Jerkbait Stripers

Nathaniel and I learned today what happens when you throw a Strike King Bleeding Bait Wild Shiner past the boils below Pickwick Dam and hold it in the current. We were fishing with guide Clagett Talley, who has Pickwick tailwater stripers down to a science, and we spent much of the day battling bulldog-strong fish. Talley shifts and steers constantly to keep his boat in position, and the current and the jerkbait do the rest of the work - that is until the fish strikes. After that, the workload shifts, as Nathaniel learned first hand and as you can see for yourself in the video below.

From Treetops to River Gorges

On Wednesday, Nathaniel and I saw the Appalachian forest from a new perspective. Traveling via ziplines and rope bridges, we moved from hardwoods to old-growth hemlocks, crisscrossing Mill Creek and looking down on the tops of rhododendrons, boulders and many of the trees. The TreeTops Canopy Tour puts you among the trees - up to 80 feet above the ground - and provides a fabulous way to get a close-up view of the forest canopy.

Thursday was more in line with the things Nathaniel and I know best. We floated West Virginia's New River with Brian "Squirrel" Hager, a veteran guide for Class VI Mountain River On the Gorge. The New was beautiful as ever, and the smallmouths bit from the time Squirrel pushed the raft from the bank until he rowed us to the take-out. Zell Pops were the ticket early. Jerkbaits and YUM Dingers produced the most fish in the afternoon.

Before heading south from the West Virginia mountains, Nathaniel and I made a short but brutally steep hike into the Gauley River gorge to watch rafters and kayakers take their best shot at Pillow Rock, a raging Class V rapid. We saw the best and worst runs through the rapid and every manner of whitewater boat venturing down the river. Nathaniel enjoyed the front-row view of the action.

Ideal for Stream Fishing

When you think about Plano, you might think first about tackle boxes and tackle bags for your boat, but I learned yesterday that they also have stream stuff figured out. I spent the afternoon knee-deep in the Chattooga River, wading for redeye bass and trout, and toted all my stuff in a Plano Softsider Fishing Vest. The padding and straps are in the right places to make the vest really comfortable, even when it's packed with tackle, and the pockets are in the right places to keep everything handy. Probably my favorite feature, though, is that the main front pocket supports itself as a very flat work tray so you can fish around for the right lure with no concerns about dumping your stuff in the river.

The fish were cooperative, by the way. I fished with Jeb Hall, who heads the fishing program for Nantahala Outdoor Center, and we caught quite a few redeyes and brown trout, along with a few bream and a lone rainbow. Jeb fly-fished and did best with a popper. I caught my fish on Lindy jigs and assorted mini hard baits.

Mostly Familiar Waters

In most ways Tennessee's Hiwassee River seemed familiar yesterday. It's the first place I ever fly-fished for mountain trout, and I've visited the same tailwater stretch numerous times over the years. It had been several years since my last visit, though, and the fishery has undergone changes.

One of Tennessee's most acclaimed trout rivers isn't producing the same quality of fish that it once did. I learned that from Bob Borgwat, a long-time friend, fellow writer and operator of Reel Angling Adventures, which runs guide trips on the Hiwassee. It seems that something has changed with the water-flow dynamics and the tailwater doesn't stay as cool through late summer as it once did. The result is that despite heavy stocking and restrictive regulations through a special "trophy section" the fish aren't holding over from year to year and the big fish are missing.

Well... the big trout are missing anyway.

The river also has huge stripers in it. They come up from Chickamauga Lake to feast on the trout. We actually started the day targeting trout and then hit some key holes where the stripers tend to feed, using big Red-Fins and swimbaits and such for the stripers. We caught lots of trout and had a blast doing so. The stripers eluded us.

The Hiwassee remains an outstanding river for catching plenty of trout and a fun place to fly-fish because of it's hatches and its open waters. And it will always be a beautiful river to float. However, I certainly hope the Tennessee Vally Authority will be able to identify and remedy whatever is causing the water temperature issues, because the Hiwassee is a big, productive river with fabulous hatches and was one of the best streams in the South not that many years ago.

Even as we floated yesterday, and I worked baits though beautiful runs above and below familiar shoals, I kept expecting to see the flash of a big brown trout's golden flanks. Bob told me that it probably wouldn't happen, and he was right.