It wasn’t a full day on the water. We had a number of things to get done, but the weather was just too nice to let the whole afternoon slide by. Charity and I managed to squeak two hours out of our afternoon to run up to the river and took turns with the fly rod and camera.
There were a number of insects hatching from stoneflies to several species of mayflies. We even saw the first Yellow Sally of the season. It will be about three weeks before they become a real player on the water, but it’s a sign that the season is moving on.
Charity found good numbers of March Brown nymphs staging to hatch. These are big mayflies in the range of #10-12. They don’t hatch in the same numbers as Quill Gordons, Yellow Sallies, or Light Cahills so they aren’t one of the marquee hatches in the Smokies, but they do keep the trout looking up.
We were somewhat rushed as we tried to fish as much as possible while still getting back to town for other commitments. Fortunately the trout were rising well and we made the most of our time on the water.
Charity hooked this nice rainbow on a Haystack
This rainbow trout fooled me. It came from a text book “brown trout” type of lie and I was sure that’s what it was as it ran deep into the run. This is a solid wild rainbow for the Smokies and it at a Parachute Quill Gordon.
