Unfortunately, that’s how I think this weekend’s run up to the Smokies is going to be categorized. Don’t get me wrong, the weather has been beautiful; sunny, 70 degrees, and cool for sleeping at night, but the water is high and fast. Like really high and fast.
I’m camping at Deep Creek, and I found it to be aptly named, as the waist deep water was absolutely ripping through the campground following rain in the area earlier in the week.
After trying to fish some soft water near camp on Friday morning, it became pretty clear that this wasn’t going to work… So I audibled and hiked up the trail quite a while to check out some of the tributaries. Unfortunately, no dice either.
The hike was nice. Got to see some waterfalls, butterflies doing butterfly things, and stopped to talk to a few folks along the trail.
So, I had a fishless Friday, kind of the opposite of observing Lent. It’s the first time I’ve been skunked in quite some time. But I think that is bound to happen if the hiking portion of your day is significantly longer than the fishing. Got over 30,000 steps in though. Made eating that calorie bomb of Mountain House Chili Mac back at camp taste that much better.
And it sure did beat being at work.
As for Saturday, I’m not really sure what to do. I’ll check the water levels in the morning. Maybe if they came down a little, I can mess around with some streamers or heavy nymphs. If not, maybe I’ll take a drive to see if there are any headwaters just a little less full.
And if all else fails, tacos & beer.
Been there done that. But, as always, very nice photography.