Smokey Mountain getaway........Day 1

Earlier in November, I got a little restless and my wonderful wife allowed me to get away for a couple days to do some fishing. I have heard of some really nice places to catch big fish including Lake Erie Stealhead or big rainbows and browns on the Holston River in Eastern Tennessee. I only had two days off so I chose a place that I know really well and have always wanted to try fishing. . . . . . the Great Smokey Mountains. I read that the best place to catch bigger rainbows and browns in the park is Abrams Creek in the Cade's Cove, one of my favorite places on Earth. This seemed to be the perfect place to go for my retreat.

I left work early on Tuesday so I could get a jump on the trip. I was packed and on the road by two in the afternoon. I arrived in Cade's Cove, by a new route by the way, and had a campsite chosen by 7. My biggest trouble was erecting my new tent that I received for my birthday. It took an hour but I got it up all by myself in the dark. It was chilly at night (35 degrees) so I stayed in my tent to rig up my fly rod for the next morning. I put on a bead head phesant tail nymph and a bead head hair's ear nymph. I was in my mummy bag on my cot by 11:30 knowing I wanted to get up early the next day.

After oatmeal and toasted pop tarts on the coleman stove with a cup of hot tea, I headed out. Abrams Creek is half way through the Cade's Cove loop. I must have seen a dozen BIG bucks strutting around on my way. It was their rutting season. They are majeestic creatures. I was the first car in the pullout at 7:30. This is important because these trout are wild and skiddish so being the first fisherman to try them is important. The hike to Abram's Falls is 2.5 miles along Abram's Creek. There are a few times the rive strays away from the trail but being by myself I decided to stay near the trail.

Right away I was fishing amongst wild turkey and bucks. I caught a few 4 to 5 inch bows and was encouraged when I landed a 8 inch rainbow. I did find that the fishing was very different from the western style fly fishing I was used to. Instead of long casts and backcasts, there was a lot of roll casts and dipping . The river ran down a mountain and because of hot springs the ph level was very high in the river so it was super slippery. I fell often. The temp did reach 76 that day so no harm done there. It was a struggle to say the least to fish this creek though. It was shallow and full of obsticles. I caught a few fish in this size range that day and after a luch of beef stew on my sterno stove I carried in my pack, I wanted to try a spot that I hooked a bigger one but lost. After a few drifts further out in the stream, I tried one closer to me and took a nice rainbow, 10 inches. It wasn't the one I was after but exciting none-the-less. At this point in the day there was a lot of trail traffic that made me want to leave. I hiked back to the car, a good two miles. It is a gorgeous hike but I recommend doing it without neoprene waders.

I finished the scenic loop road and arrived back at camp for dinner. I had clam chowder followed by canned pears. Sara even made some homemade candy bars for my desert. I made some hot chocolate and watched the sun set on Cades Cove. I really enjoy watching sunsets in foriegn places. I stayed up for another cup of hot cocoa and sat in my camping chair with a down blanket to look at the stars. Other than the hundreds of squirrels in the campground I was nearly alone and loved every minute of it.