South Holston River 4/25 - 4/26/2006

Got a couple days off, Doug and myself went up to the South Holston to float and fish the lower section. We stopped Tuesday morning and said good bye to Steven "Bubba" Dark a local guide who is going out to the Henry's Fork to Guide and work for the summer. We ended up getting a late start on the river. My first fish was a small Rainbow. My second fish was another small rainbow, however as soon as I was bringing him up a large Brown came up and hit. I'm not quite sure as to what happened. If I hooked the Brown and he spooked the rainbow or if he was chasing the rainbow and got hooked. The final result was however a 23" Brown to net that was firmly hooked with my midge inside his mouth. It was funny because just before I caught him some wade fisherman were giving us trouble because of the size of our net. If they could only have seen that fish. After that we were both pumped and threw some big Rainbow Trout streamers, which produced some massive strikes. A bit farther downstream we got into a great sulphur hatch and we both landed some good fish. The day ended with a bit more excitment when we had to cut our float short because of some severe weather. Another local fisherman gave us a ride back to my truck and we just barely managed to get out before the winds and lightning hit.

Salmon River (Pulaski) 4/4 - 4/7/2006

Went Steelheading on the Salmon River in Pulaski, New York. I met Jason Siler, Fishing Manager from the Orvis - Norcross and Shannon Ward, Fishing Manager from Orvis - Atlanta. We put in three full days of fishing. It was a bit easier than fishing out west for Pacific Steelhead. We fished with Walt Gerek an Orvis Endorsed Guide in the area. We ran into very high water conditions and extremly cold temps, Which made the fishing tough at times. Also, because of the high water cleats were manadatory and a wading staff was a bonus. Even with the poor fishing conditions we all managed to land a couple of nice steelies.

March

Finally had the chance to float in my boat for the first time. I met up with Phil at the Orvis store early and we put in at the top of Pigeon Forge and floated past the shop. The fishing was slow but the boat worked great. Phil getting ready to float