Storms, Snakes, and a Mixed Bag Slam

It had been a while since I fished. The trip to the White Mountains was now more than a month behind me. I really didn’t need an excuse to head north again to find some trout, but my friends at a certain fly fishing company certainly gave me one when I found a new tenkara rod on my doorstep one recent Friday afternoon.

The Nudge

I’m not going to talk at great lengths about the rod in this article, it’s not the point of this story. However, I was sent an soon-to-be released rod model by Tenkara USA to fish and provide feedback on before its launch (which happens to be next week). But I felt in order to be fair in my review, I wanted to fish it up in the mountains, as opposed to my neighborhood bluegill pond. So, a very, very last minute trip to north Georgia unfolded that Friday afternoon, to get a little stream time in.

Now, if I didn’t get the nudge from this new rod, I probably wouldn’t have made the trip. The weather forecast for the weekend ahead was only so-so. It was going to be atypically hot, and calling for a good chance of rain on Saturday, especially in the late morning and early afternoon hours. That was also coincidentally when I was planning on fishing. But in the name of product research, and a little bit of tempting fate, off I drove.

Basecamp: Blue Ridge

Actually, this time it was Ellijay, Georgia. I had earned some perks in the form of a $50 gift card from Best Western the last time I was in this neck of the woods, so I went to the same motel again. Funny how promotional marketing plus the promise of a “free” breakfast works. I must say the staff there are wonderful though.

After rolling in on Friday night and pretty much just going to bed, as I awoke on Saturday, I realized how quickly I just tossed stuff in the back of my car. I had my rods, flies, and all that good stuff. But I didn’t really have wading socks to wear under my wading boots. Left the neoprenes behind, and only had a pair of thin running socks in my duffle bag. Good thing every small rural town seems to have a Walmart, and in this case one that opens at 6AM. A three pack of thick “Dickies” work socks now in hand, I was off to the stream.

Warm & Muggy

After a bit of a drive I arrived streamside around 8:30AM. It was very dark and overcast, the air was very thick, and it was just simply muggy hot. Even up in the mountains the weather was probably too hot for trout.

After I geared up and descended down into the creek, I found the water was certainly cooler, but not the usual frigid temperatures I’m used to feeling. I realized this was the first time I’ve ever fished here during dog days of summer. A mistake? Maybe.

So off I went, which immediately cued a light sprinkle of rain to accompany me. Fortunately, it didn’t take long to get into my first fish, but it wasn’t exactly what I expected.

Now, I’m not one to be incredulous toward fish species, but it was certainly a surprise to me to find a chub at the end of my line. In all the years I’ve fished this creek, I’ve never caught a chub. And then over the course of the next 2 or 3 hours I ended up catching more than a dozen more. Nary a trout to be found.

But I did stumble upon a snake… so there’s that.

The Mixed Bag Slam?

Eventually, I must have gained enough elevation and climbed enough barriers to encounter my first trout. A small, but pretty parr marked and freckled rainbow, which I quickly unhooked and returned to the water.

Soon thereafter it started getting darker and raining again, but not drizzling consistently enough to get me off the water. Foreshadowing perhaps?

To my delight, a few more rainbow trout followed, and started justifying the 14 hour round trip I take to fish up in these hills.

The best fish of the day was a nicely colored brown trout. Somewhat of a rarity for this stream. It had some really prominent red spots incorporated into its darker brown camouflage pattern.

I’ve only caught one or two browns here before, it’s usually all rainbows, but it seemed appropriate for my mixed bag of species on this day. Chub – Snake – Rainbow – Brown, the newly dubbed, “T! Mixed Bag Slam“. If only I had tossed a brookie or catfish into the creel too.

Hell Hath No Fury…

As I stood back up after snapping a quick photo of the brown’s release, I glanced over my shoulder and downstream only to see it was now absolutely pitch black in that direction. “BOOM!” Thunder suddenly shook the entire stream valley and a torrent of rain appeared from absolutely nowhere. Armageddon had arrived and Mother Nature wasn’t fucking around.

Luckily, I wasn’t in a place where I couldn’t get up and out of the water fairly quickly. I only had to backtrack through the creek about 50 yards to a point where I could climb out of the now muddy ravine and back onto the forest service road to walk back to my car. On that walk back, I got soaked through and through. Yes, I was wet wading that day anyway, but I got drenched from head to toe and through all my clothes, even my lightweight rain jacket. At least it wasn’t cold.

Once I reached my car, I took refuge under the hatchback for a bit to collect myself. Enough to take my wading boots off and do a lame job of trying to dry off the rest of my gear and clothes with the beach towel stored in the trunk.

Whatever. When the weather forecast says it’s going to rain and you go fishing anyway, that’s what happens.

Reflections

Regardless of its short duration, the trip was worthwhile. I got to mess around with some new gear, survived a close encounter with a “danger noodle”, and caught a lot of fish, including a few different species. All despite getting chased off the water a good three or four hours earlier than planned and getting waterlogged in the process. Ironically, the shower back at the motel felt fantastic.

I closed out the weekend with a nice dinner and a better night’s sleep before heading back to Florida early the next morning. And don’t forget, in addition to acquiring some interesting memories on this trip, I also came home with a souvenir three pack of work socks to show for my travels. Talk about winning!

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