Donnie on the Drift Boat

Donnie booked some time in the front casting brace of the drifter and caught the largest brown since he began fly fishing. Karl came along strictly for the entertainment value. But we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves. We started the day on high water and Donnie started with a streamer rod in his hand. After a good 30 minutes there were no signs of fish and certainly no fish in the net. It was going to be a long day...or so we thought.

We stowed the streamer rod and brought out the prototype nymphs. Then we began our search for high water seams. After dialing in the boat position and Donnie's presentation the hatchery brats began to come to the net. All this on high water was a good sign. It wasn't long before the generator turned off and the water began to get flat. At the same time the fish turned off almost completely. On this day there weren't even the rises to the little white specs after the generation. With the exception of the sound of the fly rod casting and the oars dipping into the water, it was almost dead calm. 

A little while later the fishing picked back up and the fish were coming to the nymph. After we got them coming to the nymph they came to the net on semi-regular basis. We weren't setting the world on fire but it felt like Donnie had a real shot at a nice fish even if the water was still on the high side. The plan was to fish deep and try to dredge a nice fish... 

Donnie was dialing in the cast and presentation. He was getting it more together with each turn of the river. Then the fly bottomed out on back to back casts. On the third cast Donnie's fast hook set stuck a nice fish. The fish didn't move too fast at first but when the fish came to the top we both knew it was a nice brown. This brown saved all its energy for a fight at the boat. Donnie was ready and his Orvis rod had just the right flex throughout the entire fight. Finally the head came up and Donnie slid the fish into the net. Smiles all around for the guys in the drift boat! Donnie just caught the largest brown since he began fly fishing. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

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.