South Fork of the Snake, Fall 2011

I flew out to Salt Lake early Sunday morning and arrived around noon. Howard picked me up at the airport.  As we were driving back to his home, I couldn't help but notice the  mountain tops were capped with snow and the mountains themselves were full of fall colors.  This immediately got me excited because I was anticipating a beautiful fall week on the Snake River.

Once at home we discussed the agenda of the week. Howard thought it might take the rest of the day and possibly most of Monday to get all the necessary gear ready so he was thinking about setting off early Tuesday.  This would have been fine but we both REALLY wanted to make this trip as long as possible so we could thoroughly get our fill of trout and wilderness. Well, we decided to get the boat completely ready to go that afternoon so all we had to do was drive the next morning. Once the boat was pulled out, we loaded all the light gear into it and covered it up. It was ready to go.  I then made lunches while Howard packed his gear. I made 8 lunch meat sandwiches out of pastrami, roast beef, Cheddar and Swiss. I made 6 peanut butter and honey sandwiches.  I loaded up all the food into a plastic tote that didn't need refrigeration and put it in the garage.

I decided I wanted to have all my rods rigged and ready. I rigged my 5 weight up for nymphing. I had two stone fly nymphs tied on with an indicator (thingamabobber) and split shot.  I rigged my new TFO 7 weight rod with a black streamer.  I then rigged a third rod that Howard lent me, with a hopper pattern with a stone fly dropper.  Stone flies are what did the trick two years before when we went in the fall.  All these flies I had tied myself by the way. 

I then transferred all necessary clothes and gear of mine out of my suitcase and into a green duffel bag Howard lent me. This would just be more convenient for travel and camping.  Before we knew it, all was ready for the next day.  We were on the road by 10 AM the next day.  I had loaded the Lexus while Howard finished some mapping and last minute items. We had decided that we wanted to camp under the dam and float that upper stretch for the first day's float. Neither one of us had done that section before so this would be a new adventure.

Howard had a brilliant idea on the way to Swan Valley, ID.  We should stop at Golden Corral for lunch and FILL UP.  I had mentioned what our lunches were to be for the week.  Our dinners included beef stew, ravioli, soup, and chili....... all of which were to be cooked in their original cans. This actually is a great way to do dinner.  None-the-less, we stopped one last real meal that happened to be all-you-can-eat.

We arrived at South Fork Anglers around 3PM and made arrangements for a shuttle.  It was here that we were informed ( by a young, not so fish savvy girl) that the ramp we planned on using was not in good shape so we planned to use one about a third the way down the stretch of river we were to float the next day.  We bought my license and took off to see the campsite near the dam and to check out the area. It was then I somehow remembered that I forgot the milk.  Luckily there is Huskies', the convenience store fight across the street form our campsite. I ran in to get the milk and while in there I over heard a man tell the owner about a mountain lion hunting trip that almost went all wrong.  He apparently was using two goats, that were out in his truck, for bait and while he was using nature's facilities, a cougar came and he was without his gun. He frightened it off before it got his goats though.  Weird, they were good looking goats too. Made me think about keeping my knife very handy though.

 
We checked our the dam, saw people catching fish right under it and we both got excited.  We had no spinning gear so we didn't fish.  It wasn't the right environment to fly fish. We hopped in the Lexus and set off to set up camp.  We found the campgrounds in GREAT condition and to top it off they are free after September 30th.  We found an awesome site right along the river under some large cedar trees. Only one other man was in the area.  I saw an eagle's nest right on the other side of the river. Perfect!  Rain was predicted for that night and the next day.  We watched as it rolled over the mountain and toward us.  We heated up our clam chowder and hit the sack early, around 8. It rained all night long. We had forgotten to zip a vent closed and I got 2 drips directly in my eye but other than that we stayed warm and dry.  The tent was damp around the edges but no complaints for a solid night of rain. Howard bought two new sleeping bags for the trip, both rated to 0 degrees and -40 degrees. They worked wonderfully thank goodness because it did get COLD!

Thanks honey!

For my birthday Howard planned a trip to the South Fork of the Snake River with me and flew me out. For this week long trip I wanted a new streamer rod to take with me. I picked out a Temple Forks Outfitter 9 ft 7 wt rod. Sara not only got it for me but also got me a four piece rod case to go with it. This was a otal surprise. I put my Sage reel on it and created a nice outfiit. Thanks for the best birthday gfts ever honey! Blogs about the trip are on the horizon.

31 inch, 15lb Channel Cat!

On a trip to the Little Miami in early June, I was trying to catch any straggling white bass in the river. I did catch a few small ones no bigger than 8 or ten inches but it was obvious that the run was over. I did however see lots of gar surfacing. These prehistoric looking fish come to the surface for air so if you are still enough, you can see them break the surface. I can always seem to hook into them or at least get them to chase but keeping a hook set into their boney thin mouths is tough. In fact, I've only done it once. They are frustrating and a major tease.

After catching the small white bass, I walked further downstream because the water level was a little lower than it had been and it was deeper down past Bass Island. I had been trying spinners, rooster tails, and rapalas but decided in this deeper water I would try to drift a grub. I put a bright green two inch twister tail onto a eighth once jig head and started to let it drift along the bottom of a deep hole that I was standing along side. Instantly, on the second cast, I felt a huge resistance. There was no noticeable strike but instead just a large wieght on the end of my line. After a short tug, I felt massive head shakes and rolls. I got excited hoping for a big bass. I fought it in the deep for quite a while without even seeing it surface once. Finally though I saw its massive head and was instantly disappointed when I thought I saw a big carp. I wasn't that happy because carp taste like mud. It wasn't until I nearly had it netted that I saw the whiskers and its scaleless skin and realized that I had a big cat fish. Whew! Something to take home! This was the biggest fish I have ever caught and it was eadible! I was excited.

I walked back to the car after gathering my pole and net up. Everyone walking or driving past gawked at my fish and commented on not realizing the river held fish like this. I threw it in my small Igloo cooler by nearly folding it in half because I had only hoped to be bringing home white bass. I now bring what I call my ambitious cooler whenever I go (it's the biggest one I have).

When I came home, I told Sara that I had caught a small fish and brought it home. She was happy with just that much. She and the kids were amazed when I took out the 31 inch, 15lb cat fish. Sara didn't know they were even in the river. I then gutted and filleted the fish to the best of my ability (big fish are tough to fillet up I found) and we had it for dinner that night. I breaded it and pan fried all of it. It was enough to feed our family twice. Everyone loved it, even Lilly!

Little Miami in May

For years I have been wanting to hit the Little Miami in April and May for white bass but for whatever reason I haven't been able to. This year was no different. It rained a LOT. The river was near record levels consistently. I didn't get out until late May. The river was down enough at Bass Island in Newtown by then to wade to the better spots.

First thing I noticed when I got there was how many long nosed gar there were! They were everywhere and they were surfacing constantly. I was able to get them to bite and chase but setting a hook into a real narrow mouth that is boney and full of teeth is hard to do. I had one on that looked like it belonged in a tank at Bass Pro shop or Cabelas. It must have been 3.5 to 4 feet long. Like many other gar over the years, it followed the spinner and nipped at it but as soon as I though I had him, he saw my legs and bolted. This happens almost every time I go out on the Little Miami even though I am usually never targeting them. I was however targeting white bass. Using white rooster tails and silver spinners, I waould cast along the banks near the sides of currents and under trees and root systems. There seemed to be a descent number of smaller white bass in the river that I could see. I caught a couple that were just under 14 inch regulation. I also caught a few that were only about 10 inches.

I did however cast under a particular small tree right in a small back eddy that looked promising. Right when I started retrieving, I saw a flash of silver that must have been 20 inches long! He bolted out into the current and bounced on the line for a few seconds before he was gone. How disappointing. I could have cried. I decided to keep at this particular spot. I few minutes later I hooked another one that wasn't quite as big as the first. He too though was off almost as fast as he was on. I was very disappointed because not only did I miss two great fish but the spring run was virtually over and I was realizing what I had missed this year. I can't wait to try white bass again next year, in fact I think I'll try it on a fly next year.

Maumee River Walleye Run

This past weekend Leah's boysfriend John had me up to his place to take advantage of a somewhat local event........the Maumee River Walleye Run. This river is in the Toledo Area and really is only a fishable river in the spring and summer. The water level drops and the river turns into a trickling creek in the fall. This time of year though the river is high an d full of spawning walleye. I spent friday, Saturday, and Sunday up with him while he showed me the ropes with catching these big guys. I have only caught 1 walleye before this and it was by accident and not very big.

Friday John snagged a desent fish but had to release it because the hook was caught on its neck. This river is patrolled heavily by park rangers and others handing out fines to those who kept snagged walleye. This was a new topic for me, snagging fish. Very rarely have I ever snagged or "foul-hooked" a fish and never have I had to be told about it happening a lot. The fact is that this is a spawning place for so many fish that they try very hard to protect them. The daily bag limit is only 4 where as typically it is 6 in the summer.

We were using simple grubs on a floating jig head held down by a .5 oz weight. This carolina rig was needed to get down to the bottom where the fish were. The water was really murky and dirty so we used bright colors like pink, orange, bright yellows, and white. I found that the yellow grub on a orange and pink jig head was the ticket.

I caught a real nice 22 incher on Saturday that I ended up bringing home. This was my first REAL walleye. I found that even though these are BIG fish, they are tired out by the time they reach the spawning grounds so much that they don't fight much. In fact, they feel like drift wood. People were also catching sucker fish and carp. I saw one person take a BIG carp home. This is wierd to me because I heard that they taste like mud. They are fun to land though just because they are huge.

Sunday morning I had the rush and diappointment of a lifetime all at once. I pulled in a HUGE walleye. I couldn't even hold it properly because how long and fat it was. People all around were ooing and ahhing over it. The catch.........the hook was actually 2 inches outside his mouth, a clear violation and you could be fined for keeping them out of the water too long. People couldn't beleive it when I held this thing up just to let it slide away. At least I have John to vouch for me. This thing was FAT and long! A real shame, fun never the less. I caught other small one that didn't meet the 15inch minimum.

A small note, I saved John's life. He slipped in the river and went down face first. He laid there unable to get up until I pulled him up. He told me he was in shock from the cold and the waders were filled up instantly with water. Scary! The water was only 45 degrees. He had a crowd too. The banks were packed with fisherman all 5 ft apart for miles. It's amazing any fish make it through.

Smokey Mountain Getaway. . . . Day 2

Day 2 breakfast was another hot bowl of oat meat and a hot cup of tea. I decided to break camp that morning so I wouldn't have to come back later. I decided to hit a river that ran along the main road through the park. One in particular runs off the main road and toward a small university building. I decided to drive along this road and fish the pull outs. I didn't even have to dawn waders. I didn't find much action to speak of in most places. I did however have one spot in particular where the water ran between two large boulders and into a large pool. There was even a tree growing along the bank that had a root system that opened into the river. I tied on the same pheasant tail and a hairs ear that worked the day before. The first drift through yielded a strike but the rainbow got off shortly after. I drifted a few more through and didn't have any more strikes. I thought maybe that first strike scared off the rest. I decided to try a streamer. I tied on a yellow and brown clauser minnow. I threw it in right under the over hanging roots. I stripped it in slowly and a large brown trout zipped out and grabbed it. I couldn't believe this thing was under there! It was tearing through the pool desperately trying to free itself. I had him on for about a minute before it just threw the hook. I was very very bummed. I would bet that it was 18 inches at least. . . . a monster for the area. I decided to try another spot and come back for this one a little later. I tried a few spots with no luck. I came back two hours later to try my luck at this brown again. I threw everything in my fly box at him but couldn't get him to come out again. Oh well, I half expected this. These wild fish haven't survived in these small rivers by making mistakes twice.

I drove out of the park and stopped at Little Pigeon River Fly Shop to ask some questions. They thought my fishing experience was a great one, especially since I saw one of the few large browns in the park. This made my happy. The owner told me about a few places outside the park that I could try. I bought a green weenie and some other local flies to try. I had no luck but enjoyed every minute of it. I decided to leave so I could get home at a decent hour. I stopped by bass pro shop to look around. I talked to the guy in the fly shop and he said all the action in Tennessee was on the Holston River right below the dam. I have heard this more than once. I definitely need to look into this place in the future. I got home around 10:30 in time to visit with my wife before bed.

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.