from tangling in the structure. When the fish made it into the safety of the net it was another brook trout that measured 13”. The appropriate photos were taken and we stored in the camera.
The Last Cast Produces
We stored the rods and swung the boat around so I could put my back into it and get us down to the ramp. It was about 45 degrees but the wind made it feel more like the morning in my mind. The fish were rising occasionally and we could see some sitting on the bottom feeding on who knows what. But, that really was the last cast.
We took the usual Saturday morning float to fly fish on the Caney Fork River here in Middle Tennessee. Dan S and I began a little early and were on the water just at sun-up. We decided to take a little more time on the water and ended just after dark. This would have been a short day, in terms of hours, for a Summer float, but this time of year we called it fishing from sun-up to sundown.
We took some Decievers, Clousers and Buggers along with the usual nymphs and midges. We caught fish on the Tutto, Zebras, Dan-O-Majics, and BHPT's. Most of the fish measured from 14" - 16" (or 20"- 25" on the Caney Fork conversion chart). We caught the slam as the browns finally came back to play. The fish overall were holding in random places with no pattern to their strikes or locations. At mid-foat we started fishing specifically to the rise rings and immediately began to pick-up fish. That goes back to the old saying "fish where they are, not where they ain't".
For this weeks report I'm going to try something a little different. I've had this Photobucket account for a while and it's about time we try and use it. The brown trout in the picture above jumped right into my hand and Dan took the picture at just the right time...
Fishing with Dan S. from Murfreesboro is always fun. He is as excited about fishing as anyone I’ve had on the boat including myself. When we met for the drive to the river, the temperature was 38 degrees, the wind was blowing 10 M.P.H. and it was expected to pick up to 25 before the end of the day. When the light drizzle soaked the road, I knew I had the right partner for the float ahead. We tried to talk positive about the weather by saying it would be worse if it was snowing or sleeting, but we both knew it would take every layer of clothing we had to make it through the float.
A Little Fall Color Remains on the Banks of the Elk River
The water clarity at the Elk was suspect after the rains the night before, but we could see fish holding in the lower water before we floated the first 100 yards. The stocking truck visited the waters below Tims Ford just a few days before and with that we hooked up early.
The flies of choice on the upper portion of the float were the usual BHPT, Tutto and a variety of midges in an assorted group of colors. Dan was hooking up with a deadly sow bug pattern which grabbed the attention of a number of rainbows. The black Zebra Midge caught the smaller rainbows in the upper part of the river, but the Tutto seemed to produce a better quality fish.
The weather pattern continued to be unpredictable throughout the day. The wind would be low on one stretch and when the boat rounded a corner the wind would pick up and out would come the gloves and knit hats. The rain came off and on throughout the float and rain clouds one minute with the sun peeking through the next.
Dan With An Elk River Resident
A number of fish were holding at the entrance to the shoals and just into the runs past the shoals. With the high winds it was difficult to see the fish holding in the deeper runs, but we managed to dredge up a couple here and there to satisfy our curiosity.
The Longest Technically Perfect Drift that Produces a Rainbow.
Dan and I entered the backside of the island at Van Zant Bend and made our way through the downed tree that earlier in the year blocked the river. Dan laid out the cast and off we went drifting through the logs, shoals and rocks that make this section of the river look so fishy. Dan held the appropriate amount of slack while my job was to look ahead and make sure the boat placement was just right. After the first few hundred feet the game was on, because the fish weren’t, and we both knew we wanted to drift the bug the length of the island. Just as the bridge came into sight Dan’s indicator bottomed out and disappeared. It took us both a second to realize the exercise might have been interrupted by a fish. A hook set, a short battle for good measure and a net to scoop the prize, we both realized we were both happy as any child over an 11” inch rainbow.
A Van Zant Bend Rainbow
We picked up fish most of the length of the float with the majority coming on the many different shoals within the river. As we entered the final stretch of the float to Ferris Creek the wind was there to greet us and make the heater in the truck the highlight of the evening. Overall we had a much better than expected day….our positive talk kept the snow and sleet away, but it took every layer of clothing we brought to make it through the float. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lynchburg Fly Fishers
Lynchburg is famous for the whiskey that is made back in the hollow. On Tuesday night I was invited to speak at the Lynchburg Fly Fishers November meeting. This is a group of fly fishing enthusiasts who gather once a month to discuss the fishing in Middle TN as well as other destinations throughout the US. The group has a beautiful place to meet which is among the nicest club houses in the area.
We discussed fishing the Elk, the Caney Fork, Arkansas, Michigan and Florida as well as Troutfest, which is coming to Townsend, TN in the spring. The group has a strong base and I am sure if they band their efforts and resources they can make positive differences on their home river which is the Elk River.
Part of the Lynchburg Fly Fishers
Thank you for the opportunity to speak and I am looking forward to seeing everyone at the future meetings. ------------------------------
The weather in Florida is more to my liking this time of year; however the drive to the river is much more affordable on the weekends than a drive to the coast. Dan Sharley spent a couple weeks on the Gulf Coast working and fishing. Click on the photo to get his views on fly fishing the Gulf Coast.
Barry H. from Murfreesboro, TN and I spent the day on the river Saturday. Barry has fished many different places here in the states. Just coming off a recent trip to the AwyheeRiver out west, Barry was up for a day on the Caney Fork to drown some nymphs and midges.
We met at the usual rendezvous point at an early 5:30 a.m. With coffee in hand, because of the crisp morning, we took off to the ramp. After launching the boat and shaking a few cobwebs off, Barry was soon hooked up with a small rainbow, which removed the skunk early. He landed the fish on a bead head pheasant tail and was soon back into a good casting groove. A few more casts and Barry was hooked up again.
The sun and the fog are just starting to rise...
We passed by a deep cut in the bank and offered up a pike fly. The fly flushed a large brown from the undercut in the back. As the fly swam for the safety of the boat the fish was hot on it’s tail. Just when the brown was moving in for the kill the fish forgave the fly for invading the space and returned back to the depths.
There were some long stretches of no rising fish, but we kept the day interesting picking off rainbows. The browns did not seem to be on the shoals like they have been over the past month. This is better for their well being and keeps the larger browns from getting freezer burn in peoples freezers. The browns appeared to be random, showing up here and there. The rainbows however were all stacked up on the shoals waiting for their next meal to come floating through the feeding lanes. The Tutto worked well today on the larger fish and the smaller fish seemed to go for the zebra midge more often than not.
This brown was holding in slack water
The weather is changing now as Fall gets up to full speed. The mornings are cool and have required a change from shorts and sandals; to layers of clothing with the addition of waders. As the mornings heat up the layers are shed and short sleeves suffice. The leaves are changing to the usual oranges, reds, and yellows. The colors on the trees reflecting on the water can make an orange indicator easily disappear without dipping below the surface.
There is a possibility of a mid week float or two out there and it looks like we have another float shaping up next Saturday. So, it will be interesting to see where the fish are holding as Fall passes and the fish get ready for Winter…
We hit the Caney Fork again for another float. This time I fished with Anthony and Mark, a couple of regulars. We were on the water early and found a nip in the air. The flies for the day were BHPT’s, Hare’s Ears, Zebra Midges in various colors and a Tutto as an attractor. We passed the previously pounded water and coaxed a few to the hook early. We picked up a brown or two and several rainbows.
It Wouldn't Be A Fishing Report Without a Fish
When the early morning calm was interrupted by the late morning winds, the leaf action picked up as well. When the leaf action picked up the fish became tight lipped. My guess was the fish were dodging leaves and just forgot about eating. We brought the largest fish into the boat just before the wind started to pick up.
Anthony at the Oars of Mark's Hyde Skiff
The quote of the day came when we were talking about the cost of boats and if one of us hadn’t spent $3500.00 on a boat and spent it on a jet we could be somewhere a little more casting friendly. Mark made the statement “I ain't going nowhere in a $3,500.00 jet.......” This statement makes a lot of sense considering the cost of a good jet these days.
Some Fall Color and a Leaf or Two
Overall it was another great Fall morning and a windy Fall afternoon, which turned a little cold as the wind picked up. With a couple more rains the leaves will be off the trees and somewhere down stream. The water should clear up and things should turn back to normal. Midge hatches will be the winter fish food of choice and thread midges will start taking up the first couple rows in the die hard's fly box. More layers will be added to our wardrobe and we will pass the previously pounded water and coax a few to the hook early.
The Santa Ana winds (also known as Santana winds) are strong, extremely dry offshore winds that characteristically sweep through in southern California and northern Baja California in late fall into winter.
The Buffalo Valley winds (also known as Drift Stoppers) are strong, extremely gusty upstream winds that characteristically sweep through Buffalo Valley and in an upstream direction on the Caney Fork in late fall and when you least expect them.
On the drive up to the river I listened to the new Chesney CD, which is more of an island feel. After spending some time on the GulfCoast, earlier in the month, the rasta reggae rhythm, the lyrics with boats and fishing got me back in the mood to be on the water.The weather guessers predicted sunny skies, about 65 degrees and a 7-9 mph wind. They were close…..only forgetting the warnings of the BuffaloValley winds.
I stopped by their cabin on Saturday morning and picked up Jamie and Rachel who came in the night before from Florence, AL. We were off again for a day on the river. Jamie and Rachel have been great clients this year. We started with the Caney in June, followed by the Elk in August and what better place to wrap up their year of tailwater trips than the Caney Fork. Both are enthusiastic and appreciate a day on the water.
We were on the water staying on top of 5350 cfs of cold Caney Fork current. We stopped, threw some streamers and floated some nymphs in the slack waters. This got everyone back in practice and into the rhythm of the float. Rachel achieved the “perfect drift” and when the water stopped flowing we slipped out of our safe haven and into the current seam. Even though the wind won most of the day, Rachel and Jamie both fought fish and landed fish, which were out in their full colors as you can see from the photos below.
The Fall Colors Are Starting To Turn
The Brook Trout are in Full Fall Color
This One Had Some Tail Power
Jamie With A Nice Bow
Missed A Double By A few Seconds
They Are Eating Something
Sundown at the End of the Day...
****UPDATE****
Sunday,October 26, 2008
Mark R and I went back to the Caney for some fishing of our own. We fished the stretch from Happy to Betty's Island and caught several fish. Mostly bows and some brook trout. The brookies are as colorful as any fish I've seen and this includes the wild brookies in the Smoky's.
There wasn't much action in the deeper holes and we found no fish willing to eat by the structure. However, there seemed to be fish on every shoal and we finally managed one brown at the end of the day. Overall this was a decent day on the river.
Gary's First Brook Trout
Nice Rainbow in the Boat Net
A Healthy Rainbow
Nice Rainbow in the Boat Net
A Healthy Rainbow
A Great Way to Top Off the Day
