Mid-Week Elk River Trip 4/3/2008

On Monday, March 31^st, I went with Mark Roberts to meet Paul from Hyde Drift Boats. Paul was delivering Mark’s Hyde Skiff. After several minutes of conversation we left Paul who was back on the road to Idaho Falls and his home. The conversation between Mark and I continued over lunch and evolved into the maiden voyage of his new skiff. We decided to take off Wednesday and break the boat in on the Elk River.

Wednesday, April 2^nd, 2008- I woke up at 4:30 a.m. and began getting ready for a long day fishing the Elk. The trip is approximately nine river miles which includes some deep holes, small riffles and a lot of slow moving water. I made a quick stop for gas and coffee, then met Mark at the usual rendezvous point. We were on the road toward Tullahoma by 5:45 a.m.

We dumped the boat at the dam and I went to meet Rhonda from Tim’s Flies and Lies www.timsfliesandlies.com for the shuttle. Rhonda and Tim Page run a local fly shop which has a nice selection of fly fishing and fly tying materials, on the square in Lynchburg, TN.

When we got back to the dam Mark was making adjustments on the boats oars. After a few minutes getting things where he wanted them we were off. We had the first fish in the boat by the first dogleg in the river. Before lunch we had several fish including the largest fish I have seen caught from the Elk the river. We won’t be showing the picture of the fish Mark caught here, but this fish is certainly a trophy brown trout.

At lunch time, Mark prepared grilled Chipotle Steelhead with black beans while I did some phone business. Lunch was topped off with a cigar by the river and then we were back in the boat.
The final half of the day is when the water began to pick up more of the brown run-off from the rain earlier in the week. As we passed each feeder creek the water began to darken more and more. We did pick up a few more fish, but the catching was a little patchy. We made it to the take out and were off the water by 7:00 p.m.

Although this trip makes for a very long day the scenery on the Elk is something to mention. There are hills, small waterfalls and people have described some stretches as western type rivers.

This was Mark’s day and a day he had been waiting on for several years. With a new boat and a trophy brown he was on cloud nine. We reviewed the events of the day several times on the hour drive back to the usual rendezvous point.

Elk River, Saturday March 29th, 2008

The forecast on Saturday called for rain and approximately 60 degrees. I met Jim Allen from Ohio and we discussed lunch. Because the float at the Elk takes all the light of day, this time of year, we settled for lunch of bologna and pimento cheese. Jim told me he had never had pimento cheese. A person with a passion for fly fishing needs to appreciate the finer points of pimento cheese like the pimentos; the mayo, the different cheeses, the list goes on and on. Besides pimento cheese is one of the necessities of a quality float trip as well as quality southern living.

We arrived at the river at 8:00 a.m. and headed out among moderate fishing pressure on the upper part of the river. Before we got to the bend pool we had removed the skunk with a brown on a Tutto. At the bend pool we boated the second fish with light rain coming down. We headed down river and brought out the streamers. Immediately Jim was open for business with several strikes and some misses to keep him honest. We stopped at my favorite run and pulled out a black Bugger. This fly caught the fish quality brown of the day. I tied on a U-Tube Streamer and on one cast we had a brown hit the U-Tube, come up out of the water and then come back for a second shot. The fish missed the point of the hook, but it was an exciting thing to witness.

Further down the river the rain became heavier, the thunder became louder and the lightning became brighter. We pulled over and anchored up to wait out the storm. After the storm passed we moved down to a nice long pool which produced a healthy rainbow. We parked at a run where Jim caught another nice rainbow on a Tutto with a miracle Midge dropper. The water was becoming a little more clouded due to the creeks after the rains.

Lunch time we downed a couple sandwiches with pimento cheese, added some chips and then we moved into the middle portion of the river. We boated two of the nicest fish of the day within 100 yards of each other. The first was caught on the U-Tube and the second was on the BHPT.

As the light began to dwindle we headed for the ramp at Ferris Creek Bridge. We had to wait out one more thunderstorm on the way out and it was almost dark when we arrived at Ferris Creek. We were packed up and off the water by about 8:00 p.m.

The Elk is in good shape. The light pressure down stream is giving fish a chance to recover from the drought last year and a chance to grow a little more. The middle portion of the river is still a great place to spend a large part of the day, but an angler needs to keep an eye toward the sun and not get caught upstream after dark. If you get caught on the river after dark make sure you have some of these to curb that appetite.

The Elk River- Scouting Report

Today Anthony Williams from Calvary Outfitters took me out for our second scouting trip of the year to the Elk River. I plan on doing some trips down there this year and wanted to try out a few patterns as well as to take a look at some of the better spots we’ve found over the last 6 years.

When we arrived at the river we were surprised at the lack of people on the river. There were exactly….no people within eyesight and only one vehicle in the parking lot. As we were suiting up a gentleman from North Carolina and his daughter arrived. He was teaching her to fly fish and I can’t think of a better river to teach the mechanics of fly fishing than the upper portion of the Elk. We exchanged pleasantries and while they went back to their car to get suited up, we backed the canoe into the water.

As I said before this was more of a scouting trip, so my job was to sit in the front of the canoe, look for fish and watch the bobicator. The usual suspects were in the usual holes along the river and before we arrived at the bend pool we had a couple strikes. A quick stop in the bend pool and we picked up a couple rainbows on the Tutto. Moving downstream from there we were under crystal clear skies and on crystal clear water. The river is in very good shape particularly when we consider last years summer drought.

I have a favorite run on the the upper portion of the Elk. This run produces fish most every time and Saturday was no exception. The run yielded two very nice holdover browns with outstanding color on a small Clouser. Then I moved onto a long run and caught another brown. This opportunistic brown was a little larger, but the color was more memorable than its size. The fish had the butter color belly and golden sides. The spots were vivid black with bright red mixed among them, but the most distinct features were the white at the tips of the fins. This fish was in great shape.

While Anthony fished downstream, I took a lunch break and sat down next to the water. Between bites I turned over a few rocks and found………..sow bugs. The largest sow bug I found was approximately a #18, which explains why the Tutto worked out so well. Anthony continued working a run and came up with a nice rainbow of his own on a Clouser.

We did see some younger folks turn over a canoe, which yielded some colorful language and shouts of “this water is cold, this water is cold” and “this water is cold!”. After that we fished downstream a little longer and then decided to call it a day.

Anthony’s canoe gets a lot of attention while it is on the river. There were some long looks on the way back to the ramp and several people stopped to discuss the distinct lines of his River Ridge Custom Canoe.

My seat in front of the canoe, over the past couple weeks, revealed there are not as many fish in the upper river as in previous springs. However, it is still a little early for the TWRA to stock the upper part of the river to its normal capacity. Down river the fish seem to be as plentiful as previous years. The holes further downstream should hold the bigger fish that we know are there just waiting to be caught.

Saturday, February 23rd, 2008

I was up early Saturday morning cooking baked potatoes for the trip. I was out the door and onto McDonalds for coffee with a pile of streamers in my hand that I tied the night before.

I met Anthony Williams who is a co-founder of Calvary Outfitters http://www.cbcol.net/page.cfm/747 and Chris Robinson who is a regular attendee at the monthly meetings. Anthony and Chris live in Murfreesboro, TN, Anthony is a regular on the boat, but this was Chris’ first time on the boat as well as his first time fishing with a fly rod. Anthony had set up our trip by telling Chris “the weather looks good for Saturday”.

We were on the Caney Fork about 8:30 a.m., The Army Corps was cranking one generator and the snow was coming down sideways. Yes, Chris did mention Anthony’s statement of “the weather looks good for Saturday”. I’ve been out in worse weather, but Chris was a newbie……at that time in the float anyway, and had yet to experience a truly bad weather day.

For the first few minutes we worked with Chris’ timing, but it did not take long for him to get into a rhythm. Within 15 minutes Chris caught his first trout, had the hero shot and was casting for another. Before we left our first stop Chris had 5 fish including a brown.

Anthony was trying several different streamer combinations, fielding weather questions from Chris, while catching his share of fish.

We were off to pound the banks. We watched fish after fish come up from the deep to chase, examine and even hit the streamers. There is nothing like seeing a trout chase a streamer, take a shot at it, miss and come back for two and sometimes three more takes.

Before lunch we ended up back on Clousers, similar to what we fished this time last year. We started picking up larger fish as we hit the better lies in the river. Anthony caught a large bow and a nice brown when we stopped at one of the better lies in the river.

Then……we had lunch, which consisted of:

Ritz Crackers and Crab Dip
Chicken Sandwiches
Baked Potatoes
Fruit Salad
Soft Drinks
and a warm fire.

Since it was my “lunch break” I took a few minutes to fish. Chris came down to join me and landed the biggest bow of the day, while I managed the net. After lunch the water began to go down and we began our float out. We lost a nice fish a few miles down from the dam , but before we made it to the ramp we had a nice double of two 16” bows.

It did stop snowing, but the weather never really did warm up. We pulled into the ramp just about dark, we were off the river and on the road just after the sun went down. On the way home we stopped by McDonalds for one more cup of coffee, which ended the day much like it started.

February 2nd, 2008

The day started early watching the Weather Channel and getting flies ready for a float with Brent Fuller and Mark Smith from Chattanooga Tennessee. During the stop for gas, coffee and an apple pie my phone rings. I look at the clock and it is 5:30 a.m. Mark is on the line and they are at the ramp…one hour early. They have the bug bad, which is evident from a couple of things. One, it’s dark at 5:30 and two; it’s less than 30 degrees. But, having “it” bad is not always a bad thing.

I strung up the streamer rods and put one in each of their hands. With one generator running we began pounding the banks for opportunistic browns who want to attack unsuspecting bait fish. Brent and Mark have spend more time nymphing than anything else and on this day they received a crash course in Streamer 101. I would rate their grade an A considering they didn’t know what I was going to get them into.

Brent was the first to hook up and soon had what he said was the biggest brown he had ever caught. Mark wasn’t too far behind catching browns. We fished down the river and Mark’s Wooley Bugger found a tree limb sticking out over the water. He finally shook it loose and we floated on. Mark missed several fish against the bank in an extremely good stretch of flat water. After a quick inspection of the Wooley Bugger we found the point was missing. So we stopped and changed flies and fished a run above Lancaster where we picked up a couple more nice browns. Brent caught another brown, which was larger than his previous record.

Below Lancaster we stopped while Mark picked up a few by swinging a midge pattern through some swifter water. I re-rigged the rods and we floated into the middle of a real life Caney Fork traffic jamb. We picked our way through the boats and people and stopped at Camp Crossover for a good shore lunch of burgers, chips and drinks. Anthony Williams made a drink delivery in his canoe to help quench our thirst and to join us for a burger.

The water had pretty much fallen out after lunch, so we tried a couple different nymph and midge patterns. These patterns did not reveal huge results, so we got back on streamers and picked up a couple more browns.

Overall it was a pleasant day. Brent and Mark were fun to fish with and their excitement was notable. Thanks to Anthony for stopping by with the drinks and snapping a couple photos as well.

When in Doubt....Throw the Meat..January 26th, 2008 ...

I reviewed a Department of Biology, Tennessee Technical University study which states “there is no evidence that brown trout reproduce in the Caney Fork River”. This may be true, but if this is true the brown trout, that are stocked in the Caney by the TWRA, are doing relatively well by anyone’s standards.

I floated Saturday with Anthony Williams and Mark Roberts of Murfreesboro. We launched below the dam on a cool and cloudy morning and after a few pulls on the oars we were hooking up with several brown trout on streamers. Once someone gets a taste of browns on streamers it is difficult to sway them back into any other type of fly fishing. The strike is as exciting as anything in fly fishing and the reward can equal quality fish. Some days, like Saturday, these rewards came early and often.

We fished everything from sleek Clousers to big bushy bunny strip flies. Down river, Mark decided to change flies and selected a big bunny strip. Anthony and I could tell by the jumbo jet sound the fly made, when it came by our ear that this fly was meant to drum up the big fish. Several healthy browns had been boated, but Mark was in search of big game. Twice the fly was flashed by big fish. The bunny strip didn’t let us down and the big fish of the day, a rainbow, came from the deepest part of the river. The fish hit (fishing term: Hit- "tried to kill") Mark’s fly and won a chance to have its photo on the internet.

After the shore lunch of juicy hamburgers we got back into the boat and onto the river. We struck out for a while, just watching fish chase the streamers back to the boat and refuse at the last second. Seeing the chase is part of the fun, but seeing the take is the Cool Whip on the Key Lime pie, and toward the end of the float we rallied catching a couple more browns before the take out.

Despite a misstep in the forecast by the weather guessers, overall it was a very good day.

Planes, Trains and the “Tutto”

Friday (the last day of November, 2007) found me on the water with Jim Allen of Johnstown, Ohio and Barry Huber of Murfreesboro, TN. The temperature was 24 degrees when we launched from below the the dam on extremely low water then began fishing just a short while later.

Barry was the first to hook a fish, which was a rainbow that put up a good fight. The low air temperature seemed to give the rainbow extra spunk. We all know fish are weather-smart; and this rainbow looked as if it recognized we were moving a little slow due to the crisp air. But, Barry got the fish to the net which removed the skunk early.

The Army Corp released one generator of water at 8:00 a.m. as well as a sluice for good measure. With 5100 CFS of water the drift picked up speed in no time. We floated to Where Cows Walk on Water. There we found some slack water, structure, and a lively discussion concerning Rodney Carrington songs.

We moved downstream, continuing the discussion along with our search for rising fish. Rising fish were few and far between. I like to say “with that much water coming downstream they were probably just dodging moss and trying not to drown”. We also discussed the train tracks that run along beside one part of the river. We talked about how the tracks are hovering up on a ledge, moreover how I had never seen a train along those tracks.

It was cold in addition to our hunger so we stopped for lunch of burgers & chips. We also enjoyed a nice camp fire that without Dan’s Shuttle and Wood Service we would not have been able to enjoy. We had one taker on a streamer just before lunch was ready, but the fish didn’t hang around and was long distance released soon after the hook-up. During our stop the water began to fall out to a more fish friendly level. Shortly, after that we heard a rumble, then a train came along the edge of the bluff. (See photo). The noise was loud but not deafening and the fish didn’t seem all that bothered by the extra activity.

After the break for lunch we floated through one of my favorite stretches of river. It was still a little slow, but fish were rising. We pulled out a Sage rod and the fly of the day. The origins of this fly come from many long hours at the bench and lots of thought or as Barry found out from continued discussion, I tied this fly with everything that just happened to be lying on the bench one evening. We will call it a “Tutto” which is Italian for “Everything”. Catchy name huh…

The quote of the day came from Jim and soon after the third fish on the Tutto. “If I wasn’t such a nice guy I would be really mad at you”. Shortly after that, Jim was holding the Sage, a Tutto, plus his first rainbow of the day.

We found a good quality shoal that was holding a fair number of likely suspects. Barry and Jim took turns with the Sage/Tutto combo catching fish as we passed over the shoal a few times. On the second pass Barry and Jim both caught nice healthy browns as well as several rainbows.

The sun was going down and Jim had a plane to catch back to Ohio, so we headed to the ramp calling it a day. Overall we probably boated a couple dozen fish. For the most part we caught them on a Tutto, but we did have some success with other flies. Most of our luck came late in the day, on low water, that was similar to the water we started on early in the morning.

The Caney Fork. Saturday, November 24th 2007

I heard “David P. what’s up man?”……

”Not much, how was Thanksgiving?” I asked the voice on the other end of the phone. As we got into our conversation I realized that Dan, who is my shuttle guy, was outside. I was in Chattanooga for a couple days; it was 8:00 pm. in Chattanooga and 40 degrees. I knew the temperature in Buffalo Valley, where Dan was, would be somewhat lower and if Dan was outside the temp by the river would be even lower. I asked Dan what the heck was doing? He told me he was sitting outside with his neighbor and a friend…..by the fire. Apparently life is good when you live where you want to live, do what you want to do, when you want to do it, and Dan would know.

“How about a shuttle at 8:00 in the morning?” I asked.

“Only if I get to go.” He said

“I already have a full boat. Is that the river I hear in the background?” I was getting nervous

“OK I will see you at 8:00 and we need to fish” Dan said, as he let me off the hook…..it was a long distance release.

“You got that right we do need to fish, are you coming to Liars and Tiers on Tuesday night?”

“Yep, I hear we are havin chicken” He told me.

“Yep, see ya tomorrow”….

I met up with Mark Griffith and Anthony Williams of Murfreesboro the next morning. Mark had been fly fishing just one other time, but Anthony and I have fished all over Middle and East Tennessee. I am not good at math, or sometimes counting for that matter, but I’ve fished more times with Anthony than I have fingers and toes and always enjoy it. Anthony is easy going, but the best thing about Anthony today…he was bringing the burgers for the shore lunch! The shore lunch is quickly becoming one of the highlights of my trips. It is not a highlight because we cook such great food, but more because it is a time to get out of the boat, slow down a little more, count the rise rings and watch the river pass by as much as anything else.

Dan was there on time and we were on the water 45 minutes before the Army Corps was scheduled to stop the release. With-in the first 200 yards of no generation Mark was hooked up with a rainbow, which he long distance released with great precision. Little were we to know, although he would make a dramatic comeback later in the day, this was the last fish of a long dry spell for Mark.

We made it to the first bend in the river and Anthony hooked up with a very nice rainbow, which he fought for awhile. Two folks, who were fishing from a rock, guessed at its length several times before it ever came to the surface. How they had any idea the length, I don’t know, but they were close when they guessed 16”. This rock is also becoming a fixture of floats because there is almost always someone there with a spinning reel. In turn we almost always boat a fish within eyesight of that rock, which I am sure gives them great joy….

We stopped just after noon for burgers, chips and drinks. Anthony and Mark discussed their favorite vacation spots and bonfires. While they were entertained with that discussion, I counted rise rings, seven (7) all at the same time was the most I counted and it was just before a wind rippled up the water. I observed this from the comfort of my lawn chair by the stove. The river was falling out and our day was now crawling just like I had planned.

We got back in the boat and headed toward the halfway point of the trip. A little further downriver we picked up a brown trout that measured 15”. It was caught on a #16 BHPT, while the clouds became heavier and darker. A little later I begged the question, too myself, as well as the others. “Why would I leave my raingear in the truck?” It started to rain.

We passed the spot on the river where Anthony was broken off twice, on consecutive casts, by two large fish, earlier in the year. He wanted a second shot at either fish and as we passed over the spot he was quietly mending. We passed through the shoal twice, and picked up a couple, but apparently the bruisers were not around. It kept raining, the wind picked up and so did the wind knots.

A few minutes later Mark said “sometimes it just ain’t your day.” I love a good challenge and I re-rigged his rod with a fresh BHPT. We hit the first set of shoals on the home stretch where Mark picked up a 10” rainbow as well as his spirits. That fish prompted a discussion of Anthony’s week which consisted of fishing three rivers in as many days. We discussed the quality of the fish on the Caney this year and how we’ve had many good days on the river. It is getting late in the season and with the change in the weather I am searching for and beginning to tie more midge patterns for winter. This all leads to the shad kill in late winter/early spring, which brings on summer and it goes on and on….

I believe fish know when the discussion is getting deep and they use this gift to taste-test passing flies while they think no one is looking. This time Mark saw his indicator go under and hooked into a nice fish. He fought the fish as I discussed the fine art of reeling up excess line with a small arbor reel, while trying to untangle yourself and letting the fish run when it feels the need. During Mark’s fight with his fish, Anthony hooked a nice rainbow (the daily double was on), which we brought to the net. Anthony took the hook out of his rainbows sore lip and I helped Mark boat the largest brown he has caught, which measured 14”. (See 2nd photo)

We pulled into the ramp just after dark where we caught the last two plays of the Tennessee vs. Kentucky football game. Everything in the boat was locked down and we hung the rods in the truck. When we got on the interstate I called Dan.

“David P. what’s up man?”

“How about a shuttle Friday morning?” I asked.

“Only if I get to go.” He said

“I already have a full boat. Is that the river I hear in the background?” I was getting nervous

November 10th, 2007 The Upper Float on the Caney Fork

The day started off early, as usual, with a stop for the contents of a good shore lunch. Today, I would have two relative newcomers aboard. Rod Murphy and Mark Smith are in the Healthcare Industry and as with most folks who work hard they needed a day away from the hustle and bustle of the daily grind. These two made the two hour trip from Chattanooga, TN. and we met at the ramp at 8:00 a.m... Getting to the river today was an experience within itself. UT was hosting Arkansas and with kick-off at 12:30 (EST) the traffic is better compared to holiday traffic on I-40. However, we all made it without incident and were on the water by 9:00. The weather was clear and sunny with a temperature of 65 degrees. What a great day for a float on the gin clear water of the Caney Fork.

We floated down to the end of the walk-in below the dam and anchored in the slack water. While I rigged rods, they solved most of the world’s problems. We were ready to start fishing as soon as the Army Corps closed the sluice gate and turned off the generator. The water went from 5100 Cubic Feet per Second (CFS) to Zero CFS and we pulled out into what was left of the current as the fish began to rise.

Neither of my guests had been on the water in a while and the fish were not fully awake. The water was still a little high and the Captain began charging the usual $2.00 as each fisherman missed their share of fish. The day was shaping up to be a good day.

When people get together from different backgrounds and different walks of life there is an opportunity to learn new jokes and steal some good quotes. The best quote came when we overheard two fishermen on the bank speaking something other than Southern. Rod said “Mark you know Karate what are they saying?” This was one of those quotes, probably better heard first hand, although certainly it is worth noting.

At lunchtime, Tennessee was in control of the football game and I am certain the traffic at the concession stands of Neyland Stadium were now much heavier than the traffic on I-40. The traffic on the river today was light, and fish were rising steadily to what appeared to be a size 30 midge. After lunch of Ritz Crackers & crab dip, chips and burgers, we were back in the boat to finish out the day of fishing.

Both brown trout and rainbow were present today. It is my understanding the browns were introduced to United States from Europe over 100 years ago. In my book, fall of the year is when the browns put on their best colors. Their overall golden brown color is only a compliment to their black and red spots. Their belly is close to the color of butter and when they strike, if one is lucky enough to see them strike, they still show the flash of silver that gets a fisherman’s heart pumping.

Mark was in the front of the boat as the sun began to set behind the ridges. By the time I saw the indicator move; Mark had seen the flash of silver and began to set the hook, and the fish on the end of the line was well on its way to putting a nice bend in the Sage rod. Mark played the fish like he fishes daily and with-in minutes we had netted and measured a 17” Brown Trout. (see photo)

We made it the ramp at Happy Hollow well after dark, put the boat on the trailer and stored all the rods. Rod and Mark headed back to Chattanooga with what seemed to be a satisfying day for them. The productive flies of the day were BHPT and Miracle Midges.

I am going to check the traffic on Saturdays before I head to the river during football season and I think I may learn how to speak Karate…Today was an excellent day for a float on the Caney Fork River.

The New Anchor 11/3/2007

Tuesday night at the monthly meeting for the Liars and Tiers…it was a night of good friends, a good show on Salmon fishing, great ribs, dry flies and the group bought me a new anchor. This anchor replaces the anchor I left on the bottom of the Watauga a year or so ago. Not only do I appreciate the anchor, but it gives me a credible reason to fish this weekend!

Up early Saturday morning, this is the last day of the year, before the fall time change. It is a little cool at thirty-four degrees, so I fixed some coffee and did the morning rituals. Guess I’m getting a little lazy in my old age because the boat is sitting the garage with stuff piled up on top of it. Once it’s hooked up to the truck I’m on my way to meet Dan the Shuttle Man for a day trip on the Caney Fork.

A quick stop by the local food store for hot dog buns and a fire log, and then I hit I-840 to meet Dan at Happy Hollow. Passing over the Caney bridges on I-40, the water looks as low as I’ve seen it all summer. For some reason when I get to Happy, Dan is a little surprised that I didn’t bring waders. I let him know I do not intend to get wet today. This is a decision Dan’s back will regret most of the morning. We move onto the ramp below the dam where we find a family of fisherman. The most interesting thing about the group is one of them is using a surfcasting rod to bottom fish for trout in the Caney. Note to self...if the fish are that big, I think we need a bigger boat.

My laziness is continued when I discover my rods aren’t rigged for the Caney, or anywhere else for that matter, because I haven’t even thought about them since the Tellico trip two weeks ago. As I rig the rods Dan is on the catch. He boats four or five before I get the first rod rigged. Two or three before I get the second rod rigged and another before I catch my first fish, which is a dink about three inches long. Dan-O is on fire with his midge. Through the narrows we see another fisherman, who is not having a lot of luck. The guy should be able to tell Dan is having a good day simply from his wide grin. I add a little fuel to the fire and let him know Dan has already landed over a half dozen. We get a bigger grin from Dan and he offers up the exact recipe for the fly he is catching all those fish on.

Through the first run and seven kayaks later it is Dan’s first opportunity to get out of the boat and……..pull it over the shoals. Like I said before “Low Water Today”. It’s my turn in the front of the boat and I promptly miss three or four fish while looking at a doe that is 50 feet down stream. Several more misses and then a couple hook ups. It is all coming back to me now. We fish down to the narrows Where Cows Walk on Water. This is where Dan has his second opportunity to exit the boat and pull it across the gravel bar. Remember, the water is low today.

We fish around the bend and the water release catches us, which means it’s time for lunch. We unload the boat on shore and start a fire as well as the grill for hot dogs, chips and an adult beverage. We put the new anchor through its paces with the rising water and it performs flawlessly. Following some good food, a warm fire and some deep discussion that you can only have with good friends by a campfire, we are back in the boat.

Past Lancaster and then the hook up with the first large fish of the day, it is a 16” rainbow (see the inset). Dan was obviously busy tying the “perfect surgeons knot” because it took him as long to tie the knot as it took me to land the fish. He did take the appropriate hero shots for me and only put his thumb over the lenses once (I’m kidding).

Anchor up….. another flawless performance by the anchor. We get the boat back into the current and another nice fish, this time a brown that measured 14”. We travel through the Crossover and it is almost uneventful other than a rainbow or two. We continue floating down the home stretch toward Happy and Dan continues his Catching Clinic. Through the Chute and we enter into stocker heaven. I get out the Thunderhead dry fly/midge dropper and promptly miss one fish, on the dry, that is less than a foot off the bank. Then another fish hits the dry and he is on his way to the boat with a Thunderhead in his mouth. This one is a brown that looks to be about 12” before I perform my near perfect sportsman’s release followed by the proper cuss words.

That ends it for me and Dan boats one more fish before we call it a day. The final tally for the day: a good number of fish, some good food, a warm fire and one sore back. Did I mention how low the water was?