All things outdoors - Hiking, Camping, Fishing, Kayaking, Shooting, Survival Skills, and more including trips, gear and gear reviews, how-tos, and tips/suggestions, etc...
I have seen some weird things while I have been hiking, fishing, etc... I am going to start posting pictures of things as I find them.
I have stumbled upon a couple of folks "getting it on" on a rock in the middle of a river. That was not a pretty sight. I have walked up on people answering the call of nature. Remember, you shouldn't poop on the trail. I have found fishing equipment and gear such as flies, tackle boxes, and fishing rod parts. I have found tools such as screw drivers and pliers. I have found camping equipment including tents. I have also found shoes, boots, clothing, flip flops (I always wonder if someone is out there walking around with one shoe or flip flop), crayons, etc... and lots and lots of just trash.
I have found moonshine. Yes, I left it where is was. No, I won't tell you where it was.
I have found nasty uncleaned camping sites. Folks don't seem to realize, or care, that someone gets to clean that up.
This camp site has all kinds of clothing, pants, etc... and other trash just left behind. I am not too sure I want to know why you are going to leave your pants at a camp site. Also, the whole area was covered in broken crayons.
Here is a tent that I found. On the same trip I found another one in the middle of the river, but I didn't take a pic.
Swimmer made dam. Ruined a good fishing spot by destroying the flow.
This is a nice little Brook Trout that I caught in a very unexpected place in the GSMNP. Beautiful fish. It was great to see him swim off showing those brilliant colors.
One day I was eating lunch with some friends at the
Flatwater Grill on Melton Hill Lake in
Oak Ridge. It was a really nice late spring day so we
decided to sit out on the patio. It was in the low 80s. The sun was out. It was a little humid, but not too bad. The Flatwater’s patio overlooks the lake, and
from where we were sitting we could see a school of fish feeding on a school of minnows near
the surface of the lake. It looked like a bunch of little sharks chasing
seals in those Discovery Channel videos.
You could see the little waves that the fish were
making as they hunted down the minnows and you could see minnows jumping out in
front of them as they tried to get away. It was pretty interesting to watch
the fish twist and turn and change directions as a group
as they chased the minnows. You could see their little dorsal fins
cutting through the water almost in unison.
All we needed was the super slow motion video.
It really became interesting when all the activity near the
surface caught the attention of a nearby Blue Herron that promptly took off
from where it was down the lake. Once
the Herron took off, the hunters became the hunted. The Blue Herron gained altitude and then dove
straight down on that school of fish. Just before it hit the water the school of
fish scattered in a hundred different directions. It was almost like they saw the Herron before
it hit the water. That didn’t stop the
Herron though. It hit the water and when
it came up it brought out an eight inch Skipjack Herring. The fish was squirming and flopping, but the
Herron held it tight in its beak, leapt out of the water and flew over to the bank
directly in from of the patio where we were eating lunch. The Herron flipped the fish around a few
times to where the head of fish was facing down his beak,
and then swallowed it in one big gulp to the amusement of most of the folks watching
this whole thing go on.
Meanwhile, the other fish had gotten back
together and starting chasing the school of
minnows around again. As their schoolmate was being eaten they had driven
the minnows near the bank and had them trapped in the shallow water. It looked like they were having a good
meal. About this time the Herron finished
his first catch and then went back for seconds. It jumped into the air,
flapped its wings about 3 times, and again dove toward the school
of fish, but just before it hit the water it appeared
that the fish saw it and they panicked again. In trapping
the minnows they were close to the bank and couldn’t dive away from the danger.
Once the Herron went after them again it had them pushed up and trapped
against the bank also and they didn't have anywhere to go to get away.
They looked like a ball of churning water as they tried to not be the
next one selected for lunch. All you could see was white froth, fins, tails,
and silver streaks as the fish jumped and twisted to get
away from the Herron. The Herron hit the water and deftly snatched a similar
sized fish as the one it got before, again flew to the
bank near where we were eating lunch, again arranged the fish
to where it was facing down it's beak, and again swallowed it whole to the
dismay of one of the folks on the patio. As the Herron turned the fish up and swallowed it a lady shrieked at what she saw. This startled the Herron causing it to jump
back into the air and fly back down the lake where it perched on a floating log
in the cove just down from the Flatwater near where it had come from. The
fish also seemed to have had enough about that time and
went to deeper water after the second member of their group was picked as
lunch. That ended our Wild
Kingdom moment for the
day.
I got the opportunity to fish the Doe River the other day. It was cool, sort of rainy, the clouds were low, the river was flowing good, and it had some color in it. Perfect fishing weather for me. I stopped at a pull-off just inside the Roan Mountain State Park and just below the visitors center. I walked down the road for a few hundred feet and started fishing upstream toward the visitor's center. I started off fishing with a yellow stimulator with a small dropper fly (hare's ear nymph) about 16 inches below. I pick up a couple of small Rainbows on the nymph, but the minnows were hitting it over and over and dragging the stimulator under so I got rid of the nymph. That was a good choice. After that I pulled several nice Rainbows and then two nice Browns. I picked up both Browns in classic Brown trout habitat. One was hiding near an undercut bank with a deep channel just out from it and the other was hiding under a bush that was hanging out over a nice deep channel. I also managed to pick up two Rainbows on successive casts right after I caught the second Brown. I bet I hadn't made more than 2 - 3 casts after catching that Brown and then strike, land, release, fix/adjust, cast, strike, land, release. I will say that there is nothing like a nice fish smashing a fly and fighting it on a fly rod. That is some great fun.
According to Wikipedia a Blueway is "a water path or trail that is developed with launch points, camping
locations and points of interest for canoeists, paddle boarders and
kayakers. Blueways are typically developed by state, county or local
municipalities to encourage recreation, ecological education and
preservation of wildlife resources. Blueways are usually developed in quiet still water linear bodies of water that are absent of motor powered boats."
We have a lot of Blueways in the Upper East TN area. I am going to be hitting some of these this summer for some kayaking, fishing, and camping adventures. Look for my reports on each one as I get to them.
While not a Blueway, the Holston River is a great river to float and offers several access point between Cherokee Dam and Downtown Knoxville. See (http://www.tn.gov/twra/gis/HolstonRiver.html) for access points. I usually access the Holston just below Cherokee Dam. Below are a couple of videos from one of the times we floated the Holston.
I fished Citico Creek in October of 2011. This is a section of the main Citico stream along the road that I fished that day. I had great success fishing these chutes. Most of them are pretty deep and they seem to hold some pretty nice fish. There was one large Trout that I hooked a couple of times, but I just couldn't land him. He would hit the fly, spit it out, then go back to his holding place. He started ignoring my fly after he hit it the second time.
From there I drove on up the road and parked in the camping area at the end of Citico Road. From there I hiked in and started fishing just past where the North Fork and the South Fork come together to form Citico Creek and fished my way up the stream to around the first big stream crossing. I didn't go past there. The water was high, it was cold, and I didn't want to get wet. Below is a video of a typical section of stream.
The stream is mostly pocket water with lots of plunge pools. There are also a lot of huge boulders, overhanging branches, logs, stumps, leaves, etc... to fish around. I got hung up more than once, but I could usually get to it and retrieve my flies. Most of the time the stream is about 10 - 12ft wide, but at some points it becomes very narrow flowing through chutes between boulders or against the walls of the valley. The rocks were also pretty slick where ever they were wet.
This is a video of a rainbow that I pick up out of a pool. It is pretty typical of the Trout that I caught that day. He was holding at the far end of the pool where it tails out into the stream and he smashed my fly when he hit it and then ran to the deep part of the pool. It took me a few minutes to land him. I had to be careful to not break my tippet. He was one of the better fighting fish that I caught that day.
Overall, the fishing wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either. I think it was because the water was a little high due to some rain the day before. There was some color in the water at times, an I guess there was plenty of food being washed through the stream. I did catch enough fish, all rainbows, to
want to go back to the South Fork of the Citico again. I used mostly top water flies, but I did have
some success with nymphs at times.
I camped that night on the North Fork. What happened that night is a story for another day.
The next day I moved back down to the camp site at the end of Citico Creek and met up with some friends. We set up a camp there and gathered a lot of firewood. They put up their huge tent and blew up their air mattresses. After that, we did a little fishing around the camping area, without much success, and afterwards I did a little cooking in the Dutch Oven. I made a nice beef stew that fed the three of us very well that night.
The hole for the Dutch Oven
Beef Stew in the Dutch Oven
We spent the evening sitting around the camp fire, talking, and enjoying nature. I slept next to the fire on my sleeping mat, in my sleeping bag, and used my tarp as a ground cloth and bivy to provide an additional layer of insulation. It was fantastic. Even though it was pretty cold, I would say it was in the teens, I was toasty warm in my bag.
The next morning we got up, made breakfast, packed our gear, and moved on down the mountain to home.
Fished up in the Pond Mountain Wilderness the other day. I hiked in in mid-morning on a Sunday and I was the only person up there fishing that I saw. There were a lot of hikers in the area heading up one trail or the other, but I guess it's too far up for most fly fishermen. I have noticed that if you get more than 1/4 mile away from the road the number of fly fisherman seen falls off drastically, and generally the fishing improves. The conditions were perfect. It had rained a little the night before and the water had some color it, but it hadn't rained so much that the streams were hard to wade. It was warm, but not hot.
I was using my 7' 6" Redington fly rod, about an 8ft leader, and I fished with a larger Yellow Stimulator (#10) and a Tellico Nymph (#14) as a dropper fly about a foot and a half below.
The fishing started off slow but ended up being really good. I caught around 20 fish. Ten were nice sized and brightly colored browns and the others were "horny heads" and a few other warmer water fish. The browns were smashing both flys. I caught a few on each one. I also actually had a first and hooked fish on both the dry fly and the dropper at one time. One managed to get off the hook though and I only landed one of them. That was pretty cool!
This is a typical Brown Trout that I was catching. He hit the Yellow Stimulator.
Elkmont (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elkmont,_Tennessee) is one of my favorite places in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. You can hike, camp, fish, look at the old homes, and you might even see a ghost or two, but that is a story for another time. I am going to focus on fishing Jake's Creek. Jake's Creek is a small stream that flows on the back side of Elkmont and joins the Little River just down stream from the bridge on Elkmont Road.
When I talk about Jake's Creek I break it up into 3 general sections
of stream. The Lower Stream, the Middle Stream, and the Upper Stream.
The Lower Stream reaches from where Jake's Creek flows into the Little
River to the end of the gravel access road. This is where the houses are. The Middle Stream runs from
where the Gravel access road ends to where it flows under the bridge
where Jake's Creek Trail crosses the stream. The Upper Stream flows
from where the creek flows under the bridge to the headwaters of the
creek. I want to cover each section of stream separately since they are different.
The Lower Stream:
These are some of the houses and a stone bridge remaining in the Elkmont area near the lower section of Jake's Creek.
You can also see a lot of wildlife the wild life while fishing Jake's Creek.
This a huge honey bee swarm on the side of one of the houses. It was fascinating to watch. What you can't see in the picture is all the bees that were flying around and that in the middle of the mass of bees they were going round and round as a group.
I saw this snake sitting on the side of the creek warming itself in the sun. FYI - It's not poisonous and it is illegal to kill any snake in TN.
This is a Turkey what was hanging out in the upper parking lot. In the background you can see the bridge over Jake's Creek to one of the cemeteries and the campground.
There are also several bears in the area. FYI - Don't be a stupid tourist and approach them. Even a small bear can kill you. They will also be killed if they even scratch you so stay away from them.
The lower stream has a good population of Rainbows and Brown Trout, but is heavily fished by folks camping in the Elkmont Campground. You can still catch fish in this area (See the Brown Trout)
especially since most of those folks don't fish above the
bridge between the Upper Elkmont parking area and the Camping Area.
That is where the stream gets tight and there is no trail, but also has
the better fishing in this lower section. There are also spots where
you can easily access the stream up the gravel road past the houses, but
those areas are also heavily fished.
There is also way too much trash along the stream that is left by the tourists. If you see some trash, pick it up and pack it out. Also, stay out of the buildings. There is a $5000 fine for trespassing in any of the Elkmont buildings. Read the sign when you get there. It explains the fines.
Middle Stream:
The middle section of the stream begins up were the gravel road ends. To follow the stream you have to start following the ? trail. The ? trail crosses the stream after about 150 yards and doesn't follow the stream so you have to follow the stream from that point forward. Brown trout disappear from the stream around this point and you will start to pick up Rainbows from here on out. Some of the are good sized, but most are 4 - 6 inches in length.
This a typical rainbow caught in the Middle section of the stream.
There also used to be homes in this area and you will some relics here and there. There is also barbed wire still strung in some spots along the stream and throughout the area. I have found it the hard way a couple of times.
Here is a small clip where I was getting ready to fish in the Middle section. It will give you an idea of how rough the country is. Jake's creek trail is about 100 +/- yards away from the stream uphill from this point, but you really can't see it and was only April when I filmed this. The foliage will get a lot thicker in the summer.
Upper Stream:
The upper part of Jake's creek gets pretty tight. It's actually hard to follow the stream after the bridge where Jake's creek trail crosses Jake's Creek. You have to climb a series of very large boulders right after the bridge to stay in the stream. After this point the fish get a lot smaller, but there seem to be a lot of them. Below is a typical Rainbow from this part of the stream.
It is a very pretty area if you can get into it. This is typical pool that I was able to pick a couple of Trout out of, but as you can see the vegetation is thick and hangs out over the water.
I need to do some more exploring in the upper portion of the stream. I plan to hike in an fish that area here soon. Look for the update.
Fishing Techniques:
It's all fly rod work in Jake's Creek. I use a 7' 6" rod with about a 7' leader. Most of the time I use a a #12 Yellow Stimulator, but I have used Elk Hair Caddis with equal success. Fish moving up the stream from pool to pool. Stay low if you can or hide behind rocks or trees and wear a neutral color or camouflaged clothing to blend in with the surroundings. I have noted that you generally get about 2 - 3 casts to pick up a fish and a stealthy approach is needed in all sections of the creek. After a few casts you either get a strike or you have scared the fish. I have also noticed that the preferred holding location is at the back of the pools so not getting ahead of yourself is very important.
The parking area. It's where the road to Cades Cove crosses the stream and the stream heads up into the mountains.
The fisherman's trail head. It also seems to be a popular rest room stop for folks coming out of Cades Cove. There was lots of TP and trash on the ground just out of sight of the road. The fisherman's trail winds from side to side up the creek. In some places it is well defined and in others it's not. Following it also requires a lot of stream crossings.
A view of the bridge from stream level.
There is an old rail road rail crossing the stream just up stream from the bridge. I wonder how long that has been there? I also saw several trout in the pool just behind the rail, but there isn't a good approach with the clear water to get to them and they were staying near the bottom.
Some pictures of the stream itself. It's a beautiful area.
Some pictures of the fish I caught. Most of 4 - 6 inches, but a couple I got out of the deeper holes were much bigger.
This trout broke my leader and stole my fly once, but I got him on the second go around and I got my fly back. He was a fun fish to catch.
This is a pretty typical Trout from the West Prong. I caught this one in about a 4ft run that ended in a small hole. You do have to be stealthy with these guys. I noticed that I got 2 to 3 casts in an area and if I didn't get a strike I didn't get anything.
I think that kayaks are a great way to get to fishing areas where few people can get to, have fun on the river, and get a bit of a work out at the same time. I use kayaks from Wilderness Systems.
This is my 12 foot commander. This is a great fishing kayak. It's open faced and has a seat that can be taken out. I take it out and use it to sit on the bank. Beats sitting on the rocks. The spaces in the front and back are great to store gear and it has a rail system where you can add gear such as rod holders. This is also a very stable kayak and I have been told you can stand up in it, but I don't do that.
This is my 10 ft Pungo. This is also a good fishing kayak. It's light and stable. It doesn't have as much storage space as the Commander does and you have to strap your fishing poles to the side with the straps, but it does have a great compartment in the rear to store gear.
