07-16-2011, 09:00 AM
TVA increased the flow today from 280 to 350. Some of the folks at the shop felt like that would increase the activity of the bugs. I started early this morning on a lower section of river. Throwing ant patterns up to the bank turned a decent brown and a few other strikes. Fairly slow. Back to the room for lunch, then, on a hunch I made sure I got on the water by about 2:30 today. Good thing, because the action started earlier today. River was lit up with rising fish by 3:00. Too much to deal with. Trying to pick the better fish and keep it away from the smaller fish. Average fish today probably around 15". Bad news was it ended earlier and was shorter in duration. Numbers were around a dozen to fifteen. Mostly browns and a couple of rainbows. Saw one pig rainbow that rose once and that was it. He may have recognized me after being here all week. Only changed patterns three times this afternoon. #18's are hard to see in cloudy conditions. Saw fewer people today and it was a tad cooler. Another fine day. I'm watching the weather for tomorrow, don't know if I'll fish or not. Today may be it. TVA has finished their work on the generator and are due to release a lot of water this weekend, so wading will be out. May try and float the river in a few weeks.