Road Prong and Little Pigeon

Great Smoky Mountains National Park 10-

Road Prong and the Little Pigeon

I woke up early with my sights set on fishing the Clinch River, legendary for its huge trout. I followed plan, waking up and driving to the Clinch. I decided to try a spot I had fished before. The morning water was freezing cold which complicated matters since I forgot my waders. After about an hour of no bites and freezing cold water temps, I decided to alter my plans. I have long desired to fish the West Prong of the Little Pigeon, so I set my eyes on that. When I arrived at the Chimney Tops Trailhead I decided I would hike up a mile to the Road Prong (a tributary of the Little Pigeon) Trail. I had read the Road Prong has a good supply of brook trout throughout. After reaching the trail I hiked up about another mile or so, trying to find an access point to the river. I found a small water drainage trail that provided just enough space for me to crawl down to the river below. I dropped in right below a cascade and worked my way all the way down the river, until its run in with the trail. Fishing was red hot, brook trout almost bit on every cast on the Road Prong. The trout were small in size but had alot of fight in them. Each trip to the Smokies provides its own unique story and experience, and this was no different. Til next time

-Dreamcatchers

A storm rolls in over the Smokies

Destination Road Prong

Trail heading up Road Prong

I dropped in right at this cascade

Fooled him

Little Brook Trout

A great run on Road Prong

Lizard observing my fishing skills

Another nice run

Gotcha

A better sized brook, but still small

West Prong of the Little Pigeon

Looking downstream

Small rainbow

Another rainbow poses for the camera

Another Day In Paradise

Tellico River -10

Everyday is a good day to fish. A little rain in the forecast couldn't convince us to abandon our fishing plans. David fished the early shift, and I joined him around mid-morning. The fish were hitting yellow patterns pretty hard, and I had alot of success with both caddis and stimulators. We both caught a number of fish that varied in size. I managed to land a real nice sized rainbow on a yellow stimulator. Just as we had hoped, cloudy skies kept the water cool and the fish rising. Just another day in paradise for us. Til next time....

-Dreamcatchers

Brillant colors on a small rainbow

A pretty good size rainbow, that took me for a ride

Nice run where I found my big buddy waiting for me

Beast fish

Upper tellico

Rainbow from the run above

Hiwassee, Tellico, North

Hiwassee, Tellico, North Rivers -10

I was ready for an early morning adventure, so I decided to travel up to the familar territories of the Hiwassee, Tellico, and North Rivers. The Hiwassee greeted me with heavy fog and chilly morning waters just as I had hoped. I had instant success, catching three fish before the sun came over the ridge, but also experienced failure, losing a big rainbow in the river. I caught a small brown in the trophy section and a decent sized rainbow. After a successful morning, I traveled up to the Tellico and North Rivers to continue fishing. Tellico was great fishing, I caught two good sized rainbows, but then realized I was in a no fish zone. I then decided to try my luck at the North. I fished the North for about an hour with no luck. Finally I pulled in a small wild rainbow. Overall it was another successful day of fishing...til next time

-Dreamcatchers

Fog on the Hiwassee in the Early Morning

Rainbow caught just above Big Bend

Good Sized Rainbow from the trophy section

A Run on the Tellico River

Carrying Babies Maybe?

Best fish of the day

Glimpse into the life of a dreamcatcher

North River

Another run on the North River

Little Wild Rainbow

Little River

Little River -10

After a two week hiatus from fishing me and David decided to dive back into the action on Wednesday. We threw out a variety of fishing destinations including: The Bald river, Caney Fork, and the Little River. As Lebron would say, we decided to take our talents to the Little River. We arrived in Great Smoky Mountains National Park around mid-day, but with plenty of time to conquer the river. Unfortunately the road to the trailhead and the Little River trail was closed, preventing us from hiking far upstream. I had read of the large brown population throughout the river above Metcalf Bottoms, so we figured to try our luck there. The day was mostly unsucessful until the later hours. The extreme heat, warmed the water quick and we didnt have much luck. As the day drew on me and David both began to catch fish. I had a fairly good size (by smoky standards) rainbow on but lost him in a current. The day ended successfully with us both having caught some fish. Now having wet the fishing tastebuds, time will only tell what our next destination might bring us. Til next time...

-Dreamcatchers

Entering the Park

A small cascade on the Little River

Trying to find the beasts


Wildflowers lined the sides of the river

A small rainbow catch

David working his magic

Decent Rainbow catch on a caddis

Yosemite

Yosemite 2010

The day-long travel was well worth the wait as we ventured into the storied Yosemite National Park. Vastly different temperatures awaited us, most notably a relieving decrease of humidity. Influenced by the ever present snow, our backpacking plans were altered to explore some well known sites and some rarely visited places of the park. We made the strenuous hike up the cables of the infamous half dome, and the spectacular clouds rest. From these points we experienced vistas that only people can dream of. Later in the hike we traveled out to Washburn Lake, far from the crowds of people that clog the half dome and the valley trails. Being well-established explorers by nature, we decided to try our hand at fishing the park. Although we could have been persuaded by the many reports that suggested the park had poor fishing we were determined to find out for ourselves. In the deep woods we decided to first try our luck at Sunrise Creek, an often hiked destination off the John Muir Trail. Just as we had hoped we had great success, catching over 20 trout the first day of fishing. These native trout were clever and easy to spook, so stealth movements were essential. After fishing the creek for a couple days we tried our luck at Washburn Lake. Although some reports had shown Washburn to be a good fishing lake, we were unable to catch any fish on our visit. Due to the large amounts of snowmelt, the Merced River was up and far too rough to fly fish, except in very few slow portions. We didn’t have any luck in the Merced River. Next time we will be more prepared and the fish that were left untouched might not be so fortunate….

Til next time

-Dreamcatchers

Looking Down the Canyon from Cloud's Rest

Catching some serious meditation ontop of Cloud's Rest

Half Dome

The Cables of Half Dome

David and Danny ontop of Half Dome

Nevada Falls

Loads of trout waiting to be caught in this section

A small portion of Sunrise Creek

Two deer drinkin out of Sunrise Creek a couple feet from our campsite

The relection on Washburn Lake in the morning

Danny fishing on Washburn Lake

One of the few slower portions of the Merced River

Fishing the Merced River

Little trout caught out of Sunrise Creek

Tellico river

Tellico River-

The Tellico River is known for its trophy sized trout and the high number of trout that are stocked each year. For some reason we have not had much success at the Tellico over the years. We decided to give it another shot and this time we were destined to catch something. After hours of fishing Phil had caught a couple small ones under the hatchery but still we werent have much success. We decided we would try above the hatchery where they dont stock it and test our luck up there. Once again Phil caught a couple more and so he came down to get me so maybe I could get a small one so I wouldnt go without catching any, thats the mark of a true fisherman teammate. After a couple casts in Phil's pool I saw a nice one come up to the top. I threw in my caddis one more time and it nailed it. With mine and Phil's teamwork we got it in, Phil manning the net and me reeling. It was the biggest trout I have caught yet and was a very pretty rainbow. Its amazing how one fish like that can make a trip go from another day at the river to one that stands out. We continued fishing for a couple more hours and caught a few more smaller ones. All in all it was a good day to be out on the river again. Til next time

-Dreamcatchers

Tellico River above the hatchery

A good view looking upsteam the Tellico River

An awesome colored fish caught on the caddis


Caught about 4 or 5 rainbows in this run here


Nice fish caught in the run above


Releasing the Beast

Small rainbow from the North