Saturday, July 31, 2010

Your Republic is Calling You by Young-Ha Kim


I just finished this Korean authors spy novel. Well spy novel might not be exact. It is more a study of a mans change as he move from reclusive North Korea to the south. It is not a move by choice as he is forced in to the spy business. He is sent by the North to be planted in to the south Korean society. We never get the feel for why this happened nor do we get a real sense of the outcome. It could have been a real good story as the set up is real entertaining but halfway through the book I found myself wanting the darned thing to end. I can't recommend this book unless you have absolutely nothing better to do. The graphic sexual references are also somewhat of a turn off. I'm not a prude normally, but they don't add anything to the book and feel like they are included just for their shock value. 2 out of 5 stars.

Hiwassee yet again.

I have made a decision to spend some time on the Hiwassee this year. This was my fourth trip this year I think. Water temp are still fine. I got 64 in the morning at the stair steps and it was 68 at noon when the water came up. The best fishing is of course between first daylight and about 10 am or so. I saw sporadic Yellow Sallies and some tan caddis. No real action on top but very good fishing under the surface. I caught 14 and lost many more. All very good sized fish for wade fishing on the Hiwassee. I caught several rainbows in the 12" range and one brown of 12". Very colorful and hard fighting. They all took either the BH Pheasant Tail or an Olive Soft Hackle size 14. Very nice to see the river produce like that. Only one dink today, a small brown.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Hiwassee River again

My friend P and I went to the Hiwassee Sunday morning. It was my second weekend going to the mighty HI. I just love that river. It's so beautiful and relaxing to fish. We caught some decent stockers and P got a nice brown trout or two. Water temp still holding up well. A cool 62 in the morning and even in the shallower water it was only 65. Let's hope the river will stay cool this year.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Hiwassee River

The mountains have not gotten the rain it need for fishing to be good. I decided therefore to head down to the HI again. I've heard the temperature down there is holding up pretty good this year. Sure enough it was 63 degrees today. I caught and released 7 bows and a small brown in three hours this morning. The river was bursting at the seams with people today. I guess everyone is trying to escape the heat. I think the bad water situation in the mountains is drawing people to the tailwaters. I fished nymphs and soft hackles all morning with one five minute exception. I tossed a yellow Klinkhamer and caught the small brown with it.

Monday, July 5, 2010

Day Trip to S. Holston and a mountain stream

Took off early on Saturday, got to South Holston right at 6:30 am. I shared the river with a dozen or so anglers. It didn't feel too crowded considering it was a holiday weekend. I immediately caught a small stocker bow on a BH Pheasant Tail Nymph size 14. Immediately I thought, this will be an easy day. It's funny how a fish on your first cast can mean slow the rest of the day. That's what happened. I had to fight hard the rest of the morning. I fished until 10 am and only managed to reel in five fish. Four were bows and one foul hooked brown. It was frustrating to say the least. The morning was cool and pleasant though. No real surface activity and I can only hope that the sulphur fishing in the afternoon was better.

I decided to take a break when the pulse came through and headed up to a mountain stream. This stream is a high quality fishery but it was very low today. We really need some good rain. I caught one small brown and lost several. My heart wasn't really in it today. I fished for a couple of hours before I decided to head back home to Knoxville. It was very pleasant in the higher elevations and it was nice to escape the heat down below. Got home and ended up with a severe sinus headache. Didn't do much on Sunday and even less today. We managed to cook some food on the grill and just chilled. Back to work tomorrow.