Lots of Rain

My most recent blog post spoke of upcoming back-to-back-to-back photo trips, and right now I should be between rounds 1 and 2. However, extensive rain in Tennessee blew out the first trip. The lakes where Jim Duckworth fishes are 20 feet above normal pool, knocking the fishing way out of whack, and it was supposed to rain throughout the window he and I had carved out for doing photo work. Although neither of us wanted to do so, we agreed that we had to pull the plug on that trip.

My Arkansas/Oklahoma plans also take me into flood conditions, with plenty more rain falling over the weekend. In fact, tomorrow's forecast where I'll be is for heavy storms and 3 to 5 inches of rain. That trip is built around a plane ticket and affects more people's plans, though, so we'll just plug ahead and do the best we can between the biggest storms. I should get good content about fishing in high muddy water, on dark days and in poor conditions!

Trip 3 only looks to be in the way of scattered storms, but that's next week, so we'll worry about the trip to Arkansas, which begin this morning, first!

As many challenges as the rain brings for fishing and photo plans, it also refreshes the rivers and the lakes and is especially welcome in Southern trout waters just before summer, when low water and high temperatures can really stress the fish. So while all the rain alters some fishing plans, I'm thankful for it.

Here, There & Everywhere

It's sort of like a fishing/photo tour. Between Wednesday and Friday of next week, I'll spend time on the water in at least four (maybe five or six states). The difference is that there's no real flow to the path. Instead of a tour, so to speak, it's a series of quick-turn around trips in different direction.

Tomorrow night or Wednesday morning, I' drive north toward Center Hill Lake in Tennessee to do a quick photo shoot for Bandit Lures with legendary guide Jim Duckworth. Depending on when I go, what I get done between now and then and water conditions, I might do other fishing in Georgia or North Carolina along the way, which is where states five and six could come into play.

I'll be home by Thursday evening and on Friday I drive to Atlanta to fly to Arkansas to spend a couple of days bass fishing and shooting Norman Lures photos in Oklahoma with Eric Porterfield and a day in Arkansas with Chad Warner.

I fly home from Arkansas next Tuesday and leave the next day for Mississippi to spend a couple of days fishing and doing Bandit photo work with Pete Ponds.

That's a lot of running in a different directions for nine days, but I expect there will be some good fishing action mixed in, and I have no doubt I'll gather loads of fine material because all the guys I'm fishing with are great at what they do.

I suppose I'd better start going on stuff around here so I'll be ready to go when I need to later this week!

Dale Hollow Smallmouths, Tailwater Trout & Rend Lake Crappie

When I have to dig into the slide files for a
picture, like this one of Stephen Headrick of
at Dale Hollow,I know it's been a while since
I've been somewhere!

I've spent some days on the legendary waters of Dale Hollow, but given the fact that my photos from there are all slides, I'd say it has been way too long. I'll fix that very soon. On Sunday evening I'm driving to Dale Hollow Marina to spend a couple of days with friends from Punisher Lures. I'm looking forward to returning to one of the most beautiful lakes I've ever fished and hopefully the getting the opportunity to lock horns with some jumbo smallmouths.

After I leave Dale Hollow, my plans for a couple of days remain a little up in the air, but I'm certain I'll be fishing, and it will probably be in Tennessee. Most likely plan for at least part of the time is to explore the tailwaters of Dale Hollow and Center Hill. Both rivers are very close to where I'll already be, and in recent years the latter has developed into one of the South's finest trout fisheries.

Final stop of my next round of travels will be in Southern Illinois, at Rend Lake, where crappie will be the main attraction. Best I can recall, I've never caught a fish in Illinois, so assuming some success, I can add that to my state list. I also haven't caught a white crappie yet in 2014, so maybe I can add at least one species to this year's list. With two months remaining, my current species tally stands at 26.

Uncertain internet and computer time sometimes makes blogging a challenge, but I'll do my best to keep updates and notes about cool stuff I learn posted here, on my facebook page and on Instagram and Twitter, so keep a look out! If you haven't followed me in any of those places, I'd appreciate you checking out what I share and maybe adding a follow or page like!

Today is one of those "get ready" days. Clearing memory cards, charging batteries, gathering clothes and fishing junk, taking care of things at home... Suppose I'd better get to doing stuff!

Southern Appalachian Snow?

Word is that we have a 30-percent chance of some snow falling overnight in North Georgia and the just uphill of here, in the North Carolina and Tennessee mountains, a foot of snow could fall between now and tomorrow morning. I was just up that way two days ago, fishing with no coat on and with vibrant autumn colors in the background!

It's hard to say what will really materialize, and I don't know if snow on the eve of November says anything at all about what's ahead, winter-wise. I just know it's awfully early for snow to even be in the weatherman's conversations in this part of the world.

Of course, I also noticed a while ago on the national map that the temperature at the time in North Dakota was 14 degrees, and I recall Deadwood, South Dakota getting significant snow a few weeks ago. Given those realities, the idea of overnight lows around freezing and a bit of snow that wouldn't even last doesn't sound so bad.

Splendid Sequatchie

Patrick Roberson and I had been knee-deep in Tennessee's Sequatchie River for about three minutes when the first of many rock bass nabbed the little black jig I'd tied from my dog's shed fur, and by the time we'd worked circled the pool (maybe 10 minutes), we had caught and released four fish of three different species (rock bass, crappie, smallmouth bass). The next pool up produced a longear sunfish and a largemouth, along with some more rock bass.

"That's the thing about river fishing," Pat said. "You never what you're going to catch."

He certainly proved that. We spent about five hours together, wading two different sections of the same river, and during that time we caught nine different species. I sort of wish I'd had one of those little clicking counter things that pitching coaches use, because I really have no idea how many fish we caught. I only know that it was a bunch, and that on quite a few occasions, he and I were both reeling in fish at the same time.

Pat was showing me home waters. The Sequatchie River, which cuts a broad valley between high ridges, runs right through his family farm in Bledsoe County. Our gear and approach were as simple as it gets. We waded wet and each carried nothing but a single spinning outfit and a few extra lures. In truth, we never needed the spare lures. I fished the same hair jig from start to finish, and Pat never had reason to change from his Hildebrandt Nugget.

My fishing destinations range from the ice to the ocean, and there are elements of every style of fishing that I really enjoy. Pressed to pick, though, I'd have to say that wet wading in a cool-water stream and casting small baits for everything that swims is my favorite way to fish, and yesterday's fishing with Pat was about as good as that kind of fishing can get.

That means yesterday was a "best of the best" sort of day, and you can bet that I'm already looking forward to doing it again some time!

Go-Cart Fueled for Tennessee

I'm Tennessee bound tomorrow, and the Fiesta is fueled up, loaded with junk and ready for travel. Best I can tell, I have cameras ready and the right stuff packed, but I suppose I'll figure out what I've forgotten as needs occur. (That's the way it normally work.)

Primary trip focus is on bass and crappie on Lake Chickamauga with pros staffers from Lew's and Gene Larew. I'm excited about that both because of the great crew that will be assembled and because I haven't fished Chickamauga since the bass fishing got so good. The biggest bass bags mostly come during winter and spring, but the potential for a giant bass still exists.

There's also some really good stream fishing in that part of Tennessee, so I have ultralights packed and hope to do a little fishing along the way tomorrow and then again after the official trip stuff is done. Trout, smallmouths and rock bass could all be part of the pre- and post-trip fishing play.

For now I'd better sleep. Fish await!

Monster Appointment on Friday

 

Tennessee River Monsters has been on a great bite this week,
with 10 cats over 40 pounds in four days. Photo courtesy
of Tennessee River Monsters

Monster time begins Friday afternoon.

That's when I'm meeting Capt. Scott Manning of Tennessee River Monsters to fish the fertile waters of the Tennessee River for monster cats. He's been on them this week -- 10 that weighed more than 40 pounds in four days -- and nothing about weather or likely generation schedules suggests that the bite should change. Rain chance is 40 percent every day between now and then, with scattered afternoon thunderstorms possible, so that is the biggest question mark right now.

Tennessee River Monsters specializes in heavyweight blues and flatheads, plus trophy stripers, on the Tennessee River, between Knoxville and Chattanooga. From what I've seen, we'll use oversized baits for overgrown fish, so any fish that bites is apt to be that monster we're looking for. We'll most likely begin in the afternoon and fish through the evening and on into the night.

I'm an "everything that swims" sort of fisherman, and every style of fishing has its own appeals. Big cats rank high on my favorites list, though, and it's been too long since I've gone after them. I also don't have a blue or a flathead on this year's species list. Most importantly, I really need to freshen my big cat photo files and I'm excited to learn more about how Capt. Manning likes to fish.

I'm also excited about the likely opportunity to play with a new camera. I say likely because it is supposed to arrive tomorrow. More on that to follow, though.

Flood Thoughts

Being just home from a week on the road, it's hard to not think about the rain that's pounding on my tin office roof and how thankful I am that Nathaniel and I were able to get in as much good fishing as we did. Apparently, the area we fished in Tennessee (under blue skies for two days) has had rain every day since we left, including absolute downpours last night, and  the gravel bars we walked on in Arkansas' Buffalo  River were majorly flooded only a day later. Meanwhile we somehow dodged the heaviest of Georgia's rains as we drove home today. And the Mississippi, where we began our fishing adventure, is high and red right now.

The Bassmaster Elite Series pros fish West Point on the Georgia/Alabama border this week, and apparently it was storming, with heavy rains and even big hail as the pros arrived in town today. They'll be fishing flood patterns and dirty waters, I suppose. Most Georgia waters run pretty red when the rain falls hard, so that has a big impact on how the fish behave.

Sometimes flood waters wash out a trip. For example, floating the Buffalo would have been dangerous after the big rains came. Some lakes simply get too muddy for the fish to find their food or the current in a river gets so strong that the fish just move into survival mode for a day or two.

Often, though, flooding creates opportunities (as any extreme condition can) because it washes food into rivers into rivers and lakes, causes fish to position themselves predictably in obvious eddies, tight to cover, or in the clearest water they can find. Sometimes it just makes them more aggressive.

The key is to consider the conditions that the weather has brought and fish accordingly. Unexpected flooding might mean searching shallower, using bigger and noisier lures and keeping lures much closer to cover. It also might mean doing a lot of looking to find little pockets where the water color is better.  Find those, and you've found something special. It'll be interesting to see how that kind of stuff plays out on West Point this week.

Travel Prep

Today is al about packing and prepping stuff for a week on the road. Tasks range from gathering gear for at least three different kinds of fishing to making certain camera batteries are charged and memory cards are cleared. I'm mostly working in a triangle, going from bedroom to office to basement, but occasional satellite missions take me to the truck with stuff that's fully gathered or even to the store, post office or money machine. Fortunately, I'm up-to-speed on deadlines, so I'm not trying to squeeze in writing between other stuff.

Nathaniel and I leave tomorrow for Tennessee to fish a couple of days on Center Hill, Old Hickory and/or Priest for bass, crappie, bream and whatever else might happen to bite, but as of now I'm thinking we'll blast out dark and early and do some trout fishing in the North Carolina mountains along the way. From Tennessee, we'll steer west, to Arkansas, where we'll spend a few days fishing in the Ozarks. Two of those days will be on the Buffalo River, water levels allowing, float-fishing for smallmouth bass. One day might find us in another trout stream.

We'll wrap up the trip with a day in Mountain View, Arkansas at the Dulcimer Jamboree. No fishing plans there. Just a day of good music and time with friends.

Then it's back to Georgia and back to writing fish stories.

East Tennessee Cast & Blast

Nathaniel shows off a chunky Pigeon River smallmouth during an East Tennessee outing that we enjoyed together last summer.

Some time in the next couple of days Nathaniel should get his first opportunity to walk the woods in search of squirrels, and he'll get to do so in the hills & hollows of East Tennessee. Meanwhile, I'm looking forward to exploring a section of the upper Nolichucky River that has always intrigued me. It's the section where the rafts run and is smaller and steeper than the parts I have fished. I don't know much about the river's character in the places where it can be accessed or how much reasonable access there is within the Forest Service portion, but that's what makes it exploration! Smallmouth bass, rock bass, channel cats and even muskies are possible targets.

Nathaniel and I are meeting our good friend Alan Clemons in the mountains some time tomorrow for and evening/morning cast and blast (or blast and cast), with a night of camping in-between. Some time Wednesday, we'll continue our travels and meet up with a bunch of friends at the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association meeting in Johnson City.

Hopefully squirrel will be on the campfire meal menu. If we do succeed in the squirrel woods, I plan to experiment with using tail fur for spinner and jig skirts. I'm admittedly a novice lure maker, at best, but I think it would be cool to bring along lures of my own making with elements from out first hunting trip the next time we point the truck toward East Tennessee or to some other smallmouth stream.

Stream and woods reports to follow.

Tennessee Fall

As I survey my calendar and plans that are beginning to take shape, it appears I'll be spending quite a bit of time in Tennessee beginning in a couple of weeks and continuing through the fall. No complaints. If I have to be away from home, Tennessee destinations rank high on my list of choices.

Tennessee travels begin in Townsend at the edge of the Smokies. Nathaniel is performing on the "Pickin' Porch" at Wood-n-Strings Dulcimer Shop on August 25. He'll be teaching workshops throughout the day and doing a concert that night, but we'll almost certainly sneak in some Smokies trout fishing on Friday and maybe even on Thursday on our way across the mountains. Some streams are just too pretty to drive right past.

After that I might be headed to the Cumberland River to target  heavyweight cats and see the giants the pros bring to the scales during the Big Cat Quest National Championship, which is out of Clarkesvile. That plan isn't set in stone yet, but I love catching catfish, and I always have need for pictures of big cats.

Late in September, Nathaniel and I will be in Johnson City for the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association conference. Conference days are already full, but we're already scheming a mountain cast and blast for smallmouths and squirrels before the meeting officially begins.

Last stop (that I know about so far) will be at the the Museum of Appalachia, where Nathaniel will be performing as part of their annual Fall Homecoming celebration. Between the museum being almost on the banks of the Clinch River and there being a tremendous amount of other good water between here and there, it's hard to imagine that trip not including a little fall fishing as well.