Hiking With My Grandson Bryson

On Monday my grandson Bryson and I did a short hike down a trail that runs parallel to a scenic creek in the Springhill area. The creek is located near a park that Bryson and I visit quite often when my wife and I are in town.

The trail we were following is man-made over some years of traveling up and down the creek. I told Bryson to lead the way and Pops follow along.

This is a beautiful little creek with some signs of small fish swimming mainly in the shaded areas.

Bryson found a number of these vines that he tried to climb without much success.

We were both fascinated with the way this tree was laying over the trail; it was not only rooted in the ground at the stump but at the top as well. I recently got my camera back after a so call overhaul, so my images should improve with future posts.

Laelyn, Cash, and Bryson with Pops and Meme

To Fish With or Without Someone??---And Arrival of Cash!!!

I have never been one to shy away from fishing with anyone, who loves the sport as much as I do. Of course, there are some of us who prefer to fish by themselves and when the opportunity presents the right situation I am one of those guys as well.  Let me explain, my Pelican boat is only 10 ft. in length and would easily hold two fishermen, but with both of us using fly rods it could get a little crowded. I bought this boat to fly fish from and have never used it any other way. It is the perfect boat for me to fly fish small lakes and ponds by myself. I do prefer a companion when fishing from my Bass Tracker along the 500-mile shoreline of Smith Lake, not only for the company but for security reasons as well.

The SipseyTailrace is a place I can fish most of the time alone, the guys I fish the lake with doesn’t fish for trout, their only interest is in the warm water fly fishing. I seldom fish the tailrace without seeing other individuals fly fishing there. Fishing with someone or fishing alone differently has its pros and cons. I am sure there are a lot of opinions as to why someone would rather go it alone on the water or always have a companion to tag along. What is your opinion?

Cash Miller Atkisson came into the world Thursday at 3 PM; mother and baby are doing well as is the rest of the family. His big brother Bryson and sister Laelyn are fascinated with this little guy. Pops and Meme will be keeping Cash company for a while until Mama gets back on her feet. Looks like I have another future fisherman in the making.

 

Fishing The Sipsey Tailrace on a Cool Morning July 3rd.

I was met today with some of the coolest weather we have had this summer on the tailrace. As I suited up I could feel the cool 65-degree temps, which was quite a contrast compared to the high humidity a couple of weeks ago which the south is famous for in July.

Walking the trail to the first access point I notice this apple tree loaded with green apples. The deer had already started eating the ones on the ground. This is the first apples I have seen on this tree.

I couldn’t have asked for a better morning to fish the Sipsey; the slight fog which hovered over the water surface was an inviting sight for me to make my first cast with the Adams. While working the area I notice a trout to the right of me continually breaking the surface. I really couldn’t determine what the trout was taking, because I saw to hatch at all on the surface. I know this trout was surface feeding because I saw the bubbles it expelled as it submerged each time. Let me explain the bubble theory, Randy at the local fly shop told me sometime back that I could determine if the trout were taking anything on top by the expelled bubbles of air they release when they inhale the insects on the surface. So with this faint evidence of surface activity in front of me, I begin to pursue this particular rainbow.

Getting the right drift was somewhat a problem because this trout was stationed in a narrow seam, adjacent to some faster water. I had fished this area before during early mornings but with no success because of drift problems, so today I was determined to make the right cast with the perfect drift. Casting some distance above the trout and letting the fly get that good drift through the seam finally paid off with this nice rainbow. I worked this trout for at least 15 minutes before I finally enticed him to take the dry, patience, and more patience.

As I moved up the tailrace I just couldn’t resist fishing some of this fast water that I often have had success on. I have taken a couple of spills here, because of the moss-covered rocks and current so I waded out with my staff extremely careful. I tied on a pheasant tail soft hackle and high stick it through some of the numerous seams in this area. I was using my 9 ft. 3 weight, to work the fly just under the surface. Fishing a wet fly is somewhat new to me and I must admit I am still in the learning process when fishing any soft hackle fly, but I am determined to become successful fishing wet flies on this tailrace. No one fishes wet flies here, so this would be a plus for me.

I decided to tie on the standard zebra midge which almost everyone uses on the Sipsey. I used no indicator only a small weight to get the midge down in the fast current tight-lining which brought this rainbow to hand. I really felt a sense of accomplishment for today’s trip because I reinforced my patience factor, and I continue to land trout in the fast water that no one ever fishes here. Now if I can just get my first rainbow on the soft hackle in the fast water.

Fishing Trip Washed Out--So Concentrate On My Other Hobby

Thursday was my day to make it to the Sipsey Tailrace and try some wet flies for the recently stocked rainbow. Needless to say it rained all day Thursday and into the night. My wife and I left for Tennessee on Friday afternoon which has halted the fishing for me until next Tuesday. At the rate I am going my bluegill quest may be gone for this year.

So with my fishing on hold for a while I spent some time Friday morning tending to my other hobby, gardening, in the form of my cherry tomatoes, and peppers.

The wife’s discarded flower pots with one of my five cherry tomatoes plants. The blooms are just showing up on this plant. It will produce tomatoes into fall.

This plant is already producing, amazing what a 2.00 bag of top soil will produce when tomatoes are involved.

One of two sweet banana pepper plants that will produce into fall with an amazing amount of pepper yielded.

I thought I would try a couple of plants in this pot and see if I could double my yield. Both plants are producing pepper. There isn’t a lot of maintenance that goes into gardening on this scale, a little liquid miracle grow and water is the ticket. 

Muscadines are another food passion of mine in the fall so I planted a couple just to see if they would produce in the coming years.