Westslope
11-04-2008, 11:07 PM
Hey all, I thought folks might be interested in a backcountry trip I took with my wife Regan (we just got married, in Townsend, on 10/18), up to the Bryson Place, as part of our honeymoon (spent in and around the Smokies, mostly on the NC side, for a couple weeks after). Regan being the wonderful woman she is, she encouraged me to fish pretty much all day on 10/25, and I ended up having one of the most ridiculously marvellous days of fishing I can recall, certainly my personal best in the Smokies.
It was our first trip up Deep Creek, what a beautiful place, and the weather on our way in on 10/24 was pretty wet; then shortly after arriving at campsite #57, the rain really started dumping down, and lasted through the evening. Fortunately, we had brought along a big tarp as added weather protection, above our tent and rainfly, and the rain subsided by morning, eventually giving way to clear skies. The silver lining to the rain was the recharged stream that Saturday, with higher flows and water colored up a bit, and some leaves flowing downstream, just enough to make the trout feel a bit safer and more aggressive.
And what a day it was. I caught somewhere around 15 fish for the day, a few Rainbows (about 4, including one fat fish that went 12"), but mostly Browns (about 6 of these were 7-12"), and the exceptional part of it was that 5 of these were 14" or better--two at 14" or so, one 15", one 16-17", and the highlight of the day, a 20" male Brown trout that rose for a #10 orange-bodied Neversink caddis in early evening in a long flat run; a thick-bodied, beautiful and strong fish (the trout in the Smokies really are something else, special fish). In fact, other than the 16-17" Brown above that I caught on a #10 brown Girdle bug nymph, all the fish were caught on the same #10 Neversink Caddis pattern, on 5X. I also spooked another Brown around 20", several others in the 14-15" range, and hooked and lost one other Brown in early afternoon (on the #10 brown Girdle Bug) that was at least 20" (I got a good look at the fish before it charged up a deep run and spit out the fly). Whoah.
While I would love to attribute the day purely to skill and prowess, the water conditions, and some dumb luck of being in the right place at the right time, had at least as much to do with being successful. I also strongly suspect that the rise in the water levels got the Browns thinking about spawning, because on our way out on 10/26, I briefly fished a few runs again with Regan looking on, and while I landed a couple of fat, 10-11" wild bows, I saw no Browns at all, and I have a suspicion these fish proceeded upstream overnight, to spawn in upper tributaries. Whatever, the case, I felt like I hit the jackpot on 10/25, it was a day to remember, and I certainly felt fortunate, and humbled too by the wild beauty of the fish, and this lovely stream.
So, a great backcountry trip, and in addition to my wife and the fortuitous weather/stream conditions, I have to thank Craig (mtnman) on this site, who gave me the idea to visit Deep Creek and the Bryson Place from his trip there last fall--Thanks!
Oh, and by the way, I did take some pics of the place and some of the trout caught and released, including some of the nice ones (I showed a couple photos of the 20" Brown to Daniel at LRO, he mentioned it in the 11/02 fishing report), and I will try my best to post these images on here as soon as I can, as well as photos of some other destinations and trout caught on our honeymoon (I have never done it on this site before, so I'll have to find the directions that Paula posted on a thread here earlier this year...).
Tight lines, Iain
It was our first trip up Deep Creek, what a beautiful place, and the weather on our way in on 10/24 was pretty wet; then shortly after arriving at campsite #57, the rain really started dumping down, and lasted through the evening. Fortunately, we had brought along a big tarp as added weather protection, above our tent and rainfly, and the rain subsided by morning, eventually giving way to clear skies. The silver lining to the rain was the recharged stream that Saturday, with higher flows and water colored up a bit, and some leaves flowing downstream, just enough to make the trout feel a bit safer and more aggressive.
And what a day it was. I caught somewhere around 15 fish for the day, a few Rainbows (about 4, including one fat fish that went 12"), but mostly Browns (about 6 of these were 7-12"), and the exceptional part of it was that 5 of these were 14" or better--two at 14" or so, one 15", one 16-17", and the highlight of the day, a 20" male Brown trout that rose for a #10 orange-bodied Neversink caddis in early evening in a long flat run; a thick-bodied, beautiful and strong fish (the trout in the Smokies really are something else, special fish). In fact, other than the 16-17" Brown above that I caught on a #10 brown Girdle bug nymph, all the fish were caught on the same #10 Neversink Caddis pattern, on 5X. I also spooked another Brown around 20", several others in the 14-15" range, and hooked and lost one other Brown in early afternoon (on the #10 brown Girdle Bug) that was at least 20" (I got a good look at the fish before it charged up a deep run and spit out the fly). Whoah.
While I would love to attribute the day purely to skill and prowess, the water conditions, and some dumb luck of being in the right place at the right time, had at least as much to do with being successful. I also strongly suspect that the rise in the water levels got the Browns thinking about spawning, because on our way out on 10/26, I briefly fished a few runs again with Regan looking on, and while I landed a couple of fat, 10-11" wild bows, I saw no Browns at all, and I have a suspicion these fish proceeded upstream overnight, to spawn in upper tributaries. Whatever, the case, I felt like I hit the jackpot on 10/25, it was a day to remember, and I certainly felt fortunate, and humbled too by the wild beauty of the fish, and this lovely stream.
So, a great backcountry trip, and in addition to my wife and the fortuitous weather/stream conditions, I have to thank Craig (mtnman) on this site, who gave me the idea to visit Deep Creek and the Bryson Place from his trip there last fall--Thanks!
Oh, and by the way, I did take some pics of the place and some of the trout caught and released, including some of the nice ones (I showed a couple photos of the 20" Brown to Daniel at LRO, he mentioned it in the 11/02 fishing report), and I will try my best to post these images on here as soon as I can, as well as photos of some other destinations and trout caught on our honeymoon (I have never done it on this site before, so I'll have to find the directions that Paula posted on a thread here earlier this year...).
Tight lines, Iain