Curious Layman

Cataloochee

CuriousLayman — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 12:34:45 +0000

We headed back to Cataloochee yesterday to fish and see the elk. The colors are just about perfect right now. The problem with fishing is that the streams are absolutely full of leaves and trying to fish a nymph meant removing a leaf every other cast. On the way out (not in the park) we saw a bear cub napping in a tree off the side of the road.

Thunderhead Prong

CuriousLayman — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 02:07:13 +0000

Monday was our last vacation day and we spent it over in the Tremont area of the park. I headed up Thunderhead Prong to do a little tenkara fly fishing. Thunderhead and Lynn Camp meet to form the Middle Prong of the Little River, otherwise known as Tremont. Lynn Camp is still closed to fishing while they are restoring the water above the falls to brook trout only water. They did the same thing on Sam’s Creek, which enters Thunderhead upstream. I fished it too above it’s barrier falls, but didn’t catch anything. I did catch a few small rainbows further down and missed a bunch of hits, all on the CDC Elk Hair caddis.

Hike to LeConte 10/2

CuriousLayman — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 22:45:47 +0000

After church on Sunday we hiked up to LeConte and out to Myrtle Point. Click any image for a larger version.

Palmer Creek, Cataloochee

CuriousLayman — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 02:37:47 +0000

Today we took a trip into Cataloochee to fish Palmer Creek. First we hiked up to Lost Bottom Creek but then dropped back down to just above where Pretty Hollow Creek comes into Palmer. On Lost Bottom I was about to wade through a pool to head upstream and was stopped in my tracks. A very nice brookie was finning in the pool just a couple feet away. Maybe it was just used to people because it didn’t even move (neither would it eat a fly, so I couldn’t catch it.) The colors on the brook trout really look great this time of year.

Kephart Prong

CuriousLayman — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 02:30:25 +0000

Snowbird Brookies

CuriousLayman — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 00:44:30 +0000

We got a late start and the hike was about 9 miles round trip, so we only fished a little while. Still, we each hooked a couple nice brookies on the tenkara rods. Plus, I hooked my first trout on a fly I tied myself. As it turns out it was the fly pictured in the last post.

First Tenkara Flies

CuriousLayman — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 23:56:45 +0000

Here are a few shots of one of the flies I’ve tied. This is in the tenkara style with a reversed hackle.It’s tied with Walmart thread and a bit it grizzly hen hackle on a size 14 hook.

Finley Cane– Bote Mountain–Lead Cove Loop

CuriousLayman — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 02:05:00 +0000

Wednesday we went back to the same area we had visited Saturday and did another loop. One interesting thing about this part is that Finley Cane trail is actually a creek as it goes under the road. There is literally no trail, you just rock hop through. I was impressed with how pretty Finley Cane trail was. We also saw two bears: one fairly early on and then another when we were almost back to the car. Both ran off, but they both stayed around a little longer than most. They stood briefly in the middle of the trail looking at is for a second before heading out.

Russell Field–Spence Field Loop

CuriousLayman — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 02:09:00 +0000

Saturday we headed toward Cade’s cove for a loop up Anthony Creek to Russell Field, to Spence Field, down Bote Mountain and back across Anthony Creek. It was a relatively uneventful trip, with no bears sited on the trail. We did spot two from the car though.

Little Greenbrier Trail

CuriousLayman — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 01:16:44 +0000

Back when we did the Tremont overnight loop, we had thought about adding on the Little Greenbrier Trail. But we were both exhausted and Christy was battling severe blisters, so we left it off. Saturday we made it back and just did a quick out and back. The trail is up the whole way, but it’s nicely graded so that you don’t really get too exhausted. We also stopped in at the Walker sister’s cabin on the way back.