A Smokies Weekend

[David Knapp]

School is finally over and as I always do, I took some time off to go fishing before I start working for the summer. I stayed close to home this year and went to the Smokies, camping out Elkmont. The fishing was okay but most of the fish were glued to the bottom it seemed like, especially on Sunday and Monday. Fish hit a variety of patterns over the weekend but a Tellico was easily the best fly. Saw March Browns, Yellow Sallies, Sulphurs and lots of other random bugs on the water...

Friday I met the other people that were coming up for the weekend and after setting up camp, we went over to drive around Cades Cove. I managed to sneak in a few minutes on Abrams around the trailhead, catching a few 'bows. This one took a #16 sulphur parachute...

http://photo.ringo.com/210/210503540O158202717.jpg

Saturday, we woke up to a steady rain (that had been falling for several hours already). After trying to sleep some more in hopes it would quit, we finally got up and made a big breakfast. After eating, we drove over to the NC side to drive up the road along Straight Fork and back down the Blue Ridge Parkway. The road ended up being closed partway up but once again, I snuck in a few minutes fishing and caught some rainbows and one brown.

A #10 Tellico tied with tan yarn instead of yellow dubbing proved successful here...

http://photo.ringo.com/210/210503608O273869568.jpg

http://photo.ringo.com/210/210503563O833308085.jpg

On the way back over the hill, I stopped to pick up a brookie and got this fish to eat a copper john after it refused my dry and a Tellico.

http://photo.ringo.com/210/210503651O596514660.jpg

Sunday was the Deep Creek trip (see Trevors report, Deep Creek #2). It was a great stream although the fish seemed to be staying down in the water column. They were eating fine but not on top...

Monday was my last day so I packed up, tied a few Tellicos to replace the ones I had lost, and hit LR. My hopes were to find a good brown after breaking off on a couple the evening before at Metcalf. I worked a double nymph rig most of the day, catching plenty of fish but they were all coming from down deep. The hot spots seemed to be the pocket water around and just above the larger holes. Fish liked the Tellico nymph and a George nymph. I broke off on another nice fish so the good fish were out feeding but they just didn't want to be landed...

Finished over at Metcalf for the evening hatch, only catching a couple of fish this time around.

Here are a few pictures from Monday...

http://photo.ringo.com/210/210503817O446958610.jpg

http://photo.ringo.com/210/210503877O276061384.jpg

http://photo.ringo.com/210/210503911O405385512.jpg

[ijsouth]

Great pictures...especially the brookie. A few weeks ago, the brookies were rising to my dries, but I had to use nymphs to get any 'bows.

[David Knapp]

Ijsouth, it was the craziest thing with that brookie. It rose and very leisurely inspected my first dry (after running a two-nymph rig through its run). Apparently it didn't like what it saw because it just eased back down to its holding spot. I tried another dry that was a much closer match to the bugs it had probably been seeing but didn't even get a rise. Then I tied on the little copper john and nailed it the first cast... Probably the most selective brookie I've encountered yet.

[ijsouth]

That's so cool...the last brookie I caught on my trip a few weeks ago was sort of like that. He didn't smash the fly, he just casually drifted up to it and softly sipped it in. What was funny about it was the fact it was all of 4 inches long, if that - he fed like a wise old trout.

I also fished up on the Rapidan in Virginia...and what surprised me up there was, even though the water was a bit colder, the brookies up there tended to hit a lot harder than the ones I caught on Cosby; I had an 8-incher come clear out of the water and smash my dry like a bass hitting a buzz bait. I also had some come up, almost take my fly, then retreat; I had to nymph those ones out.

Again, wonderful pictures. I took an unscheduled bath in Tremont right before I left, and my VERY cheap camera bit the dust, along with some nice pictures of my trip. Lesson learned - I'll make sure my camera is protected when in my vest, particularly now that I have a much nicer camera. The colors in your photos really stand out. I love spring, when leaves are so fresh - the vibrancy just leaps out. It's already almost Summer down here, and the colors seem to get bleached out by the heat.

[DryFly1]

Great report and pics PA,

I'll be on the NC side in a few weeks hunting those bow's and brookies.

Mark....