Spring in December
Today was one of those great days, we had Spring in December. The temperature here in East Tennessee got up to 75 degrees. I and my family got to get out of the house and enjoy the great outdoors. The family wanted to do some trail walking and I wanted to go fishing. So it was off to the South Holston River where we could satisfy both agendas. My wife , daughter and son-in-law went to walk around Osceola Island while I got all my fishing gear on. With my waders and vest on I grabbed my Orvis Helios and headed for the weir step grates. As I stepped out on the grates I could see lots of fish feeding on midge emergers and plenty of fishermen trying to persuade them into taking their best fly imitations. I could see some better fish at the tailouts of the current seams coming off the grates. I tied on a size 10 olive Woolly Bugger and started working it back to me. On the third cast I caught a hard fighting 16" brown. After working the Bugger in the various seams and not getting any other takers I switched to a rabbit streamer tied to imitate a fingerling rainbow. I saw a larger fish working and making huge swirls a little further out in the run. I cast out just past the fish and made the first strip back towards me. As the fly sank during that momentary pause to grab more line for the next strip the line went tight and the fish made a quick strong run for a deeper section of the run. After getting the fish somewhat back under my control I began trying to get it in towards the area where I wanted to land it. The fight this fish put up was great but after a few minutes I got it in close enough for my friend to net the fish. It was a beautiful brown that taped out at 22 inches. It was great a great day all around. I spent the day outdoors with my family and they got to see me catch and land this nice brown. Can't ask for anything more.
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