Post by robertclockwood on Mar 26, 2007 18:02:17 GMT -5
Following is a post that I also put on the Little River Outfitters post.
Robert
Thanks to everyone who provided input as I planned my family's spring break trip to the Smokies. As promised, here's the report.
We drove up Wednesday and got into town around 6. We stayed at Carr's Northside Cottages in a one-bedroom cottage on the Roaring Fork. We were right by the highway, which led to some traffic noise, but we also had a small waterfall where the water fell under the highway. I didn't fish the creek because there was a good bit of trash.
Thursday, we took the Roaring Fork Motor Trail to the Trillium Gap/ Grotto Falls hike. If you have young kids, I highly recommend the book Scavenger Hikes of the Smoky Mountains. My kids are 6 and 10, and the book gave them plenty of items to look for, and distracted them from the fact that they were hiking up hill. I took my pack rod, but saw no bug activity or fish activity when we arrived at the falls. We hiked up the trail for another 1/2 mile or so. By the time we came back, the falls were packed with people in and around the water.
We drove back down the Motor Trail with me gazing longingly at every good run on the Roaring Fork. Finally, my wife says: "We could stop and you could cast for a few minutes." I don't like to argue with my wife, so I pulled over immediately. I tossed a parachute adams for about 1/2 an hour. No takes. But, my kids had a great time finding salamanders and nymphs.
Friday, I fished with Hugh Hartsell. Hugh warned me that the water temperatures in the park were still a little cold and that it was not as active as he had hoped. Nevertheless, we pressed on. He took me to Abrams Creek, hoping the water temperature would be a little warmer. I got a good education on high sticking, but few bites. I caught one small brown, maybe 4 inches. We ate lunch and then fished the little river closer to Metcalf Bottoms. Hugh found some rising fish and tied on a caddis with a BWO emerger. I missed a couple of strikes and then landed one rainbow on the emerger. It was long and skinny. Hugh called it around 12", but I think it may have been smaller. We drove a little further up little river road and did some more high sticking. At this point, Hugh's tutoring paid off. My line had the most subtle pause, but I still raised the rod and was rewarded with another nice rainbow. A short time later, I got lucky and landed another rainbow as I prepared to raise the line to re-cast. Both fish were in the 10 to 12" inch range. The first was caught on a biot bodied cahill and the second on a Smoky Mountain Blackbird. Hugh tried to finish the day by putting me on some slack water with dry flies, but I was beat. I got tangled on my first two casts and decided to call it a day. All in all, it was a fabulous day, and I highly recommend Hugh to anyone looking for a guide.
Saturday, we drove to Elkmont. My wife is a trail runner and was looking to get in a six or seven mile jog. I dropped her off at the start of the Elkmont road, and she ran to the Little River trailhead, crossed over on Cucumber Gap and came back down the Jakes Creek Trail. She was worried about getting eaten by a bear, but saw no wildlife other than humans.
While she ran, it was my job to keep the kids entertained. She suggested that we fish. So, I packed up my 6 year old's Scooby Doo Zebco and some wooly buggers. Unfortunately, I forgot to pack any split shot to give the rod some weight to cast. Luckily, as we arrived another fly fisherman was getting ready to fish. I shamelessly asked for some splitshot and he generously gave us some. I have since learned that he is Plateau Angler who posts here frequently.
Thanks to Plateau Angler and the split shot, I have a cherished memory. The kids and I walked to the first big pool above the bridge at the trailhead, figuring that the pool gets enough pressure that we won't offend too many people by fishing there. I would toss the wooly bugger as far as I could into the current, and hand the pole to my 6 year, with instructions to reel in nice and slow. Then, I would turn my attentions to nymph-hunting with the 10 year old. To my great and shocking surprise, after several casts, my 6 year starts reeling like mad, and his rod is dancing around. Sure enough, he caught an 8-inch rainbow!!! Later on, he started reeling again. The rod was dancing, but I never saw a fish. It may have been a rock.
This rainbow was peculiar to me. As my son reeled it in, I thought it was a brook trout, because it was almost black in color. But, I knew that they weren't found that low near Elkmont. Upon inspection, this was clearly a rainbow with the red band down the side. The only other fish I have seen like this was a trout that had snapped off an angler, and then gotten wrapped around a rock. He couldn't get away, and was in shallow water and had turned black. Does anyone think my son's fish was sick, or is there some other explanation? In any event, I'll never forget the look on his face as he reeled that trout in. Thanks again, Plateau!
After my wife finished her jog, we went to Sugarland's visitor center and walked the Fighting Creek nature trail. Again, I had my pack rod. This time I tied on a size 18 caddis. In about 1/2 an hour, I caught five rainbows from 4 to 6 inches. Very rewarding after my struggles the day before. Again, my family was incredibly patient while I indulged my pastime.
Sunday, we drove to Cades Cove on the way home. I saw Plateau Angler fishing the Little River and was able to figure out his identity after reading his report.
Overall, this was a great family vacation. My boys probably would have liked to spend more time on the go cart rides and putt putt, but we emphasized the Park. We will most definitely do it again in the future.
Thanks again to all who helped. I bet the fishing will be incredible this week as the water really warms up.
Robert
Robert
Thanks to everyone who provided input as I planned my family's spring break trip to the Smokies. As promised, here's the report.
We drove up Wednesday and got into town around 6. We stayed at Carr's Northside Cottages in a one-bedroom cottage on the Roaring Fork. We were right by the highway, which led to some traffic noise, but we also had a small waterfall where the water fell under the highway. I didn't fish the creek because there was a good bit of trash.
Thursday, we took the Roaring Fork Motor Trail to the Trillium Gap/ Grotto Falls hike. If you have young kids, I highly recommend the book Scavenger Hikes of the Smoky Mountains. My kids are 6 and 10, and the book gave them plenty of items to look for, and distracted them from the fact that they were hiking up hill. I took my pack rod, but saw no bug activity or fish activity when we arrived at the falls. We hiked up the trail for another 1/2 mile or so. By the time we came back, the falls were packed with people in and around the water.
We drove back down the Motor Trail with me gazing longingly at every good run on the Roaring Fork. Finally, my wife says: "We could stop and you could cast for a few minutes." I don't like to argue with my wife, so I pulled over immediately. I tossed a parachute adams for about 1/2 an hour. No takes. But, my kids had a great time finding salamanders and nymphs.
Friday, I fished with Hugh Hartsell. Hugh warned me that the water temperatures in the park were still a little cold and that it was not as active as he had hoped. Nevertheless, we pressed on. He took me to Abrams Creek, hoping the water temperature would be a little warmer. I got a good education on high sticking, but few bites. I caught one small brown, maybe 4 inches. We ate lunch and then fished the little river closer to Metcalf Bottoms. Hugh found some rising fish and tied on a caddis with a BWO emerger. I missed a couple of strikes and then landed one rainbow on the emerger. It was long and skinny. Hugh called it around 12", but I think it may have been smaller. We drove a little further up little river road and did some more high sticking. At this point, Hugh's tutoring paid off. My line had the most subtle pause, but I still raised the rod and was rewarded with another nice rainbow. A short time later, I got lucky and landed another rainbow as I prepared to raise the line to re-cast. Both fish were in the 10 to 12" inch range. The first was caught on a biot bodied cahill and the second on a Smoky Mountain Blackbird. Hugh tried to finish the day by putting me on some slack water with dry flies, but I was beat. I got tangled on my first two casts and decided to call it a day. All in all, it was a fabulous day, and I highly recommend Hugh to anyone looking for a guide.
Saturday, we drove to Elkmont. My wife is a trail runner and was looking to get in a six or seven mile jog. I dropped her off at the start of the Elkmont road, and she ran to the Little River trailhead, crossed over on Cucumber Gap and came back down the Jakes Creek Trail. She was worried about getting eaten by a bear, but saw no wildlife other than humans.
While she ran, it was my job to keep the kids entertained. She suggested that we fish. So, I packed up my 6 year old's Scooby Doo Zebco and some wooly buggers. Unfortunately, I forgot to pack any split shot to give the rod some weight to cast. Luckily, as we arrived another fly fisherman was getting ready to fish. I shamelessly asked for some splitshot and he generously gave us some. I have since learned that he is Plateau Angler who posts here frequently.
Thanks to Plateau Angler and the split shot, I have a cherished memory. The kids and I walked to the first big pool above the bridge at the trailhead, figuring that the pool gets enough pressure that we won't offend too many people by fishing there. I would toss the wooly bugger as far as I could into the current, and hand the pole to my 6 year, with instructions to reel in nice and slow. Then, I would turn my attentions to nymph-hunting with the 10 year old. To my great and shocking surprise, after several casts, my 6 year starts reeling like mad, and his rod is dancing around. Sure enough, he caught an 8-inch rainbow!!! Later on, he started reeling again. The rod was dancing, but I never saw a fish. It may have been a rock.
This rainbow was peculiar to me. As my son reeled it in, I thought it was a brook trout, because it was almost black in color. But, I knew that they weren't found that low near Elkmont. Upon inspection, this was clearly a rainbow with the red band down the side. The only other fish I have seen like this was a trout that had snapped off an angler, and then gotten wrapped around a rock. He couldn't get away, and was in shallow water and had turned black. Does anyone think my son's fish was sick, or is there some other explanation? In any event, I'll never forget the look on his face as he reeled that trout in. Thanks again, Plateau!
After my wife finished her jog, we went to Sugarland's visitor center and walked the Fighting Creek nature trail. Again, I had my pack rod. This time I tied on a size 18 caddis. In about 1/2 an hour, I caught five rainbows from 4 to 6 inches. Very rewarding after my struggles the day before. Again, my family was incredibly patient while I indulged my pastime.
Sunday, we drove to Cades Cove on the way home. I saw Plateau Angler fishing the Little River and was able to figure out his identity after reading his report.
Overall, this was a great family vacation. My boys probably would have liked to spend more time on the go cart rides and putt putt, but we emphasized the Park. We will most definitely do it again in the future.
Thanks again to all who helped. I bet the fishing will be incredible this week as the water really warms up.
Robert
