20 Hour Day - The South Holston

A trip to the SoHo we had planned for so long
Waking up at the butt-crack of dawn
Cruising to Bristol at eighty-fo in the Pilot
The Gubna and Doc, planning a riot
Arrived at the river not a moment to spare
Dog doo on Doc's shoe, but I don't care
Wading the SoHo, sulphers abound
But just one small brown on Doc's hook could be found
Meet up with Clint, he'll be our Guide
Get in the boat for the float in a Hyde
Started out slow, but fish are everywhere
Small ones, big-uns, pigs here and there
Chuckin dries, with a midge on the back
Can't get these fish to frickin attack
Finally.... the perfect cast and drift
See him come up, moving so swift
Got him to net, a beautiful brown
Yellin so loud, like a red-neck clown
On down the river, I landed another
Mr. Brown's cousin, or maybe his brother
That makes two, but it's been a struggle
Doc's line goes tight, and after a tuggle
Another colorful brown, safely to net
The fish of the day, the best one yet
The sun has now set on our day on the river
Could have been worse, but could have been better
A long ride home with blood shot eyes
Talking and planning, this river deserves many more tries
We'll be back, to the SoHo again
Doc and Gubna, let the adventure begin!

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Too Warm on the HI

Went to the Hiwassee River for a couple of hours tonight with Streamer Rob.  We were hoping to catch the hatch at 7:00 p.m. when they turn the water off.  I got there about 20 minutes early and landed a small brown on a lightening midge.  It was a wild brown, which is somewhat unusual for the HI.  The water dropped and Streamer Rob joined me on the river.  The water temp seemed very high; I would guess above 65 degrees.  The fish were rising for a few minutes when the water turned off, but then they hunkered down.  I ended up with 2 browns and 2 bows, but they were all lethargic, small, and thin.  This doesn't bode well for the HI this summer.  We'll see how the DH does this Fall.

Big Creek

I decided to take my 2 year old son on a hike on Saturday.  I've been wanting to explore Big Creek, located in the Big Frog Wilderness Area, for quite some time, so we packed up the backpack, and just in case, I threw my rod and reel in the car.  It took us quite a bit of time traveling on a forest service road to find our destination, but we eventually started hiking upstream on a forest service trail.  We hiked for about 2 miles and the creek was suddenly undeserving of its name.   Nevertheless,  I rigged up a very large stimulator, and with my son on my back, creeped to a small pool.  I couldn't cast - the conditions were too tight.  I used the bow and arrow method and right when the fly hit the water, something came out of the water.  It wasn't big, but it was definitely a trout.  A few more attempts and I got one to take.  One fish was enough for me, so after some more exploring, we hiked back to the car and drove home.  It's not often that catching one fish will make for a good trip, but this is a trip I'll never forget!