Elk River, TN Trout Fishing

Took a trip up to Lynchburg, TN (home of Jack Daniels famous TN Whiskey) today along with my neighbor, Rick Wade, to fish the Elk River. The area is quite scenic with picturesque farms backdropped by rolling hills and gorgeous fall color. This was my first experience fishing the Elk and I have to say I was pleased. Although the dam was sluicing (increasing flow) and the rain was falling for much of the morning, the trout responded by being very active. We were the first anglers on the river at the Hwy 50 access point, which by the way is hands down the nicest I've ever seen, and the trout were rising all around, many of them jumping into the air performing what seemed like aerobatics. Obviously, the active trout helped spur the anglers to be optimistic amidst less than ideal conditions. I wasted little time getting into the action.

After observing the water for a few moments, I put my waders to work positioning myself on the first run South of the bridge. Trout were visibly feeding and flashing at nymphs. I fished a tandem rig with a bead head bugger and a smaller unweighted midge nymph trailing about 12 inches or so. Tippet was 6x (but I think 7x might have been more productive). In no time I landed a nice 13 inch brown. This was a pleasant surprise for me because, first of all, I have never caught a brown trout. Browns are often more difficult to catch and usually catching just one in a given outing is a treat. This is because browns tend to be more reclusive and semi-nocturnal in nature. No sooner than this little beauty made it to my net, the barbless nymph flipped out and my prize slipped back to the run and rock. About thirty minutes later, I landed a smaller trout about 10 inches - it was another brown! At this point I was feeling my oats and thoroughly enjoying this stream. Although I didn't manage to land another fish, I had countless strikes and several break off's. There were so many fish it was unbelievable and you could get amazingly close to them. I stopped several times to watch rainbows hugging the bottom and feeding. Their vision is so amazing. We left the Elk around noon with everyone having landed fish. I can't wait to go back.

Sorry no pics this time - I couldn't risk ruining the camera with all the rain. Next time Gadget, next time...