Saturday

[5xTippett]

They have finally quit the Saturday afternoon generation on the Smith, and I figured the Yankees should have abandoned the beach by now, too.  Highway 220 seems to be the route of choice for returning Yankees going back to Ohio on Saturday afternoons.  I headed North with light traffic for once.  I hadn't been up there in close to six weeks, nor had I fished for trout in six weeks.  I did not set the world on fire to put it mildly, but it was nice to get out.  I fished just with beetles and caught maybe 10 all total.  One was a hair over 14 inches.  I saw some midges and I am reasonably certain I could have caught more fish if I had switched, but I wasn't in the mood.  The beetles normally cull out the sardine sized fish anyway.

[Trout Maharishi]

So glad you are going to be at the WNC Expo showing everyone how to tie that beetle, I know it will draw a crowd

[5xTippett]

TM, You do realize that I am going to have to kick your rear!

[tattdflythrower]

glad to here about the generation bd;0 . i got to hit it up for a few hours thurs. managed 3 browns in bassett  before the water started rising.

[troutrus]

Very nice fish. They seem to be getting thicker bodied up there. 
Could you show a picture of the beetle you use?

[Gofisher]

Sounds like fun!

[5xTippett]

"Could you show a picture of the beetle you use? "  Check the first fishie's mouth.

[benben reincarnated]

Nice work.   

I tied up some beetles on a whim but never tried them, may need to break them out now.

[Friar Tuck]

Not specific to the Smith or this post, but I've found that a good beetle pattern produces well into December.

[Al]

Glad to see you are back at it Ben. We missed you on the Smith. 

Yes, the fish seem a tad bigger this year. Not sure what exactly has caused it but looks to be a good thing. Scott Smith should have all the sampling data correlated soon and will give us an update at the next SRTU meeting on December 1st.

[5xTippett]

Al, I talked to Scott last week.  I don't remember him saying that the fish were any longer, but he thinks they are a little fatter.  The slot limit hasn't had time to work yet, that's a year or two away.  The difference would probably be due to the ramping of the generators and the less scouring as a result.  The hatches were a lot stronger this year and lasted longer.  It will be interesting to see what he finds when he analyzes his data.

[Holmes]

Thats some good stuff there. I love the spots on those browns down there, beautiful fish for sure.

[5xTippett]

Petey, the browns in that river look different from most I have seen.  I am convinced they are a different strain. 

[dossphoto]

There has been no true macroinvertebrate study on the Smith recently.  The Friends of Philpott sample in the tribs that flow into Philpott.   And even then they are just getting a steam health index similar to a save our streams sampling.