A morning in the smokies.

flyrod444

Senior Member
I spent yesterday fishing a couple streams on the NC side of the smokies. Started off the morning having to stop and let this bull elk make up his mind when to cross the road. Then upon entering the park the rest of the herd was scattered around. First fish caught was biggest of the day. Even though it was caught miles into the park I feel it may have been a stock fish that had run up stream.
IMG_20200819_064659839_HDR_copy_510x680.jpg
IMG_20200818_070631310_copy_510x680.jpg
Fishing for the next couple hours was only fair picking one up here and there, but at least size was good.
IMG_20200818_102330452_copy_680x510.jpg
IMG_20200819_091357771_MP_copy_510x680.jpg
Moved to a smaller stream midmorning and started catching one or two every hole all on dry. They ran a little smaller but where still of pretty nice for the park.
IMG_20200818_080132708_MP_copy_510x680.jpg
IMG_20200819_092315473_copy_510x680.jpg
No trip is complete without a trophy. Glad the ranger didn't see me land this guy, he might have thought I was fishing with bait.
IMG_20200818_111604624_MP_copy_510x680.jpg
 

trad bow

wooden stick slinging driveler
Looks like a great day to me. Thanks for sharing.
 

NCHillbilly

Administrator
Staff member
Looks like a great day!
 

rnfarley

Senior Member
looks awesome! Love small stream fishing this time of year. Congrats. Seeing elk more frequently is super encouraging too!
 

NCHillbilly

Administrator
Staff member
I thought I was the only one around here who still tied those furry foam inchworms. Saw a guy catch a 27" brown out of a small trib of Cataloochee on one of those one afternoon after a hard storm.
 

flyrod444

Senior Member
Thanks everyone. The inch worm is one of my go to summer patterns. Luckily Roger Lowe gave me enough of the blanket material to tie them for the next year or two. Best thing about them is how quick they are to tie. The larger brown was caught on one. Fish this day caught on a dry hit either parachute Adams or Jack Cabe Hopper.
 

NCHillbilly

Administrator
Staff member
Thanks everyone. The inch worm is one of my go to summer patterns. Luckily Roger Lowe gave me enough of the blanket material to tie them for the next year or two. Best thing about them is how quick they are to tie. The larger brown was caught on one. Fish this day caught on a dry hit either parachute Adams or Jack Cabe Hopper.
Guess where I got my inchworm material? :) Roger taught me a lot about fly tying. I've still got some of that tan Dayco plastic to tie Coffee Stone Creepers, too. :)
 

flyrod444

Senior Member
Roger is a great guy and I use to drop by his shop from time to time. It's been great working with him since he started working with Brookings.
 

trout maharishi

Senior Member
Looks like a pretty good day in the park to me. That first brown looked like a good one. John Brinkley showed me and inch worm tied out of furry foam years ago. Only thing I've used for years. I'm curious about blanket material, especially in that color.
 

trout maharishi

Senior Member
Hillbilly those stone creepers Frank use to tie worked good. He us to catch more big fish than anyone else I knew at the time. I still have some of the tan material too. I remember there was some dark almost purple material he tied a darker version out of.
 

flyrod444

Senior Member
The first brown was around 15" but colors where not what I expected of a wild fish. Being that I caught it a couple miles in the park makes me think it was a stock fish that moved upstream. Roger had a whole blanket dyed just for making these inch worm patterns years ago.
 

NCHillbilly

Administrator
Staff member
Roger is a great guy and I use to drop by his shop from time to time. It's been great working with him since he started working with Brookings.
We miss him over here in Waynesville, though. Roger is a great guy for sure.
 

almoore

Senior Member
I loved Roger's shop in Waynesville. I was looking for a starling skin one time and he didn't have on on the racks so he gave me what was left of one he was using to tie flies at his bench.
 

NCHillbilly

Administrator
Staff member
I loved Roger's shop in Waynesville. I was looking for a starling skin one time and he didn't have on on the racks so he gave me what was left of one he was using to tie flies at his bench.
Yep, that sounds like Roger.
 
Top