2007 In Review / The Fall of Caney Fork

It's admittedly been a slow year for the SMAC family. What's the one thing that can keep folks like us from fishing - no water. The drought that gripped the Southeastern United States was certainly felt in the Southern Appalachians. Our annual Fall trip had to be canceled due to low water and camp fire bands. The last word from friends in Townsend was that the Little River had lost almost half it's trout. A previous population of 4,000 fish per mile had shrunk to 2,000. Usually, when mountain trout waters are not producing, we here at SMAC turn to those East Tennessee tail water rivers to get our fix. However, fishing on the Clinch or Holston hasn't exactly been stellar.

Just when things seemed darkest, a glimmer of hope appeared in the West. An "out of the blue" trip to the Caney Fork River below Center Hill Dam provided a pleasant surprise. I think I'm allowed to openly talk about our success here as the secret is out. For the first month, we were under a strict gag order imposed by our in club council, Mr. Jason Murphy, Esq. Fifty fish days on an easily accessible trout hole can have grown men sounding like Spankey and Alfalfa in a super secret he man woman haters club.

These fish weren't easy to take. Size 16-20 bead head nymphs / midges and subtle takes were the order of the day, but once the code was broken the rewards were great. The fish weren't huge, but numerous. Non appeared to be the ragged, worn out stocked fish we often see. We were all amazed at how strong the fish actually were. Usually I wouldn't hesitate to go after 15-16" fish with a 3 or 4 wt. rod, not here. Bring 5's or 6's or stay home. To the rights is a good example of a typical Caney Fork Rainbow. This was actually the first fish I caught during our first trip. I took this pic before I realized there would be many more.

Double hook ups weren't uncommon. Here's a good shot of Murph (foreground) and Alec (background) doing just that. Rainbows seemed to be the dominant species, but a few browns were caught here and there. The brown Murph landed below put up a heck of a fight.

Both Alec (left) and I (right) were amazed at how hard these fish fought. While most of them were all about the same size, were certain that there are some bigger fish that we haven't landed. The secret may be getting heavy and bouncing off the bottom with a big woolly bugger.

I snapped this quick picture while landing the fish to the left. Most of the rainbows landed almost resembled steelhead. This fish was the exception. He must have thought the spawn was on because he came to the party all dressed up.

We did wonder during our various trips over the last two months if this could last. I would venture to say that we caught more fish during this time period than any of us had caught the whole year. One theory was that we caught the browns right in the middle of a spawn. If that was the case, than the rainbows were gorging themselves on the eggs. Others we talked to on the river said that they had never seen the fishing that good. Good enough to wait for, just like Alec, Murph, and Beamer below.

Our last trip to the Caney came the day after Christmas. Really, anytime you can go catch trout the day after Christmas, it's a great thing, but the river has definitely cooled off. Our fish catching average has gone from a fish every ten minutes to a fish every sixty minutes. But here's the important thing. This last time, we got CP involved. Yes, my 8 year old nephew Cortland Phillips, can cast a fly rod better than most grown men. Cortland showed his stuff by hanging in there with the big boys. Hopefully, CP will be logging a lot of time on the water over the next seventy years. Cortland, you can fish beside of me any day - as long as you don't go over your waders!

Back By Popular Demand!

I truly do apologize for being so quiet this summer. We haven't had a newsletter for almost a year! Let's face it, fishing conditions haven't been ideal. Kenny Johnson reported some good dry fly days on the Clinch in early spring, but for the most part the action has been slow. Reports from the usually constant waters of the Holston have been less than favorable.

Things are looking better now. The weather has cooled and hopefully fall rains will recharge the creeks. Even better, thanks to Wes Duncan, we now have this form of communication available to us. Add this blog address to your favorites list and keep an eye on it because we've got Troutapalooza '07 right around the corner.

This year we will descend on the Davidson River in Brevard, North Carolina. For those of you who don't know, that's a great part of the world. The Davidson River originates in the Looking Glass Wilderness area beneath the Blue Ridge Parkway and flows through an area known as the Cradle of Forestry before joining the French Broad River. The river boast what many anglers believe to be some of the best fly fishing in Western North Carolina, and assuming water levels cooperate, we should see some of that. We'll be camping in the vicinity of the state trout fish hatchery (not by accident). The Davidson River contains both wild trout fisheries, fly fishing catch and release only water, and hatchery supported; but be aware, the fish here have seen it all. Worse case scenario, we can head 30 minutes down the road and fish the Delayed Harvest on the South Mills River, water that we are a little more familiar with.

Wes and I will be researching campsites this week, trying to find the perfect spot. At some point, we'll have to put together a little day trip to scout the area. Meanwhile, check out this link for some recent info and pictures from The Davidson.

http://www.altamontanglers.com/davidsonreport.php

The 2nd Annual SMAC Fall Event

Dates have been scheduled for our 2nd Annual Fall SMAC get-together. It will take place beginning on Friday 26 October thru Sunday 28 October 2007 on the Davidson River near Brevard, NC. Rodney and I will be ironing out campsite details, menu items, and pricing, etc. in the coming weeks. Check back here often for updates and more details to follow. Until then....tight lines!

The 1st Annual SMAC trip

Here's a quick look back at last year's September news letter sent out by our very own Rodney Phillips. I've edited it down to only display last year's inaugural SMAC camping trip in anticipation of this year's 2nd annual trip. Stay tuned for details!

TROUTAPALOOZA 2006 – LOOKING BACK

For those of you who missed this year's Troutapalooza, we are truly sorry. I believe a good time was had by all. The fishing could have been better, but conditions were extremely tough. Special thanks to Kenny Johnson and Jeff McBride for all the "fixins". I don't think any of us have ever eaten that good by a campfire. Also, thanks to Marty for the ample supply of cold and frosty adult beverages. Here's a quick look back.

Alec Blaine enjoys lunch by the campfire (above) while Jeff McBride serves up meatball subs and pasta salad (below). It just doesn't get any better than that.

Above, Nate Silvus, Jeff McBride, Alec Blaine, and Jeff Beamer (left to right) swapping jokes around the campfire. Below, a little brown on Big Santeetlah.

Above, the SMAC campsite spread out all over Big Santeetlah. KJ is working on some improvements to the SMAC chuckwagon for the next trip. Do we really need satellite TV Ken? For those of you that didn't go, there's plenty of room for next year. The Richardson clan took advantage of the hot weather (below) and cooled down in the cold water. Even Nevaeh seemed to be having a good time.