Sunday, November 23, 2014

Blue Ridge Trip - Day 2


The Gubna!
We woke up Saturday morning and drove to Curtis Switch on the Toccoa Tailwater to meet Doc, who was driving over from Chattanooga.  We then went to the dam and started our float.  The weather was shaping up nicely.  The flow was a little lower than I remember, but not too bad.  I caught a nice brookie about a mile downstream from the Dam.  A pleasant surprise.  The Rod was fishing a huge articulated.  He fished as we floated, and had two huge rainbows chase his fly, only to turn at the last minute. A mile or two into the float we stopped at a nice run.  I rigged up a huge rubber legged stonefly that I picked up in Montana and found a nice run below the riffles. After a few casts I saw a fish rise. I thought it was probably a small brown sipping a midge, but I chucked the fly above the rise and within a few seconds I got tug.  I could tell it was a good fish immediately. I put the line on the reel and yelled at The Rod to get the boat downstream to help me land the fish.  I ended up being able to land it without a net.  The fish was 18-20 inches, and probably the best bow I've landed in the last year.  Absolutely beautiful!
The Rod landed a nice bow about an hour later (see image on left).  Doc missed a number of fish - probably close to 10 total.  Strangely enough we only managed 3 fish between the three of us. However, one good fish is all I wanted, and thus, it was an outstanding trip. The weather was great, and we all had a good time. 
That night Brown Trout Zilen made an appearance and we shut down the town.  Stories will be told about this trip for years to come....