Minimalist Trout Slam

You could say that Asher and I were very efficient yesterday. We managed a "slam" of the trout species that are normally found in Southern Appalachian waters (brook, brown, rainbow) with our first three fish of the day. Unfortunately, my snake-like rainbow trout that completed the slam was also our final fish of the day. Yep. Three fish total. One brown trout. One brook trout. One rainbow trout.

My favorite of yesterday's catches was the first fish of the day, because with it, Asher continued an interesting streak. He and I have fished the lower national park portion of Deep Creek yesterday for the third time. Each time, we've taken the short spur trail to Indian Creek Falls, and each time Asher has caught a fish from the big pool at the base of the waterfall. The first time it was a beautifully marked rainbow. The most other times (yesterday and last week), he caught a nicely marked brown trout. All the fish in that area are wild.

Smokies Trout Run

Asher and I made a run for the higher hills a couple of days ago to see if the trout wanted to play. To our delight, the wild fish in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park seem to be digging this winter's high water, and they were pretty active. We didn't catch oodles of fish, but be we had a nice amount of activity and caught some really pretty wild brown trout.

Naturally, the big one got away. I hooked a surprisingly big rainbow in park waters and had it on the surface and within a few inches of hand's reach when the hook came free. It was a rouge-banded, 15- or 16-inch, thick bodied male that even had somewhat of a hook jaw.

Because of a mix of photos I wanted to get, it was somewhat of a sampler day. We briefly hit a couple of sections of the Tuckasegee River, including a new delayed harvest stretch I hadn't looked at yet, and two different streams in the national park. That kept us from fishing anywhere as long as would have been ideal, but at least we were fishing.

I say "we" caught fish, but in truth Asher did most of the catching. I caught one fish, which took a Rebel Hellgrammite. Asher caught all his fish on a Rebel Tracdown Ghost Minnow. All our lures were rigged with single barbless hooks.

October

A good thing happened while I was sleeping last night.

October arrived.

I guess there's nothing really that different about Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, but somehow it just feels different because I know it's now October, which is my single favorite month of the year. I'm an all-season angler, and there are things I like a lot about every month of the year. October tops my list, though.

Maybe it's the normal delightful October weather. Maybe it's the changing of colors (although in Georgia, our prettiest color really comes in early November). Maybe it's autumn fishing. Maybe it's the fact that my wife and I (and two of our six children) have October birthdays, so I get to eat a lot of cake this month. Maybe it's the opening of North Carolina's delayed harvest season, the abundance of fall festivals, pumpkin flavored hot drinks...

In trout, I suppose some combination of all those factors, and more, makes October my favorite month.

I'm looking forward to enjoying a few of those things -- the beginning of the DH season, the wonderful weather, and the first decent hints of changing colors -- next week when I fish the Nantahala River and then spend a few days at a conference at Fontana Village, which looks is right across Fontana Lake from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I'll likely also do some fishing in the park, in the DH section of Big Snowbird Creek and/or in the little lakes just downstream of Fontana while I'm up there. Those plans aren't settled quite yet.

I might actually have to sneak out to the pond today. I have some photos I'd like to shoot. More importantly, I just want to do a little October fishing!

Smokies Surprise Catch

I sometimes say that I like to fish for everything that swims, but I have to admit that I have fish in mind when I make that statement. Not that I minded Mr. Crawfish latching on to my Ugly Bug, but a craw really wasn't what I had in mind when I drifted my little hair jig toward the base of a current-swept boulder.

Seemingly the craw really wanted my bug. It was never hooked, but instead grabbed the bait and never let go. I thought I'd caught a leaf or some other debris when I felt extra weight but no real wiggling and then saw something brown spinning as I pulled it from down deep. Eventually I figured it out to the delight of my 9-year-old son, Asher, who was fishing beside me.

Even when I grabbed the craw, it only tried to pinch me with it's free claw, not wanting to let go of that jig. I wanted the jig, too, though, so I pried it free before affording Asher a closer look at my catch and then slipping the craw back into the creek.

Thinking back and looking at the picture, I'm thinking maybe I should have been rigged with a larger olive and orange Ugly Bug!

First Trout Outing



Asher, 8, is pretty excited about the opportunity to join his brother and me for a weekend in Townsend, which will include a bit of trout fishing in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. In fact, he had to don the waders for a moment, just to see how the felt, before I could put them in the truck last night. Then he ran inside to start packing his other stuff. He had known for a while that Nathaniel and I were headed to the mountains, but he only learned late yesterday that he was coming along.

Wild Smokies trout can be tough customers, especially for an angler who isn't used to making natural presentations in moving water and moving with stealth. Of course, I know he's going to enjoy the beautiful mountain waters and time in the creek with us whether or not the trout cooperate. (We may also spend a little time casting right in Townsend, where the freshly stocked and are a little less fussy.)

Asher has done quite a bit of pond bassing with Nathaniel and me for a couple of years now and has gotten pretty proficient casting and working baits. So far, he's only caught largemouths, bluegills and channel cats, so anything he catches this weekend is likely to be a new species for him. Beyond rainbows, browns and brook trout, some park waters and the waters flowing through Townsend also have smallmouth bass and rock bass.

We're Townsend bound so Nathaniel can play music on the Pickin' Porch at Wood-N-Strings Dulcimer Shop tomorrow evening. However, we'll fish our way there today, will spend a bit of time fishing tomorrow morning and, weather allowing, will fish our way home. Sunday looks rainy, but that's not necessarily bad. Rainy days make big browns more willing to come out and play!

Santee Cooper Cats & Smoky Mountain Trout

My next two fishing adventures will take me in totally different directions, but neither is terribly far from home. The biggest common denominator, I suppose, is that both are highly favored places for Nathaniel and me to visit.

Come Monday, my truck will be pointed toward Cross, S.C. for a visit to Blacks Camp in the heart of Santee Cooper Country. A family-run fish camp with friendly folks and great Southern cooking, Blacks is located at the mouth of the Diversion Canal, which connects the waters of lakes Marion and Moultrie. And rumor has it that the blue cats are tearing it up in the canal right now.

Cross has a decidedly Lowcountry feel, with moss-draped tupelo trees, huge gators, tea-colored waters and straight rural roads with little along them besides farm houses, country stores and old churches. Beyond its famous catfishing, Santee Cooper is the original home of land-locked striped bass and has produced a couple of former world record shellcrackers. Yet some anglers would reasonably argue that the best fishing is for largemouth bass, crappie or even bluegills. I'm pretty sure we will do some catfishing. Beyond the cats, we'll see what's biting best.

A day and a half after we return from Black Camp, Nathaniel and I will again get in truck, but this time it will be pointed north, and we'll be going uphill instead of downhill. Destination is Townsend, Tenn., just across the Great Smoky Mountains, where the rhododendron should be blooming and the trout should be feeding well.

We're actually headed to Townsend so that Nathaniel can play dulcimer music on the Pickin' Porch at the Wood 'n' Strings Dulcimer Shop on Saturday, June 1. However, we can't go to Townsend without fishing for trout in the cool clear waters that tumble down the steep slopes of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself, though, and I should focus my fishing thoughts on Santee Cooper for now.

Smokies Stream Decisions

Some time today, my Expedition will start moving north, and eventually Nathaniel and I will be winding our way across the Great Smoky Mountains. We're bound for Townsend, Tennessee, where Nathaniel will teach dulcimer workshops and perform at Wood-N-Strings Dulcimer Shop on Saturday. Unless we get going really late (which I hope won't be the case), we'll have to stop a time or two or three or four on our way through the park to explore some trout waters. Tomorrow, we'll probably spend a good part of the day fishing.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a trout fishing wonderland with thousands of miles of fishable waters draining its steep slopes. Park waters, which range from remote to roadside and from fairly large to tiny trickles, provide opportunities for three kinds of trout, plus smallmouth bass and rock bass. What that means is that decisions about which streams to explore are never easy.

Since yesterday evening, I've had my nose stuck in Jim Casada's outstanding guidebook, Fly Fishing the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and I've come up with a mental list of options that fit with our travel plans and available time and that take into account mid-summer, low water and a forecast for far more bright sun than I would prefer. Which options we'll choose depend in large part on when we get out the door today and exactly how open our schedule turns out to be tomorrow.

The good news is that there almost is no bad option when you're talking about wading up a beautiful mountain creek on summer day. Some choices will just produce more fish than others!