Rust and a Caddis Blizzard

[David Knapp]

I FINALLY made it up to the park today and it was a good one... I rolled into Townsend around 10 and stopped by LRO for awhile. After picking up some tying supplies and trying out the new Superfine rods (nothing like the old ones but still sweet rods), ttas67 had arrived and we headed into the park. After checking the water temp at the Y, we decided to gamble and head over to Abrams. After arriving, we headed down the trail and got into the stream in the vicinity of the first ridge. We both were into fish relatively quickly with ttas67 picking up his first fish on a fly he tied.

http://photo.ringo.com/196/196691316O709388843.jpg

Despite the early success, things slowed down even though there there TONS of bugs on the water. I know at least some of the water we fished had already been fished which undoubtedly slowed things down. Later on I got into a few fish on dries myself which was awesome!

http://photo.ringo.com/196/196691278O793284495.jpg

One of the best things about the day was the HUGE numbers of small caddis we saw. It was literally a blizzard of caddis (at least for the Smokies) at times with thousands of bugs swarming around. This went on for the whole time we were there from about 12:00 on (we left around 3:30 or 4:00). They were very small with a few being a #16 but most being #18-#20. We also saw good numbers of blue quills and a few quill gordons.

http://photo.ringo.com/196/196691272O357148100.jpg

As happens every spring, I realized just how rusty I've become catching the stockers on the Hiwassee and Caney. I only ended up with 7-8 fish for the day but missed lots more. Those 7-8 fish are not a good indication of how the fishing is...it is VERY GOOD!!!

After leaving Abrams, I ran by Middle Prong and then over to LR to check things out and fish a bit more and was frustrated by continually missing fish on nymphs. I even had fish on several times but couldn't land them...:mad: It got so bad I was checking my hook points to make sure they were still sharp...:rolleyes: I was starting to set the hook awful hard too, probably its just as well I couldn't land a fish...:eek: Oh well, I think it is a good excuse to go back in the very near future!!!

Oh yeah, there were fish rising on Middle and East Prong of LR, with mainly BWO's (good numbers of rusty spinners and maybe a few duns), blue quills, and a few caddis being on the water... Spring is here!!!

[ijsouth]

Nice pictures...I'm jealous - this is what I hoped we would get into a few weeks ago...it was just a bit too early. Oh well, we'll be up there next month.

[Barbara]

I opted to lunch early at Sister Cats and then watch the Cats (University of Kentucky Wildcats) play in the SEC playoffs. They lost, in overtime. So the best fishing part of the afternoon was gone but I decided to try on the road to Cades Cove. Figured it was small, probably warmed up from the sun. Got there late, got one strike, missed it. Headed upstream, tangled with a sneaky overhead tree, then a hidden stick under water, broke off nymph trailer, kept fly. While I'm retying, my husband slips off one of those walls along the road. Not to worry, he said, the rocks below broke his fall. We wrapped his arm up in his t-shirt to keep the blood off the truck seat and sped back to the trailer for repairs. He is lucky he didn't break his arm. It looks like something gouged it in about five places. Guess we could make up a story about being attacked by a Cades Cove coyote.

All in all, NOT a good day.

[David Knapp]

Guess we could make up a story about being attacked by a Cades Cove coyote.

How 'bout a bear...I think it makes a better story, much closer to certain death, hand to hand combat, etc...:rolleyes:

[Kevin_Thomas]

Congrats Trevor! I wish I could have been there. The class is going pretty well down here in Alabama. I'll be back soon... that is if you guys don't catch them all by April 21st! See you then!

Kevin

[ttas67]

the fishing was good! i only actually landed that one fish, but I had many rises and misses. even had one turn around, follow my fly down stream and jump clear out of the water trying to get to it. despite the large number of caddis and mayflies, the fish still seemed like they were just getting warmed up to the idea of eating them.

kevin, by the time you return, it should be prime dry fly time.

[David Knapp]

Kevin, the higher portions of the various watersheds should be fishin' good by then and those smaller streams really are more fun... Let me know when you are back and ready to start fishin'...

[RNGIII]

I had the same experience. I hit the Middle Prong at about 11:30 and was immediately getting bites and had one on but lost him. Within a couple of hours it tailed off and was completely dead the rest of the day.

Nice pics!

[Barbara]

How 'bout a bear...I think it makes a better story, much closer to certain death, hand to hand combat, etc...:rolleyes:

That was a good idea. Actually he did wrestle a bear many years ago, but that is another story........