Good Day

[Yallerhammer]

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Headed across the ridge to my home water drainage in the Smokies yesterday morning. I was in the mood for some solitude and little specks, so I decided to hike a couple miles into the headwaters before fishing, even though the forecast was calling for 80% rain and thunderstorms starting around noon.

Passed some turkeys on the drive in:







Hit the trail. Was intending to not fish until I got a couple-three miles in, but couldn't resist stopping to hit a few holes on the way, how can you walk past stuff like this without flinging a fly?



Got that slam thing out of the way while goofing around before I even got to where I wanted to start:









Finally hit my target feeder creek and started up it.



Little specks were abundant, along with the occasional rainbow. Like, literally, almost every time you threw a fly in the water, something ate it abundant. Between showers, I caught loads of them. Lost count early on. Nothing big, but who cares when you're catching a fish almost every cast? Fish of the day was about 8" but it refused to have its pic taken.





A hatch of #14 yaller Stimulators was coming off. They were crawling all over me while I was fishing. The chars were slurping.



Rain. Time to back up under a tree and enjoy a taste of the Devil's brew.




Holes like this would yield several fish. Probably a big one or two in there, but the little fellers would attack the second a fly hit the water.



Continued on with more of the same, which was fine with me.





Finally, nasty-sounding thunder started rolling. I was several miles from the truck. Rain is one thing, but lightening and wind under all the dead giant hemlocks is another thing. I regretfully said goodbye to the little creek and hit the trail. By the time I made the first mile, the sky opened up. The last mile, the trail looked like it would have supported a good population of fish. I was soaked to the bone by the time I made the truck, I couldn't have gotten any wetter if I had jumped in the creek.

Rain stopped. Time for lunch. Nothing like a creekbank burger:





After I ate, storms continued off and on. Fished around the road awhile and caught a few more browns, bows, and even a couple specks. Finally, the deluge set in for good. Lightening crashed, thunder rolled, and the wind was sweeping down off the peaks. Time to head for home.

Musings:

I have fished this drainage for almost forty years. I cut my fly-fishing teeth here, caught my first trout on a fly here. I have noticed that in the last few years, the specks are making a bigtime comeback. You used to have to hike way in to catch one, but they are moving back down the creeks at a fast rate. Places where there used to be absolutely nothing but rainbows and the occasional brown, are 90% specks now. There are even a few in the main stem of the big creek these days. Why? I don't know, but it's a good sign.  Some of the older members of my family lived in this valley in pre-park days. I remember hearing them talk about specks in the teen-inches not being uncommon at all back before industrial logging and the stocking of rainbows. One great uncle told stories of a 19" speck he saw caught from this creek when he was a kid. Maybe, it will happen again someday, hopefully. It will be interesting to see what develops. I would love to see a speck fishery here again like some of y'all have in Shenandoah.

Final thought: If there is anything on this earth prettier than a little native mountain trout, I haven't seen it yet.

[Dee-Vo]

Glad the specks are kickin' ass!

[driver]

Look at you getting all fancy. With craft beer, pringles, and photo filters.[emoji311]

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[jwgnc]

Agree.  Mountain trout are lookers. 

What a great trip.

[Yallerhammer]

Look at you getting all fancy. With craft beer, pringles, and photo filters.[emoji311]

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

I got bit by a hipster couple weeks ago. I took the series of shots, but still got a few symptoms.

[BrookieHunter]

 I've been fishing one particular drainage for 25 years and have also noticed the brook trout moving farther down the feeder creeks and increasing their numbers in the main stream, let's hope this trend continues.

[Dougfish]

 
Nice outing, Mr. Fancy Pants. 
Good steam.

[Woolly Bugger]

 :banana026:

Nice flix
Great looking water
Well played

[joe friday]

That's awesome!

[Onslow]

You ought to host a BRFFF shindig up there, Yaller.

Sadly, I've only been to the GSMNP once.  I reckon a destination there should be put on the old bucket list.

[Yallerhammer]

You ought to host a BRFFF shindig up there, Yaller.

Sadly, I've only been to the GSMNP once.  I reckon a destination there should be put on the old bucket list.

I would be glad to meet some of y'all. There are plenty of places up here to get together and get up to no good. The Smokies are a magical place, and they seem to like fly fishers.