When I was a boy, my family lived roughly half a mile from Norris Lake. Each spring without fail, just about the time the Dogwoods bloomed, white bass (or stripe bass) would run up into Indian Creek to Spawn. Using a Zebco 33 and a small white rapalla with a red head, my friends and I would go down there and catch fish all day. The bass were so thick that seemingly each cast would get a hit. For some reason, shortly after I started Junior High, the fish stopped running up the creek. It was as if they had been removed from the lake altogether.
This past weekend, I experienced that old feeling. Standing mid thigh in turbulent water, I gleaned a massive number of trout. They weren’t native, and never did they get over 12-13”, but the sheer numbers of these stocked offerings brought back that joy I had remembered from so long ago.
I fished with a small lightweight bamboo, which bent nearly double at times as these fish used the current to their advantage. I may have looked like a master fisherman, but in fact, all it boiled down to was a little bit of know how and a strong dose of history.
These fish are stocked in mid November, and for most stocked trout, it takes them a few weeks to grow accustomed to their surroundings and spread out. I knew that they would be huddled together, and eating anything that came by. Video footage of freshly stocked trout shows that they will eat twigs, pieces of leaves, just about anything. Time will make them savvy to what is food and what is not, and they will establish a pronounced pecking order, but until then, all you have to do is find one…the others will be close.
I also had the opportunity to meet an online acquaintance. He fished upriver from me for a while before coming down to where the fish were holding. We had good conversation, and often we both had fish on the line.
The weather here is starting to get colder and the water temperature will cause the trout to settle down, but throughout the winter, I will continue to seek them out. By early spring, those who are either wise enough or lucky enough to survive will have grown and my 3wt. bamboo will be replaced with a 5wt. to accommodate their size.
Sometime in mid April, I will no doubt hook a good one. Last spring I gleaned two that were nearly 20” from this same spot, but until then I will wade out amongst them and have the same giddiness I knew as a child. The fish are different, and the tackle is far removed from my old 33, but it will be every bit as fun…as a matter of fact…it already is.
This past weekend, I experienced that old feeling. Standing mid thigh in turbulent water, I gleaned a massive number of trout. They weren’t native, and never did they get over 12-13”, but the sheer numbers of these stocked offerings brought back that joy I had remembered from so long ago.
I fished with a small lightweight bamboo, which bent nearly double at times as these fish used the current to their advantage. I may have looked like a master fisherman, but in fact, all it boiled down to was a little bit of know how and a strong dose of history.
These fish are stocked in mid November, and for most stocked trout, it takes them a few weeks to grow accustomed to their surroundings and spread out. I knew that they would be huddled together, and eating anything that came by. Video footage of freshly stocked trout shows that they will eat twigs, pieces of leaves, just about anything. Time will make them savvy to what is food and what is not, and they will establish a pronounced pecking order, but until then, all you have to do is find one…the others will be close.
I also had the opportunity to meet an online acquaintance. He fished upriver from me for a while before coming down to where the fish were holding. We had good conversation, and often we both had fish on the line.
The weather here is starting to get colder and the water temperature will cause the trout to settle down, but throughout the winter, I will continue to seek them out. By early spring, those who are either wise enough or lucky enough to survive will have grown and my 3wt. bamboo will be replaced with a 5wt. to accommodate their size.
Sometime in mid April, I will no doubt hook a good one. Last spring I gleaned two that were nearly 20” from this same spot, but until then I will wade out amongst them and have the same giddiness I knew as a child. The fish are different, and the tackle is far removed from my old 33, but it will be every bit as fun…as a matter of fact…it already is.
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