Time Spent When I'm Not Fishing

For the past couple of weeks we have had overcast skies with periods of rain, which pretty much covers the forecast for the region here. These kinds of days usually have me at the computer reading blogs, watching fly fishing videos, working on my ancestry tree, downloading seventies music on my USB MP3 player, or watching some of my favorite western movies.

Reading fly fishing blogs has become one of my go-to activities just about every morning after breakfast. I am one of those guys who gravitate towards people who have things in common with me. That is why I like blogging so much because it gives me a chance to converse with other fly fishermen who love the sport as much as me.  

I really enjoy watching fly fishing videos, especially the ones that pass along bits of information that will help me land more fish. I think one of the best fly fishing videos series for the beginner and the seasoned angler is The New Fly Fisher with Bill Spicer.

How could I go through the winter without working on my Ancestry tree? I sign up for the three months on the first of November and leave the site at the end of January. During those months I catch up on all the information that has been submitted concerning my ancestries. Ancestry recently added DNA testing and that is something I may consider while on the site this time.

As most of you know I am an avid western movie fan. If I could have lived another life it would have been during the 1800s. I know times were tuff back then but my love of the outdoors and the adventure that period offered would have made it perfect for me. I am more of a fan of the ’70s through present day westerns as opposed to the earlier westerns. The earlier westerns were not as realistic as the Eastwood era and Duvall era movies. Any western with Robert Duvall in it is considered a classic in my book. Three of his best were Lonesome Dove, Open Range, and Broken Trail. 

So I will end this rambling episode by saying if you guys haven’t tried some of these overcast day activities, then I highly recommend you give one a try.

Cathey and I Road Trip Back to Ellijay Georgia

Cathey and I decided Wednesday that we wanted to go back and visit Ellijay Georgia where we live for a short time over 30 years ago. It is a small mountain town located in northwest Georgia. Ellijay is known as the apple capital of Georgia. We picked this weekend to make the trip because of the huge apple festival and craft show taking place there. We left Friday morning and made a detour through a few areas in Alabama we hadn’t visited before driving to the festival. The trip really brought back some fond memories of when we were younger and our daughter was two and our son six; how fast time passes.

The first stop on our journey was Little River Canyon in northwest Alabama. This plaque was at the entrance of the River Falls explaining the plight of the Cherokee Indians who inhabited the area when Hernando De Soto explored the region.

In 1838 and 1839, as part of Andrew Jackson's Indian removal policy, the Cherokee nation was forced to give up its lands east of the Mississippi River and to migrate to an area in present-day Oklahoma. The Cherokee people called this journey the "Trail of Tears," because of its devastating effects

 The 45 foot Little RiverCanyon falls at the base of the canyon. The Little River runs through the canyon and has numerous smaller falls throughout the canyon.

The river below the falls flowing at the base of the canyon, it will be stocked with rainbow trout in December. The trout will survive through the winter months.  

These are the De Soto Falls in the De Soto State Park north of Little River Canyon.

This is the main De Soto Fall in the De Soto State Park north of Little River Canyon. Sorry, I didn’t take this image; my image had too much glare to post, so I am using a Google image of the fall. This is the highest waterfall in the state of Alabama located directly below the upper falls, an absolutely beautiful area.

I can't believe we have waterfalls like this in Alabama

Fishing High Water on The Sipsey

Fishing a tailrace can always be an adventure especially if you fish one that has unpredictable generation. Tuesday was that day, where I thought I had the generation time exact, but upon arriving at the waters edge I discovered otherwise. I should have known when I drove up to the parking lot and no one was there that something wasn’t right. I never fish this place alone; but this morning I would have the Sipsey all to myself. The water was higher than I have ever fished the Sipsey. No turning back for me today, I was determined to fish and fish I did. 

The road to the first access point was just about covered with the leaves from some of the tress lining the road. It is so beautiful this time of year around the tailrace. We had a light rain the night before and I could still smell the wet leaves.

The food plots along the road are in full growth now and the deer have already started to graze on the clover. I was hoping one would be near the plot but all I saw were some butterflies feeding on the clover blooms.

As I stepped off the last step at access 6 I encountered a foot of water. All the rocks you see in this image are always void of water when the generators are off. The area I was going to fish was the deep channel off the edge of the rocks. There was a fairly fast current in all the rock areas that I waded through to get to all the spots I wanted to fish. No rises, at all so dries were not the option.

If there is a plus for me fishing high water on the Sipsey; it has to be its beauty with the fast ripples, swift current and super clear water. I remember a time last year fishing high water here, and my selection of flies then were nymphs and soft hackles. With the water moving fast I knew I wanted to fish a pattern that would get the attention of the trout quickly, so color was the first choice, forget hatch nothing there on the surface or in the air.

This little gem would be my first choice in a bright orange. I haven’t fished a scud in a while here so today was my chance to see if this bright color could attract. I knew the trout would have only a few seconds to see the fly before it was swept down stream from view. The water in the channel where I was going to fish was actually 5 to 6 feet deep, so I was hoping the trout was closer to the top, than down on the bottom. To drop the fly a little deeper I added a weight 6” above the scud.

My first rainbow of the morning, after endless casting in the fast moving water; this rainbow inhaled the scud and decided to leave the deep channel and head to the shallows. I decided not to use an indicator and just let the fly swing through the current with a slow retrieve. This would be my lone trout this morning, with my new found scud friend. I'm not complaining when one can fish a beautiful place like the Sipsey on a early fall morning. I’m planning on spending a lot of time on the Sipsey in the coming months; I hope you guys don’t get bored with my repeated trips.



Driftwood Abundant on Smith Lake This Time of Year

This is the time of the year on Smith Lake one can find some really nice pieces of driftwood.  The lake is being pulled down now and driftwood is scattered all along its banks. Cathey and I like to place different pieces of wood in our yard. It adds character to areas in the yard that need a little pick me up. We’ve had pieces in our yard for years that hasn’t deteriorated with age.

This huge pine stump was taken from the shoreline on Smith a couple of years ago with the help B.T. my son-in-law. We got some strange looks at the boat dock when we motored up with this thing resting on the back deck of the bass boat. The top of the stump is buried in the ground more than a foot deep.

A different size cypress stump sitting upright

I found this cedar stump a few weeks ago buried in a sandbar along with one of the shorelines. Very unusual to have the inside hollowed out. The tree had been cut years ago.

Using rock alongside the driftwood adds to the landscaping

This is a piece of poplar driftwood that I found in the Blackhills of South Dakota on our recent trip there. Every piece that I have shown you here in this post has a memory.

Cathey and I Completing our "Out West Trip"





Cathey and I got back home late yesterday, tired but happy we made a trip of a lifetime for us. We traveled over 4000 miles saw some amazing scenery and didn’t wet a fly on the trip. Time was the factor that kept me out of the streams in the Black Hills and Yellowstone.

As some of you know I am a huge western fan and finding out we could see the actual props used in Dances with Wolves was a plus!!!

The headquarters building of Fort Hayes build for the movie, in fact, all the buildings in the Fort Hayes prop village were all built for the movie. The movie went way over budget but won numerous Oscars at the academy awards in 1989.

 The Black Hills

So majestic is all I can say!!!!

French Creek in the Black Hills, Alan I thought of you when I snapped this image.

Monument located atop Monument Hill at the Little Big Horn Battle Field. We spent the afternoon at this site, because of all the history.

Some of Custer’s Calvary using markers showing where they fell in battle----I want  go into all the information about the battle, but a lot that was seen in all the Custer movies were false.

Custer is not buried here; his remains are buried in West Point Cemetery in New York

Awesome rock mountains at the Buffalo Bill Dam going into Yellowstone

The Shoshone River flowing from the base of the dam

One of the many buffalo we spotted in the park, notice all the burn area in the background. The only negative for Yellowstone was the thousands of acres of burn timber in the park, in fact, there was a fire burning in the park while we there.

Old Faithful

One of many waterfalls in the park; these are a few of the images from the places we visited, there are many more, but I won't bore you with the rest. I will close by saying it was a trip Cathey and I will never forget.

Fishing Against the Odds

Never think you have this great sport of trout fishing figured out. That is what I find out every time I set foot on the waters of the Sipsey Tailrace. The trout may be wiling to take a certain pattern one day and the next it could be something completely different. I know the holidays always bring out a lot of fishermen either on the lake or on the tailrace. The tailrace was covered on Labor Day with fly fishermen from all over the state, not a good day for a retiree to fish anywhere near the place. Neither is the day right after the holiday, but Tuesday was the only day I had to fish this week, so I gave it a try this morning. I did the walked up to access seven, which is right at the dam to set up for my first cast around 9 AM. I knew I was fishing against the odds today. No activity at all  as I approached the waters edge so I started with a size 18 Zebra Midge, which produced a couple of rainbow early. I like to use smaller flies on days when no activity is present. After landing the two rainbow the drought set in and didn’t let up until right before I left at twelve.  

As I made my way back to access five to leave, I saw this nice rainbow moving in some pocket water right below where I was standing. I started casting my nymph trying to get a decent drift to entice a take; but the rainbow was having nothing to do with the indicator nymph combo. Time to change patterns and method of presentation. I decided to tight line my nymph down and across the pocket which allowed the nymph to pass through the pocket with less time for the trout to inspect the fly. On my second cast I saw the rainbow slam the nymph in the super clear water. The take was savage, and the fight was a stretch for my 3 wt. One of the fly fishermen near me was kind enough to take the shot of this beauty. This fish was one of my better trout from the Sipsey this year. Seeing this nice rainbow take my nymph was an awesome experience and a fitting way to end my morning outing.

 

Speaking of pocket, I will be out of pocket for the next couple of weeks; Cathey and I will be making a trip out west starting tomorrow; so no post for a while. I will be carrying my fly rod and hope to wet a fly especially in Yellowstone.