One of many signs of spring around us
It’s been an eventful past few days around R&R Fly Fishing world headquarters. Last week we had what seemed to be a minor website issue when customers in our online store received warnings from their internet browsers about the site’s security. The site was secure, but a certificate had expired with no warning.
Upon further investigation it turned out there could be a few more things crop up by surprise in the future so we took up the task of migrating our entire website to another server. Let me tell you firsthand, not the best way to kill a beautiful spring day with perfect water conditions on EVERY piece of troutwater in a 100 mile radius.
Fortunately we’ve come through that mini crisis unscathed and the online store’s secure status remains intact.
And that’s in addition to the guiding we’ve been doing!
The weather seems to be following the general pattern so common to March. After some incredible weather I’m watching the tops of the Smokies fade into a snowy haze. The weather really isn’t bad here in Townsend, but the temperature is falling and we’re looking at a hard freeze overnight before temperatures moderate again at the end of the week.
We’ve seen some excellent afternoon dry fly fishing in the Smokies this week after mornings of sure enough nymphing. The fish are coming to the nymphs up until around noon or so, but they’re certainly not giving anything away. Good drifts are absolutely necessary.
Another sign of spring: The first black bear sighting of the season. This is from a previous year as the one we saw yesterday was pretty far away clawing beetle larva out of a log.
On the other hand the fish have been pretty frisk in the afternoons. More bugs are showing up to supplement the Quill Gordons. Caddis and stoneflies are pretty abundant now and it won’t be long before the Hendricksons and Yellow Sallies make their annual appearance.
The tailwater situation remains good and should stay that way well into the foreseeable future. Keep your midge patterns handy a little while longer as it should be some time before the Sulphurs and caddis kick it into gear.