Buying Great American Made Gear at a Good Price

Lately I've put a premium on buying fly fishing gear that is made in the USA.  For me, it's not necessarily a patriotic gesture, but rather, a feeling that the quality is superior.  Of course, the price for American made fly fishing gear is often not worth the perceived difference in quality. It all started a few years ago when I purchased my 2nd set of waders in less than two years only to have them leak on my first trip.

Hiwassee on Friday the 13th

I cut out of work a few hours early and drove to the Hiwassee.  I wanted to go to the Caney, but didn't have time.  The HI turned out to be a good choice.  I fished for a couple of hours and caught over 10.  I started out with a bugger, but upon spotting some fish feeding on the surface, I tied on some 5x tippet and a size 14 sulpher and the fish starting hitting it on a regular basis.  I pretty much stayed in the same spot, which is unusual for me, fishing upstream to a spot where the water was flowing over a ledge.  I didn't have a net, so I didn't take any fish pics.  The fish were all around 12 inches and fat.  One of the bows looked like it was spawning, which is a good sign.  The hatch as I was leaving the river about 6 pm was about as prolific as I've ever seen; certainly the best hatch I've ever seen on the HI. The sulphers were thick, and the BWOs and what I think were Hendricksons, were consistent the entire afternoon.  I think this is the time of year to be on the HI - before the heat gets thick and wipes out most of the fish.

Save Bristol Bay

http://www.savebristolbay.org/

South Holston

Toccoa

Hiwassee DH

Doc and I hit the HI for a short float from Big Bend to Reliance in my canoe on Friday afternoon.  Doc threw a fly in at the take-out just as I was pulling into the parking lot, and he proceeded to land a bow.  We then drove up to Big Bend, and got the canoe in the water around 2:30.  I caught a bow right away.  We thought it might be a decent day, but we spent the next 2 plus hours with only one more trout to hand.  Unfortunately, this DH is a joke.  Unlike GA and NC, Tennessee has decided to use the DH to save money.  As a result, they are stocking less than normal.  To make matters worse, the fish are standard nine inch trout.  Very disappointing.  I don't know if we'll be back to the HI for quite a while.  We had a good time on the float, but the fishing was awful.