I
t’s six a.m. on 30 October and my little red Jeep is loaded with enough fly fishing garb to catch every trout in the Great Smoky Mountains and maybe even a few squirrels. After mentally checking and re-checking my gear inventory and pondering the weather and water levels, I finally got around to laboring over what my delivery system for the day might be. When fly fishermen (including me) get into a habit or routine of fishing a certain rig, it’s easy just to continue with the same rig even though water conditions may warrant a different “delivery system.” I normally fish two nymphs using a surgeon’s loop or double blood knot rig with no indicator. However, with the water levels being very
low, I decided at the last minute to be prepared to fish two dry flies or a dry and dropper by using my (SRW) San Ron Worm as the dropper. I had about 30 minutes before my fishing buddy would arrive, but no SRW tied as a dropper. As I finished dressing up my third SRW with a tungsten bead head and a few wraps of lead, my fishing partner-in-crime showed up and we were off to the races. As we arrived at Big Laurel Creek and started our rigging-up process, we discussed our fly selections and the “delivery systems” that would be most effective in the low and clear water. After evaluating the water levels and water color, I still decided to
144 | Southern Trout | February 2014 | www.southerntrout.com