Nacoochee Bend 3/13/10

Nacoochee Bend is fishing great - check out this report from Vance Hendon....Vance fished the Bend this past Saturday while on the way to the Foothills TU Hoot on the Hooch - it was his 4th trip to fish Nacoochee Bend:

Al, Brad , Jared and I spent an awesome day on the 13th (yikes, unlucky number) of March fishing the "Bend" on the Hooch thru Unicoi Outfitters.

We were all a little concerned after the week's rain and especially after Friday's storms. Mr John Cross, called me late Friday and told me that the river had risen to 280+ CFM and was still going up, so confidence was low of fishing at all Saturday. We were very pleased with the water conditions when we arrived at the shop around 8:30. The river was a tad high, higher than I had ever fished it, but fishable nonetheless. We got some good info from Rex and Hamp at the shop before we headed out.

Jared and I headed upstream from the shop to fish the "rock wall " and Al and Brad headed down to fish below the mill. I had never fished this stretch before and was impressed with the size of the bend there and the amount of water in the river. We had intended in crossing over and going down to fish the bend right behind the shop, but with the high water levels, we stayed put. On my second drift thru the upper end of the run, I hooked my first of many fish, 16" or so, he was way too lively to get a good measure. This pattern continued for both of us, every 2-3 drifts thru the section. I was using a very special top fly that is tied in secret by an awesome tier who would have to kill me if I told you about it, all I can say was that it is olive in color with a bubble gum San Juan worm on bottom, LOTS of weight! The SJW was the trick ( THANKS..REX !!) although we did get quite a few on the secret fly! IT WAS AMAZING, every fish was 14"ish and up, no small fish.

I hooked a fish that I knew was big soon as I lifted to set the hook, felt like a rock. It started down stream immediately, then as I took up line it came straight at me, so fast that I thought that I had lost it. Once I caught up taking up line I realized it was still on and headed upstream. It was headed upstream at such a fast pace in such strong current that I thought instantly....no way you're gonna land this one! He finally got tired enough to swim in the net, and man what a fish! On the scale from my net he was right at 26" Big Trout. ( pic attached) Between the two of us, we landed 12-13 fish here, and we had only fished for a little over an hour! The day continued like this all day long. We headed down to the Mill pool, have to fish there, just have to. Brad was still there and Al had gone on down stream some. They had been getting some big fish out of the pool there , and we jumped in to get some too! Too many big fish to count here, we fished there for an hour and a half or so, and our shoulders and arms were TIRED when we moved on down stream.

I think the most productive section of the day was from about 50 yards below the mill all the way down to the last pool. I hooked two fish that ran me all over the river, that were never landed. One that straightened out a #10 hook! Biggest trout I have ever seen and that is all I did was see it a couple of times. Al got some big ones in this section too ( see pics FAT fish ) as we just moved from pool to pool going down river. The river was high and made casting in some places a little difficult, but it was worth it once you got the fly in the right place. I never even made it below the first bridge, Al and Brad fished below the bridge for a little while and got good fish. The fish were strong, BIG, healthy and hungry. What a day, I would never in my wildest dreams, thought the day would be so good. I honestly cannot tell you how many fish I caught, all I know for sure is that I needed some Advil for my shoulder when I got home! Y'all probably ought to start branding these pigs with the official UO brand!

Kudos to Unicoi Outfitters for managing such a wonderful place to spend the day fishing. I HIGHLY recommend spending the day on the Bend to anyone who wants a chance to catch nice trout and I mean NIZE!!