The Most Realistic Nymphs Ever!!

 These nymphs have to be the most realistic nymphs I have ever seen. I ordered both patterns. I can't wait to give them a try on the Sipsey and Smith Lake. 

The bodies of these nymphs are hard body and have weight. 
 

Landing Dale Hollow Trout

 Anyone who fishes for trout on the Sipsey Tailrace can recognize the Dale Hollow Trout. Most are in the 10" size, which was the size I landed this morning on the Sipsey. Mine you; I'm not complaining, trout is trout. I was using my three-wt. fly rod, which is the perfect fly rod to land this size trout.   

I knew precisely the hole I would fish, the nymph, and the technique I would use before I left the house. I have been watching videos all winter on fishing pressured waters and how to fish such waters. To say I was prepared was an understatement. 

I like it when a plan comes together, and everything worked my way for the two hours I fished the Sip this morning.

I forgot the number, either 8 or 9 of these beauties I landed. I stop taking pictures after this last image. There was no need to take a photo of the same size trout, image after image. I was not amazed that all the trout I landed came from one hole. This place became my honey hole for the morning. 

The water was high when I arrived at 9:30. Several fishermen were already on the water, and I was so lucky to fish in the area I chose while I was there. Why didn't I try other spots? When you consistently land trout in one location, why move to another site and leave the one place you know has trout? I was trying to learn a new technique, and to break my concentration would have interfered with MY PLAN!

I was just thankful that I finally got to fish the Sipsey for the first time since last year and had success. I lost as many trout this morning as I landed because of strike detection. I'm still learning. Today was a warm-up for landing larger trout in the future. 

Dodging the Rain Showers

This post today was supposed to be about a recent bluegill fishing trip on Smith. Scattered rain showers have put a dent in my bluegill quest today, so the Sipsey was the choice. I can deal with the rain on the tailrace much better than I can on the lake. A little hooded rain jacket is perfect on a rainy day when fishing the Sipsey. I didn't make it to the tailrace today at my usual time of 5:30, but instead at 9 o'clock. I was met with a huge crowd, I counted 15 vehicles all lined up along the road. I almost didn't bother to suit up but I was there, so I might as well join the crowd.  

 First of the morning, with an exposed gill plate. I have landed trout with this gill plate deformity before. It didn't affect its fight. 

A fatty that nailed one of the nymphs I was using in the log jams fishing deep. At times I added a little weight to get the nymph down to where the trout were holding. 

Another quality rainbow landed in and around structure. Notice my free spool Gloomis fly reel; the best of all the fly reels I own. In fact, I just purchased another one on Ebay a couple of weeks ago. 

I considered myself lucky today landing the number of trout that touched my hands for the morning; considering the number of fishermen on the water. It seems there are many more individuals fishing the Sipsey this year as opposed to years past. I wonder if the increased traffic comes from the virus causing more people to be outside more? 

Reminising

Need I say more!!!!

Camera "Malfunction" Fishing the Caney Friday

The title of this post pretty much sums up the mishap that occurred while landing lots of stocker size trout early Friday morning. In fact, today’s trip was my best this year for the trout count on the Caney-------but a minus count when it came to camera work.

 I dropped my camera in the water while trying to take a picture of one of the rainbows I landed. I knew it was gone when I couldn’t get it to turn back on, needless to say, I lost all the images of today’s trip.

 A short recount of the morning trip, arriving early at 6:30 and was met by lots of other fishermen and a super cloud of fog on the water. I started fishing with size 20 midge using an indicator in 2 to 3 ft. -depths. I got to touch a few rainbows, using the tiny fly, but as usual, I kept losing too many to continue fishing with it. So mid-morning I decided to go with 18 size midge. The 18 sizes proved to be my success ticket. I landed numbers of trout standing on a shallow sandbar and letting the midge drift into two seams, one to the left of the sandbar and the other flowing in at an angle; where the two deeper seams meet was the sweet spot. I know I landed at least a dozen trout in that one spot.
 I would land a few more browns and rainbows fishing small pockets closer to where my truck was parked before the generator forced me to leave. All the trout today was not anything larger than 12” but lots of fun to land using my 4 wt. 9 ft. Redington.

 So I’m looking for a new waterproof camera, any suggestions???