Garett bringing one to the boat

Wow I just realized I haven’t updated this thing in almost a month.  Here we are in the heart of spring and you’re probably expecting weekly updates with fresh fishy goodness and we’ve been Bogarting the good info.  Truth be told there really hasn’t been any good info to share until now.  So here goes:

Unless you just got your green card you’re probably aware of the spring flooding problems we have here in Kentucky.  It happens a lot here and it’s almost always in April or May.  I’m pretty sure I’ve beat this dead horse into a mushy red paste by now so I’m not going to explain weather patterns and get all Jim Cantore on you.  You’re aware that it happened again and we’re darn lucky the dam is fixed or we’d be looking at August for fishing the Cumby.  The lake is pretty much where they want it for 2013 and the flow charts show some pretty amazing flows for the coming days.  I haven’t seen generation patterns like this since my beard bore no gray hair.  My head of hair was mostly full.  My cable bill was higher than my phone bill.  A gallon of milk cost more than a gallon of gas.  And nobody Myfaced or Spacebooked.  Ah the golden years….but I digest…..

If there was one thing I got spoiled to during the Wolf Creek Dam repairs it was the constant flows.  There was always one generator….one sluice gate…one something.  This meant you didn’t have to plan your day based on when the wall of water was coming.  It meant you could sleep in a bit.  This worked in everyone’s favor.  We could meet at 8:00 A.M. instead of 6:00.  I miss that and I found out how much this past weekend.  We once again met at 6:00.  Since I live in Lexington that meant getting out of bed at 3:00.  I used to go to bed at that time not so many years ago.  But then again I used to consider Waffle House at 2:00 A.M. a good idea.

We were supposed to have two full days of fishing this weekend but the generation schedule simply wouldn’t allow that to happen.  I could have made two full days of it but I would have been stealing from these guys as we would have been slammed with high water for the second half of the day.  They took my advise and made two half days instead.  The water was still higher than I had hoped but the fish were there.  We struggled on Saturday a bit with a beginner getting used to fly fishing for the first time and a guide trying to find out exactly how long you could legally make a leader in order to get down to the fish.  We finally got it all dialed in just before we were forced off of the river by the generators.  Saturday was much better as we had some experience behind us and much better conditions.  The water was still high but the bugs were out early and the fish were much more willing to take our offerings.

Both days we hit Rainbow Run by 9:00 A.M. Eastern Time and the gravel bars were completely submerged.  That’s the water levels we had to deal with.  That’s no longer the case.  They’ve pulled back on the generation just in time for Memorial Day Weekend.

So now that we’ve bitten through the crunchy crust of spring it’s time for the gooey nougat.   We actually saw a few sulfurs and caddis on the water this weekend and I’m expecting those to multiply in great numbers as the water levels continue to drop and the sun bakes these little goodies to perfection before they burst forth and offer themselves to our colorful friends in the great buffet we call spring in the Bluegrass.

So here’s what’s going on and what to expect if you’re fishing anytime soon.

Dry flies:  Caddis Caddis Caddis!  The water has been high and these little guys haven’t hatched out yet.  Also we’re seeing sulfurs so bring those along.  As always on the Cumby a parachute adams will catch just about anything during a hatch.

Nymphs:  Princes in #14, Hare’s Ears in natural and olive #14, Pheasant tails in #16, Copper Johns in pretty much any color or size, Zebra Midges.  Black has been the best for us but I’m sure other colors will work well.

Streamers:  We haven’t had much luck on streamers recently but lower water might change that.  We always love white buggers and clousers.  Toss the big meat (hehe) in the deeper holes under sinking lines.  The big browns are still there and we’d love for one of you to find one.

Due to all of the flooding and folks being scared of the Cumberland during recent springs we still have dates open for June.  We don’t have many…but we do have dates available.  This is the time to go folks.  We have guides available to get you out there for what may be the best spring in almost a decade on the Cumberland.  Give us a call.

If you decide to go on your own or fish some local water, a farm pond, a creek in your uncle’s back yard, a mud puddle in your neighbor’s driveway, please take the time to hit your local fly shop and support the folks who make this a living.  For us it’s the Lexington Angler.  For you it may be Little River Outfitters in Townsend TN or some shop in Montana.  We’re a small guide service and we put our heart and soul into making it a darned good one.  Local shops do the same.  You can’t get what they offer at a big box store and you can’t get what we offer from a big box outfitter.

We wish all the best to you and yours on this Memorial Day weekend.  Thanks to all of you for keeping this dream going for us at Cumberland Drifters.

Fish on,
Brandon

Getting green!

Usually it’s Monday night when I sit down at my computer and write the weekly report since I get in late on Sunday from a weekend on the river and I’m way too tired to do anything remotely creative or entertaining.  This weekend however was spent spraying the lawn for weeds and looking for a new refrigerator.  Mother nature made that decision for me.  OK…mother nature and shotty refrigerators.  Our fridge died this week so the next few folks who hire me will be purchasing my new one.  If you tip well we’re getting stainless steel.  If the fishing sucks I guess It’ll be one of those old white ones without the ice maker.  Just kidding.  We’ll get whatever the wife wants and worry about the details later.  Gotta keep momma happy.  Truth be told I’ll probably be the one wanting the latest and greatest.  She’s a minimalist.  I’m a gadget nut.  I want the one with wi-fi and a TV in the door.  She’s happy with a cooler.  I’m pretty sure that’s how this relationship started in the first place.

If you read last week’s blog you know I had a few issues in Tennessee.  The weather was perfect, the boat trailer wasn’t perfect, and the generation on Sunday was pretty sucky.  We caught fish and had a blast regardless of the conditions whether they be mechanical or natural.  I made it home safely after some repairs and looked forward to a weekend on the Cumberland in a few days.  Then it started raining.

Spring in Kentucky is most always a wet one.  We are situated in a melting pot for warm moist air from the gulf and cool dry air from the north.  There’s a reason we have so many dams here in the southeast.  Noah himself would give us a tip of the hat most years.  As we transition from the cold dry winter air to the warm wet spring air it’s a given.  We’re gonna get soaked.  It happened this year as it often does.

Once again we’re hoping for a dry May as the lake is now at the projected level for summer pool this year,  705 feet above sea level.  Just be happy it’s not 2012 because that would mean weeks of heavy water flows.  That’s not happening this year.  After flows level out we can fish and it will be sooner than in years before.  The massive watershed that feeds this river is at times her curse.  We have a 72 mile tailwater trout stream that needs a gargantuan amount of cold water to sustain it.  The flooding that created the need for a huge dam also created a very time sensitive fishery.  If it’s wet in eastern Kentucky you’re going to wait a week or two before you head to the Cumberland.  Now imagine trying to run a fly fishing business that’s dependent on the weather!  Good times I tell ya!

As I gaze into the crystal ball this evening I can’t see a whole lot of rain in the next week.  If and only if the dry trend continues we could see fishable water within a week….possibly two weeks.  We have the derby coming up this weekend so most folks already have other plans so that may work out in everyone’s favor.

If anyone wants to fish this coming weekend my money is on the Clinch as the Cumberland will most likely still be rolling pretty high.  Who knows.  Anything can happen.  The Clinch starts their weekend recreational flows this weekend so we should see good flows for us fly fishers. It was amazing last weekend during low water so we expect more of the same.

We have plenty of dates open for the coming months so get yours on the books before it’s too late.  Head on over to the Lexington Angler and stock up on flies and gear. I was in there this week and they have some great sales going on.  Tell ‘em we sent ya!

See you on the water!
Brandon

Dave with a Clinch Rainbow

Before I get into the silly stuff and rants about all things fishy I want to start this week’s report/blog/whatever by tipping my hat to the fine men and women of Boston that brought this crazy week to a conclusion.  I listened to it live on XM Radio as I was heading to the Clinch River on Friday.  I’ve never been to Boston but I’m really digging that town.

So speaking of heading to the Clinch on Friday a crazy thing happened.  I left Lexington just in time to get to Clinton TN before dark on Friday night as Troy and I had a two boat trip on Saturday morning.  We arrived at the hotel safely and immediately unloaded and went out for pizza.  After passing out from an overload of bread and cheese we hit the ground running early on Saturday and met our boys at the gas station.  These guys looked like four dogs that knew they were going for a walk.  If they had tails they would have been wagging.  We were supposed to float the Cumberland but since it was rolling at 21,000 cubic feet per second we thought it would be a good idea to head south.  After shaking hands and introducing ourselves I happened to look down at the passenger side wheel on my boat’s trailer.  It was missing a bearing.  The wheel was resting on the axle and you could literally rotate the tire 30 degrees.  I have no idea how this thing didn’t pop off on I-75 and re-create a scene from Final Destination.  The bearing wasn’t shot.  It was gone.  There was nothing there.

So here stands four guys who are old buddies who have known each other since elementary school watching a guide have a complete meltdown.  I couldn’t tow this thing to the river.  I couldn’t tow this thing across the parking lot.  I’m stuck and I have guys who want to fish and it’s my job to get them on the water. Thank God for the smartphone.  Within a few minutes we were able to find a local mechanic who could come fix the failed bearing…..for a price. We decided  to send Troy and the boys to the boat ramp so at least two of the four could get started on the day’s fishing and I would come get the other two as soon as the repairs were made.

I grew up on Lake Cumberland and I know how out-of-town-ers are treated during a mechanical crisis.  They see your out of state tags and the price doubles.  If your license plate had Ohio on it you were screwed.  I guess the same holds true for a Kentucky plate in Tennessee.  I understand and hold nothing against them but man you pay the price for not being a local boy when you break down away from home.  The mechanic got me on the rode, did a fantastic job and was more than friendly.  I would recommend these guys to anyone as long as you have plenty of cash.  The parts were about $30.  The labor was about six times that.  I get it.  I was that guy.  Three and a half hours after meeting our clients I was finally on the road to Peach Orchard.

We got on the water late but luckily there was no generation to speak of so we had low water for the entire day.  These guys were all giggles as we had multiple double hook ups and the fish were feeding like crazy on just about anything we threw at them.  After lunch we found the final four miles of the Clinch as challenging as it often is during low flows.  We found fish here and there but the morning’s double hook ups and eager fish were long gone.  Lucky for us we had four class clowns in our boats and we spent the remainder of the day laughing.  These guys didn’t have a care in the world and they made that abundantly clear that morning when I discovered the blown bearing on my trailer.  They patted me on the back and reminded me that $*@# happens and it’s no big deal.  Dave, Dave, Patrick, and Clint you guys are awesome.  That was a fun trip.  Thanks for being cool with my mini crisis.

The next day I had the pleasure of fishing with some great return clients and since the trailer was fixed I had no worries right?  Wrong.  The Clinch is like any other tailwater in the south and you never know what you’re going to get when the generation schedule is announced.  Each day before a trip I refresh the generation link on my phone about 600 times per hour to see if the TVA is going to tell me to turn off the music and go home.  A theme I became familiar with in college.  As luck would turn out they were going to run one generator all day the next day.  I called my clients and we decided to go anyway.

On Sunday the water was clear and looked promising for good deep nymphing and streamer fishing.  We tried both and were skunked for the first three hours of the trip.  I was almost ready to pull the plug and row them off the water when we finally found some fish on the nymph rig.  Red was the color and it started working.  Streamers picked up in the afternoon and we eventually found our way into double digits.  It wasn’t a banner day on the Clinch by any means but we did find fish…just not many.  Once again I was blessed with amazing clients.  Buddy and Pam are just about as good as it gets and they seemed to enjoy every minute of the trip despite the less than stellar fishing.  By the way, Pam can toss a 150 grain sink tip on a 6wt better than most of you reading this so man up.

So onto the Cumberland…..ugh.  Yeah it’s spring and just as sure as you’ll see drunk college kids at Keeneland making memories they won’t remember, you’ll see rain blowing out the Cumberland River.  Parts of eastern KY received over four inches of rain last week and we knew what to expect which is why we called our clients and told them to head to the Clinch.  Currently the Cumberland looks more like the Ohio river.  But there’s hope!  Looking at the flow charts it seems that they’re going to back off by this coming weekend.  I have no idea how much but it looks like there might be a chance to fish albeit early.  There’s very little rain in the forecast so that gives us hope that the Cumby will fish very soon.

In the meantime the Clinch is fishing great with low water if you get it so why not head south.  We’re ready for a great spring on the Cumberland if the rain holds off and it’s looking promising.

If you hit the Clinch make sure to fish pheasant tails and small midge patterns.  We had some luck on prince nymphs and copper johns as well so don’t leave those out of the mix.  If you find yourself in higher water brown wooly buggers did the trick on Sunday.  On the Cumberland I would advise a prince nymph with a zebra midge below it.  I know…same thing every report right?  Well it works and I’m not fixin’ it if it ain’t broke.

As always we ask that you support your local fly shop and leave the river looking better than you found it.  We’ll have something for you to read next week.  Hopefully it will be good news for the Cumberland.

See you on the river,
Brandon

Ninja Gene at the oars!

Aaaahhh spring!  Warm air, budding trees, The Masters, Keeneland, white bass, allergies, and the TVA screwing your weekend fishing plans at the last minute.  If any of you have ever called the number for the generation schedule at any TVA dam you have heard, “The water release schedule is subject to change at any time.”  Boy do they mean it.  As of today we’re seeing good, not great, but good flows on the Cumberland.  That’s what we based Saturday’s float on.  When my alarm clock went off at 3:30 in the morning the first thing I did was check to see if the schedule had changed and of course it did.  The cold snap meant that people would be cranking up the heat in the morning and that takes electricity.  The TVA was glad to oblige by blowing out the river at 6:00 A.M.  Thanks guys.  Of course they backed off during the afternoon when it warmed up because everyone had their windows open by then.  I understand why they do it but it doesn’t mean I don’t shake my fist in their general direction when they do.  At least it won’t be long before they stop generating in the mornings all together when it gets nice and warm.

Saturday’s trip was one of those where you hoped for a million fish all over 25 inches.  These guys have been return clients since my early days as a guide and are more friends than clients.  As a guide it’s guys like these that make your job the coolest thing in the world.  We don’t shake hands.  We hug.  (In a totally manly way of course.)  Instead of asking questions about the river they find ways to pick on you and give you crap about how your boat  needs work or your waders having a leak.  You know…the stuff you do when you go fishing with your friends.  When my clients start making fun of me I know it’s going to be a good day.  Some take longer than others but if you know me you know that I’m a pretty easy target.  But then again so are most of you so just know that it’s coming back and that’s when it gets really fun.

We hit the water as soon as the roosters started crowing at daylight just to get a few hours in before the wall of water hit us.  Immediately we noticed the water was stained.  Probably from the runoff from the heavy rains earlier but it was by no means muddy.  With the lack of sunlight on the water there really was no insect activity to speak of whatsoever.  Even the midges took the morning off.  After the first hour we finally started picking up a few fish on midges and prince nymphs.  We landed a wild brown which was really cool.  Any time you catch a fish that was born in the river and not in a hatchery is an awesome thing.

By noon we were blown out by three generators and the overall feeling was like being at a prom party when the cops showed up.  Time to leave.  So we did.

We made our shore lunch at a riverside cabin and served up a pretty massive feast topped off by my wife’s homemade blueberry cream pie.  After we made complete gluttons of ourselves we leaned up against the boats and began telling embarrassing stories about each other for the next three hours.

The highlight of the day wasn’t the fishing.  The fishing was mediocre at best.  The water was high and stained and the fish never had a chance to turn on before the wall of water hit us.  The highlight was in the driveway of the cabin.  Just a bunch of dudes acting like they were 18 again.  Guys from all walks of life forgot about everything that stresses them out each day just to sit there and laugh.  Each one of us wiped tears from our eyes as one story trumped the one before it.  I would tell them now but would probably be sued.  Man that was fun.

After a not so successful day on the river and our boys loaded up and headed back to the lake house on Dale Hollow.  Mike and I parked ourselves in a couple of chairs on a point overlooking the river and reminded ourselves of how lucky we are to be able to do what we do.  Many days we are humbled by the river and this was one of those days.  Sure it wasn’t our fault that the conditions changed to our dismay but we made the best of it and I’m pretty sure at the end of the day a great time was had by all.  It’s not about coming home with a paycheck.  It’s about showing people a good time and making friends in the process.  That’s what fishing is all about.  Get on the water with some friends.  Make fun of each other.  Tell some jokes.  It’s better than therapy and our office doesn’t smell funny….OK most of the time it doesn’t.

The days ahead on the Cumberland look very promising.  The water release schedule is looking better each day and for some reason Mother Nature has forgot to drop a bunch of rain on us so we may be in luck for the coming weeks as they raise the lake.  We’re out there this week so unless I get super lazy you can expect another report.

Before I send this report to the internet for all to enjoy I want to thank Gene at The Lexington Angler once again for hanging out with us last weekend.  Gene works his skinny little tail off to keep the fly fishing scene alive in Lexington.  It’s tough running a small business in these times and he’s doing it.  Don’t buy a fly rod online before you stop by his shop.  They carry all of the best brands and have some great sales.  We’re fishing with some graduates of their fly fishing school this weekend.  They do it all folks so take the time to stop in and support the sport.  Tell ‘em Brandon sent ya.  I’m sure that’s good for a free sticker or something.

Like us on Facebook.  Follow us on Twitter.  See us on the water.

Brandon

Weirdest day ever on the lake!

After enough of you told me you liked our blog I have finally stopped calling it a fishing report.  Sure I’ll report about fishing but I tend to ramble on about more than just fishing so I guess we’ll call it what it is.  I just never pictured myself as a “blogger” but here I am blogging.  It’s not a pretty word but neither is bologna and that’s one of my favorite things in this world.

To start things off I have one of those “No way that happened” stories to share.  This past Saturday I was enjoying an afternoon of crappie fishing with Mike and Chester at our local fishing club.  It was a beautiful day and the crappie were biting.  We opted out of taking the boat and decided that fishing from the floating pier would do just fine.  Shortly after taking the picture you see above we were surrounded by law enforcement, game wardens, the fire chief, and the coroner.  The groundskeeper at the lake was fishing and found a corpse.  It just happened to be floating a few feet from where we were fishing.  Talk about making a great day suddenly really weird…..wow.  After some investigation they determined it was a man in his mid 40′s and had been in the lake for many months.  Fishermen always seem to be the ones to find things like this.  Personally I’m glad I’ve never been that guy.

Now onto the fishing.  I’m not sure if you can remember that far back but I can. Old timers like me will tell you tales from years ago that the Cumberland River was fishable in the mornings because they would only generate for about 12 hours per day.  You could go out in the morning and fish all day without worrying about high water.  Now take a moment to click on our helpful links tab and check the generation schedule.  Yep…it’s been about eight years since you saw something like that.  It’s really happening folks.  We can fish low water again.  Our days of 15 foot leaders with split shot are gone it seems.  The last time we had water like this you were probably wearing Zubaz pants and listening to Ace of Base.  OK that’s a stretch but it seems like it’s been that long.

We were on the river this past weekend with our good friend Gene from The Lexington Angler.  The water was high but the weather was great so we decided to go anyway.  Streamer fishing was about as bad as it can get.  We landed one brookie and a skipjack in about 600 casts using sinking lines during generation.  When they finally turned the water off we went to long leaders and did some deep nymphing and found success.  It wasn’t great success by any means but the fish definitely were in the places they should be.  The old standards seemed to produce the most fish.  Princes, Zebras and the like.  The biggest fish of the day came from one of Gene’s stoneflies that he insisted on using all day.  Maybe all the crap we gave him was a bit too much.  Hey it worked.  The fish were there, they were just under a lot of water.  We all know you need low water for good fly fishing on the Cumberland.  It’s no secret.  We missed it by two days.

The generation schedule is as good as it gets right now and I expect it to remain good since they appear to be slowly raising Lake Cumberland to test Wolf Creek Dam and see if the fix really worked.  We love this schedule because it allows us to fish our favorite water well downstream of the dam.  The massive blast of cold water in the afternoon won’t reach the gravel bars down river until late in the day.  (It moves at 4mph.  Do the math and don’t get caught in it.)  Another benefit of the huge pulse of cold water in the afternoon means the the water well downstream will hold fish much better than years past.  We once again will have a 72 mile tailwater to fish.

We have a few openings left in April but not many.  This weekend is actually open for some reason.  I’m guessing the cold weather in the past few weeks kept you from getting the fly rod out of the garage.  Give us a call.  Spring is one of our favorite times on the Cumby.

Thanks to everyone who visits our website.  I’ve seen a huge surge in hits and I’m not really sure why.  It seems more and more folks are checking us out and that’s a pretty cool thing for a couple of guys who came up with this whole idea over a pizza 12 years ago.

Remember that we’re on Facebook (Cumberland Drifters Guide Service) and Twitter (@kytrout) so check us out there as well if you’re into that sorta thing.

See you on the water!
Brandon

It’s been quite a while since we posted a fishing report and you can probably guess why.  We haven’t had anywhere to fish due to the worst March ever.  Not only has it rained buckets for most of the month, its been below freezing as well.  Personally we don’t mind fishing in the cold but getting someone to pay you to do it is another story.  So today I bring forth good tidings of great joy.  We’re starting to see a warming trend in the weather forecast and water levels are looking good on several rivers in the south.

The Cumberland River is still high as Lake Cumberland is sitting at 692 but I noticed something pretty interesting in the flow chart.  If you notice the numbers predicted for next week it would appear that water releases will be drastically reduced even though lake levels are predicted to be in the 690 range.  Could this be the beginning of the raising of Lake Cumberland to 705 as the Corps promised?  We sure hope so.  But of course there has been no official word from the Corps of Engineers.  If you ever have a deep dark secret tell it to the Corps of Engineers.  They don’t tell anyone anything…..ever.

The Clinch river is finally fishing and word has it that the fishing has been excellent.  We’re seeing low flows through most of the day which means excellent nymph fishing for the Clinch’s turbo charged rainbows.  If any of you have ever floated the Clinch with us there’s a pretty good chance you’ve broken off on at least one or two fish down there.  Must be something in the water.

We have plenty of openings as most of you have been too busy keeping the fire going to get out and fish.  It’s time to get out and have some fun.

See you on the water,
Brandon

Yep....PVC and duct tape. That's how we do a show.

Winter.  The reason old people from the north move south and young people from the south vacation in Colorado.  We hate frozen water and they want postcard pictures for their friends on Facebook.  Seriously why ski on snow when you can do it on water with your shirt off?  I don’t get it.  Nobody ever dies on water skis.  Kentucky is as far north as you’ll ever see me live.  Sometimes I question why I haven’t migrated south.  But then I remember that trout don’t do so well in salt water.  Well…not the kind we have here anyway.

It’s fly show season here in the great white midwest and it gives us a chance to commiserate with our friends who crave moving water and feeding fish.  Last weekend we were in Louisville with the Derby City Fly Fishers.  It was great seeing our friends who have graced our boats over the years.  There was quite the buzz going around about the completion of the Wolf Creek Dam repair project and everyone came to us with questions as if we were the ones who came up with the idea in the first place.  So as true fishermen we made up some really good answers.  So here’s what we know:

Luckily our booth was right next door to the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources.  We love these guys…especially fisheries biologist Dave Dreeves.  We have bugged Dave to death over the  past seven years and will continue to bug him as long as he’s employed with KDFWR.  Every time Dave had a second to breathe I grilled him with questions about the river and the recovery that will begin this spring.  It’s all good news folks.  I’m not just being optimistic here…it really is epic goodness for the Cumby.

Here are a few reasons why:

#1  No more sluicing.  When the water gets too warm at the intake level for the generators they resort to sluicing water from the bottom of the lake.  This is a place devoid of Oxygen and filled with decaying plant and animal matter that results in murky algae filled water.  Fish can’t eat what they can’t see.  If you kept a trout during this time period on the river you probably noticed stomachs full of algae…no bugs.  I don’t know about you but if you forced me to eat salad every day I would also die out of  lack of will to live.

#2  Reglular flows.  For those of us who remember the old days we had flows that revolved around afternoon generation.  You could go to your favorite spot in the morning and enjoy low water knowing that eventually they would send a massive amount of cold water your way.  This massive slug of cold water is what made the Cumberland a 72 mile long trout stream.  Since lowering the lake there simply wasn’t enough cold water to do this so they simply ran water around the clock…which screwed our fishing, the aquatic plant life, the insect life, and….well our lives as well.  That’s going away.  The TVA must be high fiving each other at the thought of selling electricity again.  Hey….good for them.

#3 Pigs in the river.  We all know the Cumberland is home to some behemoth fish but thery’re not there in the numbers they once were.  Yeah the browns held on because they’re the badass of the trout world but the big rainbows are harder to find than a win at Commonwealth Stadium.  I’m not sure about the football team this year but the rainbows are coming back.  I was told by our buddy Dave that KDFWR will be stocking triploid rainbows in the 15″ to 18″ range in late summer / early fall to kick start the river’s recovery.  If you’re not familiar with a triploid it’s a sterile trout that doesn’t reproduce…only feeds….much like us.  They can grow up to three times as fast as a normal trout.  If they’re 18″ in August…they might be 24″ in spring.  Better buy a bigger rod and tie some streamers.

#4  Future.  This marks the end of a dark period in our beloved fishery and our hats go off to the department of fish and wildlife for looking forward by stocking brook trout and triploid rainbows as well as continuing the brown trout stocking that has made this river famous for all trophy anglers.  The addition of a couple of new targets will only make this river better.  This project could have marked the end of one of America’s great trout rivers but instead it marks the beginning of what could be America’s best in a few short years.  We’ve been here through it all and we can’t wait to see where it’s going.

So there you go…that’s all I know from the guys who know it all.  I’m just a messenger but the message is good.  We finally have our river back.  It’s gonna take a while to grow our rainbows and brookies but in the meantime we’ll have slot limit fish…which is something we’ve been missing.

Come see us this Saturday in Cincinnati at the Buckeye United Fly Fishers show.  We can’t wait to see our good friends from across the big river.  You’ve been good to us Ohio.  Especially the northern part where the steelhead live.

Guys and gals let’s make it a good year on the water.  Invite a friend to try it out.  Odds are you have an old rod that you can lend to a buddy.  Teach them something that will change their life.  Someone did that for me once.

Cheers,
Brandon Wade

http://www.kentucky.com/2013/01/17/2480397/repair-of-wolf-creek-dam-expected.html

As long as you look good it doesn't matter if you know what you're doing

As most of you have probably noticed we haven’t had much to say over the last six weeks and for that we’re sorry.  Just like you we’ve been cruising the interwebs for something to read about fishing.  Unfortunately it’s winter and that means that most of us are stuck in our houses waiting for a day where our wives don’t give us the “You’re an idiot” look for packing up a fly rod and heading out the door.  We feel your pain.  Group hug…..

Since there’s really nothing new to report on the fishing side of things I thought I would take this moment to do what I do best and blabber on and on about other things we fishermen are curious about.  If you’ve ever had the chance to share a boat with me for a day you’re well aware that I’m never at a loss for words.  Sometimes this has been my downfall…but unless you want to swim back to the boat ramp you have to hear me out like it or not.  Oddly enough most seem to like my incoherent ramblings so I won’t break tradition with this little gem.

The first question on most of your minds is probably related to our beloved Cumberland River and the big Dam problem we have faced over the past several years.  (I didn’t make a dirty word there…it’s a big Dam and there’s a problem.)  The good news is finally here.  This IS the last year we will be worrying about this thing…for now…until it breaks again.  Hey the government said it’ll be fine and they know what they’re doing right?  OK for now I’m going to be an optimist and trust them.  At least I’ll trust them on this because I can’t take another seven years of this.

The end all be all final put-the-big-band-aid on the dam project ends in December.  I’m hoping they’ve been yanking all of our chains and will get it buttoned up early but who knows.  Just as we’ve all seen in the past, when the government is involved in something important we’re the last ones to know about it.

So if this is the last year and if this thing really is fixed then we can all be VERY excited about it.  We’ve  had numerous problems as a result of this project as you all know.  We’ve seen our big fat rainbow trout all but vanish from the river.  Sure we manage a few every year but these things used to average over two pounds and now we’re lucky to stick a couple of 14″ers in a day.  We used to catch tons of big fatty browns and even though they have weathered the storm much better than their silver cousins they’re not there in the numbers they once were.  Brook trout were introduced last spring and we’ve still not seen one over 15″.  This means most of the 12″ stockers they put in there every year are simply surviving as long as possible until bad water gets the best of them.  They ditched the triploid program until 2014 simply because all of them died.  It’s been bad folks.  Try making a living out of this.  At least I’m not a stock broker or a real estate agent.  Somehow folks still love this river as much as we do and we  had a great year despite the smaller fish.  Numbers were good thanks to an aggressive stocking program and there were enough decent fish to keep everyone hopeful.

So in the coming year I think we have a lot to look forward to.  2012 had low water for most of the season and this means that fish survived.  They’re in there and growing as we speak.  Water coming from the dam is from the generators which is what we want.  When they’re sluicing they’re using water devoid of Oxygen and clogged with decaying plant matter which is a death sentence for fish.  We had very little of that in 2012.  That’s a good thing.  I think as long as we don’t see an abnormal amount of spring rain this year we’ll see some nice fat rainbows showing up and maybe a state record Brookie.

I’m being optimistic but it’s for a reason.  I know this river as well as anyone in the world.  I’m not being arrogant.  I’m just out there more than just about anyone.  I don’t care if you hire me as a result of this post.  I’m not writing for business.  I’m doing this because there are thousands of you out there just like I was many years ago.  You need info and this is a good place to find it.  I don’t make up numbers and I don’t post false reports.  Take a look at my past posts from bad days and you’ll see that even guides have really bad days out there.  I just happen to be one that writes about it so you don’t feel so bad when you have a bad day.  Just as we all share in the glory that is good fishing I think the best fishing stories come from struggle.  Ask any fisherman and their best story usually involves someone tearing their waders or blowing chunks over the side of the boat.  Personally my best came from when my two best friends tried to kill me with a football field sized ice burg that they purposely sent down river towards me on the Grand River in Ohio.  I almost died…but it was hilarious later….when I was alive.  Ahhhh good friends.  Thanks Mike and Chet.  Jerks.

So much like years past we’ll be watching the spring rains on the Cumberland plateau to see if we get to fish in Kentucky in the spring.  If not you can bet your sweet new rod you got for Christmas that we’ll be banging our boats on the boulders of the Clinch chasing turbo charged rainbows and browns.  They have a recreational weekend schedule there.  Maybe someone in Kentucky should look into that.  It seems to work really well for tourism.  But what do I know?

On a final note it’s fly show season and we’ll be making our usual rounds to the Derby City Fly Fishers on January 26th and to the Buckey United Fly Fishers in February.  You have nothing to do so you might as well come to the shows and win some gear, learn some stuff, and buy some cheap fishing garb.  Admission is cheap and there’s tons to do so mark your calendars.

Folks we can’t thank you enough for keeping us on your bookmark list.  We hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and a fantastic new year.  We wish you all the best in 2013 and we can’t wait to see you on the water weather it’s in our boat or waving from the shore.  Cheers to tight lines in 2013!

Brandon