A honeymoon for man and trout
TREMONT, Tenn. — The Great Smoky Mountains is the mostvisited national park in the United States. More than 12 million people went there in 2020, which is about 1.4 million more visitors than the next three on the list combined: Yellowstone (3.8 million), Zion (3.6 million) and Rocky Mountain (3.3 million) national parks.
But in November on the banks of a tiny stream — one of hundreds in this park — it is just me and my new bride, Morgan.
The silence here is soothing while the seasons slowly turn. The crowds and sounds of summer are long gone. The dripping leaves and brilliant colors of fall are pensive, peaceful. It is time to revisit the past.
We devoted one honeymoon morning to catching brook trout in the Smokies, an experience that perhaps forged me. My earliest trout fishing experiences were as a child on the North Carolina side of these same hills and streams, with an uncle who taught my brother and I the fundamentals of a passion that has persisted.
Many autumns have come and gone since then. The child is somehow a married man now. And where better to begin a new chapter than a place that left an indelible impression on a previous one?
We began our journey on the Middle Prong Trail adjacent to Lynn Camp Prong. The trek begins where two waters — Lynn Camp Prong and Thunderhead Prong — collide to form the Middle Prong that flows to Little River.
The trail passes by three major waterfalls and plunges deep into the woods, to the delight of those who wish to live deliberately. The forest is full and flourishing. But it is a relatively young forest. Less than 100 years ago, it was turned into a treeless wasteland.
Tremont was a logging base in
FRESHWATER
BASTROP: GOOD. Water clear; 74 degrees. Fishing patterns remain consistent with weeks past. Largemouth bass are good fishing football jigs, crankbaits and purple or black Carolina-rigged plastic worms near rocks, brush and shaded timber. Crappie are good on minnows and jigs in brush piles. Channel and blue catfish are good on nightcrawlers and punch bait.
BELTON: GOOD. Water lightly stained; 60 degrees; 1.91 feet low. Catfish is good, drifting main lake flats and channel ledges on fresh cut baits such as shad and perch. White bass and hybrid bass are good in the main lake.
BRAUNIG: GOOD. Water stained, 68 degrees. Channel catfish and blue catfish are good around the jetty and rip rap on Big Marv’s cheesebait and worms. Redfish are fair on live tilapia and cut shad around the dam area and discharges. Bank fisherman are catching some catfish on cheesebait and worms off the shoreline points with deep water access. Redfish also can be caught using live tilapia in the same shoreline areas.
BROWNWOOD: GOOD. Water lightly stained; 48 degrees; 1.17 feet low. Largemouth bass are good with perchlike crankbaits, brown or green Texas-rigged plastic worms, chartreuse bladed spinners and shaky head jigs near timber, rocky shorelines and docks. Crappie are good on minnows and jigs in brush piles and near bridge pilings. White bass and hybrids are good on slabs, swimbaits and live bait along the main lake channels, humps and ridges. Look for birds diving over feeding schools of white bass. Catfish are good on shrimp, chicken liver and live bait.
BUCHANAN: GOOD. Water lightly stained; 61 degrees; 4.77 feet low. Fishing is holding true until the cold fronts roll in more consistently. The wind will influence the bite by pushing the baitfish, so look to windblown points to find fish chasing their food source. Largemouth bass are very good, throwing spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, topwaters and soft plastics on rocky banks. Crappie are good in brush piles using live minnows. Striper, hybrid and white bass are schooling early morning on topwaters and later in the day drifting live shad. Channel, blue and yellow catfish are fair to good using chicken liver and cut live shad. the 1920s and ’30s, and the area was one of the last in the park to be chopped. Each step down this classic Smoky Mountain trail, which itself is a converted railroad bed, is steeped in the history of this place. We were surprised by a chimney about three miles down the trail. Late in the afternoon, we ran into a couple of folks who had come to search for the “secret Cadillac,” a rusted memory of the logging days hidden along the trail, parked in perpetuity.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park was established in 1934, and the last logs were pulled out of Walker Valley four years later.
Many years have come and gone since. The trees and wildlife have returned, but deforestation took a toll on more than what’s seen on the surface.
Logging practices ruined fish habitat, caused erosion and soiled the water. The loss of the overstory no longer kept the forest floor and streams in shade, warming cold-water fisheries. Logging companies introduced and stocked rainbow trout, which outcompeted the native brookies. Brook trout populations in Great Smoky Mountains National Park have declined 75 percent since 1900.
The National Park service, along with state, federal, academic and local partners like Trout Unlimited, have been working diligently to bring native brook trout back to the park’s waters. Restoration efforts on Lynn Camp Prong began in 2008. It has been a massive undertaking.
First, antimycin, a fish poison, was used to remove all rainbow trout in the restoration area, which began upstream of the Lynn Camp Prong cascades, a natural barrier that would prevent rainbow trout intrusion in the future. Then, the project ran into obstruction from bears and people.
“Sentinel” rainbow trout were placed in cages along the stream to ensure that the antimycin had
CALAVERAS: FAIR. Water slightly stained, 68 degrees. Red drum are slow but can be caught around the wall and north shoreline points using shrimp and throwing spoons. Channel and blue catfish have been good on Big Marv’s cheesebait and cut shad off points with deep water access. Shoreline fisherman are catching mixed bags of blues and redfish toward the dam area using live tilapia and cut bait.
CANYON LAKE: GOOD. Water lightly stained; 58 degrees; 0.04 feet high. The water is beginning to cool down, and we should see fall fishing patterns coming soon. Striper fishing is good along the river channel edge with live bait. White bass are good with live bait, chartreuse jigging spoons and silver slabs. Look for birds diving over feeding schools. Largemouth bass are fair with football jigs, red or green Texas-rigged plastic worms and white-bladed spinners near rocks, timbers and roadbeds. Smallmouth bass are good on plastic grubs and small silver spoons along bluffs, rock ledges and rocky shorelines. Catfish are good with punch bait and live bait. Crappie are good with live minnows and jigs near the marinas, timber and brush piles.
CHOKE CANYON: GOOD. Water lightly stained; 64 degrees; 17.98 feet low. Crappie are excellent in submerged brush piles in water 12-15 feet and in the hardwoods using blue glimmer jigs and minnows. Largemouth bass are fair, primarily located 20-25 feet deep in brush. A few catches are still coming in water 12-15 feet in the hydrilla patches throughout the lake. Try slow-moving baits along the bottom or swimming/vibrating jigs and flukes along the weed edge. Catfish are along ledges during the day and in 12-15 feet flats later in the evening. Alligator gar are slow.
FALCON: GOOD. Water stained; 70 degrees; 42.21 feet low. Fish are in 10-15 feet of water near rock structures. Crappie are good in brush piles in 12-20 feet of water using small jigs. Bass are in the brush piles. Catfish are good at the edge of the main river channel along the mouths of creeks where there are flats; live bait is key. Bow fishing for alligator gar is fair in the backs of creeks.
GRANGER: GOOD. Water lightly stained; 62 degrees; 0.90 feet high. Fish should be moving to shallower water as the temperatures drop. Black bass are good on medium diving crankbaits, raspberry and watermelon Carolinarigged plastic worms and pearl or chartreuse swimbaits near points, rocky areas, flats and channel edges. Crappie are fair on minnows and jigs in brush piles. White bass are good on jigging spoons and slabs near main lake points, humps, ridges and flats. Catfish are good on nightcrawlers been effective. Black bears — approximately 1,500 live in the sanctuary of the park — broke into nearly 30 of those cages and likely released several rainbows. Then, hatchery-raised rainbow trout allegedly were transported in coolers on horseback and released into Lynn Camp Prong by individuals expressing antigovernment sentiment.
This led to a rescue operation by park staff, which used electrofishing to recover the stream’s brook trout and placed them in nearby refuge streams while Lynn Camp Prong was treated for rainbows again.
Since those hurdles were cleared, brook trout have been on the rebound in Lynn Camp Prong.
“There are brook trout where there weren’t before, and they seem to be doing OK despite the efforts by some to sabotage the work,” Little River Chapter of Trout Unlimited president Steve Young said.
Lynn Camp Prong opened to angling in 2015 and is one of 13 streams that have been restored in the park, accounting for eight of the over 30 miles of repaired water.
“It’s a great fishery and resource for people to enjoy, so I hope it stays that way,” said Matt Kulp, who helps lead restoration efforts as supervisory fishery biologist for the National Park Service. “It’s one of the largest brook trout fisheries in the southeastern United States. It’s a phenomenal fishery.”
We slogged on for nearly 2½ miles before we came to the Panther Creek Trail crossing. I focused fishing efforts from this point upstream. We walked another mile and a half or so before turning around to fish our way back to the crossing, and then the journey to the trailhead and truck.
Kulp and Young both said the farther you go, the better.
I put myself through the requisite struggle I find myself in on most water bodies. I fell down a and cut bait. Yellow cats are fair with live perch.
LBJ: GOOD. Water lightly stained; 50 degrees; 0.68 feet low. Fishing is holding true until the cold fronts roll in more consistently. The wind is influencing the bite by pushing the bait fish, so look to windblown points to find fish chasing their food source. Black bass are good, with an early morning topwater bite using frog imitation baits and on soft plastics around shallow rocky docks. Crappie are good on brush piles using live minnows. White bass are good in the green lights at night, periodically schooling around shallow sandbars on the main lake areas during the day. Catfish are fair on fresh cut shad and Danny King’s punch bait.
STILLHOUSE: GOOD. Water lightly stained; 57 degrees; 1.24 feet low. The fall patterns continue. White bass are schooling in 45-53 feet of water. When the bite is aggressive, drop MAL heavy lures with silver blades and whitetails to fish vertically, and when the bite is holding to the bottom, allow the MAL heavy lure with a white blade and chartreuse tail to fish horizontally. Crappie are good on minnows and jigs in brush piles and timber. Blue catfish are good with fresh-cut bait and live bait.
TRAVIS: GOOD. Slightly stained; 65 degrees; 18.33 feet low. Steady water levels over the past year has given time for the grass to grow, and fish have taken notice. Bass are good in the grass lines using soft jerkbaits and weighted wacky rigs, and on main lake bluffs and points using imitation crawfish.
WALTER E. LONG: GOOD. Water lightly stained; 71 degrees. The fish are feeding up as the water temperatures continue to drop. The bass are schooling deep into the coves, staying within 10-12 feet of water or deep inside the reeds. Catfish are good on chicken liver, live and punch bait. Sunfish are good on crickets, cutworms and shrimp pieces.
SALTWATER
BAFFIN BAY: GOOD; 72 degrees. The wind was blowing hard out of the south on Saturday then the North on Sunday. When the wind is blowing, concentrate on protected water with good grass and sand pockets. Redfish and trout were biting on live shrimp under a popping cork. CORPUS CHRISTI: GOOD; 73 degrees. Trout are good on the wells left in free-lined shrimp. Lots of small sheepshead can be caught in the jetties using live shrimp. EAST MATAGORDA BAY: GOOD; 73 degrees. The bays and Colorado River are producing trout and redfish. Success hill, got line tangled in a massive rat’s nest, bushwhacked a bit, cussed a fish that flipped off the hook and foolishly scared another with my shadow.
By high noon, I was a little upset but more determined when I found an eddy that had that feeling. Sometimes you stumble on a piece of pocketwater and you don’t just think, you know there is a fish. I examined the pool like Wellington surveying Waterloo. I crouched down and crept, knowing this would probably be my best shot of the day. Morgan sat down to eat lunch, perhaps wondering what kind of lunatic she just married.
The first cast intrigued a 7- or 8-inch brook trout. They don’t get much bigger, and to me, a brookie of any size is a trophy. This one streaked through the glassclear pool, chasing the lure all the way to the bank just in front of me until it was so close, I felt like I could reach out and grab it. I had slunk below Snell’s window, an angler’s best friend and the phenomenon by which vision above the water surface from below is restricted to a roughly 97-degree cone of light.
I am faithful to Panther Martin. But after a few more casts without seeing the fish again, I switched from a holographic pink/green/ blue Panther Martin to a 1/24-oz. steely colored, single-hook Rooster Tail with a black dress.
The next cast felt like lobbing a basketball that swishes nothing but net. The response was almost immediate. The hours had paid off. Morgan scrambled for the camera. I reeled and jumped and shouted just like the little kid who visited these mountains all those years ago.
On the end of the line was an olive piece of southern Appalachian heritage. A symbol of a restored past, a shining omen for the future.
And one of the most beautiful fish I’ve ever seen.
is being had with live or plastic baits. If you are targeting larger fish, use any type of hardware in the East Bay. In inclement weather fish, the Colorado River because it is green and clear and holding lots of fish.
PORT ARANSAS: GOOD; 72 degrees. Bull reds are in the jetties are biting on cut menhaden, cut mullet and cut sand trout. Black drum are biting on free-lined shrimp. Sheepsheads are good on live shrimp.
PORT ISABEL: FAIR; 76 degrees. Fishing was great over the Thanksgiving weekend despite the inclement weather. Water temperatures dropped, and most of the trout and redfish followed suit, dropping deep into the Intracoastal Waterway from Marker 38 to the mouth of the arroyo. As the weather warms back up, look for fish to migrate to the gas well flats. With the high winds, there were very few fishermen in boats, but several wading out from Texas 100 around the jetties.
PORT MANSFIELD: FAIR; 65-75 degrees. Fish remain in the potholes, but as the water warms they will venture out, and this will be the opportunity for anglers to catch them while they are active. This last week had fish holding right along the bottom as the water temperatures were in the upper 50s. Turtle grass-colored Kwigglers willow tails and lagunaflauge Wigalo’s were most effective on a onesixteenth ounce 2/0 short shank jig head.
PORT O’CONNOR: GOOD; 71 degrees. Fish are having a good morning bite from 6 to 9 a.m. Trout are good on plastics and live shrimp. Sheepshead are good using live and dead shrimp. Large black drum and redfish are biting on sardines. Slot redfish are bring caught using dead shrimp.
ROCKPORT: FAIR; 70 degrees. Sand trout are good on cut mullet. Black drum on shrimp along the bottom around Aransas Pass. The causeway is holding redfish on mullet and pin perch.
SOUTH PADRE: GOOD; 76 degrees. Fishing was great over the Thanksgiving weekend despite the inclement weather. Water temperatures dropped and most of the trout and redfish followed suit, dropping deep into the Intracoastal Waterway from Marker 38 to the mouth of the arroyo. As the weather warms back up, look for fish to migrate to the gas well flats. With the high winds, there were very few fishermen in boats, but several wading out from Texas 100 around the jetties.
WEST MATAGORDA BAY: GOOD; 73 degrees. The bays and Colorado River are producing trout and redfish. Success is being had with live or plastic baits. In inclement weather, fish the Colorado River because it is green and clear and holding lots of fish.
Boerne City Lake: Texas Parks & Wildlife Department rainbow trout stocking. For regulations and angling tips, click on tpwd.texas.gov and search for “trout stocking.”
Cibolo Nature Center & Farm: Winter Prairie Bird Virtual Workshop on Zoom, 6-8 p.m. Tom and Patsy Inglet to lead program on identification of sparrows, wrens and others, $5. Call Laurie Brown at 830-388-7680 or email laurie@cibolo.org. RSVP at cibolo.org/ calendar.
DEC. 11
South Texas Marksmanship Training Center: Smallbore Prone, F Class, 8 a.m.-3 p.m., Black Hawk Range, 12135 Jarratt Road, Atascosa. For questions, click on southtexasshooting.org or email wsnunn@gvtc.com.
San Antonio Audubon Society: Beginner’s Bird Walk, 8 a.m., Judson Nature Trails, 246 Viesca St., Alamo Heights. Nonmembers are welcome. RSVP to trip leader Barbara Sykes, jntbirding@gmail.com, or click on saaudubon.org.
Government Canyon State Natural Area: Guided Hike, a seven-mile hike on the Recharge, Wildcat Canyon and Joe Johnston trails, 8:30 a.m.-noon. Open to ages 13 and older with adult. RSVP at eventbrite.com/e/guided-hike-tickets-192885454587_. Free. Entrance fee applies.
Guadalupe River State Park: Honey Creek Nature Hike, with a guide explaining the cultural and natural history of the area, 9-11:30 a.m. Free. Entrance fee applies. Also Sunday and Dec. 18 and 19. To RSVP, click on tpwd.texas.gov, find the park and click on events. Reserve a day pass at twpd.texas.gov.
Guadalupe River State Park: Star Party, stargazing through telescopes with the San Antonio Astronomical Association. Drop in between 7 and 9 p.m. Meet at the overflow parking area. Free. Entrance fee applies. Call 830214-3635 or email holly.platz@tpwd.texas.gov. Reserve a day pass at twpd.texas.gov.
DEC. 12
Fischer Park Pond 1, New Braunfels: Texas Parks & Wildlife Department rainbow trout stocking. For regulations and angling tips, click on tpwd.texas.gov and search for “trout stocking.”
DEC. 13
Bandera City Park Lake: Texas Parks & Wildlife Department rainbow trout stocking. For regulations and angling tips, click on tpwd.texas.gov and search for “trout stocking.”
Garner State Park: Texas Parks & Wildlife Department rainbow trout stocking. Also Jan. 11. For regulations and angling tips, click on tpwd.texas.gov and search for “trout stocking.”
DEC. 14
Live Oak City Pond: Texas Parks & Wildlife Department rainbow trout stocking. Also Jan. 12 and 26. For regulations and angling tips, click on tpwd.texas.gov and search for “trout stocking.”
DEC. 15
Louise Hays Park, Kerrville: Texas Parks & Wildlife Department rainbow trout stocking. Also Jan. 11. For regulations and angling tips, click on tpwd.texas.gov and search for “trout stocking.”
DEC. 16
Mitchell Lake Audubon Center: Site History Webinar, an online event, 6 p.m. Click on mitchelllake.audubon.org.
DEC. 18
Guadalupe River State Park: Christmas for the Birds, making a present of a feeder; all ages, 2-3 p.m. Meet at Discovery Center. Free. Entrance fee applies. Reserve a day pass at twpd.texas.gov. Call Holly Platz, 830-214-3635 or email holly.platz@tpwd.texas.gov. Government Canyon State Natural Area: Full Moon Hike, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Three miles round trip. RSVP at eventbrite.com/e/full-moon-hike-tickets-193936227477. Free. Entrance fee applies.