Fishing the Flats

I was back on the Caney again today fishing the flats that level out from the main channel. Some of these areas can be less than a foot and some areas can be knee-deep. I seldom wade in the water on the Caney anymore deeper than knee-deep. I don’t have to wade any deeper than that to land trout there. This tailrace is packed with stocker trout in the size range from 8 to 12 inches. Of course, there is the occasional 16” and above but most of the time the stocker trout is the main course. I’ll take the stocker trout all day on a 3 or 4 weight fly rod in the fast-moving water. If I’m lucky enough to connect with a bigger trout then I consider that a bonus. All I need to make my day a success on the Caney is outstanding scenery, crystal clear water, beautiful rainbow, browns, and brook trout to bend my fly rod and I’m happy. That’s what I encountered on my Caney outing today. 

Quality brown just over the 12” stocker size put up quite a fight just off a gravel flat in a fast run. This was my only trout to land on a near-perfect drift, “is there a perfect drift” for the morning. I landed a couple more rainbows at the end of the drift just letting the midge flutter in the ripples. No mistaking the take when the trout nail the fly on this type of presentation. Presentation and patience were the main elements for today's trip, in other words, the trout made me work for the takes.

It's really easy to wade here because most all the time you are wading on gravel beds, and occasionally submerged vegetation. The vegetation produces an abundance of food to support a healthy trout population.

Cathey and I have always been a collector of nice driftwood stumps and branches for landscaping, but I think this one is a little out of our range!!! I spent the morning roaming these flats enjoying another relaxing trip on my favorite southeastern tailrace.

P.S. I have found out that a 5-hour wade trip is about my limit here, the back starts to act up beyond that. There are no boulders to sit on here like the Sipsey but lots more trout, I will take the trout over the boulders!!!  

The Treehouse

The grandkids have been after me since we moved into our house to build them a treehouse. So being the devoted Pops; I started the project last week with the layout for a 5 ft. X 8ft. treehouse which needed to be this big for all three children to have room to play. One of the hardest parts of building the house was climbing up the 7 ½ ft. ladder steps to get to the floor to add floorboards, and sides. Another good workout constructing this project was digging the 2 ft. deep holes the 4 X 4 post was set in; thank goodness for gym time.



I finally worked a trip in today to the Caney Fork between all the generations at the tailrace. The schedule on the website showed no generation from 8 AM to 1 PM. Surprise, surprise generators turned on at 11:30 disappointing a lot of fishermen. Lots of trout could be seen at every logical place I fished, telling me the tailrace had recently been stocked.

This stocker brown trout was one of many I brought to the net in the 2 hours I had to fish before high fast-moving water caused me to leave. When the horn sounds at this place indicating generation, you need to leave the water. Don’t wait to make that last cast. The midge was the hot fly the trout were taking during the short stay. I don’t like to fish tiny flies, but the size 20 and 22 got their attention.

Comparing Two Tailraces the Sipsey Verses the Caney

Before my wife and I moved to Spring Hill Tennessee this year 99% of all my trout fishing was on the Sipsey Tailrace below Smith Lake Dam in Jasper Alabama. The Sip as the locals called it was not the place that sparked my interest in trout fishing, but it was the place that taught me many of the variables that go into learning the sport. I had spent the past twelve years fishing the only tailrace in Alabama before we moved. I will miss this narrow tailrace, super clear water, unique runs, small pockets holes, tight seams, and dry fly action. In other words, trout was easy to find and catch, if you knew the fly patterns that brought success; I did! Come Spring I will apply what I learned over the years on the Sipsey to the tailrace on the Caney, located a little over an hour east of our house towards Knoxville. The Caney can be a challenge to fish, mainly because of the tremendous fishing pressure it receives throughout the year. I will need to adjust to a wider tailrace, much more water to read, fishing tiny nymphs as opposed to dries, different feeding patterns of the trout, and most of all learning the areas where the trout hold. I knew exactly where those places were on the Sipsey and in time will find those places on the Caney. 

I still remember the first trip I made to the Caney with my son-in-law right after he and my daughter got married twelve years ago. That was the first time I had fished for trout using the fly rod. The trip was memorable not for the number of trout landed that day but for the challenge. I spent most of the afternoon learning how to get the correct drift, fly presentation, reading the water, bug hatches, feeding patterns and through it all landing a few stocker browns and rainbows. I was really intrigued by all the factors that had to come into play to land a few colorful trout. I still remember that first rainbow landed that day, and admiring its brilliant colors. The drift, presentation, fly pattern, playing the trout once hooked, all had to come into play for me to hold that beauty for a few seconds before its release. That one trip convinced me that I would spend the rest of my fishing days fly fishing.

An area of the Caney near the dam, where most of the wading takes place; the Caney is much wider and longer than the Sipsey. I made two trips there while we were living with our daughter, one in August with my son-in-law and this one the last of September.

Fun on the 3 wt. ----landed a few more stockers fishing between a lot of other guys that morning. I have some work to do on this tailrace!!