KTROUT
10-26-08, 09:51 PM
Went to Blackberry Farm in Walland, Tennessee this weekend. Absolutely spectacular resort, insanely expensive, but beautiful and worth it (we stayed free with a friend!). Heavy rain all morning Friday for the drive up made a 3.5 hr drive into a 5 hr drag from Brookhaven. Was excited to see that the house we were in was a short cast from the lower stream below the main resort about 3/4 mile. I had no idea what to expect, as the main lodge offers fly fishing in the stocked pools (I'll get to that later), and an Orvis branded fly shop. Everything is top of the line there (kind of over the top in some ways, like the "Lexus is the official vehicle of Blackberry Farm" etc). Staff was great, and the guys in the fly shop were very nice and friendly. Didn't bring any fly gear, and didn't want to rent, so fished way down steam by the house with my ultra light spinning gear (2 lb test). The first night I just worked along the bank and got two little largemouths(?) in a slow moving pool, but when I looked online, they looked a lot more like a redeye or Coosa bass, but I'm honestly not sure. I didn't get photos of those. Also got another weird looking little bass, that was obviously not a largemouth. Looking on line, it really looks like it was a rockbass. Very stout body with a big mouth, but a general shape like a bluegill. I'm pretty sure it was a rock bass or MAYBE a warmouth, but I've caught a lot of those. It's always fun to catch a lot of species and not know what to expect. The stream was LOADED with minnows, constantly hitting my wobble worm, jig, or anything else I threw. Made figuring out a "real" strike in a deep pool difficult. Sat morning I put on the waders and worked my way upstream. It's difficult fishing, because even though there was a ton of rain, the water was still low and CRYSTAL clear. By far the clearest water I've ever fished. Now I understand "stalking", because I had to really sneak up to the few little pools and riffles. Didn't do much most of the morning, a couple more of those little bass that I don't think were largemouths. Again, maybe spots, maybe Coos a or Redeye. Took a local's advice and walked on the gravel road about 400 yds up from the cabin, where he said there were some trout. I threw a little wobble worm into a riffle that I swear wasn't more than 8 inches deep, and WHAM, I start to bring in what I think is another of the beautiful little bass. Nope, to my delight, it was my first ever WILD rainbow. It was about 6 inches long and amazingly colored. Sure different than all the SNITS I've caught in the Hooch. It blew me away. Of course, no camera on me this morning, so I had a good look and set her free. What a gorgeous little fish. NOW I get it. Wild fish are awesome. Just so cool. Later that day, I took the fiancee up to the warm water lake and we got lots of big fat bream and a couple of nice 1 lb largmouths (an absolute war on 2 lb test, let me tell you). My tiny black and yellow beetle spin was just what the doc ordered for them. We took a cart down to the fly fishing school and stocked stream. MAN. It is loaded. Talk about shooting fish in a barrel. There are about 4 pools and a main stream that is teeming with fish. There were 3 guys fly fishing there, and beating the water. Didn't see them get any. I'd bet those fish are so spooked, but they are big fat footballs and gorgeous. The practice pond is clearer than tap water, and has a big fat 4-5 lb bass in it, that they said will only strike if you have a bluegill on that hit a popper. Cool. Headed back down to the cabin. This morning, I headed out again to fish the stretch of stream I missed the day before. Real stalking was required, as the sun was bright and the water is SOOOOOO clear. I found what looked to be a perfect pool with lots of roots and it appeared to be about 4 feet deep at its deepest. A few casts way up stream and BOOM, somethings running straight at me. A beautiful stocker runs downstream right past me and I bring it in. A nice 8 inch stocker. You can sure see the difference in wild and stocked when you catch them both on consecutive days. THE next cast by an undercut with lots of roots and brush, another hit. I brought it in, at this point not sure what to expect, as I'd already caught 2 unidentified species of bass, a wild rainbow, a stocker, largemouth, bluegill, and even a couple of those pesky minnows. I bring her in and to my absolute delight, it's a fish I had never even CONSIDERED . . . a SMALLMOUTH BASS!!! Beautiful bronze and that deep red eye with nice markings. What a predator. It was only about 8 inches long, but paired with the wild 'bow from the morning before, it was like Christmas! It was time to leave at that point, so I got a couple of photos (I'll post them here soon) and let her go. What a weekend! Okay, so it wasn't a grand slam anyone else would recognize, but hey, my first wild 'bow, a stocker, a couple of redeye/coosa's, a rockbass/warmouth, bluegills, largemouth, and a freaking SMALLIE!!!!! WHOOOHHHOOOO!!!!