Big Rainbow

 

 

 

8-16-03 Hiwassee River Trip Report
----------------------------------------------
note: In the summer of 2003 I decided to start archiving some of my trip reports. I remember some from the past that I wish I had archived. Shortly after that, I made this trip, and decided to archive the report. Next time I updated, I forgot about archiving, and edited and saved the old report, losing it forever. So, this 9-28-03, I am reconstructing the report as best I can from memory.
----------------------------------------------
My hike up the tracks from the railroad bridge was uneventful. I puffed my corncob, ate some thimbleberries from time to time, and enjoyed the morning. I like to fish Little Rock Island in the late summer, because that is when and where I've caught most of my big fish. I have some theories about that. When the water starts getting warm their metabolism goes up and they need to feed more, and at the same time stocking has stopped on the lower part of the river and their steady supply of stocker rainbows has been cut off, so they have to feed a little more actively. Whatever the reason, late summer trips to Little Rock Island have worked well for me, and that's where I want my ashes scattered.

I waded in at my usual spot and worked down the bank with an isonychia nymph, which is what I usually use up there. My first fish was a 13" brown from November's stocking (adipose not clipped). That's a good way to start a day. I picked up a stocker rainbow, and waded on over to the main flow.

I got a good rainbow on, and a passing kayaker with a grey beard paused to watch me land it. "Bravo!" he said. "I saw you on tv, nice roll cast!" Channel 3 had recently run a travel feature about Tic Smith's guided trips, and they had used some footage of me casting for a lead in. Made me famous! I released the 12-1/2" rainbow, and worked down to the shoals.

I waded across the top ledge, and worked back across on the lower ledge. I picked up a small brown and some stocker rainbows, and by the time I reached the bank I had a limit of trout. That's always a relief, because I publish a stream report every week, and I like to be able to say I caught at least a limit of trout. Now I could relax, and I worked my way on down.

The wading is tough through the white water there, and calls for some care. There is a rock at the lower end that backs up a pillow of quieter water above it. In good years I often pick up a 12 or 13 inch rainbow there, so I gave it a try. I made several casts with no results, and I was swimming the fly in the current as I waded across when I got a take! I catch an embarrassing percentage of my fish by accident.

It felt like a good fish, I thought maybe a 12 or 13 like I had caught there in the past. I soon discovered that I couldn't move the fish in the current, so I waded down toward it. When I got close the fish turned, and I got a brief glimpse of it as it went over the ledge. Maybe 14 or 15.

The fish holed up in the big pool at the head of the island, and I waded on down. I waded to an eddy at the edge where I had beached big fish before, and fought the fish in the heavy current. Every time I would shorten up she would take off again, holding on the bottom below the heavy current. I saw her twisting once, and thought maybe 16.

The fish seemed to have endless stamina, and my arm was starting to ache. She finally came up and stretched out to her full length, and I was pretty sure I had an 18" rainbow. In time I managed to work her to the bank, and left her in the water at the edge of the grass for a couple of pictures. She measured 18 inches against my rod. I unhooked her and started to revive her, but she would have none of it. She splashed water in my face with her tail, and swam away. I smiled and lit my pipe.

I picked up 2 more rainbows from the pool at the top of the island, and started hearing thunder. There was a big cloud boiling up straight across from me, and I started feeling sprinkles from the edge of it. Getting caught out in the river in a lightning storm is unpleasant to say the least, and I waded out at the closest point. I found myself in a jungle of sawbriers, but managed to navigate through them and get up the bank. There is a ledge by the tracks where I have waited out a lot of storms. The path to it was overgrown, and it looked like the storm was going to pass by, so I took a lunch break on the tracks. There was one more pool I wanted to fish.

I moved down to the pool below the class 3 drop, and fished some heavy runs right below the drop. I got 3, including a nice 13" rainbow that took me over the ledge, and I moved down to the pool. I picked up one more stocker.

I was almost out of tobacco, so I headed down the tracks with 14 fish caught and released. I stopped for a while at Outfitters Shoals, and found nothing. I drove up to the powerhouse to finish the day, and picked up one more fish. Driving out watching an orange sunset reflecting on the water, I found myself feeling sorry for Bill Gates again, because I had just spent another good day on the Hiwassee, and he had not.