Worrgamesguy
04-19-2009, 11:04 PM
Well, long story short I couldn't go to prom so this was my girlfriend's suggestion as a replacement. She suggested camping, I suggested the place. The original plan was to bike into the Cranberry Backcountry in West Virginia, but gas was going to be very costly and we wouldn't have much time other than getting camp ready, a little fishing, and breaking camp.
So thanks to those of you who helped me in the weeks previous, we decided on Elkmont. We got out of school early on Friday due to being seniors, but an hour later than expected. We got on the road at 12:00 CST, and I forgot about the time zone change until I saw the sign on I-40. So when we got into Maryville, 5 o'clock traffic was terrible.
Time passes and we eventually make it to LRO with maybe 10-15 minutes before closing time. I walk around, use the restroom since we didn't make any pitstops, and I asked what flies I should look into if we were going to be staying at Elkmont. Daniel was very helpful, and actually gave me good suggestions to use on the river. I ended up buying 10 flies, and the register operator said "Ya know, if you buy 2 more flies you can save $.10 per fly.." Daniel walks over, empties the flies on the counter, and walks and grabs 2 more flies and says "Try these." I was just astounded at this, definitely top notch gentlemen :smile: My bill came up to $20.86, and I got the $.85 immediately and was fumbling for that penny and he waved it off, I found it, and insisted he take it. Excellent shop, best of the best bar none.
OK so on our way to Elkmont- We drove to Wears Valley, and got on Lyon Springs Rd. to find the road is closed... GREAT. We were driving back down when a white truck comes up and the guy driving it asks what the problem was, we explained and they said they were also heading to Elkmont. They offered for us to follow them, so they took us around Gatlinburg and we made it just before the sun started going down. We made camp in a hurry, a small fire, and ate. After the sun went down, we just decided to go to bed.
The next morning she really wanted to go hike Laurel Falls Trail, but that was a long way away and we weren't sure if there were any shortcuts. So we just did the little trail over the campground and went back to camp to cool off. I started organizing my flies, and began hiking next to the water, watching for feeding trout. I didn't see any, so I started off dropping a prince nymph into the deep pools below white water- nothing. I did this for an hour or so, and got depressed when I didn't get so much as a bump.
We sat down to eat lunch, and were talking when I see a trout go soaring out of the water about 20 feet below us. I set my lunch down and said "Hold on, I'm gonna go stalk that fish." Remembering Daniel's suggestion, I tied on a March Brown dry and duck squatted until I was a little behind where he jumped. I cast ahead, and he took it on the first cast. I set the hook, and got him for all of 5 seconds. He did a little zig zag, and then jumped straight out of the water, did a shake, and that was the end of that. He was a brown, about 3-4". I thought it was a rainbow when I saw him jump the first time, but when he shook me off I saw red spots.
So this renewed my spirits, and started using that fly in calmer pools around eddies. I got 4 others to take it, but only hooked into 1 other that ran deep and I couldn't keep the line tight. So, I blame it on being a newbie and think 5 takers is good enough for a first to me. We headed back to camp and cooked a marvelous dinner of hamburger helper and stuffing. Lunch must have not filled her up, because her portions were bigger than mine, she finished before me, and was still hungry! Crazy woman... Gotta love her!
Broke camp today in the rain, and drove home in the rain. All in all an excellent weekend! I looked at that river with nothing but respect on the way back to Townsend. I'll conquer it another day.
So thanks to those of you who helped me in the weeks previous, we decided on Elkmont. We got out of school early on Friday due to being seniors, but an hour later than expected. We got on the road at 12:00 CST, and I forgot about the time zone change until I saw the sign on I-40. So when we got into Maryville, 5 o'clock traffic was terrible.
Time passes and we eventually make it to LRO with maybe 10-15 minutes before closing time. I walk around, use the restroom since we didn't make any pitstops, and I asked what flies I should look into if we were going to be staying at Elkmont. Daniel was very helpful, and actually gave me good suggestions to use on the river. I ended up buying 10 flies, and the register operator said "Ya know, if you buy 2 more flies you can save $.10 per fly.." Daniel walks over, empties the flies on the counter, and walks and grabs 2 more flies and says "Try these." I was just astounded at this, definitely top notch gentlemen :smile: My bill came up to $20.86, and I got the $.85 immediately and was fumbling for that penny and he waved it off, I found it, and insisted he take it. Excellent shop, best of the best bar none.
OK so on our way to Elkmont- We drove to Wears Valley, and got on Lyon Springs Rd. to find the road is closed... GREAT. We were driving back down when a white truck comes up and the guy driving it asks what the problem was, we explained and they said they were also heading to Elkmont. They offered for us to follow them, so they took us around Gatlinburg and we made it just before the sun started going down. We made camp in a hurry, a small fire, and ate. After the sun went down, we just decided to go to bed.
The next morning she really wanted to go hike Laurel Falls Trail, but that was a long way away and we weren't sure if there were any shortcuts. So we just did the little trail over the campground and went back to camp to cool off. I started organizing my flies, and began hiking next to the water, watching for feeding trout. I didn't see any, so I started off dropping a prince nymph into the deep pools below white water- nothing. I did this for an hour or so, and got depressed when I didn't get so much as a bump.
We sat down to eat lunch, and were talking when I see a trout go soaring out of the water about 20 feet below us. I set my lunch down and said "Hold on, I'm gonna go stalk that fish." Remembering Daniel's suggestion, I tied on a March Brown dry and duck squatted until I was a little behind where he jumped. I cast ahead, and he took it on the first cast. I set the hook, and got him for all of 5 seconds. He did a little zig zag, and then jumped straight out of the water, did a shake, and that was the end of that. He was a brown, about 3-4". I thought it was a rainbow when I saw him jump the first time, but when he shook me off I saw red spots.
So this renewed my spirits, and started using that fly in calmer pools around eddies. I got 4 others to take it, but only hooked into 1 other that ran deep and I couldn't keep the line tight. So, I blame it on being a newbie and think 5 takers is good enough for a first to me. We headed back to camp and cooked a marvelous dinner of hamburger helper and stuffing. Lunch must have not filled her up, because her portions were bigger than mine, she finished before me, and was still hungry! Crazy woman... Gotta love her!
Broke camp today in the rain, and drove home in the rain. All in all an excellent weekend! I looked at that river with nothing but respect on the way back to Townsend. I'll conquer it another day.