Last week out of Townsend

[Baldeagle]

A friend and I got to stretch a business trip into a couple of days in Townsend last week and was it ever enjoyable getting away from Ohio into the Smokies!! We arrived on Thursday afternoon and after checking into a motel we drove into the Middle Prong about a mile above the institute. The weather was beautiful but when I checked the water temperature it was only 44 degrees. We decided to stick to drys as we saw quite a few large bugs coming off the water-Quill Gordons?. We ended up catching 8 rainbows- all on drys. The fishing seemed to go in spirts and it stopped about 3:30-4:00. One thing that was interesting is that all the fish were caught in fairly shallow water(12-18") that was in the direct sunlight. Also, they were all caught in moderately slow water where the fly would stall next to the faster current. The takes were very slow and deliberate, you had to have patience because you could see the fish slowly rising long before the soft take.

On Friday we fished Elkmont near the campgrounds and had high hopes because of the warming temperatures. We used nymphs because we saw no bug activity and were confident when we caught a couple right away. It slowed down however and we only caught two more up until lunch. The water temperature again was 44 Degrees. After lunch we fished below the sinks and caught two nice rainbows and missed a couple of other strikes. We then went back up on the Middle Prong but did not do any good as it was after 4:00.

It certainly was a beautiful two days in the park and we caught enough fish to give us a prelude of what is to come!!

[choctaw]

Great report Baldeagle! Glad you two found success. Just goes to show lesser experienced FF-ers that one can find fish in the more fished areas of the park if one knows how to present their fly and themselves properly. Keep us informed when you return.

Chocaw

[Barbara]

Baldeagle, I think I met you on the river. You and your friend did much better than I. My husband and I are back in Townsend this week, fished this afternoon with poor success. I am hoping the water temperature will hit 50 tomorrow. There were lots of bugs but very few trout taking them.