Fall on Little River

[David Knapp]

Fall break has arrived and with it I now have time to go fishing. Yesterday I kicked off the break with a trip to Little River to chase the browns. The water was up just enough to get the bugs hatching and the fish feeding.

I was not as interested in hatches of BWOs and Yellow Quills though. My main objective was big brown trout and with that in mind, I promised myself that I would give streamers a fair chance before changing my rig.

The sun was just rising as I arrived and rigged up. My first choice was a small streamer that has been effective on small stream smallmouth the last couple of years. After thoroughly working the first pool, I was just about to try another spot when I made one last cast. Immediately a little brown nailed it and the day was off and running.



For the next few hours, I caught several browns up to around 12 inches. The big ones eluded me though and in fact, I never really spotted any true giants. The largest fish I definitely saw was around 17-18 inches at most.







Still, it was a perfect day to be out and I took full advantage of the overcast skies and feeding trout. The rainbows were on the feed as well and when I changed to a double nymph rig later in the day, my catch quickly diversified.



This time of year is my favorite, and not just for the fishing. The colors were awesome, and I took a few pictures to remind myself later of how beautiful the day was.

[JoelO]

Beautiful pics...I really like the 3rd one (the lighting is nice plus the ripples in the water frame the fish well). The 5th one (of the rainbow) is really nice too with the fall colors reflected in the water. I'll be up that way next week...should be fun...plan on catching my limit of leaves.

[David Knapp]

Originally Posted by JoelO

I'll be up that way next week...should be fun...plan on catching my limit of leaves.

JoelO, so far the leaves aren't too bad but unfortunately they will only increase for the next few weeks. Thankfully the fish will feed on the surface otherwise I would go crazy once the streams are full of leaves...

[Knothead]

Great story and great pictures. Thanks.

[oldhickory]

Beautiful fish and photos. I also plan on 3 days in the mountains early next week. Hope to get a few trout and photographs! Love this time of year in the Smokys.

[Teddyp]

Nice fish!

[Mundele]

Nice! I always am a little proud of myself when I catch a brown... They seem to be warier than bows and brookies for sure.

What fly pattern is that? White clouser?

[JohnH0802]

Nice fish and great pictures, thanks for sharing.

[David Knapp]

Originally Posted by Mundele

Nice! I always am a little proud of myself when I catch a brown... They seem to be warier than bows and brookies for sure.

What fly pattern is that? White clouser?

It is actually a Crazy Charlie (or at least my version of one) which is a saltwater pattern but seems to work well for fresh water species as well...

[BAM BAM]

Those are some nice looking fish, and a fisherman fishes with what works weither or not it is a saltwater fly, i have been fly fishin for about five months straight now, almost evry day.Ive caught little fish and huge fish. But im self taught i was wonderin if we could go fishing sometime david, and maybe get a few pointers. email me at bobadders@yahoo.com with a reply or some pointers, it would be much appreciated..