Sometime A change Of Scenery Isn't A Bad Thing.

 

As most who follow the reports know, I've been fishing the east side of the system. Why? Better water levels for wading, next to no boats, very few fishermen, decent bugs, and enough 'bows and browns to keep me happy. So today I went west. Why? Because the BK, if not blown out, was too high to fish comfortably, (900 cfs this morning, 1,000 cfs now, and still climbing). Both reservoirs have stopped spilling and today's flows are probably designed to create the flood prevention void called for in the FFMP.

Spent the morning tying and repairing flies, (always a good sign), and waiting for the grass to dry.  At 2:00 pm after some periods where the sun almost came out from behind the clouds, I checked the weather radar and saw green and yellow heading our way. Went out, (at 82 you don't run), started up the mower, made a big rectangle in the backyard and was two passes short of getting it done when the rain came. Finished the two cuts and headed for the garage. I thought Deere ran fast, but I was wet before getting to the house.    

By 3:30 the rain had stopped and I, (after first girding my loins), headed for the WB to dodge boats and try to find a place to squeeze in between anglers. To my surprise, no one was there. No boats, no fishermen,and at that time, no bugs or rising fish. Chatted with Dave at the Troutfitter, (be sure to tell him about all the big fish you caught, he loves to hear fish stories from happy anglers), and at 4:00 I set out to fish.

The fishing - Saw bugs on the water below the town bridge but no risers. Fished a place in the No Kill after seeing a rise from the road. There was a surprisingly good Dorothea hatch, (they are at least three weeks early), but little feeding activity for an hour. When the fish started to rise they did so with gusto and weren't terribly fussy about what they ate. It probably lasted less than hour but it was fun, hooked some really nice fish, got applause from the guide in a boat rowing by, (one of two that I saw all day), and by 6:00 had had a really nice day. Drove back to the Lordville Estate, had a celebratory Perfect Manhattan, a nice dinner, and went to bed. No, no, no, that's what I meant to do, but something stopped me down on the lower WB, made me wade out in a riff full of eel holes, and watch the water go by for two full hours without as much as a rise. Then, with fog on the water, (maybe it was just a dream), at 8:30, fish started to rise. They ate my olive, then when I saw black caddis hatching and changed flies, they ate my black caddis, and then when I couldn't see it, and changed to a cahill, they ate that. The battery died in my flashlight and I stumbled back upstream stepping in eel holes left and right. Was in the car by 9:14, it's 11:07 now and I'm going to bed with a sore back, and big smile on my face.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fishing A Cold Blow From Out Of The North.

  Jean came down and we spent the weekend watching wildlife in the backyard, driving around the area and enjoying two "nights out", one with David and Maryann, (the apprentice Troutfitter Inn cleaning lady). A shout out of thanks to her for spending four hours on the road to have dinner with us. Not sure the company or the meal was worth the drive. We drove up to Stilesville to witness the hordes of anglers, and then along the reservoir all the way up to Walton, where we usually stop and go in some of the shops. It was threatening to rain so we elected to keep going. It was raining on top of the mountains but we took route 206?? to Downsville anyway. We hit the rain part way up the mountain and then drove down the other side to Downsville in a torrential down pour. Came out of the rain at Downsville and drove down route 30 with the intention of checking  out the trout in some of the BK's thermal refuges, saw the muddy water at "Jaws" and drove back to the Lordvi...
Read more

Don't let that that rain come down.

 My South Holston river friend, (one of only two people who will fish with me), (the other is currently on injured reserve), is up for a visit (he brought his boat) and today we floated. There might have been some question about where we chose to float (no one else launched where we did), but we enjoyed the fact that we never saw another fisherman, let alone another boat, on the river all day. The weatherman might well have gilded the lily a bit when he predicted a chance of showers and a high temp of sixty degrees. It rained all day, and the temperature peaked at fifty three degrees. When I read the forecast for the rest of Mark's stay (rain for the next four days) I was thankful that we got in the day that we did today.  How was our day? We sucked it up, paid an extra $5.00 to launch (didn't have the proper change), parked in the wrong place (got a note from the owner where we put in), never made it to the predetermined takeout place, and had a delightful day counting bugs (...
Read more

The closure.

 Picked one of the most beautiful November days imaginable to drive down to Lordville and shut down the estate. Bright sun, early morning fog, with flocks of geese on their way out to cut cornfields to feed. Temps varied from 45 to 35 depending on the fog density. The trees are bare, save for a few oaks  and larch with color but the hills are basically gray.  I've been busy in Lafayette. Spend an hour or two each morning and evening up in a tree hoping for a buck to come by. So far the only buck I've seen in real life has been what is now a unicorn. A week ago when he walked around not 20 yards in front of me he sported two slightly curved six inch spikes. Last night when he walked right under my other stand he was missing one of his horns.  In addition to the hunting we had loggers come and fell almost 100 dead and dying ash trees that had fallen victim to the Emerald ash borer. While they were at it they also took down a dying maple that leaned over the house and a...
Read more