Two Trips To The Caney August '08

We've spent the last couple weekends on The Caney Fork River. I've wet a line and watched others from the comfort of the rowers seat. There are some good fish in the Caney and some interesting sights to be seen. Instead of giving the play by play, I thought we would just do this report in pictures with captions.....

Do You Hear Something?

The Reward For "The Perfect Drift"

They Always Look Bigger Underwater

Mark's Nice Brown

A Triple Caught & Released

Dan Using Both Hands On This One...

Caney Fork Fauna

Another "Perfect Drift" and Another Reward...

Brown With Kipe...

...Brown Without Kipe

There Is More Than Just Fishing On The Caney Fork...

These Little Brook Trout Are Doing Just Fine....

A Double of Brownie's Caught and Released

Completes The Third Slam of the Day

I Do Get To Fish Some Too

Dump Those Worms Out of That Folgers Can & Start Bailing...

Thanks Anthony, Dan and Mark.

High Pressure on the Elk 8.16.08

Last week I sent an email telling every one of some new things we were going to try. One of those things is to have guest bloggers. This week we have our first Guest Blogger. Dan Sharley is a fly fisherman and water color artist http://www.dansharley.com Dan and I have fished together on several occasions and he has shown he has some excellent skills behind the fly rod as well as with a brush. I will let Dan tell the story of his day on the Elk River and after you read it, take a peek at Dan's blog at www.sharleyfishinart.blogspot.com

High Pressure on the Elk 8.16.08
I woke to rain. Not much, but rain nonetheless. Maybe it was the giddiness of the upcoming trip to the Elk with David and Anthony W, or the excitement of actually having some rainfall on my crunchy, brown lawn, but I was a little absent-minded in the morning. So much so, that I hooked up with my fishing buddies … but left my cooler – and my lunch – in the back of my truck … which was a problem, since the truck didn’t make the hour-and-a-half trip to the river.

Undaunted, and now armed with $10 worth of gas station junk food to comprise for my rations for the shore lunch (mmm, Vienna sausages and beef jerky), we arrived at our put-in destination below the dam. We joined a couple-dozen similarly-minded folks…..and, their boats. Dismayed by the crowd, but still enthusiastic for the fishing, we negotiated the conga line of canoes, johnboats and other assorted watercraft and dumped David’s Hyde drifter into the cool waters of the Elk.

The Drifter Is Prego (It's in there somewhere)

Making our way downstream, Anthony and I picked up a few rainbows on the usual flies, while David manned the oars for the first part of the trip. Later in the morning, Anthony took over for David so that the ol’ guide could throw a few loops on his off-day. Dave’s a pro in every way, and he quickly connected with several fish, including some stout rainbows. I managed to fool a few too, before rotating out and giving Anthony a chance to join the fun.

Anthony is the left-handed king of the perfect drift, but with the rain and the cold front moving off to the south, high pressure set in and made fishing pretty darn tough. As such, we spent much of the day watching Anthony’s orange indicator bob harmlessly downstream through some traditionally-fishy places. He did connect on a few, but was not fairly rewarded for his technical expertise.

We landed a fat, beautiful male brown trout after a spirited fight. The colors were classic German-brown and the fish sported some absolutely-perfect spots. After the trout was photographed (poorly) and released, fishing slowed even more. For the remainder of the float, we had to work extremely hard to get fish to bite – even through the employment of an assorted selection of perfect flies (and perfect drifts).

A Nice Elk River Brown

As always, David made the trip worthwhile, managing to continue to place us in great spots and even hook us up to the few trout brave enough to feed on this bluebird-skied afternoon. Overall though, it was another nice day on the Elk.
We’ll be back. Thanks for another great float.

Dan S.
www.dansharley.com

Rachel & Jamie H. on the Elk River, TN

Saturday, August 9, 2008 I took Rachel and Jamie H. from Florence AL. on their second trip this year. Rachel had a birthday and Jamie booked her a trip. When they got to the river I had already unloaded the boat and rigged the Sage with a couple of my favorite flies, then caught a couple fish. I gave Rachel the Sage and Jamie the fly box, then it was off to drop the truck.

When I returned both had caught fish, Rachel caught six fish and caught the bug for a new Sage rod. We got into the boat and left the masses of the gravel bar. We started fishing just below the bend pool. We picked up a few fish before the Scud Pool and then I put Rachel on my favorite run and Jamie on my second favorite run. Rachel had several fish on and then it was time to move on.

The water on the Elk was slightly stained, to the point where you really couldn’t see the bottom past a few feet. But, some of the usual fish came out from the usual places and have sore lips to prove it.

Jamie cast out in front of the boat in one of the more swift parts of the river; he mended a great drift and was rewarded with a good rainbow. I have been trying to catch a fish in that run for over a year and Saturday Jamie came through. Good job Dude!

We moved down through a short stretch of slow water and then into another run that is filled with downed logs. Little did we know downed logs and trees would be our nemesis later in the float. Rachel hooked a nice rainbow in this run as the fish came out from under one of the logs. The cool thing about this fish was that Rachel saw the fish come out and take the fly. Even though it seems to be harder to get a good hook set when you see the fish come to the fly, she set the hook, Rachel…..one (1)……fish zero (0). The fish ran back under the log and she brought him out…….Rachel two (2)…..fish zero (0). She brought the fish over that log and the fish tried to pull itself under another log……Rachel three (3)……fish zero (0). After that she brought the fish to the net & the fish had a photo op…….Rachel four (4)……fish zero (0). Then we moved on.

Rachel Four (4).........Fish Zero (0)

We hit Pig Alley which usually produces well, but the fishing slowed to a crawl and we called a timeout for lunch. The last float with Jamie and Rachel we skipped lunch, but on this float we made up our minds early that we were going to eat the burgers and not try to sustain ourselves with Cheetos alone.

We found one of the best lunch spots I’ve seen on any river. It has a small gravel bar, with shade, and a great view of the river. We presented Rachel with the “Birthday Snickers” after the burgers and then we were off to float the rest of the river.

The Birthday Snickers

We stopped at a couple places on the river and backed up a couple times to hit them again when they produced results. One time Rachel called the fish and was rewarded immediately with a strike and rainbow trout to the boat. Jamie called one by a rock wall and when he put the fly, exactly where he called, he was rewarded with a bow of his own.

Then…….we came to the top of Van Zant Bend Island. There was something noticeably different; it was a large tree that looked to be across the entire right pass of the river. Just before we moved into the swift water I decided to stop and wade down to it to take a look see. This proved to be the right move. When I got to the tree it was all the way across the river. It was too big to go over and to many branches to go under. I waded back up to the boat and announced “now we are entering the adventurous part of our float”. We would go down the left side of the island, which meant we would be pulling the boat over several small shoals and under a couple more blow downs. We made it after we pulled the boat a good portion of the length of the island. We estimate an additional 45 minutes of time to our float.

After we floated back into the main part of the river it was smooth sailing, well smooth rowing to the ramp. We fished mostly BHPT’s, midges, and sow bugs, all of which caught fish at one time or another throughout the day. The weather was in the 80’s and nothing short of spectacular, especially when we considered it is August.

Pig Alley

I am looking forward to fishing again with Rachel and Jamie in the fall, this time we are going back to the Caney Fork, where Rachel will continue her quest for the Caney Fork Slam.

Life on Pause in Townsend Tennessee

Sometimes it’s just a good idea to put life on pause. I took the family to Townsend last weekend to spend some family time and, well, I “needed” to fish the Smokies, because I haven’t fished up there since January. We arrived in Townsend in the afternoon and I slipped off to Little River Outfitters to pick up a few things. I met David Knapp, who I have talked with via email several times. We had a good discussion concerning fishing in the Smoky Mountains National Park and fishing the tailwaters around Middle Tennessee.

I took a few minutes and talked with Byron as well. We talked about fishing and the business of fly fishing. Everyday I try to read Byron’s reports on the Little River Outfitters web-site. Byron has very good info on water flows and knows what is working in and around the Smokies, but I like to get his take on World events as well.

After an hour or so in the shop I headed back to the pool for a quick swim before retiring to the cabin to check in with Pat M. who really helped me get started fly fishing while I lived in Knoxville. Pat and I set the time to meet in the morning and the plan of attack for the next day of fishing. And, one more thing, Pat is an extremely early riser.

I rolled out of bed at 3:30 a.m. CST. Yep, I am old enough now to get out of bed at the same time I used to go too bed. Things change…..anyway, I made the traditional PBJ sandwich for lunch, but promptly decided it would be a better breakfast, so, I ate it for breakfast and made another one for lunch.

A Smoky Mountain Stream

I met Pat at the usual rendezvous point and we went in search of a cup of coffee. On the road with coffee in hand and rain drops on the windshield we headed over to the Little Pigeon.. Pat is, well an exciting driver, but the ride is always more exciting when we are in a hurry to be the first ones on the river and I am holding a steaming hot cup of coffee. We made it without too many burns.

The Saturday Forcast

We decided to wet wade and little did we know how much the word ‘wet’ would really play into the days events. I was first in the water an on the second cast was rewarded with a healthy Smoky Mountain wild rainbow. Then the clouds opened up and the rains came. Not just the regular rain like we had seen that morning, but a rain storm. We headed to the truck and decided drive another couple thousand feet up the mountain to try and escape the rising water, which now had the consistency of a Chocolate Yoo-Hoo.

We made it up to one my favorite streams before the rain made it up to the stream. I convinced Pat we needed to fish and floated the idea that we may have driven out of the rain, which could be on the other side of the watershed and “may not” effect this stream. Pat wanted to fish as bad as I did, so we hiked a few hundred feet up the mountain and got into the stream.

We had shots at a few fish before the rain caught up with us again. This time we were on a much smaller stream and as we entered a narrow canyon the rain picked up. The water began to get that familiar deep brown color and the bottom disappeared. Then the water started rising and we made the decision to climb out before we were caught in the canyon. Out, was straight up the side of the mountain to the trail that we left a few hundred feet earlier when we entered the stream. Rhododendron is a plant common to the higher elevations of the Smokys. Also, Rhododendron can be “cumbersome” when trying to hike up the side of a mountain, hundreds of feet from the nearest trail. We did make it to the trail and back to the truck with only a few minor bumps and bruises.

Rhododendron

We drove back down and across the side of the mountain to Elkmont to see firsthand what that water there looked like. When we got to Elkmont the river was more of the same brown and high mixture. So, we did some exploring of Elkmont. We found that after the logging companies began to leave the Smokies, the trains that once hauled the trees out to the saw mills began to shuttle vacationers to Elkmont. Those visitors stayed in the various cottages as well as the Wonderland Hotel. The Wonderland was built in the early 1900’s and stayed in operation for approximately 80 years. The Wonderland has been torn down, but the remains of some of the cabins are still standing today. It was nice to see some of the cabins are being restored to keep that piece of Americana alive in the Smokies.

The Wonderland Hotel

We left Elkmont and rode the rest of the way down the mountain to Tremont. The water in the Middle Prong was slightly high and slightly stained. We fished the Middle Prong for a while before the river began the staining process as the clouds dumped water into the watershed. When we couldn’t see the bottom any longer and called it a day. We went back to the cabin, where we did the cooking chores for our families. We had a quiet afternoon and caught up with old friends. Then after everyone said goodbye we headed to the pool for a quick swim before retiring to the cabin to get ready for the next day in the Smokies.

Raymond Sr. & ray Jr. on the Caney Fork River, Tennessee

My morning commute was different on Monday. Instead of getting into the truck and heading to the office, I hooked up the drifter and headed to the river to meet Ray B. Jr. and Raymond B. Sr. for a float on the Caney Fork River. Ray Jr. came down from Paducah, KY to meet his Dad, Raymond from Dalton, GA. I picked them up from their motel and we met Dan for the usual shuttle arrangement.

We were on the river several hours after the Army Corps had shut down the flow. The water was gin clear and as low as I have seen it this year. The fish could see every movement and were extremely skittish. Fortunately, both Ray and Raymond are very good with their rods and could cast the distance needed for a shot at these nervous fish. It was apparent early-on that we need some relief from the low water.

By switching to multiple fly combinations we had the boat slam early in the trip, although we hadn’t picked up the size that we were seeking. The stockers had come out to play, but the friendly holdovers were running the other way and moving into the shadows at every opportunity.

We stopped for Pineapple Chops and baked potatoes, cooked over an open flame. While we rested and filled our tanks, the Army Corp released a generous helping of 4100 CFS and filled the river. After lunch we packed up and launched the drifter for part two of our day.

We only floated 50 yards before the first quality holdover struck Ray’s BHPT. He commented on how much time had passed since he caught a fish on 6x tippet. I took the opportunity to explain that he should be extra careful, because I had him on 7X. After a few minutes of reel scream, Ray brought the rainbow to the net and we boated the first quality holdover of the day. During our pass through Lancaster, Ray Jr. hooked up with a few nice fish.

Raymond lost a nice brown a short time later and then he got into a few nice fish of his own. It is remarkable how the colors on the rainbows have brightened up over the past few weeks. Their gill plates are deep red prism and their lateral line has distinctive color markings that are visible while they lay on the bottom.

Both anglers got their Slam. Ray Jr. caught the longest brookie and Raymond Sr. took the honors of the largest rainbow and the largest brown. Toward the end of the float Ray Jr. took out a sweet little hand built 3 wt Sage. Ray built this one himself a few years back while they were fishing out West. We dropped a nymph under the indicator and he gave the 3 wt. a run through its casting paces. His reward came a short time later from another colorful Caney Fork rainbow.

Although Ray and Raymond are accomplished dry fly anglers, they didn’t have any trouble catching fish on the nymphs. With the new orifice gate going in, hopefully the new flow will help the hatches on the Caney. As the gravel bars get a little more water for the bugs and the brookies gain some additional size, would it be a stretch to expect some quality dry fly fishing on the Caney Fork?

Caney Fork and Elk River Trips

Two Boats on the Caney Saturday, June 28^th, 2008

We took two boats to the Caney Fork and launched just as the Army Corps shut down the generator. We were floating just minutes later and we had two slams before lunch, actually within a couple hours of the launch. Although the water again didn’t really fall out as far as I like before the second wave hit, Jim A. and Barry H. both caught fish . The Army Corps didn’t call and ask me for advice on the generation schedule, but we still managed to boat some quality fish.

Jim A. With a nice Caney Fork Rainbow caught on a BHPT

We stopped for a bite with the water rolling under one generator. Lunch today was Mexican Pork Chop Quesadilla’s with Black Beans. We solved many of the world’s problems right there on the river bank, as we always do at lunch time.

While we were eating we saw a guy on a kayak flip and lose everything. I grabbed one of the boats, with Anthony in the front and Barry in the back. We rowed to the middle of the river and caught the things we could salvage. We retrieved his paddle along with his box of lures. The young man made it to the opposite bank and Mark took the paddle to him along with the other things we retrieved. By the time Mark made it back we had broken down the chairs, locked down the grills, and then we went back to fishing.

To sum up the day on the Caney it would look like this. We caught many fish in the usual spots and they were caught, for the most part on the usual flies. The brook trout continue to fatten-up and the browns are coming back around on lower water as we’ve seen them in the months past. Traffic was the usual for this time of summer…..heavy…..but everyone knows this going into a float and we just fish around the other boats, canoes and wading fishermen.

Thursday, July 3^rd, 2008 Our Two Favorite Clients

Mark and I took our daughters for an afternoon of floating and fishing on the Caney. The girls are nine and ten years old and they are becoming quite the little fisher girls. (OK maybe I am a little biased). We hooked them up with fish while we were still within eyesight of the ramp. Both of the girls brought fish to hand, which is good considering their short attention span. Inevitably they will end up in the back of the boat discussing their future plans and how they are going to talk their Dad’s into buying them a horse.
Discussing the Hatch of the Day

The girls even let the Mark and I get in a little fishing action before we had to relinquish the long rods back, as they resumed their catching. The set-up of the day was BHPT’s and red Zebra Midges under an indicator, along with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

The most fun I had was watching Emily catch a fish, while Delaney netted the fish. It looked like a small circus in the front of the boat for a few minutes, but I will have to say it was as much fun as I can remember on the river in a while.

We cruised into the take-out just before dark. On the way home, it was quiet in the truck and they were asleep just after we hit I-840.

Saturday, July 5, 2008 The Elk River

After the recent discussions concerning the warming of the water below Tims Ford Dam, I wanted to get back to the Elk and take a look at the fish for myself.

As most of you know TVA was asked to adjust the flow and generation to save endangered species on the Elk which are apparently below the Alabama state line. The spilling that had been occurring several months back warmed the water temperature of the river. The temperature was close to the seventy degree mark, which is lethal to both rainbows and brown trout. TVA listened to anglers and local residents, as well as the folks from TWRA. They have begun to spill and sluice to lower the temperatures. During the week TVA will also run a generator for an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening which appears to be helping to stabilize the water temperature.

Considering the holiday weekend we were amazed at the number of people at the dam. It was not nearly as crowded as we had suspected and we saw some familiar faces in the water as we floated to the Bend Pool.

The TWRA had recently stocked the Elk at the Dam as well as Farris Creek Bridge. The people who were fishing immediately below the dam bridge were having a high success rate, but my concern was centered around the general trout population at the mid point of the float.

We had one trout by the time we made it to the bend pool. After we rounded the corner at the Bend Pool and began our float down the short shoot to the Scud Pool, business began to pick-up. We boated an amazing number of fish within the first three miles. The majority of the fish were SNIT's (Standard Nine Inch Trout), but there were some fish that appeared to be holdovers as well. We caught an almost equal number of browns and rainbows, however we still hadn’t gotten to the mid point of the river to see the effects of the long weeks of warm water on the fish population.

The lunch this trip consisted of Pork Chop Quesadilla’s with a great Banana Pudding recipe from Gary and Nina Woods. This went well after a few hours of intense fishing.

As we floated into my favorite stretch of the river we were glad to see rise rings emerge in the middle of the river. The fish are alive and well. They appeared to be as healthy as they were in March and April, before the recent events took place. Most of the fish were holding in the usual places such as the shoals and the deep runs and if you found one fish you would find several more within a few feet. The fish seem to be moving around a little, but they are also staying tightly packed.

Mark Engages in a Different Form of Catching Fish

We picked up several fish and as you can see from the photos there are some nice sized fish still in the river. Mark was on target with a Hare’s Ear and Silver Bullet Midge combination and I got in on the action with a BHPT and a Silver Bullet Midge combo.
Elk River Brown Hits a Silver Bullet

I’ve been on the water several times during the past few weeks. There is definitely another trip or two, to the Elk, in the coming weeks just to make sure I’ve got a good handle on the river. Also, the Caney generation schedule has changed once again and looks to be favorable for a quality float. So, I am looking forward to more great days on the rivers in Middle Tennessee...

The Drifter Gets Some Rest After a Hard Morning of Fishing

On the Reel with Rachel and Jamie

I fished the Caney with Rachel and Jamie H. who came in from Florence AL via the Elk River the day before. Their home waters are the Elk River and their report on the Elk was- lots of stockers, a cleaner river bottom and good water temperatures. This is good news for the trout and a change from the previous weeks. It seems the changes TVA has made to the water flow may be helping the river.

Thursday morning I stopped for the usual gas, ice and coffee. I stopped at new place for a biscuit and it was possibly the best gas station biscuit I’ve ever experienced. I caught up with Jamie and Rachel at their rental cabin at Center Hill Lake shortly after the biscuit. We had spoken on multiple occasions about the trip via email and it was good to finally meet them both. It is always good to put a face on a name. With that we were off to meet Dan (Shuttlemon) for our ride to the dam and the launching of the boat.

We were on the water, with the Army Corps setting a blistering pace of 4000 CFS. Rachel and Jamie picked up the streamer rods and went to work. Jamie caught a rainbow pretty quick on a Clouser and then………nothing. After that there was still more nothing. Finally, I stopped the float. We discussed the finer points of Alabama fly fishing as well as a discussion concerning the killer eel we saw earlier in the day, which turned out to be a corrugated sewer pipe floating in the current. I tied on some nymphs for falling water. At 10:30 the armada of boats began their trek past us and up river to the dam, so they could catch the falling water too. Then at 11:00 a.m. the Corps showed mercy and shut down the generation. Fifteen minutes later the fish began to rise and we were off with a new arsenal of freshly tied nymphs.

The action really turned on at Lancaster where Jamie picked up his second bow of the trip. This fish was large enough to demand Jamie get it on the reel and give the fish gave the reel a drag adjustment. Jamie did an excellent job getting the fish to the boat and into the net. This left Rachel fishless, but I knew that wouldn’t last long. She picked up a nice bow 100 yards downstream. Before we could get the photo-op I dropped the fish back in the river.

Score = fish with sore lip 1- guide with stone hands 0.

Shortly after Lancaster the water level became favorable (although it never really fell out all day) and the fish turned on to our offerings. Rachel picked up a bow that she had to get on the reel, as she was fighting her bow Jamie chimed in with a nice rainbow of his own. This was the first of several doubles for the day.

Jamie picked up a brown and Rachel announced he was 2/3 to his Slam. Somewhere about this time Jamie announced it was “Good to be King” and it was game on for both of them. They both began to get into their rhythm and continued to pick up rainbow after rainbow.

We picked up a whole mess of rainbows so I moved the boat into position to try and pick up a different offering. Rachel searched out some good looking water and picked up the first brookie of the day, which completed the boat slam. Jamie also got into the brook trout action and the duo picked up the boat record for brook trout this season. Rachel caught the largest brookie of the year which is pictured in the photo. Biologists are saying the brook trout will grow about a ½” per month. Next spring we should have nice pods of large brookies in the river.

People who know me well understand I really like to fish, some folks say I would rather fish than eat. With the short window in generation I made the decision to put off lunch while the action was hot. Actually we put off lunch for so long and the fishing was so good- Rachel and Jamie decided Cheetos and Gatorade would be good and the shore lunch was called off. Some folks would rather fish than eat! They drowned nymphs for the remainder of the day.

We continued to try to stay ahead of the generation and continued to pick up rainbows and brook trout. The mission became - get Rachel the elusive slam. We extended the float and hit shoal after shoal. Rachel continued to boat rainbow after rainbow. The slam became such a passion that she actually wasn’t upset when a nice rainbow sportsman released.

Finally, the generation caught up boat and the heat caught up with us. God was merciful today and didn’t give us quite the high temps we all expected. Rachel made it 2/3 to the slam and I have never seen an angler go after something with such vigor. It was evident that she and Jamie both have a true zeal for the sport. Jamie got the Slam, and Rachel boated the largest brookie I’ve seen on the river.

On the way back to the cabin the conversation turned, as it usually does, to the number of fish caught on the day. As they debated the number I listened and finally threw out a number that may have been a little low. I didn’t have the heart to tell them I quit counting when I run out of fingers and toes.

Watercolors and Paddlefish

Today I fished with local artist Dan Sharley. Dan is a self taught watercolor artist from Murfreesboro who paints fish and other wildlife. He enjoys painting freshwater as well as saltwater species and his work is spread throughout the south. He is not only an accomplished artist, but Dan can also handle a fly rod very well.

We left Murfreesboro a little later than normal and arrived at the river approximately 8:00 a.m. naturally I put a streamer rod in his hand to see how his shoulder would hold up. Dan rewarded us with a skip jack and a rainbow in the first several minutes. We dodged boats floating, trolling and regrouping for better positioning, while we searched out the best water.

Soon we were out in front of the conga line and pounding the banks with streamers. Dan picked up a few nice fish including a nice rainbow and an equally as healthy brown trout. The generators shut off at 10:00 a.m. and the water began to calm down. Then a large scum line of weeds and pollen covered the river. We switched over to nymphs and droppers and continued to bring several nice fish to the boat.

During the morning Dan picked up a couple nice browns including the one he is holding in the picture below. We continued down the river in a relatively boat free zone throwing nymphs and droppers with some success. Just before stopping for lunch we hooked up with the days only brook trout. It was a tick larger than the usual brookie, but not quite as colorful.

After the brook trout encounter we hooked up on a 14” brown. The brown was fighting like most other browns with head shakes and short runs, but all of sudden it got real serious about getting away. That’s when we saw a 4 foot paddle fish swim into view. We let the brown run a little line off while the paddle fish slowly cruised upstream. We got the brown in the boat and revived him, then we let it back out into the current where the fish promptly disappeared.

Following lunch we hit the water again and picked up several more fish, before the second wave of generation caught up with us. We floated into Happy Hollow picking up fish here and there.

We noticed several very large fish on the opposite bank from the ramp. So, we rowed over and saw 20-30 carp rolling in the shallow water. The carp were either spawning or playing a came of tag, but we were pretty sure it was the former. After investigating the bigger fish we rowed over to the ramp and got in line to get off the water.


We had another good day on the Caney Fork, although it was somewhat shorter than the usual marathon float we boated a good number of healthy fish.

Mark J. and Bob I. on the Caney Fork

I picked up Mark J. and Bob I. who are both from Murfreesboro, TN and we were to the ramp at 7:00 a.m. The waters of the Caney Fork were rising from one generator as I rigged up the rods and discussed the first plan of action for the morning, which was…..Streamers…..of course.

We were off the hit the banks with our Clousers and immediately began to see flashes as the fish chased the guy’s offerings. The skip jack were out in force as well as the trout. We boated a couple of skip jacks in the 15” range, when they found fondness in the Clouser. We stopped at one of my favorite holes and lost a nice fish. I went ahead and put the fish on notice that we will be back for it in the near future.

I ran down the list of food and drink on the boat. When I got to desert of the day, which was a Snickers Bar…Mark was ready to eat desert at 8:30 in the morning. It reminds me of a friend of mine who says, “Life is Short, Eat Desert First”. This is a thought provoking statement and it has a lot of merit. But, Mark decided he could wait and explained how proud his family would be that he was eating a healthy snack of baked chips instead Snickers for breakfast.

When the Army Corps shut down the generators and the water went from 3400 CFS to zero, we went from streamers to nymphs and started picking up rainbows. Before lunch we were well on our way to the Grand Slam. The only species left on the list of trout being a brown, which we had on the hook, but hadn’t brought to hand. Rainbows and brooks had already been bagged for the day.

The recent stockings of brook trout have made a new target species for folks. Although the brook trout are still a little small, they are coming into their own colors now, as they adapt to the river. The fish are turning more orange with a hint of red at their underside and still have the pure white around the edges of the fins. They have migrated throughout the river and from where they last saw the inside of the stocking truck. Hopefully we will see them grow into some of the monsters that states including North Carolina and Arkansas have been able to produce.

Mark is deadly with a soft hackle and brought along a sweet little bamboo rod that has great action. When we crossed the lunch shoal and he saw the fish stacked up, he just wanted to stay right there. We pulled into the usual spot and set up for lunch. While I cooked, the guys hit the shoal with soft hackles as the water continued to fall out.

After lunch we went hunting browns and we boated the first one within 15 minutes. This completed our first Grand Slam, but there was still another to be put in the books. The canoe traffic and people playing in the river made navigation interesting, but not as bad as we seen in recent years.

The water hit again, this time from the Army Corps 2:00 release. We waited for place in the line of boats and landed a couple of rainbow doubles. We managed to search out a double of brook trout just as the thunderstorm hit. The rain came at us sideways, tree limbs were blowing into the water and across the road by the river. It was bad, but the weather behind the storm looked to be clearing. While others headed for the safety of the ramp, we waited out the storm to continue fishing.

Post storm we hooked up with a few more fish including the nice brown trout that Bob is holding in the photo below. The day began to end when the river turned the color of chocolate milk. But, Mark did manage to catch the first stripe bass of the year. I pulled back into Murfreesboro with two tired fishermen. The guys did a great job working together and were a lot of fun to have aboard. I am looking forward to fishing with Mark and Bob again on their fall trip.

James and Larry on the Caney Fork

Thursday night was spent tying flies, mostly Clousers for high water and Dan-O-Magic’s for low water, while listening to www.radiomargaritaville.com to pass the time. This weekend is the Memorial Day Buffett Parade of Concert series including the 4:00 a.m. Nashville show from the 1970’s.

Friday morning at 4:30 a.m. I was warming baked potatoes for the shore lunch. The coolers packed… (check), rods hung neatly in the truck (check) and the boat tied down….. (check). A stop for ice to cool the goodies and a fill up with gas to empty the wallet…. (check), then onto McDonalds where every successful fishing trip should begin.

Today I was fishing with James who is from Murfreesboro, TN and his father-in-law Larry who came in from Phoenix, AZ. Both are very pleasant gentlemen who have a definite appreciation for the outdoors. On the way to the river we had good conversation about kayaks as well as snakes in trees on the sound side of the Outer Banks.

We launched the boat, did a few adjustments to casting forms, which of course included a discussion of mending…...Then we were off.

The first fish to the boat was a healthy Caney brown trout, which was followed by a healthy Caney rainbow. By the time we floated into Where Cows Walk on Water their casting was in rhythm & we had boated several fish. We couldn’t count the number of flashes and missed a few quick hits.

The sun was up, the clouds had burned off and we added the smell of sun block to remind us spring is here with summer just around the corner. That was us rolling right along with the current and stopping at the places that looked fishy.

By lunch we had a Grand Slam + one 16” carp thrown in the mix. The water was slowing after the generators stopped, when we cruised into the regular lunch spot and fired up the grille. Lunch today was cedar planked grilled salmon, baked potatoes, with butter & sour cream, and fresh fruit.

After lunch and talk of siesta, I rowed us back up stream a couple times to hit a shoal that always seems to produce. The water was low enough that we got a good look at some nice fish. We picked up a couple there and floated into the crossover drifting nymphs under bobicator.

The guys were getting into their element now and detecting subtle strikes. They began to hook up on a regular basis with Tutto’s and if they were paying attention to something other than the bobicator they got the slap on the arm “set the hook”. James and Larry picked up some very nice fish after lunch. We had several doubles on and doubles in the boat.

With the water starting to pick up a little from the second round of generation, I gave them the option of waiting until high water and rigging the streamers or floating in with the current and continue the nymphing. The question was posed and the unanimous decision was to keep doing what we are doing, so we kept drowning nymphs and giving fish sore lips.

Larry and James worked very well together. They seemed to instinctively understand when to cast and how to work together while in the boat, which is key to a good day on the river. We've already began discussions of their return to the river and I am looking forward to fishing with them again.

Radio Margaitaville is playing one of Buffett's Indy shows now. I am getting ready to start tying flies, mostly Clousers for high water and Dan-O-Magic’s for low water.