Missing my Goal to Land 100 Super Size Bream

Sorry to say I missed my quest again this year to land 100 supersize bluegills during the spawning period. I ended the quest at 78. I thought I would make it this year but there were other fishermen going after the gills especially when they went on the beds. I landed the majority of my big bluegills really early before they ever went on the beds. I found during the months of March and early April the bigger bluegills are cursing the banks to select areas they are going to fan out for beds. This is a prime time to catch them because no one else is actually fishing for bluegills during this time. Once they go on the beds you better get there early or else you lose out on the best size fish. Walker County Lake is the one place I landed some monsters this past year early. I did catch some counters on Smith, but the really bigger bluegills are going to be in lakes that are managed properly to grow that size fish, and Walker is really blessed with the big fish. So I would say I was lucky to have landed the 78 I brought to hand and I am going to look forward to next year’s quest.

What Would be Your Top Five Fly Patterns to Use Nationwide

After Tuesday’s outing, I was wondering on the way home; what would be the top five flies that most trout fishermen would pick to fish anywhere in the United States, regardless of the hatch? My top five would be  a mixture starting with: 

My number one choice for going down under would have to be the tungsten bead head Zebra Midge in sizes 18 and smaller.

The Pheasant Tail is my second choice in size 14 and 16, again tungsten bead head

My third fly would have to be the Griffiths Gnat, this little jewel works for me when nothing else is happening on top---size 18 and smaller

 The famous Mayfly in size 14 and 16 is an awesome dry for me on the Caney Fork in Tennessee and has also produced on the Sipsey tailrace

My last is another awesome dry pattern called the Bomber. This fly resembles the Parachute Adams, but has more hackle and stays afloat longer. This fly is tied by Alan at Small Stream Reflections, he has landed lots of brook trout with this one pattern.

A Work in Progress Using The Bomber Dry Pattern

This post is dedicated to rest of the summer and into the fall fishing. I am referring to the tailrace fishing below Smith Lake. For the rest of the summer and late September I will be trout fishing the tailrace below Smith Lake. I will forgo the lake fishing until fall. The lake this time of year is extremely slow due to the tremendous generation and extreme heat and humidity. One can just take a look at the parking lots on the lake and figure out right quick that there is very little action.

The tailrace fishing will give me a chance to hone my skills for trout and at the same time learn more about some of the different areas on the Sipsey. I am going to devote more time to fishing the extremely slow water below the pump station where bigger rainbow have been spotted. Those trout are extremely weary and harder to land due the constant pressure in that part of the tailrace. Streamers are the choice of flies there and it will present a challenge for me to fish this pattern because I seldom ever fish a streamer. My trip Tuesday proved to be another work in progress as the images below will show.

I arrived with the usual fog and mist on the surface due to the tremendous amount of humidity in the air meeting the cool water surface of the tailrace--really a peaceful view early

My first rainbow of the morning using Alan's Bomber, I am sooooo impressed with this pattern

One of many log jams in the fog one has to encounter while either wading or walking the banks. Some of the larger rainbow hang out right below this structure. A dry works best in and around these logs because you can't get much of drift here with a nymph.

This flower is native to this area, I don't know what it is called but I wanted to see if I could get a good image in the flower mode---better than I expected

The Bomber comes through right before I called it quits. I never landed a fish all morning on nymphs.

Drift wood everywhere in this place--did you guys know people pay big bucks for a chuck of wood like this?

Looking up hill from down below only a few feet from the cool waters edge. Once you descend down into the gorge the temps drop 15 degrees. This is what makes coming to place really nice especially in the hot humid days of August.