Greenbriar 5-23

[pineman19]

Hello,

I haven't been able to fish much so far in the Smokies this year. Spent most of the spring fishing the Nances Ferry area of the Holston rive since it's close to the house.

Saturday morning I decided to head to my favorite Bow/Brookie stream in the Park. Headed up to the Ramsey Cascades trailhead and was fortunate to beat the crowds and get a good parking spot. Heading up above the bridge to fish the Gorge section. The stream flow was a little higher than normal, but very fishable in most areas. Water temp. was 54 when I started around 0930. Started out a little slow while getting used to the higher than normal flow, but I soon started hooking up with some fiesty and bulging bows. AS I proceeded up the stream I started getting into some brookies as well, but they were not nearly as healthy as the bows. The bows had been eating very well recently, bulging bellies on many of the larger fish (see below pics).

All in all another great day on one of the most beautiful streams in the Park IMHO.

Happy Memorial Day!

Neal


http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii103/whiteoak78/Greenbriar%204-23-09/IMGP0017.jpg

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii103/whiteoak78/Greenbriar%204-23-09/IMGP0027.jpg

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii103/whiteoak78/Greenbriar%204-23-09/IMGP0028.jpg

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii103/whiteoak78/Greenbriar%204-23-09/IMGP0024.jpg

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii103/whiteoak78/Greenbriar%204-23-09/IMGP0025-1.jpg

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii103/whiteoak78/Greenbriar%204-23-09/IMGP0015.jpg

[ChemEAngler]

Neal,

Thanks for the report. Those really are some healthy looking bows.

That is a beautiful section, and it is good to see good water flows in the area again. I bet the cascades have been quite stunning this year.

[WVBrookie]

Great report! Beautiful fish in a beautiful setting.

That is the area where I caught my first brook trout in the Smokies.

Chris

[JoeFred]

Awesome. Thanks for sharing, Neal.

JF

[wmwalker]

Neal
Nice fish and great pictures. Thanks for sharing and sure wish I was there fishing. Fished that area several years ago and really enjoyed it.

[silvercreek]

That second bow looks like he is going to explode he is so fat.

[pineman19]

I agree with ya Silvercreek. I have nver caught a bow that fat for his length in the Smokies. There were a fair amount of bugs coming off most of the day, but I thought maybe he had been gorging on the late-day yellow sally hatches that should be a happening just before dark. I saw a few strays as the day progressed. As I said, the brookies I caught were all slim, just seems the bows are outcompeting them for food on that section of the stream. Higher up, the brookies in the past have seemed healthier where the bows become pretty sparse. I have noted that on this trip and one on the WPLP a month ago the average size fish seems better than average. No real big fish, but just more fish 8-9". Guess those are the fish that survived the drought.

Have fun,

Neal

[BlueRaiderFan]

Nice fish! That is one fat bow!

[pineman19]

Those fatties were pretty fun on my little 7'6" Avid that I built a few years back. Gives those scrappers a fighting chance.

[BlueRaiderFan]

No doubt...They feel heavy on my 8ft 4wt.

[pineman19]

I have entered the world of blogging. Check it out if you're interested.

Neal

http://pineman19.blogspot.com/

[JoeFred]

SWEET!! :smile:

JF

[pineman19]

Hey JF, I added a link to your site on my blog. If you want me to remove it let me know and I will delete it. You know what they say about asking forgiveness over permission, LOL.

Neal

[JoeFred]

Hey, thanks, Neal !

JF

[BlueRaiderFan]

Nice blog! I am now a "follower."

[JoeFred]

Hey JF, I added a link to your site on my blog. If you want me to remove it let me know and I will delete it. You know what they say about asking forgiveness over permission, LOL.

Neal

Hey, Neal. Thanks again for the link! Please revise it to http://www.smokystreams.com . I will be sunsetting the Comcast-hosted one shortly.

JF