Day one found me on the stream around noon-ish looking at great flows, higher than the norm but a pleasant sight to see since this stream has epic nymphing/streaming potential. After a closer inspection it did have a little greyish hue to it, which is not uncommon for this stream after a good rain. The CFS had been on the downslope for 5 days now so why it was still cloudy is beyond me and it was not something I had planned on dealing with. Usually that color means this stream is shut down. Now one assumes the color is because the all of the ground in Wv feels like a saturated sponge causing a lot of runoff still coming into the stream. The day started off a little slow, I think because of my desire to nymph. Once I tossed aside the nymph rod hit my stride on slinging streamers it was GAME ON!!!!! Every fish I caught day one had a big fat full belly. I had one brown came out of the water after a fly that was so fat he just belly-flopped on the surface instead of that smooth swing and a miss roll back into the water (if I caught around 50 in 2 days I bet I had twice as many swings and misses).
As you can see from the rocks on the wall this isn't the first spewage to be dumped into the stream. Maybe it's their version of hatchery feedings.
I really have no idea what happened to this picture.
- Another WMD victim.
The next stage of my trip I found myself contemplating where to sleep. My choices were to either make the 40 minute hop over the mountain and stay in a nice hotel with breakfast. Stay 10 minutes down the road in a shit hole that I have personally vomited in and know of at least one other that has done the same. Or, since I brought my sleeping bag, camp out in the back of my car in the Wal-Mart parking lot. I chose the latter. Why? Well….I’m cheap and it’s not that I’m strapped for cash it’s just the principle of the fact that I know I can sleep perfectly fine in the car. It’s cool outside, I’m dog tired and probably could have slept under a bridge (which I don’t recommend). My wife was in Canada and with her upcoming trip to Italy we had planned practicing how or if Skype would work so I needed to stay close to a WiFi source (thanks Wal-Mart for making your password so easy to figure out). So despite my parents and wifes approval I spent the night sprawled out in the back of the Prius with my sleeping bag and blow-up pad in the Wal-Mart parking lot. Slept like a baby after getting off the boob that had just been burped.
Is that a Tarpon Fly in your mouth? I think so.
After getting micky-D’s breakfast I hit up a stretch of water that I have nicknamed Raul’s Miracle Mile (much more than a mile). Last November Ryan managed something like 200 fish in 2 days of fishing this section with quite a few being over 16 inches and a few pushing the 22-24 inch limit. So Ryan when that train full of bad karma finally smashes into you we will be sure to have this section of stream dedicated to your glory’s. Thankfully the water had cleared about 50% and dropped about 6 inches so it was NYMPHING TIME!!! After 3 days on the South Holston and Watauga rivers then my first day on this trip throwing streamers was getting old. Plus my arm and wrist were starting to feel the effects. Within 15 minutes I managed to pick up several fish. When the bite cooled off I switched over to the meat rod and swung a WMD through a few zones . I picked up a nice kyped up male that was sitting about 10 feet downstream directly to my left (rookie mistake not letting my flies completely swing out). The next 7 hours basically played out like this. Nymphing for a while until the bite stopped, switch rods and bounce a streamer, then move upstream and repeat. The last hole of the day turned out to be the best. After switching to the streamer rod, which I think at this point had a white/red muddy buddy on it, I had a massive rainbow come from the bottom and completely circle my fly. One of those hold your beath mind blanking WFT misses. He, which turned out to be a she, did this about 3 more times, each time a little less aggressive. So I switched flys….olive muddy buddy….WMD….Black Muddy Buddy…..Orange/Yellow Tarpon fly, Yellow Muddy buddy, some angel hair pike fly. Just before I decided to pack in up for the day I ended up tying on a 3-year-old fly that I got from where I have no idea. I would describe it and show you all a picture but I think i’ll keep it to myself for a while. Basically it was a black streamer with a REALLY heavy body. 1 cast and a slow strip is all it took and WHAM (an old school batman WHam SHazZam). Great acrobatic fight with a short bulldog session and in the net she went. Now I’m alone and it’s a bitch to photograph fish by yourself, especially a big fish. The mark I made on the net later taped out at 24-26 inches but without a good picture I guess I have to go with a lower number like 22 since I have no evidence. Regardless of its size a great fish.
- Why would you walk down this road? A. To buy something illegal. B. To brush up on your arson skills. C. To get to the car quicker in order to fish longer. D. All the above.
BentRodMedia 
