Catch o' the Day

Today I found myself back up above the GSM Institute at Tremont for a couple hours of fishing. I went to the upper parking lot this time and parked. The lot was fairly full, but I didn't see much activity. Driving up I only noticed one other fisherman (translation: I was either in for a good day because I had the river all to myself or I wasn't going to catch anything because everyone else NOT fishing knows something I don't - the latter is usually the case, but whatever...). I proceeded to walk up the Middle Prong Trail a bit before jumping off to hit the river. I started just below my favorite hole on the Middle Prong in what looked like some good water.
It rained heavily in the area on Friday, so I was expecting the flow to be pretty high. It was definitely that, but it wasn't dangerously high. Water is one of my favorite things in the world whether it's a pool (with a diving board of course), the ocean, or rivers/creeks, but I've definitely learned to respect it. I've been in some pretty crazy water with some hydraulics that do whatever they please to a person, and I've seen a river flash flood that changed my opinion of it's magnitude and force to this day. Anyways, I tied on an Elk Hair Caddis first and tossed it out there. I had a couple small fish try to take it, but I couldn't hook up. I had read that there might be some Blue Winged Olives hatching, so I gave one of those a try. That thing was so small and dark I could barely keep up with it, so I decided to just try a little Hares Ear nymph with a bead head to get it deep in the quicker current. This produced my first catch of the day (see picture at the beginning). Leaves. Thanks for playing.

Not ready to give up, I waded upstream to my favorite hole. I have no idea what this section is called, but I'm sure there is heavy fishing pressure because...well...it's perfect water. It's actually where I caught my first Smoky Mountain trout on the fly, and where I have had most success (which is very little) altogether. I tied on a Parachute Adam's with a Copper John nymph dropper. The PA is a great fly for the darker areas where light and visibility is low. As soon as I cast it, I had some activity. Again, just a few "slaps" at it from some smaller fish. After about 20 minutes of attempts, and the sun setting quick I hooked up with a Rainbow that measured a whopping 7" at most. Luckily I was using my small rod, so he felt bigger. Really though, that's about the average size fish in these parts. Of course, there are Brown Trout in the 20" plus range, but I'm not anywhere close to being good enough to bring one of those to hand. So, today, that little guy will have to do, and yep, I love him for sacrificing himself for my ego.
Soon afterwards, I was heading back down the trail so I could meet up with some friends when I had my biggest catch of the day. I experienced a moment of peace that I had been in search of for some time now. Can't quite explain it, but it was great. Unfortunately, after I caught the peace, just like that little Rainbow trout, I released it. You better believe that the next time I'm so blessed to experience it, it's coming home with me.