Hiwassee and Newbie day with TU

I had decided to donate a few things to Athens TU, and I thought the monthly newbie day they conduct on the second Saturday of each month was a good way to get down there to hand the stuff over. I fished a couple of hours in the morning above Big Bend and caught three small bows. Went to the event at 10 and had a nice visit with some old and new friends. Ate a hot dog lunch with the TU folks and then I headed upstream with Buzz McManus, for some fishing above the powerhouse. It is mainly small mouth and sunfish, perch, etc water up there, but in the cooler months trout do move up there when the water temp from the flume gets marginal for trout. It was 62 up on the river and 68 from the discharge. Buzz and I fished for an hour or more and I caught two rainbows and he did about the same. The obligatory shiners and horny heads were also present. Buzz even landed a bluegill. I saw some perch that I spooked and Buzz had a small mouth attacking his fly at one time. The river is very nice up that way, and I will definitely revisit at a later date.

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.

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.