strangercreek

COOL! Thanks guys

I got a chance to fly fish the Smoky Mountains back in March and found it really interesting how different it was. So many things are completely opposite. I was having a hard time hooking fish because I have conditioned myself against the "bass hook set" which is what my guide said is a necessity there (being quick anyway) but that is common for tailwater fisherman to have that difficulty. He also said it is bad etiquette to be any where within 100 yards (or more) upstream of another fisherman. I found this to be pretty amazing. The park does have 700 miles of water so it makes sense. You always have the river to yourself. The guide talked about "casting holes" or back casting like it was a rarity which kind of made me laugh. Everything on that trip was roll casting or side arming, but it makes sense since we were standing close to the shoreline quite a bit. We caught only a few fish (my wife and I) but they were wild trout (trout stocked in the 70s and not stocked again) and the guide said the fish there grow maybe 1-3" per year (3 being really aggressive growth). If I understand right, don't our hatchery trout grow at a rate of 1" per month at times? (I could be wrong on this) We talked a little about fly rods and the thing I found interesting was the guide's reference to 5 WT rods as if they were "heavy artillery". He was talking about throwing gigantic, huge size 6 weighted streamers and having to break out the 5 weights to cast them. We were using 3 and 4 wt rods however, but they were perfect for the conditions. I usually grab the 8 WT to throw heavy flies for wipers and largemouth at home. At Taney, I still use a 6wt most of the time probably because I started fishing with a 6 WT. The rivers themselves (we were on either the Little Pigeon or Middle Fork) were full of broken currents and holes (huge rocks, etc). There were very few areas where the current was one big "slick" like we see in alot of areas at Taney. There seemed to be a trout in about every pocket though. Fish are very spooky. We saw a decent size brown shoot across stream after stepping on a twig about 20 ft away. The many different individual currents allowed for alot of short casts and high sticking, and taking one very careful step at a time and making sure each foot is planted before moving the other (the rivers were pretty high and fast due to rain and snowmelt coming down). When I booked the trip I was not sure where we would be fishing and talked to the guide about fishing for rainbows, native brookies etc. He said they normally wait to follow the hatch up the mountain before looking for the brookies. I did see a great deal of huge stone fly nymphs crawling on the rocks, which was the main fly I was using under a huge stimulator, which also got a few strikes (I was WAY to slow on the set for them though). The native Brooks are at 3-4000 ft up the mountain(or something like that. I am sure someone else on this forum is more familiar with that). Quill Gordons and March Browns were the main dry fly I heard about while I was there. Gatlinburg itself was pretty cool as we had a stream running right behind our hotel room and they stock trout in town a couple of times a week which make their way into all of the adjoining creeks. We actually saw a few fish from the road while walking around that evening. The people at the fly shop had all heard about Taneycomo, a couple of them having fishing it several times. The guide was really good and the trip was a blast, even if it only lasted a half day (one stop of many in the Carolinas on that trip). I would definitely stop into that shop again if I ever get back down there (Smoky Mountain Angler). I did enjoy seeing the contrasts between what I am used to and the Smokie's, makes me want to check out Colorado, New Mexico, South Dakota.....on and on. I thought commenting on the differences would be interesting for anyone that hasn't been there (or anyone that has and had a completely different experience than I did) Jason

I was in this area over the weekend. It looks like the first few yards of water directly west of the low water bridge is MDC property (at the very top access you are referring to) according to the map anyway. This part of the creek was flowing very well, not sure if there are fish up there or not.

It looks like I have found myself with a similar problem. I have a WF line that is broken in the running line, right behind the taper. The core is still intact but the coating is broken all the way through, completely around the core. I am able to put a good amount of pressure on it by pulling so it seems it would hold up under fishing conditions, but what should I do to patch it so that is will still slip through the guides? I hate to replace it already. I evidently did this when pulling on the leader/tippet when trying to unspool the reel enough to rig up the rod (if it does not come off easily next time I will know NOT to do this as 6x flourcarbon apparently slices through fly line coating ) I would hate to cut the core and loop it back together since it is still intact.

Mike, Since I had some extra cracklebacks from you back when we did the dry fly swap, I tried one out at RR. I landed a 16" rainbow in the last dam inside the park. Good fly, you should keep a few of those in your vest...

don't get to much of that stuff on your fingers

The Smithville Lake spillway is a fun place to fly fish. I have landed some huge drum there on my 8 WT. I've seen the bigheads swimming around (they won't make it back to the water if I catch them though)

That is wierd on the username, I have never noticed that before. My username always shows up. There must be something you can set up in your eBay preferences. Strange

The prestige reels are identical to the Okuma Magnitude (different material). The line it comes with is their house line they put on combos (same as their prestige line just a different color supposedly. I have asked for these lines and bought them in the plastic bag before and had pretty good luck with them. They sell the line with backing and leader for $20 but you have to ask for it at the fly shop counter). http://cgi.ebay.com/Cabelas-Prestige-Fly-R...1QQcmdZViewItem

taxiderm and soggyfeet, both well said There is definitely no specific blame. It was a freak accident and that is what people need to keep in mind. You should always use caution on the rivers (or any water) as you never know what can happen (this is something the crowds of drunks should keep in mind). You have to be responsible for your own actions. If you choose to be on the river when there are downed trees, you really should have some experience in a canoe also...which these people had, and still wound up in tragedy.... that just goes to show you....anything can happen

A few years ago I lost a canoe on the Niangua, early in the season, very high river, no "snags" cleared yet. I talked Ho Humm into renting a canoe before the season started. He was nice about it and only charged me an extra $25 after losing it and said it would turn up. I lost all my gear and my shoes, had to walk down to NRO campground barefoot on the bank. I had thorns in my feet, the worst case of poison ivy I have ever experienced, and of course cuts from broken glass (thanks to all the littering morons, no excuse for that). I see the small signs & markers on the river from time to time where someone has died. It is sad. It was scary. People go down those rivers thinking they are completely harmless. They need to be respected.... Not to make light of this kid's death, as it is very sad and I feel sorry for the family.

It looks like the pics on this forum answer my question, but I'll ask anyway. Is it OK to use treblehooks in the upper Taney area? I fished with a little cleo spoon this weekend and immediately stopped using treble hooks when I saw how severely I hooked the fish. No offense to anyone here, I was just wondering about the rules.

I've heard some of the lakes in Central KS, (Kanopolis, Wilson) have some pretty good flats for carp fishing as well as stripers. Look up Flatslander guide service for some more info (Capt Sodie). I have done some carp fishing in the northern parts of Perry Lake (north of hwy 92) where the river comes in, no luck but I don't really know what I'm doing as far as carp fishing yet. I tried using a crawfish pattern. I'm hoping I can try it more this year when the water warms up. I have also seen pics of some huge carp caught on flies in the Wakarusa River (above Clinton Lake)

I have one of those to and regardless of what anyone says, they are great reels...(the Hobbs Creek, and the Dogwood canyon for that matter as it is the same hardware setup)

I have the 3/4 and it is a decent reel for the money.

I was waiting for a "Bush bashing" on that one... oh well

Beware of these sites. I have had two sets from a similar site, both of which I had problems with more than one tire in the set. They were quite a bit cheaper (Dunlop tires) but I had issues with vibration etc I am wondering if tires from some of these sites are ones that did not make it through some type of quality control. I had them both mounted and balanced at a volvo dealership that had very sophisticated equipment as well.

I have been looking at a TICRx. I like the idea of the warranty and I have heard that it is a great rod if you want to go with something fast. It would be a 5 wt for me so that I can shoot those soft hackles to long distance targets at Taney.

sorry Terry, the ADD is kicking in again

What about taking a Cortlant loop connector, cut the loop off, use the remaining section to join the two pieces of fly line (use the heat shrink tubing to secure both sides). I would this this would work and it would go through the guides easily if you rounded the heat shrink edges off with some zap a gap or knotsense.

http://www.rogerssportinggoods.com/ Liberty, Missouri I have seen tons of molds there, that plays is like a basspro or cabelas X 1000 their website does not do them justice Jason

I have a friend who has had to relocate to Pearland Texas to be near the MDAnderson clinic as he has a stage 4 angio sarcoma (cancer around the heart and he is 32 years old). He is a big time "big cat" fisherman up here in Kansas (Kaw, Delaware, Strangercreek, Marais Des Cygne, lakes etc). They are able to get him out of the apartment on his good days and he has been able to fish at the pier in Galveston (I think that is the right city). I am trying to see if I can get Bass Pro to help him out with a rig that will work for salt water. Some money has been raised for him but it is needed for living expenses and of course the costs that occur regardless of health insurance. I sent an email to the store manager and I plan on calling them as well. They have a store in Pearland. If anyone knows of another contact or string I might pull I would appreciate the info. Jason

$15 ....and like I mentioned they only have 2-3 of those left, then it is the 7 ft models with the spinning guides after that

It will be on the other side of I35 (west side) at A highway, so just north west of where they are now.

I was at Roger's Sporting Goods in Liberty MO this morning (formerly Roger's Lures) and they still have some of the Eagle Claw Featherlights in a 7 foot with the snake guides (as opposed to the spinning guides on the new 7 ft models). These look to be an older design as they are a different shade of yellow and do not have the Eagle Claw plate on the grip. Their website is http://www.rogerssportinggoods.com/ but you might have to call them on alot of the items. They are in the process of moving to a brand new facility after 25+ years and hopefully they will have a better online catalog. Just thought I would mention this if anyone was interesting in rounding out their line up of these cool little rods. I already have one. They had a few of these. The rest of the 7 footers had the spinning guides on them.