Little Creek, Big Rocks

I had to return to this stream. I gave it a try back in march while the water was still cold enough to need waders and I got skunked on this little rivulet. That doesn't happen very often and it left a bad taste in my mouth that's been festering for too long.

Yesterday I met up with my usual fishin buddy and brother in law, Stu, and we headed on up to the trail head where we were to meet up with "The angler formerly known as C4PZLOK" (sorry dude, I had to) If you are a Tennesseeanglers member you may have heard of him, or his more recent screen name, Fox. Fox is a regular contributor on the forum, seasoned angler, though fairly new to fly fishing and a pretty laid back dude. Introductions were made, jokes were cracked, rods got strung and then we started our way up the trail.

I'm pretty laid back as well until you get me on the trail. Stu always makes me walk in front so I don't keep poking the back of his head with my fly rod as I stare off into the forest like a kid from Southern Cal who never had so many trees. Though, I suspect its got as much to do with the spider webs strung across the trail.

We saw signs of bear and boar along the way, mostly in the lower part of the trail. Scat and paw prints on the trail were common. We found a mud hole as well.  Before long we arrived at the stream and started casting. It was a little slow at first, a take here and there but not much action. Fox fished a hole that looks like it has been marked.

I took off my pink weenie dropper and just fished a beetle and things picked up a bit.

An interesting flower I thought my daughter would like to see. Only one pic was worth a darn, I really need to get a little tripod.

I've never seen a caterpillar like this before. The Kidd described it as "Epic" and I can't disagree.

I also had just seen a big fuzzy chartreuse caterpillar dangling from a limb that I couldn't get a decent picture of. Seeing these caterpillars and little else in the way of bugs on the stream made me dig into the fly box for a green weenie when I saw another fly in there that made sense. I made one last year just messing around, and decided to make two more just in case it worked. They have just sat in my fly box for two years getting passed over for proven patterns.

After I dropped a glass caterpillar off of my beetle my catch rate went way up. Stu and Fox found the same success with green weenies and san juan worms.

We passed three rock cairns where I only recall there being one last time. Or there is only one in my picture from the last trip. I'm not sure but I think this might mark a manway over the ridge that drops into another stream.

The fish were greedy for chartreuse as we leapfrogged our way up the stream. I quit counting after 20 brook trout came to hand. Not a monster brookie day but respectable. We finished our day when we came to a place where the water cascaded over a rock formation that looked like swiss cheese. Stu fished the left side and I took the right. Two more brookies came to hand.

It is as good of a landmark as any to start from next time...

the foam beetle

As mild as the summer has been lately, make no mistake, the dog days are here. In the mountains, aside from the occasional stoneflies, there aren't any major hatches right now. While dry flies like the neversink caddis, poor man's stimulator, parachute and wulff adams, among others will still catch trout, the best bet is terrestrials. My favorite of these is a big black foam beetle. They will float any heavy stonefly nymph you can come up with, and your truck too. Maybe not your truck, but they do float well.

I have tinkered with a few different materials and styles the last few years and have finally settled on one that outdoes the rest. I started out tying the original peacock herl bodied foam beetle but that was too wimpy. A few trout teeth and it was done. Then somebody introduced me pearl chenille and rubber legs. I liked the durability but I also had fewer strikes. It just wasn't natural looking with the little plastic rectangles sticking out everywhere. Earlier this year I decided to try tying a couple with a dubbing underbody. I dug through my supplies and came across some Ice dubbing I hadn't been using. Bingo! The stuff is a bit difficult to use being synthetic but its durable, has a nice buggy look and not too much flash.

Teimco 2312 size 10-i prefer size 12 but i'm out
Black thread 70 denier
Peacock loco foam
Chocolate brown ice dubbing
Medium round black rubber legs
White para post

To start, cut the foam into a strip 1/4" to 3/8" wide and cut the corners of one end into a taper. Cut the legs into 1 1/2 inch lengths.

Wrap down the hook and tie the last 1/16" of the taper above the bend. Wrap it loose at first, tightening as you go to prevent cutting into the foam

Next comes the hard part. The plastic dubbing doesn't stick to the thread as well as finer dubbing materials, and sometimes comes loose while wrapping. I don't have dubbing wax so the way I found to beat it is to use a little at a time, wrapping up and down the hook in a few layers. Be sure to leave a gap behind the hook eye to tie down the foam.

Fold the foam over and pull it snug. Wrap to hold it down the same as earlier, loose at first and gradually tightening as you wrap. Don't trim the remaining foam yet. Next tie in the rubber legs. One at a time i fold them in half around the thread, pinch the tips between my fingers, pull them tight and place them with a wrap of thread.

Cut off a strand of para post, fold it in half and tie it on top of the beetle. I make a few wraps around it to make a true parachute post. Lift the loose foam and whip finish on the eye of the hook. Trim the foam, legs, dubbing and parachute post to your liking. I often use a drop of superglue to help hold things in place.

I like the peacock foam but it is expensive as far as foam sheets go. It also blends with the water so it makes the para post a must, but any closed cell 2mm foam will do. Hope you enjoy!

big creek

I have been keeping my eye out for the midnight hole for some time. I first heard about it when I moved here back in '97, but had no clue for years where it was. Last year while spending an evening gorging myself on the Great Smoky Mountains Landforms map I found it and spent some time doing my homework.

Yesterday The Kidd and I finally made our way to the Big creek section of the Smokies. Having never been there before we had no idea what to expect. The parking lot was already full and finding a spot was a little difficult. We pulled in at 11:15 am and made our way to the trailhead. It wasn't hot but it was humid like it had just rained, so we started sweating immediately.

The trail at first follows the side of a ridge overlooking the creek in places, but for the first 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile the water is nowhere to be seen. Soon enough the trail found its way back to the stream and it was a sight to behold. big boulders often bigger than a car, Lots of pocket water, some small runs and hopefully lots of trout.

We stopped and checked out a couple of spots along the way not knowing if the midnight hole was marked or how close we were. The water was low so I wondered if it would look anything like the pictures I had seen on Google. We found a spot with a little waterfall and a fairly deep pool and the Kidd spotted a bird nest under a rock overlooking the water, with a few trout feeding in the pool below.

We hit the trail again and within a few minutes I spotted something familiar through the trees. The water was just as blue as the pictures I had seen and there were several trout visibly feeding in the pool in front of us. We weren't alone but were fortunate enough to get a good picture before the hordes showed up and it turned into a swimming hole. I was amazed that the trout didn't hide when everyone started jumping and swimming. They were apparently used to it and kept feeding, never more than a few feet away. One hung out so close to shore I was able to get an underwater shot of him.

Well that looked like fun so I decided I wanted to jump too. The Kidd wanted no part of it and was content to hang out, dip her toes and mostly avoid the cold water.  But me, first time here, and not knowing when I'll ever be back, I had to do it. The hard part was climbing the big rock (not visible) on the left. The 10 year olds were practically running up it compared to me at 36. I slipped and scraped my right shin while making the short climb up.

After I got that out of my system some lunch was ate, some drying out, and then we were off to find mouse creek falls. Its just a short half mile past the midnight hole and there were some really good views of the creek along the way.

At the falls I found some weird fungus growing on the side of a tree. There were alot of people down the path to the falls, and we had already had our fill of being in a crowd for the day, so we hung back and looked on from a higher perspective

I have read Don Kirk's book "Smoky Mountain Trout Fishing Guide" from cover to cover and still refer to it when I go someplace new. Occasionally I have found his assessment of fishing quality to be understated. On Big creek he wrote, "The quality of fishing on Big creek does not quite match the scenery" but the multiple trout I saw earlier said different. I brought along a fly rod and wanted to test the fishing once we passed mouse creek falls. My theory is that 60-70% of people turn around from there and head for their car, and the water above would be less crowded. We found an empty spot just a few minutes up the trail and I strung up the 'ol Temple Fork 4wt(RIP) with a Poor Mans Stimulator and a bead head pheasant tail dropper.

Don Kirk was partially right. This is one of the more scenic streams I've been on, considering proximity to the car. But the fishing I found to be awesome! In two short runs I missed three trout on the PMS and landed three on the BHPT. I only fished for around ten minutes before the incoming clouds went dark, and we thought we heard a little thunder. Not one to test fate while holding a 9ft lightning rod, I kept the tip low and we started our way back towards the truck. I hope to make it back one day soon to pierce some more lips and see what else this little big creek has to offer