Harpeth Rivers near Nashville

[EdD]

Monday afternoon I went over to the park for about a half an hour of fishing on the Little Harpeth. This is a small river but not it is just a trickle. I do not exagerate to say that some bathtub fawcets could put out the same flow rate. I saw the bottom of a pool that I have never seen the bottom of before. The water is LOW.
The leaves are piling up. One pool was so covered that it could not be fished even with bait and a spinning rod. The water is being stained by all of the tannins coming off of the leaves. The heavy leaf cover will be blocking oxygen tranfer from the air. Soon the leaves will be decaying and robbing even more oxygen from the water. I am through fishing this drainage until we get rain. The fish seemed too lethargic.
Now I am worried about a fish kill. I might talk to the park rangers about wading out an pulling some of the leaves off of the water. This is especially worrying because the Little Harpeth is just recovering from a series of pollution spills a few years ago. Another couple of good years and the smallmouth fishng could be excellent.
Does anyone have any ideas to help? We really need some rain around here. I think that our October was the driest on record, with about 5 mm of rain.
Ed
P.S. Yes Betty, there really were two hatches coming off of the same pool at the same time.

[This message has been edited by EdD (edited 04 November 2005).]

[This message has been edited by EdD (edited 04 November 2005).]

[Betty Hiner]

OMG! I'd be oxygen deprived too, trying to figure which fly to fling, with two hatches at the same time!!
Are there restrictions on leaf removal? Would limited removal have any long lasting effects? Would it make a good project for a fly fishing group? Are your rangers supportive of any work? Supply any tools needes? Suggestions of things to try?

------------------
Trouts don't live in ugly places

[EdD]

It looks like we got the main cure that we needed, RAIN. Cooler temperatures will probably reduce the metabolisms of both the fish and the microbes. It should also increase the oxygen holding capacity of the water. It looks like we have dodged a bullet, at least temporarily. I'll be checking on the drainage more closely in a couple of days.

The rangers have been very good to work with. Both of the clubs that I belong to, the Middle Tennessee Fly Fishers (MTFF) and TU have done work on the river in the park. Since it is so close to me, I need to talk to them about helping out. The parks have a Friends of the Warner Park volunteer group.

On the plus side, I got to know a lot of the bottom much better than ever before. In particular there is a run a couple of hundred yards long that just screams, "Smallmouth!"... And I now know that that stretch is at least as treacherous as I thought that it might be.

Betty, if you ever pass through Nashville and want to take a look at it, let me know. What can I say about a river in a park in the heart of the 'burbs that has mayfly hatches the last week of September and two, simultaneous, midge hatches in early November. If only it was cold enough for trout... <sigh> When the water is well up it isn't safe to wade at any point, but that's mainly because the sharp turns and bends give too little time between the kayackers seeing the waders and impact. If you hear a lot of laughing and it is moving downstream, get your line off of the water.

Come February and the high point of shack nasties, that little river will host groups of long rodders prepping for trout streams. Of course, it hosts a few all year long. We are lucky here.

[WarrenP]

Ed,

If you get the trout fishing bug real bad you can always go 79 miles south and fish the Elk River with me. It is fishing fairly good right now.

------------------
Warren

[EdD]

Thanks Warren. I'm lucky with regard to trout, Shippman Creek flows through some land that my Great Aunt owns. But I really do want to make it down to the Elk River someday. Right now they're hitting on 16 and 18 Copper Johns, Prince nymphs, and all of the usual regalia, aren't they? Any surface action?
For me the Little Harpeth is the place where I can zip out and fish for a few minutes or an hour just to get a fix. It's also a nice place to take my nephews. Nashville is lucky to have the Warner Parks.

[WarrenP]

EdD

Sorry it has taken this long to respond to your questions. There is always a midge hatch of some sort on the Elk as the day progresses which will always bring some surface activity. I usually do not do much midge fishing and stick with nymphs and wets. I have been having pretty good success with a #12 flymph in brown and a #14 bugger in olive or black. A brown wet fly stripped quickly will also bring you some results. Is there any public access to the Shippman Creek? I have never fished the Harpeth so I may check on it more. I do not have to have trout to fly fish. I just need anything to jerk on the flyline. I guess I am one jerk waiting on another jerk!

------------------
Warren