Worrgamesguy
07-15-2010, 09:21 PM
My grandpa came into town for 4 days, 2 of which were a day on the river for his birthday present.
Day 1
Well, it started off horribly, but got better as the day went on. Got to Happy Hollow around 5 AM, I wanted to fish HH and my dad and grandpa wanted to float. So they left in the jon boat and I stayed behind with my kayak. I was using an EHC with a BH lightning bug (I think) and wasn't getting any hits. Sporadic rises, but a couple of BIG fish causing all kinds of ruckus. I saw one clear the water, measuring about 18-20", and crash back into the water. He did that a couple times in the same area before I started casting to him. Just when my fly got to him, I guess I got hung on a log I didn't see. I did the normal tug and pull trying to get my flies free. After a couple minutes, I noticed something was odd on my line. A 2-3" section of my rod had broken off :mad:
So the line snapped, and I lost not only 2 flies, but broke my rod as well. I'm VERY unhappy about it, I got my rod back from TFO at the beginning of June and only took it out of it's tube twice. I'm POSITIVE that the rod breaking wasn't my fault, I'm going to call TFO and complain because that's ridiculous. Maybe it was a bad batch, but I'm furious :mad:
So the rest of the day was difficult, but I still caught fish. Caught a couple browns between Happy Hollow and the bridge, one on a BHPT, and one on a BH San Juan worm. No action was constant, so I kept switching. After a couple hours, the water was boiling with rises. It looked like they were midging, so I tied on the go-to black zebra and fished the rest of the day with it. Didn't catch any more, and the water was rising, so I called it a day.
Day 2
Furious yet again. Got to the dam at 5 AM only to find them generating. WHAT?! They said no generators midnight-midnight on the 14th. Called the TVA hotline, and "no generators from 6 AM until midnight." So we waited for an hour, water was still running. "No generators from 7 AM until midnight." Okay, let's go get some food. 7:00 rolls around and they finally stop at 7:30ish :mad:
I did something before I started fishing that I'm going to do every day I fish now - look under the rocks. I saw two different types of bugs, I have ZERO entomology experience, but I pulled out my fly box and tried to pick the one that resembled the bugs most. They were very small, sz.16-22 grey bugs. One looked like a rolly polly or a "pill bug" with 2 antennae like things on its front and rear. The other didn't have much of an exoskeleton, had a C shape, and very slight sections. Midge?
Anyways, closest thing I had was a white BH scud, about sz 14-16. It was bigger than the bugs, but boy I sure caught a lot of fish :eek: I baptized my new 7 WT 9' St. Croix Imperial in the river Caney Fork, dunked it and blessed it :rolleyes:
First fish I caught was a FAT bluegill, it felt like a good fish until I brought him up to the surface. What's the deal with heavier weight rods? Fish feel bigger than they are. But the more fish I caught, I definitely noticed I could get them to the boat faster.
Anyways, I caught a good amount of fish, most of which came from above HH. I got into a mess of 12-16" rainbows.
My dad lost a NICE fish on a nightcrawler, it would have gone 20"+ with ease. If I had to give a good estimate, I'd say 24-26" or he was fat. He gets excited (and I do as well, but I try to stay calm when I see my dry duck under) and yanks the crap out of his rod. I saw him do that, HEARD the line snap, and saw this fish GO BERSERK. He was jumping and splashing like he was posessed. After a couple minutes, he quit it, and a couple more minutes later, started again. I only got a good look at his tail and it was every bit of 6" long.
I lost both of my BH scuds in the lip of a fish, but I was also using 6x. Good day on the river :biggrin:
Day 1
Well, it started off horribly, but got better as the day went on. Got to Happy Hollow around 5 AM, I wanted to fish HH and my dad and grandpa wanted to float. So they left in the jon boat and I stayed behind with my kayak. I was using an EHC with a BH lightning bug (I think) and wasn't getting any hits. Sporadic rises, but a couple of BIG fish causing all kinds of ruckus. I saw one clear the water, measuring about 18-20", and crash back into the water. He did that a couple times in the same area before I started casting to him. Just when my fly got to him, I guess I got hung on a log I didn't see. I did the normal tug and pull trying to get my flies free. After a couple minutes, I noticed something was odd on my line. A 2-3" section of my rod had broken off :mad:
So the line snapped, and I lost not only 2 flies, but broke my rod as well. I'm VERY unhappy about it, I got my rod back from TFO at the beginning of June and only took it out of it's tube twice. I'm POSITIVE that the rod breaking wasn't my fault, I'm going to call TFO and complain because that's ridiculous. Maybe it was a bad batch, but I'm furious :mad:
So the rest of the day was difficult, but I still caught fish. Caught a couple browns between Happy Hollow and the bridge, one on a BHPT, and one on a BH San Juan worm. No action was constant, so I kept switching. After a couple hours, the water was boiling with rises. It looked like they were midging, so I tied on the go-to black zebra and fished the rest of the day with it. Didn't catch any more, and the water was rising, so I called it a day.
Day 2
Furious yet again. Got to the dam at 5 AM only to find them generating. WHAT?! They said no generators midnight-midnight on the 14th. Called the TVA hotline, and "no generators from 6 AM until midnight." So we waited for an hour, water was still running. "No generators from 7 AM until midnight." Okay, let's go get some food. 7:00 rolls around and they finally stop at 7:30ish :mad:
I did something before I started fishing that I'm going to do every day I fish now - look under the rocks. I saw two different types of bugs, I have ZERO entomology experience, but I pulled out my fly box and tried to pick the one that resembled the bugs most. They were very small, sz.16-22 grey bugs. One looked like a rolly polly or a "pill bug" with 2 antennae like things on its front and rear. The other didn't have much of an exoskeleton, had a C shape, and very slight sections. Midge?
Anyways, closest thing I had was a white BH scud, about sz 14-16. It was bigger than the bugs, but boy I sure caught a lot of fish :eek: I baptized my new 7 WT 9' St. Croix Imperial in the river Caney Fork, dunked it and blessed it :rolleyes:
First fish I caught was a FAT bluegill, it felt like a good fish until I brought him up to the surface. What's the deal with heavier weight rods? Fish feel bigger than they are. But the more fish I caught, I definitely noticed I could get them to the boat faster.
Anyways, I caught a good amount of fish, most of which came from above HH. I got into a mess of 12-16" rainbows.
My dad lost a NICE fish on a nightcrawler, it would have gone 20"+ with ease. If I had to give a good estimate, I'd say 24-26" or he was fat. He gets excited (and I do as well, but I try to stay calm when I see my dry duck under) and yanks the crap out of his rod. I saw him do that, HEARD the line snap, and saw this fish GO BERSERK. He was jumping and splashing like he was posessed. After a couple minutes, he quit it, and a couple more minutes later, started again. I only got a good look at his tail and it was every bit of 6" long.
I lost both of my BH scuds in the lip of a fish, but I was also using 6x. Good day on the river :biggrin: