I met The Big EZ and The Gubna at 6:30am in the parking lot at Big Bend. TVA was going to start pulsing 1 at 8am then 2 starting at 11. The Gubna wanted to take me into the Quality Zone on this trip so we hiked downstream to an area called the Stair Steps. The delima I was facing was whether or not I should take my 8 1/2 ft 5wt or just the Tenkara. I decided to just take the Tenkara since I still haven't figured out a good method to carry my normal fly rod. I really need a 4 piece rod. We hiked down about 1/4 of a mile then waded out just above the Stair Steps. The Gubna caught a decent bow within 5 minutes. I tied on a Teds Stone, the current wet fly of the month, at landed a 10 inch bow on my 3rd cast. He put up a really nice fight for a little stocker.....
I think he went airborn 3-4 times. After landing him I realized that I left my camera at home so no pictures from me on this trip. We worked our way down fishing the seams and runs between the exposed rocks. I managed to LDR 3 fish over the next hour, then took my first tumble of the morning. Easy E and I were trying to get into position to fish a nice tailout into a deep pool when I stepped into a rather deep hole in the middle of a large rock. I went down pretty hard, but without any damage. E was picking up several rainbows,including a 13-14 incher, on a sulpher dry so I made the switch. By biggest problem was the Tenkara....it didnt have the range I needed at this part of the river, so I decided to work my way back up stream to fish the seams. This payed off quickly as I landed another rainbow, then the day went downhill for me. As I tried to make my way over and around the deeper water I took another spill. This one was a little worse than the last one and I banged up my knee a little bit. I dusted myself off then 2 minutes later I had a total wipe out. I was almost at the end of the rocky section when I leaped to a large rock than didn't have moss on it and busted my ass......literally. It hurt and Im still hurting today, but I don't think there is any serious damage. This river is hard as hell to wade.....I really need boots with studs. We walked down some more and I missed 2-3 fish on the sulpher and we called it a day. The talley for the trip was Easy E 7-8, The Gubna 5-6, and 2 (and a hornyhead) for myself. All fish caught were rainbows. The best action was a size 16 sulpher and a soft hackle pheasant tail. /s/ Doc
Note: We all commented on how fiesty the fish were. Another good sign.
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