MERRY CHRISTMAS 2010

Good Morning and a Merry Christmas to you and yours. We have a small amount of snow on the ground in Brentwood but none on the streets. I don't know if this qualifies as a White Christmas or not,but its better than nothing. Now to the fishing. I went to the Caney yesterday with the Harston Brothers. I arrived a little after generation subsided and fished at the dam area along with a couple of other guys. The brothers got there a little later. The fish were there,surfacing and jumping like they were glad to see us. I guess they were playing hide and seek. They did an awful good job of hiding the rest of the afternoon. There was maybe one caught fish and very few hits. It was about time to leave in order to get back home for Christmas Eve festivities so I stopped by Happy Hollow for a few minutes. The water was still receding, there was also some surface action but no hits for me. Packed up my stuff and went home cold but still was good to be fishing with friends. Until next time Pappy P

A Decent Afternoon

I arrived at Happy Hollow Monday afternoon around 1:00. The water was going down but slowly. I had spent the last few days tying flies in anticipation of a day on the water. While I was approaching the water, I noticed several fish rising in the distance. Maybe good, maybe bad. Kinda in between for me, I'm still not sure what to throw so I didn't waste much time on any one fly. They seemed to like the tan midge with a little bit of dubbing more than any of the others. I had 6 hits on it with the best fish to the net being a 10" rainbow. That was also the best of the afternoon. More tying today for next time. Until next time Pappy P

Catching Up Again

Hi Y'all I guess I've been fishing 4 times since my last post. If I had done real good, I wouldn't have taken so long to post. The only decent day I had was at Betty's Island. It started out slow, but a fellow fisherman put me on to a fly pattern that worked for him so I tried it and vwela it worked. Even better when the current started getting a little more swift. A medium size green wooly bugger was the trick. I came home and have tied several colors along with a few whites to match the shad, if I get the chance to go back. This has been a great week, my son and daughter are in from out of town and each brought their children. So no fishing this week but that is fine. Until next time Pappy P

Getting Caught Up

I've fished a few times since my last post. A couple of times on the Elk with Buddy and a couple of other times on the Caney by myself. We fished out of the canoe on the Elk and had some success. I really put Buddy on the fish like a good guide should do. I would throw my fly a few times in a good spot and then allow him to throw in the same spot and catch the fish. This happened on more than one occasion, just to show how charitable a person I really am. I guess I was just as charitable on the Caney with the other fisherman because the same thing happened there. Now, to the present. I went Friday and Saturday to the Caney. My best day was Saturday after a mid-morning hatch. I had no luck the first hour at Happy Hollow until the hatch. At that time, I changed to a home made tan emerger that caught 4 rainbows in a 15 minute period. Two were 12 1/2 inches, one was fourteen and the biggest was 16. After that, the action died down considerably, for me. There were two Latinos with spinning rods that did quite well. I wonder why a game warden can't sit in the parking lot and earn his salary and then some on a Saturday. Just saying. Until next time Pappy P

Not a bad day

I'm a couple of days late posting, I've been so busy doing not much of nothing. I made the trip to Caney on Monday the 14th and arrived at the water at 11:00. The weather was perfect, a little warm, a few clouds and a slight occasional breeze. Not many fisherman but several groups of canoers landed. Within 10 minutes I had netted my first fish, a rainbow about 8" long. After a long drought, as a matter of fact not until the generation flow made it to Happy Hollow, I started catching more fish. It seemed like the swifter water really turned the fish action on. They were surfacing more and some were even leaping out of the water. I did manage to catch 3 more fish with a few more hookups. All in all a good day for me. I got to spend a day with Mother Nature and witness God's excellence. Until next time Pappy

This report is a few days late, I've been so busy doing nothing that I didn't take the time to quit doing what I wasn't doing to take the time to post this report. I did take the time Monday to go to the Caney to see how the fish were doing. The weather was perfect, warm with a few clouds and a slight occasional breeze. I drove by Happy Hollow fist

Finally Back

It's been awhile since my last post due to the fact that I haven't been fishing or tying I was in the vacinity of the Caney today helping my stepdad stain his deck at his camp on Center Hill so I figured I would try some fishing after we got thru. I got to the river at 5 30, generation started at 4 so the water was already running pretty good at Happy Hollow. I fished about 30 mins. and then got out of the water. I had no luck but a guy above me caught two nice size browns while I was there. So the fish are there, finally. That's all I got. Until next time. Pappy

Short,Wet Day

I headed toward Caney Fork with two purposes in mind. One was to fish for a little while and the other was to meet my mother and step dad at his camp on Center Hill. Well, I accomplished both and to make a short story long here goes. I arrived at my fishing spot about 9:30 and the setting was perfect. The water was still down, the sun was shinning and the cows were mooing. I started casting into some still water that turned into ripples and nothing happened. As I moved downstream into the more calm and deeper water, I thought that the water was getting quite a bit colder. It wasn't getting any colder, it was getting closer, as inside my waders closer. I then remembered scraping them on a fence earlier and low and behold a small tear. Well, not to be denied, I continued to fish and did hit a hot spot with five casts in a row resulting in a bite. I only hooked two but that wasn't bad the way things had been going over the last few weeks. The water had started to rise and I figured I better get out of there. Oh, when I got out of the water, I guess I looked like Chester, walking with one leg full of water. I guess if I had taken my wading belt off, I could have filled up both sides and looked like the Michlein Man. Anyhow, that was pretty much all the fishing that was done and then off to the camp to spend a little time with the folks. The end of a beautiful day. Until next time Pappy P

On the Road Again

The H. Bros. set the meeting time for this morning (Sat) at Cracker Barrel at 6:15. I get a call at 5:55 wanting to know where am I. Just getting on the interstate I reply, I'll be there at 6:15. Your posed to be here at 5:45 I hear on the other end of the line. My text said 6:15 I reply, oh well I meant 5:45 he says. Anyhow, I get there at 6:15 and we get to Caney at a little after 7:22. The skies were overcast with a threat of rain that never materialized into the real stuff. We put in at Happy Hollow and went up to the first island and casted our way back to the ramp. Nary a bite amongst the three of us, even with a spinning rod. We had to leave at 11:00 to get one of the Bros. back for whatever. When it was time to get the boat out, one of our neighbors from down south had parked his truck right in the turnaround spot on his second trip of the morning after disposing of his limit of fish earlier in the morning. I asked him to move his truck so I could turn around and he kind of looked at me indifferently and then I told him that the sign stating no parking down here was at the top of the ramp, but it was written in English. He finally got the message and politely moved his truck to the top of the ramp. I think this was the same fellow that had a few fish on the gravel bar when we got there and one of those big, long nosed birds carried off two of his fish. Pretty entertaining. We may have learned how to say "nice bird" in Mexican if we knew exactly which words were which. Another good day to enjoy fellowship with friends and enjoy Mother Nature and her marvelous works. Until next time Pappy P

New Waters,New Fish

What could be more appealing on a Friday morning after a theraputic workout at the gym than to fish some fairly new waters. My friend Buddy and I went to the dam area of the Harpeth and immediately saw a whole lot of fish in the shallow water where the rippling waters flow. I guess the theory that if you can see the trout they can see you. They hit at my first couple of offerings and then nothing after several changes. I then moved down river after hearing Buddy holler twice that he had fish on. I then proceeded to catch a 14", then an 18" and then a 16" rainbow in the swift water. Buddy had caught a 14" rainbow and then a smallmouth bass a little farther downstream. All this occurred in a 30 minute period and then it stopped except for maybe a couple of small hits. We left around 11:30 to make sure Buddy had enough time to attend to his his gold business. What a life,huh? That's all I got for today. Until next time Pappy P

O What A Beautiful Morning, O What............

Saturday was a perfect day to be on the water. Nice and cool early with a hint of an early spring breeze followed by a rising sun that brought chirping birds, a few gobblers gobbling and a few hunters hunting. Oh,and a bunch of fisherman fishing,uh, casting. According to all up and down the river reports, catching trout was slow. There were a couple of bank bait fisherman that apparently weren't able to read the new creel limits. Maybe the game wardens will be out before too long. Overall, the fishing was real slow but the beauty of nature and the friendships made during the trip made it a pleasurable voyage. Thanks to Bill Bird of Top Fly Drift Services for another enjoyable trip. Even will the lack of fish, we are still able to see the changes in the river bed to use for future reference to spot places where the fish will be holding when the water returns to some sort of normalcy. Thanks again, Bill. Until next time Pappy P

Cloudy Days and Thursdays Always Get Me ........

To the tune of an old Carpenter's song. I had some spare time today, Imagine that, so I decided to try the Caney again. What a contrast from yesterday. Wednesday it was almost possible to wade with no long handles or shirt. Today, expecting about the same water temperature I waded long handless and like to froze my handles(legs, mama) off. But I digress. I put in at the dam about an hour after the generation subsided. The sky was cloud covered with a stiff breeze blowing up river, so therefore I casted,well, my line ended upstream most of the time anyhow. Within 15 minutes I had teased the first rainbow to engulf my #18 doberman midge. From that catch it was another hour before I landed another bow with Pappys Poison on a #18 hook. I had found a spot that was holding several fish. I didn't hookup but with one more; with a little more experience maybe I could get at least one more out of there. By this time, my legs would not work in unison so I knew it was time to get out of the water. After warming up for a while, I decided to try Happy Hollow for a little while. The current was still flowing at a pretty good clip so I didn't venture very far out. To make a long story short, no luck down the Hollow. All told, the trip from Williamson county was well worth the time and effort. Gas at #258 was 2.649 cheapest around. That's all, folks. Until next time Pappy P

New Spot

I went to Silver Point today to my step dad's camp to watch him reopen for the new year. I only had a short amount of time to fish due to the generation schedule. I got to the river at 10:30 and finally found a spot below betty's island that wasn't in the current very much. There were two men already fishing so I went further to find a secluded spot before the water got too high. I managed to find a spot where the rapids and the calm water came together that was holding fish. I tried for about 15 minutes to get a fly to do what I wanted to in a 15 mph wind, which was 14 minutes more than I should have. I just happened to have my lite spinning rod with me so I proceeded to throw my Rapala and within the next 25-30 minutes I had managed to catch 4 rainbows; a 15,13,11,and a 9. I guess it was their 30 minute lunch break cause after that they quit eating and went back to work. They must not have been gov't employees. Maybe if the big storms don't come tonight, the generation schedule will be a little more conducive to better fishing time. Until next time Pappy p

Happy Easter

I hope everone had a good Easter. The weather was beautiful and the Pizza for lunch was great. I haven't been fishing for a few days due to the lack of fishable water or time constraints. My friend Buddy and I did some expeditioning? on the Harpeth in Cheatam County to maybe find some bass areas to fish. Not being well knowledged in the Harpeth river system we weren't real sure where to look. We did find a few places that could be reached by walking a short distance. We may try them later.
My greatest pleasure of the day, at home, was making a video of my youngest daughter learning to fly cast. For someone who has never touched a fly rod, she had the motion down pat whithin a few tries. Whithin 5 minutes, she was adding line to her cast for a fairly good distance of 20-25 feet without touching the ground on her backcast or her foward cast. Much better than her dad after 6 months. She may not ever get to the water, but I will have a good video for the people that want to learn the basics from the beginning. Thanks darling. Until next time Pappy P

Elk River #2

I got up this morning, fed the dogs and then let them outside for the day. How beautiful a morning it was. I had to make a decision-do stuff in the yard or go fishing. Duh. An hour and a half later I was at the Elk River, spot #2. After gearing up, I walked upstream a little ways and started throwing a lite colored midge. Why, you might ask. Cause I wanted to I answered. The water was flowing at a pretty good clip,the midge I had tied on was one I had tied after fishing here Saturday with Wayne. I added a bead head to keep it close to the bottom in the current. After getting the jetstream figured out I caught a 12 in. rainbow. A little while later I had caught 2 more smaller fish. One more and then it was lunch time. While I was munching on a tunyfish samich and warshing it down with a DP, two guys from Brentwood drove on their lunch break to try some fishing. By the end of their break,4:30, they had caught a total of 7 between them. I added 3 more to my kreel,all in all a good day. As a matter of fact, a great day. Until next time Pappy P

Scouting New Waters

Late this afternoon, Buddy and I went in search of some new (to us) fishable waters. There is a small river here in Franklin that is stocked monthly thru March at the Harpeth River Dam, more a spillway than a dam. We decided to take a look and found it to be unwadable? at the present time due to the amount of rain we've had over the weekend. I will check back Tuesday afternoon to see if the waters have receded at all. This place is only 15 minutes from my house and if it has any fish at all, well, a caught fish is a fish caught. There has been some fisherman there based on the evidence left in the tree limb- a couple of floats and a used can of corn left on the bank. I will let all of my followers know the outcome of my new waters as soon as I know. Thanks again Pappy P

Two Days in a Row

The weather and generation schedules are finally in line for 2 days of fishing. Friday at Caney was a beautiful day. I started at the dam right after generation ended and was able to catch two rainbows within the first thirty minutes and I felt my time had arrived. It had-that thirty minutes was the only time I caught any fish for the rest of the day. Even after moving to Happy Hollow and meeting up with Bill Bird we fished the rest of the afternoon with very little action. No one on the water had any better luck than we did. Saturday, I met up with Wayne and we traveled to the Elk below Lynchburg. We had a little better results overall. We fished a new spot for me and maybe the second time for Wayne. We caught maybe 10 or 12 fish between us with Wayne having the bigger part of the between. I fished next to a couple of locals that had a honey hole that I will surely remember. I only hope I can find a fly that the trout like as much as they like worms and corn. All in all, the fact that I was able to get out in nature with friends and be able to fish makes the lack of catching more tolerable. Thanks guys. Until next time Pappy P

What a day!

Another beautiful day to fish. I visited the Caney today and fished with 3 of the finest fishermen and friends a person of my caliber could expect to have: Buddy H., his older and quite a bit more nobler brother Tom, and my old friend Wayne S. We started around 2:30 after the threat of rain had subsided. We caught several small fish using midges,small streamers,and various homemade flies with unforgetable names that I can't recall right now. We were also able to witness the reconfirmation of Buddy to the trout spirits as he rededicated himself in the act of baptism,well almost,his head didn't go under,brought on by a rock ledge and a broken kneecap kept in place by a leg brace. I think the 44 degree water was a little more than he had bargained for. I did have some dry clothes in the truck just in case this might ever happen,after a change of attire he continued to fish with much more zeal after his reawakening. We left a few minutes before 5 due to the generation schedule after a memorable day on the water. Until next time. Pappy P

Finally Fishing

Low water and no generation would make for a great day to be fishing. The cloudy skies made it even better. I didn't catch a whole lot of fish but I did get to use some of the flies I had tied myself. I probably changed flies more than I should have but I wanted to see how they would hold up. They did fine even though I did drop 3 in the water while I was tying on. Two midges and a Pappy's Poison. I talked to a couple of guys as they were leaving. Each one was carrying a limit of Brown's and Rainbow's to the car; it would have been nice to have had the oppurtunity to catch them some other day. Maybe they had lost their jobs and needed these fish for their only means of food. So much for that. I'm looking forward to getting back out again. Until next time. Pappy P

Finally Fishing

Today was a great day to fish. The water was down and no generation which made for me a perfect situation. I got to try several of my home tied flies. I probably changed flies more than I should have just to be able to use my own flies to see how they stood up under pressure. The water didn't bother the flies at all and what few fish I caught didn't tear them up either. I talked to a couple of guys as they were leaving that we carrying out limits of brown's and rainbows,I think. I sure hate to see that. Maybe they had lost their jobs and were hungry. I'm not sure when the stocking happens;when it does I want to be there and then maybe have a real good day. Until next time. Pappy P

Almost There

It's a beautiful Saturday morning,no rain and plenty of sunshing. Must be getting close to fishing time. My last post was Feb. 7th and then I predicted 3 weeks before fish time for me,so I missed it by a week. If things go well, I hope to go to the Caney Fork on Tuesday if the generation schedule works out. I will let you know how things go.

Same Old Stuff

I had a post ready Thursday nite but I hit the wrong button and deleted it and it took me until now to try again. It is basically the same post but with more rain, higher lake eleation, and higher river flow like we had two weeks ago. The lake went up 4 feet overnight from Saturday to Sunday so we didn't gain anything from the drawdown over the last 2 weeks. I have taken the opportunity to continue fly tying and now have enough flies to allow me to get hung up in as many trees as I can and won't have to get my chief guide Bill Bird to row me over to the tree lines over and over again. Maybe in about 3 weeks we can all get out and get back to fishing. Until next time. Pappy P

Rain,Rain, Go Away

I drove Thursday over to the Caney Fork to see how the water was flowing. The river elevation had dropped almost 6 ft. at the dam due to less water being released. The Center Hill Lake elevation had dropped to 630 from about 637. That was before the rains came again Thursday nite and Friday. The lake will probably rise 3 or 4 feet which will mean more released water into the river which means we all get to keep doing what we have been doing in our spare time, which ain't fishing. No more than I get to fish, I have enough flies tied that now that will last me and my children and my

Beautiful Snow Day

What better way to spend a day when the Caney Fork is 14ft. higher than normal trout fishing depth and flowing like the Colorado rapids than to be home watching what may be the most snowfall in Middle Tn in many,many years. The weatherman is predicting 4-7 inches by the time this ends Saturday night. In the meantime, I'll be tying more flies while listening to my beautiful,youngest daughter practice her songs for her high school play which apparently is a musical-go figure. One of my fishing buddies,Wayne, had a procedure done at the hospital yesterday. Hope that will alleviate the problems he has been having. Another fishing buddy, Buddy, cracked his kneecap over the weekend. Bill, be careful. I got to have somebody to fish with if the water ever gets back to normal. Till next time.

Rain Again

Well, the generating finally stops and then the rains reappear. Center Hill has risen almost 5 ft. since Tuesday to 629. The elevation was 624 before the rains came and now the 5 ft. of extra water must get out from behind the dam so therefore full blown generation for the next several days. Some of the more advanced fisherman might know how to fish the river in these conditions, but not this ole boy so I stay home and tie or do house work; more tying than working. So long for now.

Beginners Luck Doesn't Last Forever

I met Bill Bird of TopFly Drift Boat Services and Wayne at Caney Fork yesterday for a great day of fishing for them and an even greater day of comraderie for me. Fishing was apparently slow for waders and drifters alike. We met a couple of young men from Maryville that put in at the dam when we did and had a 5 or 6 fish day; most others had 3 or 4 and that was about it. The bank stops were good- good food other things. The water was fairly low and real clear with a few fish seen rising throughout the day and a small hatch about midday. Maybe this wintertime fishing is a little tougher than fall. But as my college baseball coach always said "anyone can catch the easy ones".

Back to Fishing

Today was a beautiful day-Wednesday-to see how the rest of my home tied flies would hold up. The seven or eight that I used hold up very well in water. I don't know how they fare in a trout's mouth. I first drove to the dam at Caney Fork where there were several vehicles in the parking lot apparently trying their skills at the steps downriver since none were to be found at the dam area. I headed to Happy Hollow; two vehicles in the lot but no fishermen in sight. To make a short story long, I fished for almost two hours with nary a bite. Three other fisherman showed up and had the same results as I. I left from there and went to Kirby Rd. for the first time and no one else was there and I can understand why: not very accessible and too deep for a person fishing alone. I then went to Betty's Island for about 30 minutes with no luck and the end of a beautiful trip. At least my flies stayed tied.

Tie Day

Since I had a semi-successful afternoon yesterday at Caney, I decided to spend part of the day today tying. Since the trout swallowed my only fly of that type that I had tied I felt the need to mass produce "Pappy's Poison" for future use if this colder weather gets away from here. Maybe back on the water by the middle of next week. If so, I'll find out if it was a fluke or maybe it was something they like in cold,low water.

Snow Day on the Water

My friend and fishing buddy, Buddy H., decided to brave the cold and the snow to fish the Caney for the first time in almost two months. This was the only time we could find when the water was low and not generating. The river was very low. The temp. at the dam was 52 degrees. We started about 2:00 and fished until 2:45 with no luck but some great pictures. We left and went to Happy Hollow and I have never seen as much dry land as I did today; I have only been fishing there since the end of August 09. The cold front was coming through and the wind had picked up considerably along with the wind chill factor. The water temp. here was 43 degrees and very shallow. I broke off two of my self tied flies and then tied on a fly that will now be known as Pappy's Poison. My first and only cast was engulfed by a 17" Brown that for the first 4 minutes I thought I had hooked a stripe that had come up river during the high water. I finally got him netted with Buddy's help,took a bad picture and then let him go unhurt. This is by far the biggest trout I have caught in my short time of fly fishing. He was also fat, maybe 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 lbs. I wasn't able to get the fly out-it was all the way down to his gills. If anyone catches him, you can see the shank right inside his gill plate.

Happy 2010

2010 started just like 2009 ended-high water, cold and no fishing. I did take the time to tie more flies and go to the rec center to do some stretching and lower back therepy. Today, I spent the early morning with two of my fly fishing buddies-Bill Bird of TOP FLY DRIFT BOAT SERVICE and Wayne- at the Cracker Barrell and then to Bass Pro Shops to get some fly tying material. Maybe I'll tie a couple before time to go to bed. So long till next time.