Hazel in October/November

[Speckleman5]

I have never seen so many people in my life as there were last May. I'll never go again in the "peak" months.

[Jim Casada]

Speckleman--Yep. Too many people for me too. The outfitters consider it a paradise, partly because it's easy in terms of setting up camp, and the stream's fame hurts as well. I'd advise going during the week, and not in April, May, June, late September, or October.
Jim Casada
www.jimcasadaoutdoors.com
P. S. Do you know or are you related to Jackie Corbin. He's a lifelong friend, a boyhood fishing buddy, and presently a researcher in the Medical School at Vanderbilt (he's been there 30+ years). He was one of the discoverers of Viagra.

[Mac]

Went to Hazel the first week of May this year and stayed at campsite 82 for a week and never saw another fisherman.

[Jim Casada]

Mac--That's great, but for those unfamiliar with Hazel Creek, he was at the Calhoun campsite. It's a long haul from anywhere--seven or eight miles from the lake and a mighty walk from the top down (and a booger if you go back out that way). That's likely why you had it to yourself. All the other campsites are far more accessible and thus far more likely to see lots of people. Also, although I thoroughly enjoy the kind of smaller stream fishing you'll find in the proximity of Calhoun, many folks like the bigger water and its potential for really big fish.

Mac is right though, it's far and away your best bet for solitude on Hazel Creek. For example, I was in there in May of 2009 camped at Bone Valley (roughly five miles from the lake). While we had the Bone Valley campsite to ourselves the first night but not afterward, there were scads of people all up and down the creek. I doubt if there was a stretch of a quarter mile anywhere that didn't have a fisherman on it, never mind the fact the creek was way too high. I spent most of my time on Bone Valley Creek, not caring to be swept away in the flood. Had conditions been more salubrious, I think I would have still fished Bone Valley. I just don't like "help" at every bend of the creek.
I would add, in closing, that if you plan to go where Mac was, you better be pretty darn fit or younger than yours truly. I envy guys who think nothing of eight miles with a backpack!

Jim Casada
www.jimcasadaoutdoors.com

[JoeFred]

The Lower Hazel Creek map is finished. It should be available at certain outfitters soon. Lots of streams left blue due to lack of publicly available species data for the drainage. Thanks to Jim Casada and others for providing input. Map also shows Chambers Creek, Pilkey Creek and other small northshore tribs in the area.

JF