Post by rbaileydav on Dec 20, 2004 10:42:22 GMT -5
Well, I did end up going to the Nant on Sunday. My older son was scheduled to go with me but the cold temperature and snow had scared him off and he had decided to stay in bed, but not before he had gotten cocky and told me that with the weather I wouldn’t catch much anyway. He even bet me that I wouldn’t catch 15 fish. Well this is the Nant DH so I obviously answered “I’ll take that bet … and your gonna regret … cause I am the best that ever been” sorry about that Charlie Daniels just slips out of me sometimes but normally only when I am drinking that other Daniels … Jack. Anyway everyone in the family thought I was crazy for going fishing on a day where the weather was supposed to be this bad ……… oh well guess I am just Crazy then cause I was going fishing no matter what the weather did.
I hit the river about 9:30 which was just about the time the first snow showers hit. When I parked the car the snow flakes were flying in full force. I always enjoy fishing in the snow so I was kind of excited that it really was snowing (told you I was crazy). There was no snow on the ground yet, but the air was thick with whirling white flakes. Something about the white in the air gives the rapids of the water an almost translucent blue white color and gives the water a gun metal sheen and shine. I rigged up with the normal DH trout candy rig (y2k’s and light pink san juans, dead drifted with an upstream cast under a strike indicator and weighted with 2 “BB” size split shot) it may not be the perfect “purist fly fishing” rig in the world but if you are going to fish in the snow you want to catch fish and besides I had a bet to win and trust me I don’t plan on willingly losing a bet to my 15 year old. I had heard recent discussions that due to the hurricanes and lost fish that the DH stocking for the Nant were sub par this year and that fishing had been down so I was a little worried as I stepped into the water. But my worries were misplaced, by the time I had taken five or six casts to work the kinks out of the old Granger that I was using (Gary Lacey restored 8ft Favorite) I caught the first fish of the day, a nice little rainbow that put on a great aerial exhibition for me. The rest of the day fell into a pattern, any place I could find slower slack water that had some depth I found fish. I covered a lot of water but since I had the river virtually to myself that was no problem. I guess with the on coming cold front the fish were dialed in as I caught fish all morning long. I finally began to worry about the old Granger, what would the ice on the guides do to the rod and how many fish landed would begin to increase the likely hood of the tip taking a set, so I decided to retire it for the day but not before that 75 year old rod had hooked 33 fish the largest being a shade over 17 inches not bad at all for it first time on the water in God knows how many years.
Well the snow was just starting to stick and the winter wonderland effect was pretty magnificent and I was catching fish so I grabbed my dad’s old glass rod (nothing damages a glass rod) and went back out for some more. My fishing pace had slowed down and I spent as much time watching the snowflakes swirling through the gorge as I did casting but the fish hadn’t slowed down at all. Again where there was slower water with some depth then I would pick up fish. The rumors of a bad stocking appeared to me to be just that rumors cause this was one of the best days on this river I had ever had. I fished on that way for several more hours until my arm finally got tired from casting and catching so I found a nice rock on a bend of the river that hid the sight of the road from view and pulled out a Pardon Anniversary and spent the next 45 minutes happily sitting in the river, smoking my cigar and watching the snow accumulate, whitening the world around me. The snowflakes were flying and the water was flowing and they combined to carry all of the stress of my hectic work schedule and the pressures of the holiday season away on the current leaving me content and satisfied as I sat on my rock.
What a wonderful day of awe inspiring snow covered scenery, old bamboo rods, more fish than I could count (oh who am I kidding, I had a bet with my son so of course I kept track, the exact count was 58 with 2 over 16 inches) All in all not a bad day … not a bad day indeed.
PS: I paid for my time on the rock as I staid too long and got stuck with 20 or so other cars on a hill of hwy 60 just past the spur turnoff heading back to Atlanta and had to spend the next two hours watching cars slide off the hill and into the trees (14 I counted those too) while I waited on the salt and sand crews to get there ………. Oh well small price to pay for a day like that.
Matt and others I am probably headed back up there on wednesday if anyone wants to go let me know rbaileydav@msn.com
I hit the river about 9:30 which was just about the time the first snow showers hit. When I parked the car the snow flakes were flying in full force. I always enjoy fishing in the snow so I was kind of excited that it really was snowing (told you I was crazy). There was no snow on the ground yet, but the air was thick with whirling white flakes. Something about the white in the air gives the rapids of the water an almost translucent blue white color and gives the water a gun metal sheen and shine. I rigged up with the normal DH trout candy rig (y2k’s and light pink san juans, dead drifted with an upstream cast under a strike indicator and weighted with 2 “BB” size split shot) it may not be the perfect “purist fly fishing” rig in the world but if you are going to fish in the snow you want to catch fish and besides I had a bet to win and trust me I don’t plan on willingly losing a bet to my 15 year old. I had heard recent discussions that due to the hurricanes and lost fish that the DH stocking for the Nant were sub par this year and that fishing had been down so I was a little worried as I stepped into the water. But my worries were misplaced, by the time I had taken five or six casts to work the kinks out of the old Granger that I was using (Gary Lacey restored 8ft Favorite) I caught the first fish of the day, a nice little rainbow that put on a great aerial exhibition for me. The rest of the day fell into a pattern, any place I could find slower slack water that had some depth I found fish. I covered a lot of water but since I had the river virtually to myself that was no problem. I guess with the on coming cold front the fish were dialed in as I caught fish all morning long. I finally began to worry about the old Granger, what would the ice on the guides do to the rod and how many fish landed would begin to increase the likely hood of the tip taking a set, so I decided to retire it for the day but not before that 75 year old rod had hooked 33 fish the largest being a shade over 17 inches not bad at all for it first time on the water in God knows how many years.
Well the snow was just starting to stick and the winter wonderland effect was pretty magnificent and I was catching fish so I grabbed my dad’s old glass rod (nothing damages a glass rod) and went back out for some more. My fishing pace had slowed down and I spent as much time watching the snowflakes swirling through the gorge as I did casting but the fish hadn’t slowed down at all. Again where there was slower water with some depth then I would pick up fish. The rumors of a bad stocking appeared to me to be just that rumors cause this was one of the best days on this river I had ever had. I fished on that way for several more hours until my arm finally got tired from casting and catching so I found a nice rock on a bend of the river that hid the sight of the road from view and pulled out a Pardon Anniversary and spent the next 45 minutes happily sitting in the river, smoking my cigar and watching the snow accumulate, whitening the world around me. The snowflakes were flying and the water was flowing and they combined to carry all of the stress of my hectic work schedule and the pressures of the holiday season away on the current leaving me content and satisfied as I sat on my rock.
What a wonderful day of awe inspiring snow covered scenery, old bamboo rods, more fish than I could count (oh who am I kidding, I had a bet with my son so of course I kept track, the exact count was 58 with 2 over 16 inches) All in all not a bad day … not a bad day indeed.
PS: I paid for my time on the rock as I staid too long and got stuck with 20 or so other cars on a hill of hwy 60 just past the spur turnoff heading back to Atlanta and had to spend the next two hours watching cars slide off the hill and into the trees (14 I counted those too) while I waited on the salt and sand crews to get there ………. Oh well small price to pay for a day like that.
Matt and others I am probably headed back up there on wednesday if anyone wants to go let me know rbaileydav@msn.com
