Fish with Me

If you are interested in fishing some of the small streams and rivers in the East Tennessee area drop me a line at outdoorswithbill@gmail.com.  I will share with you what I know and if you want a guide I will show you where to go.

Weird Things I have Seen when Hiking and Fishing

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.

Trash, Trash, Trash, etc...

2nd Amendment Rights

Here is the website for all US Senators:

http://www.contactsenators.com/ 

Tennessee here is a link to Tennessee Senators:
Lamar Alexander http://www.alexander.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=Email
Senator Bob Corker http://www.corker.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contactme

Please take a minute to send an email to let them know we want them to protect our 2nd amendment rights!  Also, pass this information on to your friends and family.

Paint Creek

Did a couple of hours of fishing in Paint Creek the other day and had some pretty good luck.  I caught one rainbow that was around 17 +/- inches on a double nymph rig with a floating strike indicator.   I had the nymphs tied about a foot or so apart with a heavier nymph on the bottom.  The rig looked like:

{           1 ft              }
nymph--------nymph-------------strike indicator/float tied at connection with leader-------fly line
{                     3 ft                       }

The water was a bit cloudy from rain and the flow looked a bit high.

I was fishing deep runs and had the rig set to allow the nymphs to get down to about 3 feet.  I slowly fished up a nice looking run and when I got about 1/2 through it BAM, a nice firm strike that doubled my fly rod over!  I set the hook as soon as I felt the hit and started playing the fish.  She surfaced and my fist thought was that I had a nice fish.  With the light rig I was using I was afraid the line would break so I had to play her a little.  It took me a few minutes to get her in, but it was worth the fight.  I love landing a nice fish.

For more information on Paint Creek (http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/cherokee/recreation/fishing/recarea/?recid=34910&actid=43)

The Legend of Falling Rock

When I was a kid we used to drive through the mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina and my parents would keep us busy by having us look up into the mountains and down in the valleys to see if we could see Falling Rock as we went from place to place.  They said that the legend is that Falling Rock was a great Cherokee warrior and hunter that lived in the area before the settlers came across the mountains into Tennessee.  They say he lived in the great city of Chota near what is now the Great Smokey Mountains National Park.  Since he was a great hunter, he was chosen by the Chief to lead a hunting party to get meat for the village.  Game had been scarce and the village needed meat.  They had not had a successful hunt for many many days.  The hunting party soon discovered why game was scarce. It was a giant bear.  It was scaring all of the other game away.  When the warriors saw how huge the bear was, how sharp his teeth were, and how big his claws were they all returned to their village except for Falling Rock and his brother Sitting Rock.

Falling Rock and his Sitting Rock were not afraid and were determined to get meat for the village.  They decided that since the bear was scaring away the game they would kill it and feed the whole village.  They began stalking the giant bear, but each time Falling Rock would get close enough to toss his spear into the bear, it would move just out of his throwing range.   After stalking he bear for several days Sitting Rock became worried since he didn't recognize the land any more.  They had moved past their usual hunting lands and were into territory that they did not know.  He was afraid that he wouldn't be able to find his way back to their village.  He told Falling Rock that they should quit the hunt and return home.  Falling Rock didn't listen.  Sitting Rock gave up and returned to the village alone after a long and difficult journey though unknown lands.

Meanwhile, Falling Rock was determined to kill the bear.  He continued the hunt alone, but each time he almost got in range for his spear the bear would move.   This continued for days and days, but Falling Rock still refused to give up.  He kept stalking the bear, but as he did he moved further and further away from his village.  Falling Rock was never seen again by anyone in his village or any Cherokee.  Since Falling Rock was such a great hunter and warrior his loss was a huge blow to the village so it became custom that each time someone left their village they were asked to watch for Falling Rock and to guide him home if they should see him during their travels.
 
Legend has it that Falling Rock is still out there stalking that bear through the Tennessee and North Carolina mountains.  Since he is still out there we are carrying on the tradition of looking for him when we go out if we Watch for Falling Rock when we are going somewhere  Watch for him.  They even made signs to remind you that he is out there.

Ouch!

Fishing can be dangerous!!!  I was fishing the North River and slipped while I was trying to land a nice Brown.  It doesn't look that bad, but I had to close that thing up with some super glue.

I need to post a picture of the scar.

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Blueways

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.

Pellissippi Blueway:

http://web.eecs.utk.edu/~dunigan/blueway/
Google Maps Link (http://web.eecs.utk.edu/~dunigan/blueway/googlebw.php)

Tellico Blueway:

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/may/31/tellico-water-trail-offers-a-spot-for-people/

Google Maps Link (https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?client=firefox-a&channel=s&ie=UTF8&t=h&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=113537330788595960843.0004861c7c2cf0cafd96c)

French Broad Blueway:

http://www.discoveret.org/chota/blueway/fbrbguide.pdf (From the CHOTA Canoe Club)

Tennessee River Blueway:

http://canoetennessee.com

Holston River:

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.

TWRA - Region 4Waterways Maps:


These are pretty useful river/waterway access maps for the rivers in this area - http://www.tn.gov/twra/gis/Region4_Waterways.html.

CHOTA Canoe Club Information:
http://www.discoveret.org/chota/
http://www.discoveret.org/chota/blueway/blueway.htm

Hikers hogtie man who attempted to take them hostage

Interesting article on a "Druggie/Drunk" taking 4 people hostage at a popular and remote parking area in his search for drugs.
 
Police: Hikers hogtie man who attempted to take them hostage

This is also a good reminder to stay aware and know how to defend yourself no matter where you are.

FYI - There are no "Game Wardens" in TN.  We have TWRA Officers and they have easily recognizable uniforms and carry badges.  They are also very nice folks.  Everyone of them that I have had the opportunity to talk to have been very professional, helpful, etc....  Here are a couple of pictures of their uniforms:

• TWRA Uniforms 1
• TWRA Uniforms 2

Pond Mountain Wilderness

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.
 

Getting a Carry Permit - Shooting

Getting a carry permit in Tennessee was an adventure in itself.  First I had to locate, register, pay the $65 dollars (It would have been $75 if I had not registered early), and then attend an 7/8 hour training class, that included a classroom portion, written test, and a range/firing test.  There were numerous classes offered at the various firing ranges around town, but I opted to attend the class at Pellissippi State Technical Community College since it was less expensive than the ones offered at the ranges.  My research showed that taking the class at one of the ranges would cost $90 to $100.  $25 to $35 more than the Pellissippi State class.  The only drawback with taking the class at Pellissippi State is that I had to drive over to the John Sevier range to shoot and pay an additional $5.50 range fee.  That still made the class $20 to $30 less than going to take it anywhere else.

The description of the course from the Pellissippi State web site reads "Completing the Tennessee State Handgun Safety Coursefor the handgun carry permit is required before application can be made for the state permit.   The classroom portion is conducted at the Pellissippi State campus off Hardin Valley Road.Participants then go to the John Sevier Range on Rifle Range Road, where the firing exercises are held. Four-five hours classroom time + 3 hours range time. Upon satisfactory completion of the course, participants are given the necessary certificate to apply for the state carry permit at their nearest Department of Safety office. The instructor is an NRA certified firearms instructor and Tennessee certified handgun instructor. Students must furnish their own gun and ammunition. $5.50 range fee payable to instructor."

I was a little leery about taking the course, but I had no choice if I wanted a permit.  After all, I was a Reconnaissance Marine.  I have shot all types of weapons.  What was I going to learn in this class.  Well, I was pleasantly surprised.  I thought that Mr. Huffman, who is also a seasoned Sheriff's Deputy for Knox County, conducted a fantastic and very effective course.  He brought several types of handguns (pistols and revolvers) for the class to take a look at, hold, ask questions about.  He covered a great deal of useful information and I feel that I learned a lot from him about firearms, the types of ammunition available for self defense, the laws related to carrying a firearm, how to properly conceal a firearm, the use of holsters, loading and unloading, the use deadly force, liabilities, effective grips and stance, storage, misfires/squib fires, what to do if stopped while carrying your weapon, extra magazines, and self defense with a firearm.  He even covered how to properly clean a firearm.  It was a very well done class.  He teaches some other classes through Pellissippi State and I hope to take another one or two from him.

After the classroom portion, Mr. Huffman gave us our written test.  He taught well enough to make the test easy.  After the tests were graded and he was sure that we passed he dismissed us and had us meet him at the John Sevier range for the shooting portion of our course.  We all met and made our way over to the pistol range.  Once there Mr. Huffman covered our course of fire and we hung our targets.  We shot at 5, 7, and 15 yards.  Again, Mr. Huffman was great.  If folks had issues with their weapon he helped them out.  If folks were having issues with their stance, he helped them out.  I think we shot 48 rounds and had to have something like 35 hits on the target to pass (I might not have this correct), but it should be close.  After we completed our course of fire we collected our targets and Mr. Huffman counted our hits to determine if we passed.  I passed.  The only thing that I didn't like was that he was required to keep our targets as documentation that we shot and passed the shooting portion of the class.  Mr. Huffman then gave the folks that passed their certificated to apply for a carry permit.

Once I got my certificate to apply for a carry permit all I had to do was take the certificate and a birth certificate or passport to one of the full service drivers licenses offices.  I went once and forgot my passport, but the folks there did give me my paperwork to fill out.  On my second try I gave them my paperwork, I even remembered to not sign it until they were able to witness it, paid my $115 fee for the permit and background check, and had my picture taken.  All together it only took me about 45 minutes at the drivers license office to take care of all of that.  To top it all off, the folks there were very nice and very helpful.  The lady that helped me even thanked me for being nice to her.  It's my guess that folks give her a hard time.

They told me it could take up to something like 6 months to receive my permit.  I got it in about 3 weeks.  The next issue I had was finding an adequate holster and magazine pouch to carry, but that is another story.

So go take the class and make sure you can defend yourself!