Fly Fishing the Elk River With Bryson & B.T.

Nothing like fishing with family, and Friday was another opportunity for me to cast some flies with my son-in-law B.T and my grandson Bryson. He has been wanting to make a flow trip with us for the past couple of years, and Friday we made it happen. We meet David Perry our guide at the river's edge below Tims Ford Dam at 7AM. I have fished with David many times before and know that he will always put us on trout. The Elk is a tailrace that is stocked once a month with rainbow and browns. B.T and I have fished it from the bank at the dam a number of times, with lots of other fly fishermen doing the same; to escape the crowd the boat is the way to hit all the honey holes.

Pops and B.T. were really pound of the way Bryson handled the trip considering we were on the water fishing for 5 hours and then another 2 hours to get to the take out area. One of many trout that Bryson would land before the trip was over. This trip was about Bryson experiencing the thrill of trout fishing and learning how to land trout and safely return them to the water to fight another day.  

One happy little guy; I can't begin to tell you guys how much fun it is to enter act with all three of my grandchildren at the ages of 4, 6, and soon to be 9 years old Bryson. Sometimes I wish they didn't have to go up so fast!!!

Beautiful Sunrise Fishing With Jason on Smith Lake

Some of my best fishing trips are with my wife, son, son-in-law, daughter, and grandchildren. Today I spent some quality time fishing Smith Lake with my son Jason, who is home for a week. 

We left the house at 4:30 AM and started casting the big size 4 Boggle Bug popper close to 5 AM. At this time of day, there is practically no humidity and no heat. In fact, the air was a cool 75 degrees. Daylight fishing is the norm for me this time of the year mainly because of the heat and humidity. 

A beautiful sunrise was one of the rewards that we encountered as we left the launch at 5 AM. The other reward was the banner morning we had to land some quality Spotted Bass along the huge rock walls located on the lake.

This Largemouth Bass was the only one that was landed during the early morning trip. The largemouth will not hit the popper as aggressively as the Spotted Bass. There is a big difference in the fighting power of the Largemouth Bass versus the Spotted Bass. The Spotted Bass is one heroic fighter!!! The Spotted Bass is Jason's favorite to land on Smith. 

One of many Spotted Bass which exploded time after time on the Boggle as Jason worked the popper inches away from one of the many rock walls we fished early. The face of this popper makes a popping sound that really gets the attention of feeding bass. Jason was using a bass bug line on his 6 weight fast taper 9 ft. Sage fly rod. The bass bug line made casting the big popper a breeze. 

The bluegill didn’t get left out on this outing. The Wiggle Tail nymph was used to land this nice size female gill. In fact, all four colors of the Wiggle Tail got the attention of the bulls and females. I didn’t count any the bluegill on this trip, because Jason landed most of the counters. This is the same nymph that Jason used to hook the trout he landed on Fuller Lake. Tightlines until we make another memorable trip!

Jason Fishing Fuller Lake, Tahoe National Forest



Thought I would share a fishing trip my son Jason made a couple of days ago fishing Fuller Lake located in the Tahoe National Forest near Nevada California. The lake is one of many small lakes located in the Tahoe National Forest.

The Game and Fish Division stocks the lake with rainbow, browns and it also has a population of wild trout. Water flows into the lake on the north end through underground pipes from Bowman Lake, which provides a decent current flow for a lake that is roughly 80 areas in size.

Numerous rainbows landed during the 4-hour trip fishing 6 to 7 feet deep in the super clear 54 degree water.

Jason’s Hobie kayak is the perfect vessel to navigate the lake, mainly because of the quietness of the fiberglass hull. He has it equipped with all the latest accessories that make fishing from it a breeze. The last accessory added were the wheels.

A beautiful rainbow took within 5 feet from the Kayak; it was assumed the trout was thinking the kayak was a large floating log.

The Wiggle Tail Tungsten bead head was the fly pattern that got all the attention for the afternoon. Jason retrieving the Wiggle Tail slowly with short jerks was the action the trout wanted. A lot of fun using his 5 weight spooled with a sink-tip line.

Cash Wounded Finger + Father’s Day

Cathey and I spent a few days last week with our daughter’s family in Tennessee helping with one of the wounded. Cash our youngest grandchild almost lost his pinky when his older brother Bryson accidentally close a heavy glass door on his little hand. The hall door leads to all the children’s bedrooms. Bryson didn’t notice Cash had his little fingers in the door opening. Jenny our daughter sent us a text telling us they were in the emergency room getting his pinky snitched. The procedure took 10 snitches extremely painful for Cash who went into a rage during the procedure. B.T. and Jenny were beside themselves to see their little one in such grief. Happy to report that Cash will be getting the snitches out in a couple of weeks and he will be able to play again like a normal 4-year-old.

One happy little boy with one of the nurses at the emergency room----notice the Popsicle.

While we were there I decided to take Bryson and Laelyn to Harvey Park one of their favorites. The reason they like this park so well is the beautiful creek that flows close to the playground. The kids love to wade in the creeks shallow waters. Sorry, we had to sneak off without Cash but his Mom didn’t want him to get his bandage wet in the creek water.

Bryson and Laelyn spent quite a while using their Dollar Tree nets trying to net some of the small minnows that call this creek their home.

This tiny little minnow along with a few mosquitos’ bites were the catch of the day, which was enough fun to satisfy Bryson, Laelyn, and Pops.

I hope all you Dad’s and Grandpa’s have a wonderful Father’s Day!!!

Fishing the Grasshopper

Terrestrials are some of my favorite flies to cast in the summer and fall. I put the grasshopper to the test today fishing Ryan Creek on Smith Lake. I couldn’t have asked for a better morning with low humidity, no wind to speak of, and cloudy skies. The first spawn is winding down, causing the big gills to move to deeper water. That deeper water is where I was casting the hopper today against the huge rock walls on the lake. The walls are my favorite place to fish for the bigger fish during the down spawn time.

This bluegill exploded on the hopper just as I moved it inches off one of the many walls I fished today. All fish today were landed in water depths of 20 to 30 feet deep off the walls. One has got to love landing these beauties using the 4 or 5 weight fly rods.

I fished the brown hopper all morning because it was so hot with the hits. I’ll give the green hopper a try on my next outing. Both of these hoppers are so realistic and durable.  

Cathey and I will share these four for lunch with hushpuppies, french fries, slaw, and fresh tomatoes.

 

Waist or Chest Waders



As I get older I find there are a lot of things I tinker with that make my day and life easier. Fly fishing waders is one of those items I’ve played around with to make my day on the water a little more enjoyable. The first waders I fished with were some chest waders bought at Academy Sports years ago. They lasted me one year before the leaking started. Since then I’ve gone through numerous pairs of chest waders all from Cabelas.

Fishing the Caney Fork River three years ago convinced me that I needed to try some waist waders. It was a hot humid afternoon and I was melting in my chest waders fishing knee-deep in cool water. I never fish any deeper than knee-deep when wading; I’ve convinced myself that if there is a trout deep enough for me to wade into the water above waist-deep then it should be taken by someone else.

My solution to the heat that day was to convert my chest waders to waist waders, by letting the shoulder straps and upper portion of the waders hang below my waist belt. That helps cool me off quickly but the shoulder straps and the rest of the upper portion of the waders were so cumbersome that I kept loosening and tightening my waist belt all afternoon. I knew I had found a way to make my day on the tailrace more comfortable. The question for me that day had nothing to do with trout but what to do with the issue of belt-tightening concerning my newly found waist waders.

That Caney Fork trip that day convinced me I needed to purchase a pair of waist waders. I tried on my first pair of Cabala’s breathable premium waist waders the next week and liked them. The test now was to try them out that week on the Sipsey, wading in its 58-degree water even on the hottest days. Guess what, they met the test, with one exception I still had to pull at the waders most of the afternoon to keep them in a comfortable position around my waist. So, the problem was solved the next week when I was visiting our local Bass Pro Shop in Birmingham. I was on a mission to find some adjustable suspenders that I could clip onto my belt to keep my waders in place around my waist. I’m glad to report the Redhead Suspenders I found worked to perfection. Amazing how a little tinkering with items can make my fly fishing a little easier. I’m curious what’s your preference waist or chest wader?