Forney and Noland Creeks

Over Memorial Day weekend Phil and I decided we would go on a backpacking/Fishing trip up in the Smokies. After debating for a while about where to go either Hazel or Forney creek we chose Forney, thinking we might not be able to make it across Fontana Lake before dark on Friday to get to Hazel. We fished Noland creek for about 20 minutes on Friday but really did not have much luck pulling the fish in when they would bite. On Sunday we headed over to Forney Creek and after a 6 mile hike we settled at campsite 71 and began our quest upriver for some nice trout. We did not have much luck at the beginning but after eating lunch on a big rock in the stream, I caught a nice rainbow right above it. With new-found-confidence we began to fish upstream and caught a few nice rainbows with beautiful colors and a sharp red stripe. After a while we began to wonder if we would find the trail again, considering we did not study the map much, but after fishing about a mile upstream we came out on the trail and hiked our way back down to camp each having caught about 4 or 5 fish. It was a successful day. On Monday, we decided we would head downstream and fish that section as we hiked out. We saw another fisherman so we wonder if the spots were already fished but we tried anyways. I caught 3 right around the same area and Phil caught some upstream from me. As we headed downstream I came across a hornets nest, not knowing, and got stung twice, on the head and on the leg. After that I was pretty much out of commission. We caught a couple more before taking a swim in the cold water and hiking out. Once we hiked out we took one more stop at Noland Creek and tried our luck there. We caught a couple there before we decided our time was done and we needed to eat. With a backpacking trip like this there was only one choice of food the trifecta of captain d's, zaxbys, and bojangles(which we craved the entire trip). It was a successful trip and two more smokey mountain streams down. We definitely found out quick we were out of shape. Til Next Time

-Dreamcatchers

Fontana Lake Overlook from the Road to Nowhere

Looking downstream at Forney Creek


Old chimney from the early settlement

Blooms everywhere

Nice Rainbow on the Yellow Stimulator

A couple pics and video from Sunday...

Little Guy

Nice Rainbow from David

Another Rainbow

Evening is the Time

The fishing on the Hiwassee has been insane lately. Fish bite almost anything you throw in, without hestiation. Wednesday I got off work early to head up and get a solid 3 hours of fishing in. David decided he would join in. The fishing was hot as expected. David had one of his best days on the river, pulling fish after fish out of some of the better runs. As dark set in I pulled in a nice brown. I want to head out to some different waters soon, but its hard to pass up the local one, when the fishing is this good...til next time

-Dreamcatchers

Rainbow from the depths

Little nymph action

Two fish at the same time please?

A taste of color

Fish Friends

Below is an assortment of pics and a video from the Hiwassee, the fishing has been great lately! The other night me and David were out until we couldnt see anymore catching prolly 40 to 50 fish in 3 hours after work....enjoy, til next time.....


-Dreamcatchers

Gotcha

Colors

Release Me

Browny

Kiiler Rainbow fighter

David doing work

Fat Rainbow from David

A Sweet Serenity

It seemed like a long week but actually it was short since I took Monday off. I was able to get out to the Smokies again this past Sunday. I headed back to Deep Creek to try my luck on one of the larger streams in the Park. I got there kinda late but hiked up the trail about 3 miles and put in and started upstream. There was a number of fishermen in the river for the first mile of the trail, but nothing after that. I was using a stimulator with copper john as my dropper. Immediately I had some hits, mostly on the nymph but some on the dry. I caught a few browns and a few rainbows. I hooked up with one decent sized rainbow, but he is not included in the pics below. He was hooked kinda nasty so I decided to save his life rather than make a photoshoot out of him. I had a fairly large hit downstream as I was hiking out, but I couldnt get it to hit again. It was a fun trip. It is always surreal to be all alone in the middle of the wilderness, with just you, the river, and the trout....til next time

-Dreamcatchers

Working upstream

Hello Friend

Took the Nymph

Peaceful

Another brown

Stocky Rainbow

This is as far as I made it up. I was a bit worried about the time I had before dark, since I had to walk back down the river til the trail met in. Next time I will walk up past the turn for sure.

A little color in the afternoon

Color Change

The days of freely fishing during the week are almost a distant memory, and now my window has grown much smaller. I try to make it out every Sunday but that often times doesnt satisfy my fishing appetite. I have on a couple of occasions gone into work early to get, if lucky, a couple hours of fishing in before dark on a weekday. My efforts are mostly focused on the weekends though. Me and David made it out a couple times to the local waters. The pics below are from a number of different streams in the area. The trees have come alive and Spring in southeastern Tennessee is in full bloom. Although it might not match the famous color schemes of fall, the Spring brings its own elements of beauty and pleasure. The fishing has been heating up, though we havent come close to some of those days last year were we seemed to be realing in near 70 fish on the Hiwassee. The Hiwassee has been spilling water over the Dam and increased flows have proven both beneficial and detremental to fishing. They started spilling too much water to wade the last couple weeks, but before that the high water provided some needed protection for a good chance at some larger fish. I was able to land the best brown I have ever caught one evening just before sunset. I was fishing a pretty deep run, with a caddis and a dropper, when I had a monster hit from the brown below. I thought numerous times he was going to break me off, but fortunately I was able to land him. My arm was exhausted from the fight, but it was well worth the shoulder workout. Some of the other pics are from some nice healthy wild fish in the area. The temps are continuing to heat up, and the hatches have been great. We are looking forward to more great fishing in the days to come...til next time

-Dreamcatchers

Upstream on the Bald River

A cascade on the North River

Rainbow in the net

Fishing a nice run on the North


Fish caught at the place above


Little Brown natched the Elk Hair Caddis

Big Bend, Hiwassee was still spilling at this time

Rainbow got fooled

Fat Brown nailed the caddis off the top. Brought him in just before sunset

Twenty Mile Creek

We werent sure of our next destination so we left it up to fate. A simple sweepstake drawing would determine were we would take our talents this time. We had 4 options: Noland Creek, Deep Creek, Forney Creek, and Twenty Mile Creek. I drew Twenty Mile and David did shortly after. It was our date with destiny, so we began planning our route. Twenty Mile Creek is hidden in the far southwest corner of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It is isloated from much of the park and rarely visited, certainly not by fisherman. We headed out early and made the long drive to Twenty Mile Creek. Upon arrival we packed up and started heading up the trail. The trail was wide at the start of the river, but quickly grew narrower as we continued to climb. We passed numerous runs that likely held quality fish. We had our sights set on the parts of the river that are rarely touched. We quickly found that entering the river from the trail was quite a hassel. We decided to pick a spot and hike upstream or downstream from that point in the creek itself. Navigation through the creek was difficult to say the least. Trees and Rhodo lined the sides of the river making it quite difficult to cast and wade. We had good luck though, landing a number of rainbows but also having our fair share of misses. The fish were wild and their colors showed it. We ended the day hiking back down, and driving the long road back. We both liked the river alot, and David thought so highly as to put it in his top 2 rivers in the park. So as the dust settled on another trip we set or sights forward to what the future will bring at the next destination...til next time

-Dreamcatcher

Picture this

Cool overlook from the mountains of the Lake

Destination Twenty Mile Creek

Looks like an old logging road for the first mile or so of the trail

Larger runs started out at the bottom of the river

This image is stuck in mind, and I'm sure will continue to reoccur. But thats what Dreamcatchers is all about.

Gotcha

This is a couple miles up river from the Lake, there were plenty of pools and runs

Another rainbow, and yes I netted him

Bright colored little rainbow

Some spots made me wonder how we made it through this river. Navigation was tough but well worth it.

Healthy wild rainbow took the stimulator off the top

David working his way around the stream

Agreesive little rainbow nailed my fly in some swift pocket water

Back near the bottom of the creek here. It widened out quite a bit from above.