[T. Wiles]

Here’s a two rod- triple catch while crappie fishing this Spring…..Pandemonium in a canoe!

[T. Wiles]

Toccoa River out of Blue Ridge, Georgia is a fun little tailwater to fish.

[T. Wiles]

Thanks guys,

Carter, TFO makes the rod—Axiom 6wt—(more like a 7.5 wt), and I love this rod so far.

[T. Wiles]

Great work!
I’ve got striper fever bad…and with our east TN lake levels nearing full pool, I’ve got some runs scoped out where, hopefully, wher I’ll catch a few as they swim up into the rivers.

What flies were you throwing?….fast sink line?

Travis

[T. Wiles]

you are going to post the turn out right??

Took me a month for the moon to get bright again so I could finally give these guys a try on Friday night the 18th.  My brother joined me and we found that our bigger flies were getting good gulps and splashes, but no hookups.  We switched to smaller poppers, and problem solved, we hooked a few smaller browns, and I got this 20″ male after midnight 😉
Bad photo, but beautiful fish.

Travis

[T. Wiles]

Thanks Drifter,

The Key point here was the timing.

[T. Wiles]

I agree with Todd,
I’ve been calling them Hickory Shad—but the Wikipedia image for a hickory shad is much different.  Some guys I know have been calling them quillbacks, but the quillbacks that I have caught look more like carp than these large shad.  These fish are very abundant in a few stretches where we fish.  When the boat nears the 100-500 fish school of 1 to 3 lb-ers, several of them will splash and make a large wake just under the surface—kinda like the Asian jumping carp.  They have tiny mouths, so when they nip at fly, they often miss, and get snagged in the backfin.  When hooked, they fight like demons.

During our float(s) we also spotted a few monster carp–including two 10lb+MONSTER Coy–a giant white one and a gold one.  Fun to chase, but no hookups though.

Here are a few shots from our return visit the following week.

John made this bass look much bigger in his “Bill Dance Pose” holding it toward the camera 😉

Zach, I appreciate the braided mono offer.

[T. Wiles]

Here’s what I’ve experimented with, and the strike/hookup rate has improved with each new creature.

[T. Wiles]

I went to the Vols game Saturday if that helps.   😉
The point, for me, was not to emphasize a particular destination, but a style of fishing experience that’s completely new to me.  All your senses become electified at night, and each strike is magnified times ten.  The critter encounters just make it more chaotic.
I remember reading a fishing story in a Jack Dennis book (I think by Gary LaFontaine), were he described his mouse pattern “The Creature.”   It’s a foam body core with rabbit fur pelt.  He described getting busted off on 0X fishing log jams on the Beaverhead.  That fly story has stirred my imagination ever since for the predator/prey experience of topwater night fishing.

I fished the Beaverhead one September night, then Norfork and White in AR 2 summers ago, and I became hooked.
If you have a nearby river where the aggressive browns are a couple weeks from moving into the shallow riffles, try something on top in the deeper slow pools and see what happens on a clear, moonlit night.
We had several misses; but every tug or splash at your fly would make your heart stop.

Travis

[T. Wiles]

Zach,
I don’t think I even own a rod that can throw tandem streamers…I can’t fling ’em like you spey guys ;).

John was downstream mousin’, I was upstream 20 yards stripping the black sculpin, and Jay was upstream 20 yards mousin.

[T. Wiles]

Late night in an Appalachian Watershed–The three of us were wading a long, deep hole in tandem.
 
Tim, we almost had a triple!  My slowly stripped streamer got nailed  with an aggressive “THUNK!”  and I knew that it was a solid fish.  I hollered upstream to my brother, then in the darkness, I heard his mouse get gulped—He was hollering “Fish on!”

[T. Wiles]

Nice pics Mike!

[T. Wiles]

Adding on kinda late…..been hibernating for a while due to moving and working, but it’s fishing time again.

Im Travis Wiles, a 28 year old dentist who has been released from the clutches of Memphis and returned back to the splendor of beautiful East Tennessee.

[T. Wiles]

Awesome report Mike! …..and a great turnaround ending.

[T. Wiles]

My only mouse attempt was on the Beaverhead, when I lived nearby in Idaho.

[T. Wiles]

GJ,

I lived and worked at the Hyde Outfitters Lodge for the full season in 2001 ( I served in the restaurant, filled in as chef at the S. Fork tent camp, ran shuttles, and explored every waterway I possibly could).

[T. Wiles]

I lived at Hyde Outfitter Lodge in Island Park for a season in 2001, and my best find that time of year was the GREAT PMD hatch below Ashton Dam.

[T. Wiles]

Photobucket here too.

[T. Wiles]

It’s hard to choose just five…but here are some of my favorites I’ve taken since June 2006, fishing with my brother (Jay) and girlfriend Crystal.

Travis

[T. Wiles]

Zach,
Can’t help you on any exposures or technical info—I’m a newbie to photography….and can’t give any flyfishing advice for those big tarpon….although we did float a canoe amongst a few pods of those giants, no hookups though.  My suggestion for some good photo-opps would be to stop in Islamorada at Robbie’s.  The tarpon are everywhere by the dock, and can be quite aggressive when you feed them.  Watch your hand though, my brother had one bite all the way up his wrist, peeling the skin off his knuckles!!!

Travis

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