Little River Chapter of Trout Unlimited

President’s Thoughts

Ernie Frey  

ernest.frey@comcast.net

Newsletter

Thanks to all who helped with trout camp. I have had the pleasure of fishing with some of the graduates of the camp and it is great to see how much the camp has meant to them. They are fishermen who truly enjoy fly fishing. So thanks to all that help to make that happen. Well it is finally summer. Two factors to take into account water temperature and dissolved oxygen. Warmer water make it nice for wet wading. It is great not having to crawl into waders but higher water temperatures make it tough on the trout. So if you want to catch trout, you have to find cooler
water.

Dissolved oxygen dissipates quicker in warm water. What that means to fishermen is that as the water warms the closer to riffles the fish will move. The turbulent water also provides cover for the fish when the water gets lower.

You all know this but I may help a newbie.

June’s meeting will be Barleys in Maryville on Tuesday, June 26 . Social hour starts at 6 pm and business meeting at 7pm. Our speaker will be Michael Hicks from the TVA River Forecast Center. Hopefully he will tell us “The Whole Dam Story”.

July’s meeting will be Thursday, July 26 at River John’s. Burgers and dogs will be provided but plan to bring a side dish.

President’s Thoughts

Ernie Frey  

ernest.frey@comcast.net

Newsletter

When you hear some master fly fisher say “You have to fish on the bottom with a nymph” we all hear them. It has taken me a while to actually figure it out. Thanks to some nymphing classes at the fly show in Atlanta, I tied some HEAVY bead-head pheasant tails on jig hooks and they have caught fish. I think I was being fooled by the strong currents in our mountain streams. The nymph is never as deep as you think. Until you can feel or see the nymph hitting the bottom, you are not deep enough. That is where the jig hook is helpful because it travels in the water with the hook point up. Snagging is an unfortunate consequence of bouncing the nymph on the bottom but having the hook point up is helpful. I still loose flies but catching makes it worth it.

May’s meeting will be on Tuesday the 22ndat Barley’s in Maryville.
As usual, social hour starts at 6pm with the business meeting at 7pm. Our speaker will be Bill Stiver – Supervisory Wildlife Biologist for the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. He will be speaking on the black bears in the park.