Sam's Creek 9/22 (Pic Heavy)

[NDuncan]

Also in the Tremont area, but heading left at the fork in the river....

First day of Fall Fishing - Gotta chase some Brookies!!!
I went up to Sam's on Saturday. I left Knoxville around 1 and as expected, the parking area was a zoo. As I hiked up to Sams, however, I was greeted by more and more spider webs. The water was still up from the rain, but not as much as I would have liked.

Since the leaves aren't changing yet at the lower elevations, I'll give you a bunch of pictures of some fall colors that are already becoming abundant!

The fish were mostly hitting the dropper:

http://i967.photobucket.com/albums/ae158/Nathan_Duncan/2012%2009%2022%20Sams%20Creek/P1010343.jpg

The fishing was more or less consistant, with about one fish taken per run, but the water was pretty clear and they still spooked very easiliy

http://i967.photobucket.com/albums/ae158/Nathan_Duncan/2012%2009%2022%20Sams%20Creek/P1010344.jpg

Some were porkers, and some were skinny tykes, like this guy:
http://i967.photobucket.com/albums/ae158/Nathan_Duncan/2012%2009%2022%20Sams%20Creek/P1010346.jpg

http://i967.photobucket.com/albums/ae158/Nathan_Duncan/2012%2009%2022%20Sams%20Creek/P1010347.jpg

Some days, I'll fish all day and take just a few pictures, this day I took a lot more fish pictures than usual.

http://i967.photobucket.com/albums/ae158/Nathan_Duncan/2012%2009%2022%20Sams%20Creek/P1010349.jpg
This guy took the dry and rewarded me by hopelessly tangling up my dropper :rolleyes: (but nice colors!)

http://i967.photobucket.com/albums/ae158/Nathan_Duncan/2012%2009%2022%20Sams%20Creek/P1010351.jpg

And more natives:

http://i967.photobucket.com/albums/ae158/Nathan_Duncan/2012%2009%2022%20Sams%20Creek/P1010353.jpg

This guy had a little bit of a pinkish tint to his body

http://i967.photobucket.com/albums/ae158/Nathan_Duncan/2012%2009%2022%20Sams%20Creek/P1010354.jpg

Some of these fish seemed to have just undergone a growth spurt because their fins seem small for their body size.

http://i967.photobucket.com/albums/ae158/Nathan_Duncan/2012%2009%2022%20Sams%20Creek/P1010358.jpg

http://i967.photobucket.com/albums/ae158/Nathan_Duncan/2012%2009%2022%20Sams%20Creek/P1010360.jpg

http://i967.photobucket.com/albums/ae158/Nathan_Duncan/2012%2009%2022%20Sams%20Creek/P1010361.jpg

[Crockett]

Thanks for the pics Nathan a lot of nice brookies there! I see you use the same rig for them that I do and that DP does. You guys don't use the bead head on the pink weenie though like I do. Not sure it really matters though but I will ditch the bead head on the next ones I tie and give that a try just to see if there is a noticeable difference. We still need to fish together or hike or something sometime since our wives work together but we have never met!

[Dawgvet]

Nathan, great post. I fished Sam's for the first time during TroutFest this year and really liked that stream. I was wondering about your Pink Weenie dropper setup. Is the dropper weighted at all? Split shot? How far down from the dry were you setting the dropper?
Thanks,
Jed

[NDuncan]

Thanks for the pics Nathan a lot of nice brookies there! I see you use the same rig for them that I do and that DP does. You guys don't use the bead head on the pink weenie though like I do. Not sure it really matters though but I will ditch the bead head on the next ones I tie and give that a try just to see if there is a noticeable difference. We still need to fish together or hike or something sometime since our wives work together but we have never met!

Yeah we do need to do that!

I guess this is for Dawgvet too:

I do use a bead head pink weenie too, I just switch it up sometimes. Other than that, I don't use any weight on it, no split shot etc. The length depends on the conditions. When I was out with DP a couple of weeks ago, we were fishing in some deep pools and I would make that dropper very long at times. When the water is shallow, I make it as long as possible but will shorten it incrementally if I am getting hung up a lot.

I did notice that the unweighted worked just as well as the bead head, not sure if one is better, I would need to try them on the same day to be sure. It seems like the unweighted version gets tossed around in the current more easily, maybe making a difference in the swifter water. There were some times when I will still go to the bead head, such as when you can see the fish feeding on the bottom and the current is too swift to get the unweighted one down to them - all in all I will always keep a supply of both with me.

I have also been tying them on long and longer hooks. The ones I was using on Sam's last weekend I had tied on a Umpqua U-series 4x long #12 streamer hook-available at LRO I like the U-series hooks, I might try them for dries. A little less than the regular Tiemcos, but seem to still be good quality. You get like 50 for something like $7 at LRO (I think thats what I paid)

[AL trout bum]

That's awesome! I always love a good (esp pic-heavy) brookie report. I too have problems with the dry/dropper tangle.

[NDuncan]

That's awesome! I always love a good (esp pic-heavy) brookie report. I too have problems with the dry/dropper tangle.


For me, it seems to happen the most whenever a fish takes the dry, they start flipping around so much. I have brought fish to hand with the dropper tippet wrapped up all around them or the dropper lodged somewhere unpleasant. If they start taking the dry more than the dropper, i usually just cut the dropper off for that reason.