Fishing Report July 4th, 2016
Happy 4th of July from Cumberland Bottom Ticklers! I'm hoping that you've all had opportunity to cook or eat something from the grill this holiday weekend. I've been burning through the Kingsford quite a bit over the past few days myself. It's a great time of year and a great time to be with friends and family. Home grown tomatoes are here too!
It's been a busy month since the last fishing report. We've been on the water and having a ball. Over the past month The Corps of Engineers and TVA have been keeping generation schedules very favorable for fishing the lower end of the river. It's typically been no generation (or an hour pulse) from 10 PM until mid morning when 1 generator picks up for two hours then 2 or more generators for several hours. In the mornings until water hits you, the river has been pretty low. We've been having lots of hook ups in the early morning hours until the sun reaches overhead. When the sun is directly overhead the fishing gets tougher. We've been having a lot of luck with the black zebra midge, skull and bones, and brassie. Fly sizes have varied from 18 to 22.
Super cool couple Katie and her husband Andrew put a few in the boat.
When the water from generation hits, throwing double streamers has been super effective. As usual, if you are not having any luck with a particular fly then you need to change. Don't fish with a fly all day with no success just because it worked for you last time. Also, change your depth often. The river bottom changes often and so should your fishing depth. Tickle the bottom of the river and you will catch fish.
Andrew getting it done.
Over the years I've fished near the dam, traveled over the dam and looked at it without really thinking about how it all works. I recently was able to get a 2 hour personal tour of the entire power house from top to bottom and let me tell you it's very impressive. I was amazed at the amount of redundant engineering design and the size of the generators and accompanying infrastructure. Wolf Creek Dam is a lot larger than what you see on the outside. A big 'Thank You' to Scott Turner, Chief Mechanic at Wolf Creek Dam for a very informative and fun 2 hours. Sorry I don't have any pictures. Photography was forbidden for obvious reasons.
I was recently able to take my little brother out on the river. I only mention this as it has been forever since we've been fishing together. He hadn't used a fly rod in years, but he got it done with ease. I've got the best little brother in the world and it was nice to see him tango with fish all day. I'm looking forward to next time Scott!
If you want to get out and experience the Cumberland river and catch some trout call, text, or e-mail! We'll get you on the books and into fish!
Fish on!
Greg