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.