Check out these crappie!

[WarrenP]

Tom,

Sure glad you enjoyed it! Jared fished there today and caught 2 good sized catfish! I think he hooked that very big gar I told you I saw because all he got back was a shredded tippet and a broken hook! Our little spot is sure an odd one. Crappie one day, walleye the next trip and now catfish. Who knows what will show up on the next trip! Tomorrow is Wednesday and you should receive your LL Bean 7wt! Your going to love that outfit! Be sure to let me know when it arrives..

Your fishing partner...

[CO_Flyfisher]

And here is proof of my morning there today. Quite interesting to say the least. I never thought I would catch a Catfish on a fly rod, especially not one this big. I haven't checked it with the measurement on my rod yet, but I'm pretty sure it's between 24 and 26 inches and maybe 6-7 pounds. (edit: OK, so I was way off. Based on the marks on my fly rod, this fish was a little over 29" long. Based on my research, that's about 11 pounds!!!) Quite a bruiser. I'm glad I had at least a 5 weight!

I think I might have even hooked into a Tiger Muskie or Gar today too because whatever kind of fish it was it felt bigger than this Catfish and fought a LOT harder. Made a fast, hard, long initial run, then thrashed around quite a bit. Made another shorter run after I'd reeled it in a bit, but then broke off with more thrashing. It came to the surface once about 35' away and made a pretty big splash. It looked long and slender, but that's about all I could tell. The battle only lasted a minute or so though, and upon inspection, it turns out I got the hook eye back with my line still attached, but the hook itself broke just behind the eye. Dang!!! You guys must have some kind of mutant monster fish with steel jaws down here! Yikes!

Thanks again for the beer Tom! It was nice chatting with you! Good luck with your new rod tomorrow if you fish it!

[CO_Flyfisher]

Whoops, forgot pics:

[Joe Valencic]

You guys are making me crazy. Where were these big fish when I was there?????????? All I kept hearing was... "Well, it's not such a good day, why don't we take Joe back to the house so he can bake more bread for us?" Now I see how you guys operate. Big fish for the Colorado people, and small fish and hours over a stove for the dough god. (just kidding)

Anyhoo, in the FWIW column, here is the original Chicago Leech pattern in its original colors.





Like all really good fish-catching flies, variations will appear and sometimes will even catch a fish or two. In Warren's case he hit a real winner with the black & white combination. now I gotta go looking for some black and white yarn and give it a try here in the Island Nation.

[CO_Flyfisher]

See, this is why I LOVE this forum so much.

A guy from Colorado goes to Tennessee and not only catches fish, but catches big fish and some species he's never caught before on a fly rod using a pattern that came from some weird bread-making guy from Ohio.

[EdD]

You guys are making me crazy. Where were these big fish when I was there?????????? All I kept hearing was... "Well, it's not such a good day, why don't we take Joe back to the house so he can bake more bread for us?" Now I see how you guys operate. Big fish for the Colorado people, and small fish and hours over a stove for the dough god. (just kidding)

Joe, it could be that the guy from Colorado was smart enough not to say something like; "I've got some starter for a really great sourdough recipe. I'll have to show it to you, sometime."

Remember that mouths are the cause of FAR more self-inflicted wounds than guns, axes, and pocket knives put together.

Ed, who keeps band-aids in his pockets.

[WarrenP]

Joe,

While you are at it, try tying in a tail from either ostrich or marabou in white with a couple strands of flash, a white chenille body and then palmer a strand of black leech yarn through the chenille body and then do a whip finish head with red tying thread. Brush good and go give it a try.

That is my next experiment....

Thanks, Joe...

[CO_Flyfisher]

We hit the water again today and did well. I achieved my goal of catching my first Walleye on a fly rod today (actually caught several), so even if that had been the only fish I caught it would have been a very good morning.

Right after we got there the sky started getting pretty dark to the West, so Jack and I didn't even put our waders on. Speedy Gonzales (whoops, I mean Warren) got his on quickly and then decided Jack and I were smarter the he was and took them back off in case of rain (or more correctly, lightning). Jack and Warren both landed one fish before the storm rolled in. It was a pretty good T-storm that came up quickly and lasted 10 - 15 minutes. There was a pretty powerful gust front in front of the rain shaft and it knocked over a couple of dead trees along the river.

Anyway, here are a few pictures from today after it rained. I think we caught four species this morning on the same basic fly pattern: Bass (Small or Large Mouth Warren?), Walleye, Bluegill, and Channel Catfish.

Warren with a Channel Cat:


Jack with a Walleye:


And me with a Walleye:


In case anyone here has any doubts about these two characters, Jack and Warren are two of the nicest and most generous guys you could ever hope to meet! It has been my pleasure to spend so much time fishing with them while I have been here!!! And they say I am supoposed to be "working" here. LOL

PS - Joe V., I swear we're not trying to tease you!

[Jack Hise]

It has been, for sure, a great pleasure to share our home waters with you and hope you make it back this way soon.

Of course we are all set to beat up on the Elk River tomorrow. I think we best pack a lunch! (inside joke!).