Spring Fishing Little River 4-22-10

We had some much needed rain here in East Tennessee on Tuesday which brought our river levels flow rate back to a normal flow for this time of year so I decided to call my old boss and see if he was up for a little fishing after him seeing that huge brown I caught on Monday he said he was interested in going. He was up for it and said he would meet me at the river.

He showed up and we started fishing around 2:00PM he had not been out since we took a beginner fly fishing class together last October I showed him what fly pattern they had been hitting on and away he went. I decided to change to a dropper fly and was rigging my line when he walked over and said does this count as the 1st fish? He had on his first cast landed a beautiful 13 1/2 inch brown.

I fished down just below him for a bit an managed to land a decent rainbow it wasn't until we moved up river that I was able to land another bruiser myself a 13'' brown man there have been some nice fish taken this year I sure hope the action continues it sure has been HOT! it was another beautiful day to be on the river.

4-19-10

On Friday 4-16-10 I was able to get a little fishing in at one of my favorite spots on Little River in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park I have not experimented much with nymph fishing. I started fishing around noon on Friday and was using a dry fly but there were no rising fish. I knew I had to try something different so I used what's called a dry dropper rig this is where you tie a sinking nymph off the hook of a dry fly and it kinda acts a strike indicator.

Wow right off the bat I landed a nice rainbow around 11" and then another decent fish from the same run I moved up stream a bit and bam! bam! two more decent fish all within an hour of fishing I took a long lunch break around 3:00PM and started back fishing dry fly's with not much luck on Monday I decided to go back and try a new hole that I found. This was a great decision on my part cause I landed my first Smokey Mountain bruiser brown trout a 13 1/2 inch fish what a blast! getting him landed.

My main concern was when I started fly fishing was will I ever get the hang of this? My question has been answered I am starting to pay attention to little details that make the difference in catching nice fish. I have been graced with tips from guys like David Knapp and Ray Ball both really good fly fisherman. Fly fishing is quickly becoming a passion of mine there is just nothing like the peace you get while on the river in the Smokey Mountain National Park.

2 DAY BACKPACK TRIP AND FLY FISHING ON DEEP CREEK 4-9-2010

4-9-10 I decided to head back to Deep Creek in the Great Smokey Mountain national Park once again for a backpacking fly fishing trip. Once again it was a really good trip we had over an inch of rain on Thursday and Deep Creek was raging. I learned to fish the high water so it didn't concern me much. After setting up camp on Friday I headed to the river the water was high it was hard to find any calm water I managed to land two brown trout. Saturday I woke early cooked breakfast and headed up to high elevation in search of brook trout....I was looking to hit whats called a grand slam brook,brown and rainbow trout all on one stream.

I caught three within an hour then headed back down the trail to meet with friends we had a great evening around the campfire had a great dinner and headed out on Sunday and fished back down the trail the water level had dropped and the fishing was awesome! trout rising everywhere I can still remember the early days when I started this blog of wondering if and when I would ever catch any larger fish I guess the time has come here lately I have caught some nice ones!

Easter weekend Backpack trip to #24 GSMNP

Easter weekend in the GSMNP we went again with the hiking group out to site # 24 I decided to fish for a bit Saturday afternoon despite periods of gusty winds this was a good choice because I found some great water to fish and managed to land an 11" brown trout what a nice fight he put up it was the 1st time I was actually able to use the real and play the fish perfectly to the net unharmed. Sunday morning we packed an left and i fished back down the river selecting holes and it paid off nicely caught a very colorful rainbow and a few other nice trout.

The weather was just perfect what a wonderful weekend in the Smokies I prefer fishing the park over any where else there is nothing like the beauty and peace the park has to offer it is my favorite place one i have been coming to ever since I was a kid....thanks mom and dad!

2 DAY BACKPACK TRIP AND FLY FISHING ON DEEP CREEK

March 26th and 27th I backpacked 6 miles into Deep Creek campsite #57 Bryson Place this place is loaded with both beauty and history it was the last known camp of Horace Kephart.

I started fishing around 11:00AM Saturday morning there were rising trout everywhere despite the 41 degree water temp I started catching fish right away on the dry fly I had first tried a nymph dropper to no avail. My first fish was a decent 10" brown trout then a nice rainbow total fish caught in 2 hours fishing was 8 I was a happy camper this was a first time of catching more than a few fish in one trip.

Camping trip Elkmont

I went with the hiking group to Elkmont campground GSMNP we had a great weekend the water was still on the cool side but there were some rising trout I managed to land a really nice 12" rainbow there were other fish caught but none worth the mention Spring has sprung and the fishing is getting HOT.