Everyone shows up on the stream in spring. And we mean everyone!
The calendar says spring, but a quick glance around the streams in the Smokies and you just don’t see it. Unless you can spot a few of the daffodils at Elkmont buried under about 6″ of fresh snow from the weekend.
Weather be damned, we went fishing, and let me tell you how it was. You’ve all probably read about those cold, miserable days when the snow is falling and the bugs are hatching. Fish are rising faster than you cast at them and you don’t mind that cold trickle running down the back of your neck. We’ve been there before and couldn’t wait for it this time.
It was almost exactly like that… Just take away the bugs and rising fish. Just miserable, wet, cold, snowy weather. We drummed up about 3 fish in two hours on heavy nymphs with split shot. Rather modest sized fish at that, so when we looked around and noticed there was absolutely no one else out on the stream we didn’t smile smugly. We thought about how smart everyone else was.
It was truly impressive just how much snow there fell in the Smokies and how localized it was. Here in Townsend you could find some snowy patches by midday. Perhaps a dusting of snow at Meigs Falls on Little River and the Smoky Mountain Institute at Tremont. Get up to Metcalf Bottoms and you saw some real snow. Move up to the trailhead at Tremont or Elkmont campground and you saw about 6″ – 7″ of snow. The rivers and streams will be very cold this week as all of this melts. (We hope. The weather forecast is calling for more mountain snow this week.)
A Tale of Two Rivers
The tailwater situation is in the middle of a terrific turnaround. We came within a hair of heading over to the Clinch this weekend, but the personal scheduling wouldn’t allow for that much time.
Damn….
Sounds like it was good. At least that’s what our reliable informants tell us.
To be honest, it probably wasn’t a phenomenal day to be wading if only because of the rising and falling water. Anyone in a drift boat wouldn’t have to be quite so paranoid about watching the clock and the water level.
That’s on our “to do” list for the week. We’ll keep you posted when we make it.
Hope to see you hiking past the daffodils instead of tromping through more snow.
