A Capital “P” for Persistence Thursday on the Sipsey

As I drove the 145 miles Thursday to fish the Sipsey, I was thinking how easy it once was to drive the 12 miles from our house in Jasper. The trip now is a bit more important than it was back then.

Partly cloudy skies keep the sun from penetrating the crystal clear waters of the area I was going to fish this day. The water level was somewhat low which makes the Sipsey more difficult to fish, and as always the pressure from other fly fishermen adds to the challenge.

This section is where my wading boots got the most use, fishing small pocket holes throughout the stretch. No surface activity at all caused me to stay down under with nymphs changing back and forth from tight lining to the indicator. I was using a furl leader today casting upstream and letting the nymphs drift slowly back to me. I choose to do this because of the super clear low water levels I encountered. The trout spook easily in these conditions and they had been hammered all morning by other fishermen.

I landed my first rainbow of the afternoon using a long 6X fluorocarbon tippet tipped with a size 20 tungsten bead-head midge.  My eyes had to strain a bit even with my magnifying glasses to thread the line through the eyelet of the fly. I seldom fish a fly this small but it was producing and I couldn’t complain.

The 4 weight today enabled me to get a little more backbone in the hook set, which I needed fishing those tiny nymphs. I wondered if this trout had spent a lot of time in the deep holes of the Sipsey causing it to have a very little color, but still beautiful. Persistence kept me focused this day through long periods of no takes. A couple more rainbows would touch the net this afternoon before I headed back home. 

I noticed this turkey hen in our backyard the other morning and ran and got my camera and took the shot through the window. I knew if I stepped outside on our porch it would spook. Not the best picture, which continues to make me search for a better quality camera. I hope you guys have a great week!

Some of my Favorite Post From 2016

As I sit here today and scan through some of my blog posts from this past year, they make realize why I love to fish so much. I still remember every detail from the trips, the other fly fishermen I encountered and fishing with individuals who love fly fishing as much as I do. I thought I would share with you guys what I think was my top five outings for 2016; some you may have viewed and some posts you may have missed. I have to admit some of my 2016 outings may be hard to top for 2017 starting with a memorable trip with the grandchildren and my daughter in June 2016:
Grandkids + Mom Fishing with Pops

What made this trip special was lots of fish landed that day both from the boat and from the bank. My daughter grew fishing with me at the same age her children are fishing with me now. I'm glad the tradition will continue.

Putting a Dent in my Bluegill Quest

I’m sure I will find lakes here that will match the bluegills that Walker County Lake had swimming in it. I still remember the spots where I landed these bulls and of course, talking with the gentleman fishing for catfish.

Quality RainbowLanded On the Sipsey

This is one fishing trip I will never forget, mainly because I was able to do something I’d never accomplish on the Sipsey, land numbers of quality rainbow. The video footage link above sums up the trip!!

The Pond

This post carried me back to my childhood and the fond memories I had of my younger brother, Mom , and Dad. The only brother left out of five is my older brother Bobby.

Pushing the Redington 3wt. to the Limit

A memorable trip for sure landing this huge Spotted Bass with my 8 ½ ft. 3weight; I think I may better this fish when I visit Laura Hill Lake come spring.

2016 Zoomed by Can 2017 Slow Down Some



Moving is never easy, especially when one gives up 30 years of memories living in one place. Cathey and I have adjusted well to the move to Tennessee, living close to all our grandchildren and meeting some wonderful neighbors in our little subdivision. The only downside to the move was losing fishing time. I hope to recover some of that lost time in 2017.

As I get older the years seem to pass off faster, which makes me cherish every fishing trip I

make now. I have been very fortunate with my health over the years, and I hope I can continue to stay in fairly good health in the coming years. Sure I have aches and pains like most all of us do but nothing significant enough to keep me off the water.

  One of my first trips in early March will be fishing Lake Lindsey

located in beautiful David Crockett Park in Lawrenceburg. It is noted for having some super size gills that will kick off my bluegill quest for 2017. Another lake I plan on wetting some flies in is Laura Hill Lake located south of Lawrenceburg. This is one of the prettiest lakes I have seen in middle Tennessee, high banks, crystal clear water, and noted for super size gills, smallmouth bass, spotted bass and walleye. As for trout fishing, the Caney will be one-stop destination. I will be making a number of float trips with my son-in-law on this beautiful tailrace for the coming year. I will still wade the tailrace below the dam, but I have come to realize if one is going to be successful fishing the Caney Fork, you need to float it. I’m looking forward to a successful fishing season and HOPE ALL YOU GUYS HAVE THE SAME------HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!      

   

The Uni-Thread Leader-Quite a Find!!

Rain, sleet, and a light dusting of snow have kept me inside most of the week with the exception of my gym time a couple of mornings. This time of year I am on the computer a lot watching fly fishing videos and doing some research involving fly fishing equipment and accessories. One of the accessories that got my attention this week was the Uni-Thread Furled Leader. It’s not that I had never heard of a furled leader but I wanted to learn more about this leader before I purchased a couple. The main reason I want to try a furled leader is drag problems I encounter at times fishing the mono leader especially on downstream drifts. I hope this leader will aid in eliminating some of the drag I experience when fishing a dry. What’s your take on the furled leader?

A Break From Blogging For Now

I can’t believe it has been 5 weeks since I wet a fly on the Sipsey. The bluegill quest has cut into my trout fishing time there. I had a couple of hours today to fish the lower section of the tailrace. This area has the big logs submerged and some nice pocket holes, where I landed my best trout ever back in May. Today was a complete reversal; where the water was very low, no hatch or surface activity at all, and fishing behind a cool spell. I went through the usual patterns that general work on those slow days on the Sipsey, all proved unproductive today. The trout were in the sipping mode, but not as aggressive as I have seen on some of my former trips. I lost a number of trout today and had only one to touch my hand, which slipped from my grip before I could get the image. Just being in the cold water and fishing the Sip today was enough to get my trout fix.

 My blogging buddy Mel, surprise me the other day with some nice looking flies that he tied up for me to use on future trips. Thanks, Mel I will put all too good use. I have started collecting different fly patterns and a couple of Mel’s flies will go in my collection.

Cathey and I were glad to sign a contract on our house Thursday. We will be moving the last of July or the first week in August to Spring Hill Tennessee. We will move in with our daughter and her family, and live upstairs for the months of August, September and October. Our house will be ready to move into the last week in October. No fishing from the boats, but a little fishing on the Caney will be my fishing fix while we live there. Very little blogging will be accomplished while we are in this transition, packing, moving, and adjusting to living with our daughter and her family. I will be checking on you guys from time to time and may do a post from when time permits on how things are going with me and the family. So guys keep wetting those flies for me until I get back on the circuit!!!!

Blogging Buddies-----Hard to Beat!!!

It’s always good to receive free stuff especially if it's from a blogging buddy. I received this pack of goodies from Howard at Windknots and Tangled Lines the other day. I’ve known Howard ever since I started blogging 6 years ago, via his blog. It’s always good to know one of your fishing buddies thinks enough of you to give you something; know that the shirt, cap, flies and all the other items will be put to good use, a big thank you, Howard!!

I started blogging in 2/11 2010; back then there were more bloggers on the net as opposed to now. Some have moved on to Facebook, or simply quit blogging. I deleted a number of blogs from my roll the other day simply because they have stop posting. Some have been in my blog roll for 1 year or more. I still add blogs to my roll that are interesting, but not nearly as many as I use to, they are becoming less and less.

Blogging for me has become somewhat of a hobby; it gives me a chance to connect with individuals who love fly fishing as much as me. As I sit the other day working on a future post I was thinking of how many individuals I know in Jasper who fly fish, two! Both fly fish the lake with me but only one fishes the tailrace. Most of the time I go by myself, which is ok on the tailrace, because I’m never alone there; I never fish the lake anymore by myself. So I guess what I’m trying to say is I’m thankful I have all you guys I blog with about fly fishing daily. When I starting blogging I was trying to learn everything I could about fly fishing for trout; I’ve learned a lot these past six years from you guys. I’m still learning about the sport; so thanks Howard and the rest of you guys for making the process a lot easier.

The Orange Nymph?

I wanted to fish the Sipsey yesterday before the rains that afternoon. Generation was scheduled at 3PM so that gave me about 3 hours to wet a fly. Never think especially on the Sipsey that you’re going to land trout on the same pattern day in and day out there; yesterday proved that statement correct. I went through numerous nymph patterns with no success. After exhausting my options I tied on an orange nymph Alan of Small Stream Reflections had mailed me sometime back. I kept trying to figure out what this pattern duplicated in the insect world while I was casting it. After I got home I googled orange nymphs and found the Milkweed Assassin Bug. Strange I didn’t see any such bug while I was fishing but this little orange nymph proved a winner today.

The Milkweed Bug and the Red Ant

  The third cast in a slow run produced this healthy rainbow using Alan’s orange bug.

There must be a clan of these damaged gill plate trout in the Sipsey, or I am landing the same trout every time I fish this place.

Super clear fast water pouring into small pockets held the trout below; the orange bug continued to work its magic.

Never overlook any fly in the box; high sticking the little orange bug worked in the small pockets. Who knows what pattern will be hot on my next outing here.  

  

Testing The Furled Leader

Today I was back on the Sipsey to continue evaluating the furled leader. It passed the test last week as I used it high sticking pocket water. The main characteristic of the leader that really got my attention was its low memory. Once you remove it from the package and give it a slight stretch it is ready to fish without any coiling as opposed to a mono leader. I also noticed that I could control the placement of the tippet much better with this leader mainly because of the added weight of the strands that make up the leader. Also, the grey color of the leader helps me know exactly where my tippet was during the drift through the pocket water; superb leader for high sticking.

For today’s trip, I wanted to see how it would react when nymphing and dries were added to the mix. I arrived late today and had a couple of hours to give it a try. With no hatch occurring I decided to wade into position and let a nymph drift through a small run I hadn’t fished since last year. I was using a size 14 beadhead nymph and begin working it through the run. What I notice almost immediately was how much slower the drift was with this leader. The light 6X tippet stayed in front of the leader throughout the drift. Very little mending was needed because I was just letting the leader/tippet drift with the current. As I made cast after cast I would set the leader/tippet in position at the top of the run and the rest of the way it was on its own drift. I did notice at times the leader would overtake the tippet and fly in the fast sections of the run, but after a quick mend, it would correct itself and continue the drift.

Today was one of those outings that caused me to try numerous nymph patterns until I finally connected with a bow. This was my nymph trout for the day that help prove that this unconventional drift method really worked. Two other trout were missed that helped boost my confidence level.

I moved to another area of the tailrace to cast the leader using a dry fly. There was a small midge hatch occurring in a shaded deep run close to the opposite bank. The trout were surface feeding, but not what I would call aggressively. The midges were tiny so I tied on a size 20 Renegade. The white hackle on the Renegade helped me see the tiny fly much better. I was downstream from the hatch activity and casting upstream into the feeding zone. In other words, I wanted to see how the leader performed on a downstream drift coming back to me. As I made numerous cast upstream, I kept noticing how light the tiny little fly would touch the water. As the fly touched the water I would watch as the dry would float back above the leader/tippet without any mending, this I liked. The takes were always close to the spot where the trout were feeding. Using a 4 ½ ft. tippet enable me to get the fly in the feeding area without the furled leader being noticed; I was spot casting. I discovered this technique while watching videos from Jonathan Barnes, who uses the furled leader for all his fly fishing techniques. This downstream drift was my favorite technique I tried today and is one I will continue to use on future trips.



This rainbow along with others landed and lost was brought to the net using the downstream technique. I let this rainbow have the Renegade, which was deep in its throat. I hope it will survive to fight another day.   

High Sticking in Pocket Water

I wanted to try my new furled leader out today, so no generating and off I went to the Sipsey. I forgot it was a holiday weekend, so that explained all the vehicles in the parking area and on the side of the road for a weekday. This didn’t discourage me, because I knew exactly what I was going to do; use the high sticking method on some of the pocket water I normally fish with a mono leader mending technique. 

The video below shows some of the trout I landed using the High Sticking technique in this one particular hole which is about 5 ft. deep. A couple of boulders on both sides of the hole caused fast current in the seam and at the end of the hole, a swirl of back current creates the pocket. By starting the nymph drifting at the mouth of the hole, through the middle and into the back swirl; I got the maximum attention of the trout, which were settled in a depth of 4 to 4 ½ ft. I was using a 6 ft. furl leader with 5 ft. of 6X tippet, the tippet was the part of the leader that got the work. The water was super clear, so the lighter tippet made for more action.

P.S. I am using a new program call Handbrake to increase the volume on my videos now, it works great and I hope this is an improvement from my volume in the filleting video.

I'll use today’s trip as another learning experience in my quest to become a better trout fisherman!!  

Battling Gusting Winds on the Sipsey

I have fished in windy conditions a number of times on the Sipsey but this past Wednesday had to be the worst. I met Jay at the Pump Station parking lot around 10:30. I have followed his blog “The Naturalist’s Angle” for a number of years. It was good to see him again and get to fish with someone who loves fly fishing as much as I do. The water level on the Sipsey has been up and down for the past months, and today we knew we would be fishing high water. In fact, we waited for a half-hour to get to fish at a suitable level.

The wind was blowing so strong out of the south that it was difficult to get a good drift at times. We did see some limited midge action after lunch in some calm water closer to the banks that proved productive using smaller dries.

Jay landed the first rainbow dead drifting a size 18 beadhead midge pattern in somewhat calm water. All the trout taken today were in the stocker size, which was a lot of fun on our 3 weights. One can really diminish the excitement of landing smaller fish on the Sipsey if they are using anything above a 3 weight. Most of the trout caught here are 12” and under; one very seldom lands trout in the 15” range and above. 13” to 15” are considered special here.

I started the topwater action midafternoon after seeing a small hatch in some calm water just off the opposite bank from me. This rainbow nailed the size 20 dry in fast action. We both lost numerous trout during the afternoon because of a slow hook set; these trout were fast!!! We continued to land trout on top right up to the horn sounding telling us it was time to leave. This was the first time Jay has had the opportunity to fish the Sipsey up close and have success. Do you think he might be coming back???

    

Using Your Chest Pack as a Rod Holder

Every time I’m on the tailrace I keep reminding myself I need to share my latest find with you guys. I know some of you may already know about using your chest pack as a rod holder; when you are standing in waist or knee-deep water trying to change flies or even changing out tippets. I have been fishing in knee-deep water many times wanting to change flies but didn’t want to move and disturb the water I was fishing. I discovered last year the chest pack I was using was much more than an accessory pack.

The fly rod will rest in a perfect horizontal position when it is positioned behind the neck strap connected to the pack and pushed down behind the pack touching your chest. 

I changed from the fly fishing vest to the chest pack a few years ago. I found that I really didn’t need to carry the store in the vest with me to fish for three or four hours. I wanted something lighter and compact so the chest pack became my go-to storage bag.

One can fork out quite a bit of money for chest packs and vests. The pack I am using is the White River brand on sale now for 18.00 bucks for the large size and 15.00 bucks for the small size.

Big rains here today will continue to keep me off the tailrace for weeks.  

Ledasink Leader Sinkant

Rain, rain and more rain for the past couple of days has pushed the water level on Smith Lake up 5 feet. Trout fishing will be put on whole and crappie fishing will have to take its place if the weather cooperators for next week. In the meantime I will continue to do a few yard chores, gym time, blogging with you guys and watching fly fishing videos.

Some time ago I did a post that featured one of Jonathan Barnes videos, at that time I told you guys that I had become a huge fan of his fly fishing videos. I don’ want you all to think I am getting free fly fishing merchandise from his website for plugging his video's I am not. I just want to share his expertise in fly fishing with you, mainly because he conveys a lot of information in each segment. If you are interested in hearing background music in his videos you will probably have to look elsewhere. Nature and water sounds along with him adding his take about the segment his wife is what you will get.

I’m going to give the Ledasink leader sinkant a try that Jonathan was using in this segment to sink his tippet tip while fishing the CDC pattern; anything to improve one’s catch ratio is worth trying. Hope you enjoy In The Ring of The Fire

This video below shows how to fish pocket water where fish whole behind small boulders. The Sipsey and the Canery have this same cover as many of the waters you guys fish.

For much stronger video sound use earplugs  



First Trout For 2016

Finally, I get to fish the Sipsey again; December the 15^th.  2015 was my last trip. We had 2” of rain in Jasper Monday and I figured that the generators would be running full blast all week. Wow, was I surprised when I checked the generating schedule Wednesday. Thursday and Friday would be free of generation. I picked Friday, 70 degrees a little overcast and a slight wind would hopefully trigger some activity for me.
Apparently everyone else thought Friday was the day too; didn’t make me no never mind, I was going to fish!!

I was anxious to try out my new Prestige Plus fly line from Cabelas. I also want to see how effective the furled leader works fishing it on a downstream retrieve. I’ve never fished this type of leader, and understand from information I’ve read it really enhances a dry flies drift. I was ready to accept the fact that I would be changing leaders to fish the nymph and dry throughout the afternoon. I won’t complain if it improves my catch ratio.

Nymphs are my go-to pattern on the Sip, so the nymph was tied on and I was off to access 5. All the heavy rains had changed the color of the water to aqua green.

Numerous stockers were brought to hand this afternoon using my 9 ft. 3 weight StreamFlex which made me think at times I was landing 12” trout. I talk to one guy who was landing the stockers using a 6 weight----way OVERKILL!!

A guide trip in progress right below me, four fly fishermen above me and more on up the gorge; plenty of company.

This fatty put up quite a fight before I finally netted it. I thought I was going to lose this fish, because I kept thinking my 6X was going to break with each hard run it would make. 

Unusual markings on this little guy---I am wondering if this is a rainbow, what do you guys think??

The only downer for this trip were the coils I kept experiencing all afternoon forming at my feet; I am going to assume I spooled the line on wrong. I kept hoping I would get a chance to try out my new furled leader but no surface activity was present the entire afternoon. I was told by one guy that the hatch occurred early morning, so guess when I will be back? --------as if I needed a reason to come back!!!

Memorable 2015 Fishing Trips

This is the time of year I get to thinking of landing beautiful rainbow and browns on the Sipsey and Caney Fork. As stated in my last report it will be some time before that happens, because of high water on both tailraces. So all I have to satisfy the urge to cast to a live trout or bluegill are viewing some of the trips I made in 2015. This past year was my best on the Sipsey when it comes to landing quality rainbow. I think as each year passes I get more use to the tailrace and which patterns work at a particular time of the day and season. One of my best trips of 2015 was a trip where I felt I landed most all the quality trout I had lost the day before. I felt I really learned some things on this outing about position casting, patience, and how to really concentrate on the movement of the indicator, which in this case was a dry and a stick on indicator.

Back in early April of 2015 right before the spawn begin was one of my favorite trips going after some super size gills. The reason this trip really stands out in my mind was how hard I had to work to land some monster bluegills that were extremely wary of any boating activity anywhere near the super clear water where they were located. The numbers of huge bluegills I lost from break-offs in brush and not getting a solid hook set was another reminder of this outing.

Bass fishing was somewhat limited for me in 2015, because I was so busy going after the big bluegill on Smith and the rainbow on the Sipsey. Of all the bass outings I had this past year one was really memorable because I was breaking in a new bass bug line and using some really big poppers to attract big spots on Smith.

  Looking for too 2016 for more fly fishing action!!!!

Eagle Claw Featherlight Fly Rods

I thought I would share this fly rod find I discovered the other day while searching the net. Troutlet is selling their Feather Light Eagle Claw Fly rod for 32.00 bucks in lengths of 6 ½ ft., 7 ft. and 8 ft. All these rods are fiberglass and have the stainless guides and taper fit fiberglass ferrules. I am probably going to order the 8 ft. one as if I needed another fly rod.

No fishing for me on the Sipsey heavy rains here has shut down the tailrace for weeks. Both generators are running every day with muddy water being released below the dam. The water at the tailrace outlet is higher than I have ever seen it. My first fishing trip will be sometime in February. So in the meantime, I will enjoy conversing with all my blog buddies.

Making the Most Out of Time Well Spent

I couldn’t have asked for a better day to fish the Sipsey this past Friday. The temperature was in the low seventies with overcast skies most of the day. You notice I said most of the day, which meant I was going to give it my best today for the six hours I was given. I feel every time I visit this place I am making up for the lost time in trout fishing. As most of you know I only started fly fishing for trout some ten years ago on the Caney Fork in Tennessee with my son-in-law. Little did I know on this one trip that my fishing perspective would change forever for me? The fly rod now consumes 95% of my fishing experience. The trout on the Sipsey get all my attention now during the late fall and winter months, where in years past I would be fishing for bass on Smith Lake.

I have said this before but I will reiterate it again how I wish I had found the fly fishing passion when I was younger. So every day I am “GIVEN” now is time well spent landing trout like this beauty with its colors all aglow for Christmas.

The water today was high when I arrived at mid-morning. As the day unfolded it begin to reseed. Two generators would be running about an hour before I would leave late afternoon. I’ve learned especially for us older anglers that one doesn’t need to stand an entire wading trip. Snack breaks, fly changes, and a pause just to soak up the beautiful scenery can be excuse enough to find a seat. On the Sipsey those seats come in the form of numerous large boulders scattered up and down the gouge.

This image explains why we as trout fishermen love this sport so much. I could still see vivid colors on its gill plate as it swims back into the fast run it was taken from.

A complete contrast in the color scheme here with this healthy bow; it inhaled the nymph so hard I thought I had hooked a rock. The current was the key to today’s trip; the trout were holding in small seams where there was structure such as rocks and fallen timber. One never knows how the trout will react from day to day on the Sipsey. Today numerous trout were in the mood to inhale a number of patterns I cast their way, which made the day special!!