Trip Report: Broke Car, Good Fishin'

My buddy John and I connected earlier in the week and decided to get up early to do a float 'n fish for trout. John wanted to ride the canoe so instead of my usual kayak ride with canoed down the river. We met up at 6am and got on the water by 7am.

There it is in all of it's glory, the Merrick Tennessean. We were a little tentative about paddling through this rocky river but ran into few rocks. We fished a little from the boat while also wading in some areas.

 We landed fish consistently all day. John switched between a few patterns but found the olive mayfly and elk hair caddis most effective. I used the quill bodied mayfly in size 16 for most of the day.

Here's John hooked up on one of a few trout hooked in this little riffle. We definitely noticed fish keying in on dries with Trico, Olives, Caddis, and Craneflies coming off at different times of the day.

By the time we pulled off the water around 230pm I must've landed around 50 trout! John did well also. While heading back to pick up his car in the afterglow of our trout fishing bonanza my car started to lose power while I hit the gas. Within less than a minute we found ourselves stopped in the middle of a gravel road down a remote valley. I had to mess with roadside assistance who gave the tow truck driver the wrong phone number and incomplete directions to locate us. What a pain. At least the fishing was good!

Trip Report: Trout Doggin'

After arriving home a little earlier than expected after work I decided to shirk my fly tying duties and take the pup for a little hike and fish. She's been a little neglected lately as the wife and I have been busy so today was her chance to catch up on missed adventures!

There she is. Big momma Beazer isn't the best fishing dog. What she lacks in patience she makes up for in exuberance. With every fish she'd lunge into the water and snap at 'em. She listened ok but definitely spooked a few holes as I landed fish. Once to hand Beazer would only sniff and kiss the fish before losing interest.

Fish were risking sporadically to various bugs that skittered over the surface. I swung a size 16 quill bodied mayfly through faster current and tailouts of pools and landed a bunch of fish.

These fish were stout, hard fighters. The three weight handled them well. After landing a bunch about this size I hooked into a little bigger brownie!

After Beazer spooked this pool we headed back toward the car. It was a beautiful night on the stream and fish were looking up. Around 1 1/2 dozen came to hand between 430-7pm. They should continue to look up for quill bodied mayflies through the rest of the summer and into fall when the same pattern will work well in slightly smaller sizes.

Trip Report: After Work Hatcharoo

I arrived home from work thinking tonight would be a good night to find a hatch on a nearby stream that I've neglected over the last few months. With a new fly to test and a few hours to kill I arrived on stream around 6pm.

After fishing down stream a little bit I decided to head back up to avoid the cows. I didn't notice a bull. After landing a few little ones I hopped to target some larger risers. Fish rose consistently but action was not fast n furious.

This was the first halfway decent fish. He gently sipped the "spring creek comparadun". It is a comparadun style emergery dry fly tied with a trimmed hackle wing instead of deer hair. It sits very gently on the surface and works well on the most picky of trout.

I didn't get a great picture of it but the profile is tasty! I spotted two types of mayflies, midges, and caddis fluttering around. I didn't try other patterns since I really wanted to give this pattern some work.

 After missing a few nicer fish this stout brown took the fly. Fish seemed especially sensitive to the line and were put down after only a cast or two. Blue skies and crystal clear water didn't help. I fished with an 8ft leader, 2ft of 2x, 1.5 feet of 4x, and 1ft of 6x and even that setup was a little beefy but my 9ft 5wt helped enable long casts.

This fish put up a great fight. Not the prettiest fish but fun to catch! Stay tuned, I have a few rods I need to work on, a float and fish trip planned, and tons more flies to tie.

Trip Report(s)-Been Fishin'

While I haven't gotten out for long periods at a time I took a few hours here and there over the last couple days and chased browns, bows, and brookies. Streams have been crystal clear and fishing decent, although a little stain would be nice.

 On a sunny day I chased stocker bows on a new piece of habitat improved water. It was a great day of fishing and between bows I hooked into a few little brownies. On the way home I hit a tiny little stream and it went well.

 This little crick didn't fish great but a few came to hand here and there. I hit a piece of unimproved water on a little closer to home and again landed a few.

 Fish ate San Juan worms and zebra midges readily. When fish rose within range they responded well to a size 18 quill bodied mayfly emerger. That evening I chased trout with Jon again. After giving him a ton of shit about hanging up in the trees and missing strikes he went and landed a nice rainbow!

 We encountered plenty of rising fish as the rain started to fall and after landing a few between us decided to call it a day. On Tuesday afternoon I headed out for an hour or so and chased brookies.

I was rewarded with a few little buggers. Brookies and browns are just starting to don their spawning shades and it won't be long before the bigguns come out to play! Stay tuned.

Trip Report: Fishin' So Far + New Rod

 I've fished a few times this weekend. Last night I went out with Deaner to chase trout in the evening. We each landed a few (he more than I). We hadn't fished together for a while it was nice to catch up. Here he is casting a loop toward some finicky fish.

I met up with a friend to fish early this morning. We hit the stream by 730ish and fished till noon. We changed flies consistently and pulled 'em in on streamers, nymphs, midges, and princes among others. We fished one at a time switching between fish or periods of a few minutes without fish. John wasn't used to fishing the tighter water of the stream we fished today and spent a lot of time in the weeds. When he did land the fly in the water he did quite well!

After landing a few good browns and missing his fare share of strikes (the strikes on this stretch of water are subtle) John landed this decent little brownie. It wasn't long before he found brookies.

His hands are big. We measured these against the grip of my rod and they measured approximately 10-12 inches. We rolled some good fish but couldn't close the deal. Fishing one at a time worked pretty well, and by the time we left we landed over 2 dozen between us.

 

 This one was fun to build. I'll be sad to see it go when the owner comes to get 'er. This was built on an H&H Ftx blank and other components came from Proof Fly Fishing. I have a few more rods to work on coming up but hit me up if interested in a build.

 Get 'em while they're hot!