Fly Fishing Near Nashvile

A Snowy Morning in the South

Our friends who live up North and out West may barely consider this a snowfall and in reality it was just a dusting. In Middle Tennessee we take what we can get and make the most of the situation. When it snows it is a good day to fish, heck when it doesn't snow it is a good day to fish. We tried several different techniques this week and ended up finding some things that had value. As usual some we kicked the duds to the curb in quick fashion. 

Nice Hat

The Caney Fork River and Center Hill Dam have received a lot of press over the past few months. It is a good thing no one told the fish. The release from two generators is finally cutting back and we are seeing some windows of one generator releasing water and periods of no generation. 

The Calm Before the Storm. Notice the Snow on the Grass

The water temp on the Caney Fork, two miles from the dam, is 44 degrees by our thermometer. That temp is just a bit cold, but the trout are still eating and putting a bend in the rod when hooked. There has been a small number of shad coming through the dam. Fish are responding lazily and with no regularity. Watching the birds patrolling the dam pool tells me there have been some shad coming through, maybe not lately and not in large numbers. But, when we caught a nice brookie this week, on a slowly fished floating shad pattern, and found a half eaten shad hanging out the brook trout's mouth it made us stay on that pattern a bit longer. 
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The water is falling out slowly with the current generation. As it levels out and the water settles streamers are getting some looks, but nymphs still bring the most fish to the net. Fishing soft hackles over the shoals works best when wading. The future generation forecast is showing there may be additional windows for wading and floating this week.

That's Got to be a Good Feeling

The Elk River is finally back to a normal flow of 100 cfs. Fishing at the access points is tough. The river bottom has been scoured and most of the vegetation that grows over the Summer has been cleaned out. For all the anglers worried about bugs and how they need weeds to hang on to, grow big under, and generally have a good place to hang around with other bugs, don't worry there will be weeds in a couple months. When the weeds come back, all will be right with the world and the bugs will rejoice and be happy once again. 
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Speaking of weeds, river bottoms, and bugs, oh and fish, the fish on the Elk are healthy and colorful. Nymphs are a good way to bring them to the net. We haven't seen a brookie in several months, so maybe my prediction the Elk would be a good place for them could be wrong. We are spending some time on the Elk this week and if there is a holdover brook trout hopefully it will be as nice as the one we caught on the Caney this past week. Speaking of catching fish, cause this is a fishing report, fishing small streamers is a good way to catch'em. Just any old color might work, but white is best. Hey it's still Winter and we all know Winter means white streamers right? Right. 

There we have it, one fishing report. Now is the time to get out there and fish. The crowds are thin and it is easier to find some solitude, while feeling a rod load. My suggestion is to get out there, stand in the cold water, find what works and kick the duds to the curb in quick fashion.