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Little Tennessee River Fishing Reports
North Carolina Fishing Reports
BACK IN THE MOUNTAINS - PART 2
July 21, 2003
Smallmouth bass have just to be one of the finest fish there is. In the correct waters, he is very abundant and is aggressive as a teed-off bulldog. He aerial abilities are second to none, and a smallmouth will stay in the air more than in the water when hooked. While wading small rivers up to waist deep, I have actually had them jump over my head.
So, as soon as the waters cleared and the levels receded from all the rains, we hoofed it over to the Little Tennessee River, just above Franklin, NC. Last year, we caught literally hundreds of smallies from this beautiful river and our anticipation was high.
The water tuned out to be reasonable clear, but the current was still strong with run-off waters. It was difficult to wade the Little TN. that day and, if you got into the swift water deeper than your knees, it was difficult to hold your position or even stand. But, we are fishermen and fishermen are not always willing to concede to any obstacle when fishing is at stake. So, Dot and I rigged up small jerk baits and ventured out into the shallow water areas.
Remarkably, we were able to move about fairly well, so long as we avoided he deeper zones. And, the waters were not too cold at all. But, the current was swift and the small plastic jerk baits were very difficult to fish properly. So, we re-rigged them on 1/8-oz. Jig heads and swam them fairly fast down and across the current flow. This really worked well, mainly because smallmouths are so darn aggressive. Using the jig head and the Zoom Meathead plastic, we brought the lure across any sandy areas we could find among the rocks, as well as across any eddy areas behind obstructions. We rarely ever saw the fish go for the lures, as we were moving the lures so fast in the current and the boils obscured most sight.
I lost count of our catch in the three hours we fished, but it had to be somewhere in the 50-60 fish range. Most were small, very acrobatic smallies, as is common in these cold, fat-flowing mountain rivers. But, we did mange to hang about 7 that were 12-15 inches. Most tossed the heavy jig-type lure on the first or second jump, but we did land 4-5. Let me tell you that any smallie over a pound is a tough fish on ultralight tackle in strong current flow.
We plan to float the Little TN. River very soon, in that we will be able to access waters that are rarely fished. Much of the lower river runs through mountainous terrain that is not accessible by foot. So, the only anglers are those who float it. Two of our friend floated the section last year and found 2-5 lb. smallies in those waters.
For those who have not seen a smallmouth bass up close and do not know how to tell them from a largemouth or spotted bass, please se our photos. The smallie is brown and may have vertical black stripes on his side at times. His belly is a dirty white color, with small black speckles adding to the 'dirty' look.
BACK IN THE MOUNTAINS - PART 1
July 13, 2003
Here we are, back in the mountains of Western North Carolina. The weather is nice and cool, as usual, but it has been raining almost daily since May. That keeps the mountain rivers a bit dingy, high and running with a strong current. Wade fishing is next to impossible under those conditions. But, the lakes in the upper mountain regions remain only lightly stained and have provided excellent fishing.
On our first trip out, we ventured to Bear Creek Lake on the upper Tuckaseegee River system. Capitalizing on what we learned about these deep, cold waters last year, we went directly to the headwaters area. As expected, the rains had made the incoming flow slightly dingy, limiting the otherwise clear water to a visibility depth of about 5 feet. Dot elected to go with a 4-inch worm on light tackle and a 1/16th-oz slip sinker. I chose a 'Slider-type' set-up, utilizing a 1/16th-oz. Jig head and a 4-inch Zoom Meathead (basically a worm with a fat head).
One of us had brought the rabbit's foot that day as we were suddenly treated to the sight and sound of a school of bass exploding on a school of baitfish. For a moment, we could not locate the action. Then, the ripples on the water were seen coming from back under the dense, overhanging trees along the deeper shoreline. Most of these extending limbs were from Rhododendron trees, which were beginning to bloom (more on that a bit later). As we strived to see just what was happening, the bass pushed the baitfish into the open water and continued to rack them up. Now, we saw the action was, indeed, caused by feeding bass. While not large fish, there were lots of them and the action was fast and furious.
In haste, we both tossed our soft plastic set-ups at the boils and reeled back fast. The cooperative fish ate the fast-swimming worms with abandon. I switched off to the 4-inch JUNIOR swimming worm, which I had hoped would again entice smallmouths. The largemouth school never gave the lure a chance to do its 'swimming' action bit, as they grabbed it immediately as it hit the water. Dot changed to a ¼-oz. Rat-L-Trap and I picked up a Tiny Torpedo. The action continued non-abated. It was obvious that these bas were intent on completely eliminating the baitfish, as they loaded on everything we tossed at them. It was a shame they were mostly 1 to 1-1/2 lbs. We did se a few we thought larger, plus Dot had what may have been a 3-lb. Critter toss her Trap back to her.
15-20 minutes later, the surface action ceased. We waited awhile to se if the fish resumed their baitfish marauding, but they id not. So, went back to the worm and Meathead rigs and worked the edges of he submerged channel as it ran downstream from the headwaters area. That produced enough fish to keep us interested, but nothing of any size. A bit later, we discovered that we could get larger fish and immediate strikes if we skipped the lures back under the biggest overhangs with the heaviest shade. The water was less than a foot deep back under there and close to the bank, but the fish we waiting.
On one of these casts back into the shallow, shaded water, a lone rainbow trout appeared from nowhere and chomped down on the Meathead worm. That added some variety to the day and gave us anticipation of being able to catch supper. But, we saw no more trout and our single was released back to the Bear Creek waters.
A few days later, we went to the next lake down the Tuckaseegee chain, Cedar Lake. While we did not get lucky with schooling bass, we did find the water dingy and the same basic patterns as Bear Creek. Plus, we got treated to a few smallmouths from the shallow shaded patches.
One of the visual beauties of the Smoky Mountains is the blooming of the Rhododendron trees. The beautiful white and pale pink flowers of the trees light up the shorelines of the steams, rivers and lakes with giant splashes of color. In addition, the falling flowers and petals of the plants decorate the clear waters as they float he surface.
All in all, our summer mountain fishing appears off to a good start. Now, if we can just bump the size up some!!!!
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