Pretentious Snobby Bastard Fly Fishing!

2-13-2020 #3

https://youtu.be/emzih-d4Cs8

I thought it would be a good idea to hit the So Ho while they were still holding water back from the recent rains. I knew that Thomas Creek would be dumping some muddy water into the river, but as a drove down the dam road I realized that I severally underestimated the volume of water cascading down this tributary. And as I crossed the bridge and saw the empty parking lot, I began to doubt the wisdom of my decision. The mud was pushing half-way across the river and its effects were evident across the while river not too far below the bridge.

(https://www.brfff.com/btwc/ff2020/02/021420-6.jpg)

It was warm, maybe 60 degrees, I didn't bother with a jacket as I went for a walk to check out the river. I walked the two-thirds of a mile to the TVA boundary looking for bugs or risers along the way and glancing into the woods for mushrooms too. I found neither. On the way back, near the power lines I heard a fish rise and as I stopped to look another fish rose, then another. Then nothing. I waited and watched but didn't see another rise.

(https://www.brfff.com/btwc/ff2020/02/021420-1.jpg)

(https://www.brfff.com/btwc/ff2020/02/021420-2.jpg)

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Back at the parking lot, I ran into a couple of anglers and they convinced me to gear up and give it a try. After all, I had just driven three hours to get here. I talked to the young guy, an App student who doesn't have classes on Thursdays, as we donned our waders.

I decided to give those risers downstream a try. The muddy water made wading the river difficult. I dislike not being able to see the bottom. I worked the run for a while with an emerger to no avail. I thought about wading out further but the uneven ledges made me think otherwise.

Back up at the grates the ASU student was casting a nymph to a pod of punes. I walked out onto the grates for the first time ever and was deciding what to tie on when the older fisherman passed by and offered his advice of a #22 or #24 grey thread midge.  He worked he way across the then up to the backside of the island. I've never fished there before either and I watched where he crossed.

I gave up on the grates and took a break up at the Osceola Island parking lot. I took a walk around the island stopping on the bridge to watch a pair of fly fishermen working the slow seam and catching some small browns on a bwo nymph. When I got to the far side of the island I ran into two anglers I had talked to before and the young guy was rigging up with some flies that the old guy had given him. I watched the old guy miss three o four fish in quick succession of his grey midge under his wool indicator. They convinced me that I should get my gear and come on back, which I did.

(https://www.brfff.com/btwc/ff2020/02/021420-4.jpg)

The bottom here is soft, uneven, and deep. Deep enough that I began to feel all the holes in my waders as I got into position. The second cast I hooked a fish on my own setup, a purple and silver zebra midge. I hooked a couple more and then things got quiet. I checked the fly and saw the thread was unwinding and trailing. I clipped it clean and then began to worry that my cell phone in my pocket might be getting damp and the cold water was soaking into my jeans. I waded to shore, my right knee almost locked up from the cold.

The young guy didn't like the bobber watching so he had switched to a white woolly bugger and was hauling in fish left and right, they weren't big but he was having fun. I also gave up on the midge game and gave a slump buster a go. The wind has started to whip up and the temps were falling fast and I soon was seeking the warmth and shelter of the car.

(https://www.brfff.com/btwc/ff2020/02/021420-5.jpg)

With my waders off I surveyed the extent of the leakage. Right calf, and knee to upper thigh. Left thigh and rear. At least my feet were warm. I searched the car for a spare pair of pants, and briefly entertained the idea of driving home in my underwear.

By the time I got to Abington my knee was complaining of the damp cold jeans, and I stopped in at the Walmart to get a new dry pair. That make the long drive home much better.