Jim Casada's New Book

Well, I got the new book by Jim Casada the other day. I was eagerly awaiting its arrival. I stood in my doorway for a good while just flipping through the pages. It is a tomb for sure. It is very detailed and heavy on history of the park and its people. Fly Fishing In The Great Smoky Mountains National Park "An Insider's Guide to A Pursuit of Passion" is the official title of the book and it pretty much sums up the content of the book. Jim Casada is an insider and is widely known especially in the southeastern U.S. He has written numerous books, and articles. I especially remember him from several contributions to the now defunct "Trout South".

The book is very much worth its purchasing price. However there are several repetitious comments, and some comments are of almost an antagonistic view towards others, who has written about the Smokies. The author as he freely admits is opinionated and hard headed. If you can overlook the self confident personality it is a very nice read and highly recommended.

One noteworthy mistake is the fact that the reader claims that "Fighting Creek" in TN has never been mentioned in a fly fishing guidebook. It was recently mentioned in Ian Rutter's book on the smokies. The book also contains several spelling errors which is always a turn off in my opinion.

District 9

After all the buzz about "District 9", I and my wife decided to go see it. We went to a matinee' and settled down for the movie without concessions this time. It has gotten so expensive in my opinion that you should get stock options if you buy a combo deal. Anyway, back to the movie. First of all I would like to mention that I'm not a sci fi movie buff. This makes me somewhat biased against this type of movie. This movie however was sold to me as an alternative to traditional sci fi movies. Yes it it different but far from revolutionary. Far from conventional and it appealed to me as something breaking from the norm. The movie however failed to grab me. I think that the older I get and the more movies I have seen, the more of a hard pleasing viewer I become. This movie never really takes off, I felt the same as I did when I went to see the "Hangover". Nice enough story but when is it going to take off. District 9 is not worth paying $10 at a movie house for. Wait until it's out on DVD. It's somewhat funny that the only movie I've seen in the last six months worth anything to me was "Tennessee". Tennessee didn't get good reviews and was independently shot with a limited budget and no special effects. It wins hands down in this trilogy though. What's wrong with me?

Staring a Black Bear in the eyes on Abrams

I had stiff competition from this guy.

I decided to head up to Abrams Creek for some fishing this morning. I haven't been to the creek in about a year. I always have a good time although it is a very slick and dangerous stream to wade in. I got to the trail head first of all the people today right at 7:30 am. I began my trek and after about five minutes or so I startled a black bear. This bear apparently was going to climb a tree. That's why I didn't see it. I stared the black bear in the eyes for about ten seconds or so. I regained awareness from the initial shock and belched out a growl as loud as I could muster while poking my stick in the ground. The bear ran about fifty yards and then turned around and began staring at me again. I hollered again while hitting my wading staff on the ground. I began to retreat and the bear slowly moved on up the hill. I got back to where I started and decided to wait until someone else showed up before heading on up. After about thirty minutes a nice gentleman from Knoxville showed up. I told him the story and asked if I could hike with up to my fishing spot. He agreed as he was going to take some pictures at Abrams falls. We walked for a mile together before we went our separate ways. I thanked him and began my fishing. I picked up one 8" bow pretty quick but then it died down. It took a yellow partridge. I worked myself slowly upstream and after an hour or so managed to catch a nice 12" Rainbow trout on the same fly. I let the fly swing downstream and the fish took it hard. It's nice with the wild Abrams bows, since they are a little larger than average for the park. I continued upstream and ran in to a pair of Otters and a Great Blue Heron who was competing for the fish. Numerous deer and turkeys were seen as well as another Black Bear on my way out of the cove. This year has to be a good year for wildlife sightings. I only caught four fish for the morning, two of the fish were from last years class, about three inches each. Water temp was an amazing 60 degrees. Almost unheard of in August. A very memorable day but sorry no picture of the bear. I don't think the bear would have appreciated a flash in it's face from a distance of six feet.12" Bow from Abrams Creek

Laurel Fork River

I called my friend Pete from Maryville the other day. I had some questions about going to a certain river in NC, but we decided against it. I told him let's go up to Laurel Fork for a day trip on Sat. We left Knoxville at 5 am and was rigged up and ready to fish at 8:30 am. Fishing was slow for me in the am but Pete caught three browns very quickly. I began to pick up some small fish but the feed bag wasn't really on.. We quit for lunch at about 11 or so and decided to fish lower for the afternoon.


After some sightseeing at the falls area we began fishing at 2 pm. I used a soft hackle Partridge and Yellow size 14 dropped under a BHPT and finally two small browns took it. The water was pushing 66 degrees. We managed to move upstream and whne the cloud cover came in Pete began picking up some fish. He caught one 12" and another in the 11" range. I had more difficulty as I was getting tired and hungry. I also didn't have Pete's fly LOL. I stopped for a snack break and Pete joined me as a rain shower came in.

We waited it out and decided to fish a couple of hours before dark at a higher elevation due to the warm water. It turned out to be the right decision. The water was 61 and more active fish as a result. I managed to catch a 10 " bow and a small brookie to my suprise. After several small browns it was time to quit for the day. Pete meanwhile had picked up another ten browns or so.

We made it home to Knoxville right past 11 pm and let me tell you, I was sore and tired getting out of my bed this morning. All in all a very nice but strange day in many respects. It's always nice to spend a day with Pete as he has a lot of knowledge and interesting stories to boot.

Dennis Cove Camping trip August 7-8, 2009

Decided to do a one night camping trip to Dennis Cove again. I took a day off from work and got to the camp site at about 10 am. I rigged up and decided to fish between Laurel Falls and the AT trailhead. It took about an hour or so before the fish began to cooperate. I caught one brown about 12" and several in the 8" range. No rainbows today. I only fished a couple of hours as I needed to go to camp and cook some burgers I had bought. It was cool at night and a lovely outing. The river looked great and you couldn't ask for better weather. I've been kind of lazy today and now it's back to work for tomorrow.

Sand Cave KY, Cumberland Gap National Historical Park

This cave is huge, I took this picture from the interior looking down on some other hikers. It's at least two hundred yards.


What a treat! This hike is very strenuous but it's worth every step. I got to the Ewing, VA trail head at about 11:30 am this morning. I rigged up and soon got on the trail. This trail goes basically straight up the mountain for about three miles. There are a few switchbacks along the trail but you will begin to feel your heart pumping after about a mile or so. I ran in to some horseback riders and all of a sudden a German Shepherd appeared out of nowhere. I thought it belonged to them but they said it had followed them for a while. Apparently someone dropped this dog off. It was very sad. The dog was starving and lonesome. It was very friendly and it was apparent it had belonged to someone. I wish I could take it but I don't have the resources. It followed me and several other people on different spots on the trail.

I got to the Sand Cave after about an hour and forty five minutes. What a nice place. It is cool and a lot bigger than I thought. A couple was sitting inside the cave when I showed up. I spoke to them briefly while I ate my lunch. I decided to visit the White Cliffs over look on my way out. It is a very steep climb out to the over looks but a must do on this hike. I was very impressed with this hike and the fact that it is less crowded than the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and the litter situation is not as bad. All in all a very impressive hike but not for the faint of heart.

I spoke with a volunteer for the park service on my way down, hopefully they can catch the dog. The problem though, with all the unwanted animals in shelters the prognosis for the dog is not good. I wish I could have taken the dog home. It kind of bothers me that people can be so heartless. I understand that it's not easy to take care of a dog in these times, but to leave it at a trail in a wilderness to fend for itself!
The homeless German Shepherd on the trail.

The water fall coming from the top of Sand Cave.


Interior of Sand Cave.

The White Rocks.


View from top off White Rocks Elevation 3513ft or 1071 meters. The valley is Poor Valley, VA.