TR: A week in the Smokies

On May 20, 8:59 am, Conan The Librarian wrote:
[I hope the formatting comes out OK; apologies if not.]

I spent Sunday through Saturday morning in Elkmont campground in
the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I won’t bore you with a
super-long blow-by-blow of my trip to the GSMNP, but will share a few
photos and some random thoughts. The waters I fished we Bradley
Fork, the Little River up around Fish Camp Prong (and of course down
around the Elkmont trailhead and below my campsite), Sams Creek,
Tremont, Deep Creek, and the Little Pigeon above the Chimneys picnic
area.

I caught fish everywhere I went with the exception of Sams and
Tremont. The fish weren’t as big as some I caught last trip, but they
were fatter. The streams were all up pretty high, as they’ve had a
very wet spring, and it rained for several days before I got there.
It made fishing tougher, but I won’t complain.

The Little River is in better shape than it’s been in years. It is
also harder to fish, unless you are a fellow named Joel who just
happens to work for Little River Outfitters, and caught more, bigger
fish in an hours’ time fishing through the campground than I caught
all trip.

The Bradley Fork was also way up. Compare the two pictures to get
an idea of how much.
This trip: http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/bradleyforkthespot.jpg
Previous trip:http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/bradley01.jpg

A portable ice-fishing house makes for a good camping trailer (this
fellow was from Minnesota):http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/icefishing.jpg

When hiking on newly-reopened Sams Creek above Elkmont, it is
perfectly reasonable to expect to see Wayne Knight come walking up the
trail.

I need to spend more time on Sam’s Creek in the futuhttp://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/samscreek.jpg

The grabber-biter-eaters get bigger and more aggressive once you
enter North Carolina waters.

Deep Creek could easily become a favorite stream of mine.

It is only fitting that you should catch the first and last fish of
your trip from the exact same hole at the campsite where you are
staying.

Why do all the drivers in the park seem to want to go either 10
miles below the speed limit or 20 miles above?

It is very odd to feel like you’re in the wilderness yet hear cars
zooming past when you are fishing above the Chimneys picnic ground.
But it’s nice when you pull an 8” brookie out of the pool in this
pictu
http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/westprong.jpg

I never cease to be amazed at the sheer beauty of the mountains on
a clear morning:http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/clearmorningvista.jpg

I never cease to be amazed at the sheer beauty of the mountains on
a hazy morning:http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/hazymorningvista.jpg

I never cease to be amazed at the sheer beauty of the mountains any
time of day:http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/smokiesview.jpg

I need to make sure and do this trip every year.

Chuck Vance

Thanks for sharing. The spine of time is a nice slice of country.