bigredthe2
10-07-08, 01:50 PM
This report may get lengthy so you may just want to scroll down to the pictures. But if you've got nothing else to do I've shared my thoughts below.
I'm sitting in class right now, fresh off of fall break. And I have to tell you my mind keeps drifting back to the past week. I opted to maximize my time fishing by first taking an overnight trip with friends to the Chattooga river where I didn't do anything but drown a fly. A day later I left for Great Smoky Mountain National Park, where I backpacked in to a new aspect of my angling life. After a day at home, I took a road trip with my best friend to do some small mouth fishing on the New River and watch the Hokies take on Western Kentucky.
So on to the Smokies. For a few years now I've dreamed of doing a backpacking trip for the wild trout of Southern Appalachia. After reading several reports on here, I finally started to plan a trip. I really want to thank Highstickin for helping me plan my trip - he is a true sportsman and angler.
A few of my non-fishing friends from school volunteered to come along and keep me company. We hit the road at 8 in the morning in the midst of the gas crisis. This trip was meant to happen because the first gas station I rolled across had just received a shipment of gas. We arrived at Oconoluftee, filled out the backcountry permit, and started the hike in.
We reached camp around 2:30, set up the tents and gathered firewood. We had a large pile of what seemed like dry wood - but this was not the case. Two hours later the fire would still not sustain itself. I was getting frustrated because the water was just calling my name but I couldn't leave without doing my part at camp. Finally the coal bed got hot enough and the wood started drying and stayed lit. I quickly geared up and decided to wet wade - I stayed close to camp just to see how the fishing was nearby. I ended up with one rainbow (first picture below). I had been told to head at least an hour upstream - if not more - to really get into the brook trout. Around 6:30 we pulled out the stoves and cooked up some pasta, marinara sauce, and canned chicken. Either it is really good or anything is good when you're hungry, but it sure satisfied me!
The next morning I got up at 7 thinking it would be light. Of course it was still pretty much pitch-black outside, so I laid there for 30 minutes willing the sun to rise. As soon as I could see any semblance of light I quickly gathered my gear and made a pot of coffee. Coffee sure is the best thing to starting any morning. It took me about 5 minutes to decide if I should go waderless or wear waders - ultimately I went with waders and I am glad I did. It was a chilly morning and there was a LOT of crawling, crouching, and kneeling in water chilly water.
Like I said earlier, the advice was to walk at least an hour north before fishing. This was almost impossible to do - every pool I saw looked so inviting that I decided to go ahead and fish a couple of them. I landed a few rainbows. I also decided to take a few slow-shutter speed pictures of the little waterfalls that make up this creek while the light was still low. Against my will I started to skip the lower elevation plunge pools and walked up for a good 1/2 hr. The water was seemingly very low, but I think this helped me get upstream a lot faster than if it had been high, as I was able to walk in the stream bed itself with no resistance from water. Around 1 hour up, I decided it was time to start fishing. It was very interesting - initially all the fish were rainbows. Then at a specific plunge pool (the picture below with me fishing it) I caught a rainbow and my first brook trout in GSMNP. Thereafter the fish were all brook trout.
I was happy with landing one brookie, but it got better the further upstream I went. They sure aren't joking about needing to be stealthy. I have lots to learn about fishing these streams - I basically fished from plunge pool to plunge pool, but every time I would walk by the connecting runs I would see fish scatter. Places I wouldn't think would have fish had fish. Anyhow, the most rewarding and last fish of the day was in a plunge pool located beneath a low hanging tree. The only decent casting lane was blocked by a blow down. I snuck up to the blow down and managed to cast between it's branches and the overhanging tree and luckily land a fly right at the seam created by the small waterfall. We all know what happened next, in those magical few seconds where you intently watch your fly. The sudden disturbance of water around the fly, the reaction to lift the rod tip. Everything worked out right for me this time and I landed my largest brookie of the trip (last few pictures).
The fly of choice was a parachute adams with pink antron yarn as the parachute material. The subtle color difference made a world of difference in being able to differentiate it from the foam, bubbles, and sunlight glimmer.
I told my buddies that if I was not back to camp by 3:30, to come looking or call the forest service. You know how when you're fishing, you don't realize just how far you've traveled up stream or how long it took? Well, I told myself around 1 to 1:30 that I would fish one more plunge pool then turn around. That next plunge pool never happened, because nature had it's own way of telling me to turn around. The entire time I was there the thought of recent increases in aggressive black bear activity was in the back of my mind. When you're all by yourself miles from anything or anyone, the mind starts to play tricks on you. Half of the time I was fishing I would hear noises and think that I was being stalked by a mountain lion or bear (I know this is ridiculous but at the time it seems all too real!). As I was approaching a bend in the stream to look for the next plunge pool, I heard a significant rustling in the woods to my right. I froze in my tracks, then decided to pick up a small boulder and throw it up in the air and make a lot of noise as it crashed down. A few seconds later a small black bear wandered into the river just upstream of me. I thought it was a cub and this made me even more weary. Just behind this bear two true cubs came out - they were still small and clumsy and pretty darn cute. I had no time to get my camera out and take a picture before they were across and into the woods on the other side. With this encounter I decided to back away, turn around, and finish an awesome fishing trip with an awesome bear encounter. I got back to camp around 3:15, just in time to pack up and head out.
The hike out was much harder than the hike in - maybe because I was sad to depart such an amazing place - or maybe because my waders and wading boots were sopping wet and adding lots of pounds.
I continue to visualize the beauty of the land, the water, the trout, and smell the smell of the crisp air that makes fall fall.
I hope you all enjoy this report and I apologize for the length of it. Now for the pictures. (Thanks to Fishmonger for advice on how to post pictures!)
One of many amazing tumbling waterfalls in the GSMNP.
http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/bigredthe2/P1010949.jpg
First fish of the trip was a small rainbow downstream from camp
http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/bigredthe2/P1010952.jpg
Another tumbling waterfall, this time in the stream itself.
http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/bigredthe2/P1010967.jpg
First trout of the second day - a small wild rainbow.
http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/bigredthe2/P1010973.jpg
First brook trout of the trip - not big but still a brookie!
http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/bigredthe2/P1010983.jpg
The plunge pool where I caught the first brookie.
http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/bigredthe2/P1010994.jpg
Another brookie, this time a bit bigger. I went for the artistic shot with this one.
http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/bigredthe2/P1010999.jpg
The further upstream, the bigger and more colorful they got.
http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/bigredthe2/P1020007.jpg
http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/bigredthe2/P1020012.jpg
One that wanted to hang around.
http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/bigredthe2/P1020022.jpg
The following are a couple of the big brookie of the trip.
http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/bigredthe2/P1020025.jpg
http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/bigredthe2/P1020029.jpg
http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/bigredthe2/P1020032.jpg
On the hike back, took a couple of the scenery and some fallen leaves.
http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/bigredthe2/P1020039.jpg
http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/bigredthe2/P1020044.jpg
I'm sitting in class right now, fresh off of fall break. And I have to tell you my mind keeps drifting back to the past week. I opted to maximize my time fishing by first taking an overnight trip with friends to the Chattooga river where I didn't do anything but drown a fly. A day later I left for Great Smoky Mountain National Park, where I backpacked in to a new aspect of my angling life. After a day at home, I took a road trip with my best friend to do some small mouth fishing on the New River and watch the Hokies take on Western Kentucky.
So on to the Smokies. For a few years now I've dreamed of doing a backpacking trip for the wild trout of Southern Appalachia. After reading several reports on here, I finally started to plan a trip. I really want to thank Highstickin for helping me plan my trip - he is a true sportsman and angler.
A few of my non-fishing friends from school volunteered to come along and keep me company. We hit the road at 8 in the morning in the midst of the gas crisis. This trip was meant to happen because the first gas station I rolled across had just received a shipment of gas. We arrived at Oconoluftee, filled out the backcountry permit, and started the hike in.
We reached camp around 2:30, set up the tents and gathered firewood. We had a large pile of what seemed like dry wood - but this was not the case. Two hours later the fire would still not sustain itself. I was getting frustrated because the water was just calling my name but I couldn't leave without doing my part at camp. Finally the coal bed got hot enough and the wood started drying and stayed lit. I quickly geared up and decided to wet wade - I stayed close to camp just to see how the fishing was nearby. I ended up with one rainbow (first picture below). I had been told to head at least an hour upstream - if not more - to really get into the brook trout. Around 6:30 we pulled out the stoves and cooked up some pasta, marinara sauce, and canned chicken. Either it is really good or anything is good when you're hungry, but it sure satisfied me!
The next morning I got up at 7 thinking it would be light. Of course it was still pretty much pitch-black outside, so I laid there for 30 minutes willing the sun to rise. As soon as I could see any semblance of light I quickly gathered my gear and made a pot of coffee. Coffee sure is the best thing to starting any morning. It took me about 5 minutes to decide if I should go waderless or wear waders - ultimately I went with waders and I am glad I did. It was a chilly morning and there was a LOT of crawling, crouching, and kneeling in water chilly water.
Like I said earlier, the advice was to walk at least an hour north before fishing. This was almost impossible to do - every pool I saw looked so inviting that I decided to go ahead and fish a couple of them. I landed a few rainbows. I also decided to take a few slow-shutter speed pictures of the little waterfalls that make up this creek while the light was still low. Against my will I started to skip the lower elevation plunge pools and walked up for a good 1/2 hr. The water was seemingly very low, but I think this helped me get upstream a lot faster than if it had been high, as I was able to walk in the stream bed itself with no resistance from water. Around 1 hour up, I decided it was time to start fishing. It was very interesting - initially all the fish were rainbows. Then at a specific plunge pool (the picture below with me fishing it) I caught a rainbow and my first brook trout in GSMNP. Thereafter the fish were all brook trout.
I was happy with landing one brookie, but it got better the further upstream I went. They sure aren't joking about needing to be stealthy. I have lots to learn about fishing these streams - I basically fished from plunge pool to plunge pool, but every time I would walk by the connecting runs I would see fish scatter. Places I wouldn't think would have fish had fish. Anyhow, the most rewarding and last fish of the day was in a plunge pool located beneath a low hanging tree. The only decent casting lane was blocked by a blow down. I snuck up to the blow down and managed to cast between it's branches and the overhanging tree and luckily land a fly right at the seam created by the small waterfall. We all know what happened next, in those magical few seconds where you intently watch your fly. The sudden disturbance of water around the fly, the reaction to lift the rod tip. Everything worked out right for me this time and I landed my largest brookie of the trip (last few pictures).
The fly of choice was a parachute adams with pink antron yarn as the parachute material. The subtle color difference made a world of difference in being able to differentiate it from the foam, bubbles, and sunlight glimmer.
I told my buddies that if I was not back to camp by 3:30, to come looking or call the forest service. You know how when you're fishing, you don't realize just how far you've traveled up stream or how long it took? Well, I told myself around 1 to 1:30 that I would fish one more plunge pool then turn around. That next plunge pool never happened, because nature had it's own way of telling me to turn around. The entire time I was there the thought of recent increases in aggressive black bear activity was in the back of my mind. When you're all by yourself miles from anything or anyone, the mind starts to play tricks on you. Half of the time I was fishing I would hear noises and think that I was being stalked by a mountain lion or bear (I know this is ridiculous but at the time it seems all too real!). As I was approaching a bend in the stream to look for the next plunge pool, I heard a significant rustling in the woods to my right. I froze in my tracks, then decided to pick up a small boulder and throw it up in the air and make a lot of noise as it crashed down. A few seconds later a small black bear wandered into the river just upstream of me. I thought it was a cub and this made me even more weary. Just behind this bear two true cubs came out - they were still small and clumsy and pretty darn cute. I had no time to get my camera out and take a picture before they were across and into the woods on the other side. With this encounter I decided to back away, turn around, and finish an awesome fishing trip with an awesome bear encounter. I got back to camp around 3:15, just in time to pack up and head out.
The hike out was much harder than the hike in - maybe because I was sad to depart such an amazing place - or maybe because my waders and wading boots were sopping wet and adding lots of pounds.
I continue to visualize the beauty of the land, the water, the trout, and smell the smell of the crisp air that makes fall fall.
I hope you all enjoy this report and I apologize for the length of it. Now for the pictures. (Thanks to Fishmonger for advice on how to post pictures!)
One of many amazing tumbling waterfalls in the GSMNP.
http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/bigredthe2/P1010949.jpg
First fish of the trip was a small rainbow downstream from camp
http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/bigredthe2/P1010952.jpg
Another tumbling waterfall, this time in the stream itself.
http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/bigredthe2/P1010967.jpg
First trout of the second day - a small wild rainbow.
http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/bigredthe2/P1010973.jpg
First brook trout of the trip - not big but still a brookie!
http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/bigredthe2/P1010983.jpg
The plunge pool where I caught the first brookie.
http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/bigredthe2/P1010994.jpg
Another brookie, this time a bit bigger. I went for the artistic shot with this one.
http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/bigredthe2/P1010999.jpg
The further upstream, the bigger and more colorful they got.
http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/bigredthe2/P1020007.jpg
http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/bigredthe2/P1020012.jpg
One that wanted to hang around.
http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/bigredthe2/P1020022.jpg
The following are a couple of the big brookie of the trip.
http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/bigredthe2/P1020025.jpg
http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/bigredthe2/P1020029.jpg
http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/bigredthe2/P1020032.jpg
On the hike back, took a couple of the scenery and some fallen leaves.
http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/bigredthe2/P1020039.jpg
http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/bigredthe2/P1020044.jpg