Sunday, August 3 – We left Warrior’s path after packing up and attending a worship service at the park from 9:30 until about 10:15. We arrived at Watauga at 12 noon and talked to some people who knew about the site that was being held for us. It took some time for the people who were there on our site to get packed up and leave. We got set up then drove into Elizabethton. On the way we stopped at a tackle shop to get our trout stamps. Well, we had been given bad information at Cloudland Canyon and could not add a trout license to what we already had. We would have to buy the $81 license that would allow us to catch trout as well as other species. The guy there was not real nice, so we left, but then decided later to stop and get them at Wal-Mart. This was an expensive lesson learned. We then stopped and had dinner at Fatz Café. It was excellent. It is beautiful here and the water is ice cold and crystal clear. Fishing by our camper does not appear too promising. We will most likely need to paddle closer to the dam and also try the tail-water area.
Monday, August 4 – It was very windy during the night about 4:30 am, so we had to go out and fasten the tarp down tight. It still flapped around a lot keeping us from sleeping. Someday we will get a full night’s sleep again. We got the kayaks out this afternoon even though it was quite warm. It must be about 10 degrees cooler on the 46 degree water. Joan got a few good hits, but that was it. We had dinner and went out again try again after they would be done generating and running water out of the dam. John had a fish on for about 2 seconds, but nothing more. Eventually we will find the key. Tim and Rich stopped over with Gus, a really nice white Pyrenees. He is real sweet and gentle. After dark we sat around a fire, which felt real good due to the fog and breeze coming off the water. This is an awesome place and truly beautiful.
Tuesday, August 5 – We decided to try fishing below the dam, so we grabbed a couple of breakfast bars and drove down and found a place to park. This area is about 2 miles away from our campsite. We could see brook trout in pools that we could cast to, but had trouble getting them to bite. Finally, John was successful by stripping the fly faster after they started to follow and they would chase it and take it. He would up catching two. Later, after lunch, we went down to the picnic area on this side of the dam and Joan managed to hook up with a small, but nice brown. It has been very hot today, but with the water temp at about 43 degrees, by staying near the water, it acts like a natural air conditioner. The next time we can get out, we are going to try our waders. We really like this place. It is so beautiful and has so much to do right here.
Wednesday, August 6 – Since it was raining early this morning, we slept in. It was nice for a change to have enough quiet to do this. We finally dragged ourselves out of bed and had pancakes and sausage for breakfast. We then took our waders and went back down below the dam. They really worked great and allowed us to position ourselves much better in the water. We each caught one brook trout, which we released because we did not have a way to measure them. John figures we would need about six this size to make a meal. They were probably about 7-8 inches long. We left there when they began releasing water and went over to the picnic area. We caught nothing there, so we went up to the boat launch on Watauga Lake. We fished around the boat launch, but only managed a couple of small bluegill. We came home and had pork chops for dinner, and then wade fished near our campsite. Nothing was biting here either.
Thursday, August 7 – We took advantage of a gloomy, rainy, potentially stormy day to go to the laundromat and Wal-Mart. We also filled the tank for $3.43/gal.
Friday, August 8 – Today was a truly beautiful, sunny day with temps in the lower 80s and very low humidity. We took advantage of that and took a road trip around Lake Watauga. We stopped a few times to fish the lake and also stopped and fished Doe Creek. We caught some small bluegill and John caught a record rainbow trout. Actually, it would be a stretch to say it was an inch and a half long. We truly enjoyed the beauty of this area and will be back again. We stopped on the way back at a restaurant that came highly recommended. Shirley’s is a home-style restaurant that has extremely well-prepared food. We even got to talk personally with Shirley. We were not disappointed. This evening we are watching the opening ceremony of the Olympics. Wow!
Saturday, August 09 – It was windy again during the night, but no damage. We got up to a very cool morning – about 60 degrees – and took our coffee on a much longer walk. We hiked the road that leads up to the boat launch and observation area on Watauga Lake, and got about half way. We hiked 1.5 miles of steep incline, then turned around and came back. Again, because this is the weekend, we stayed fairly close to camp. We picked up some firewood and cut it up.
Sunday, August 10 – We went to our next door neighbor’s (Gary & Patty) church this morning. They were camping next to us this week. It is a very large Free-Will Baptist Church and we enjoyed a good message and music. The folks there were friendly and we talked to Gary & Patty for awhile after the service. We fished out our back door for awhile with the fly rods, but came up empty again. Tim & Rich came over this evening for dinner. It was good to see them again. They are the guys we met last week at Warrior’s Path.
Monday, August 11 – It was in the upper 50s overnight and about 60 when we got up. We made coffee and grabbed some breakfast bars and headed down past the steel bridge to fish the Watauga River while they were not generating. It is too swift for us to wade it when the water is flowing at its peak. We soon discovered that we needed to stay in the rocky areas to keep from sinking into the mud. We fished for over an hour and only came up with one fish. John caught a nice (about 7”) brown trout, which he released unharmed. It was still fairly cool in the afternoon so we made a fire and enjoyed sitting by it and watching the river flow by the campsite. We had the rest of the pork roast that Joan did in the crock pot yesterday. It was awesome. Tim and Rich stopped by for a few minutes to show us Rich’s new truck. Very nice!
Tuesday, August 12 – We had planned to get the kayaks on the water this morning, but heavy winds and cool temps changed our minds. We have wanted to hike out on the Appalachian Trail and see the overlook of Lake Watauga. The start of the trail is two miles from our campsite and 700 feet higher in elevation. We packed up our supplies and headed out mid-morning. On the way, we passed a man who was raking rocks from his yard. We talked with him for quite a while. His name is Clyde and his wife died about a year and a half ago. He is retired from the TVA and has lived in the area all his life. He had a wealth of information to share. He showed us his new house that he just moved into and told us that his old one is for sale. We only hiked about a half a mile of the trail which leaves about 2174.5 miles to go to complete it. A bear was sighted in the campground this evening. We get good reception on NBC and are really enjoying the Olympics in the evening. Go Mike!
Wednesday, August 13 – We had breakfast, then launched the kayaks from our back yard. We fished for about four hours, but caught nothing. A young man fishing from shore by the bridge caught an 18 inch rainbow trout on a Mepps inline spinner bait. John helped him get a picture of it and release it. He is the owner of the Sonic restaurant in Elizabethton and was taking a break from work. He’s originally from Florida and has only been here a few months. That was the first trout he has ever caught. It has made us think maybe we need to put away the fly rods and go conventional, but we decided to hang in there and learn what we need to catch fish consistently on the fly. In the afternoon, we drove to Johnson City to Mahoney’s Outfitters and restocked our supply of flys and John got a wading pack to hold our stuff. It rained hard while we were out.
Thursday, August 14 – Today we drove over to Dennis Cove in the Cherokee National Forest. There is a small campground there with no hookups that is way back in the forest. It seemed like we climbed hills forever getting there. Laurel Creek goes through there so we parked at the picnic area, put on our waders, and fished it for awhile. The water was very low and clear making it difficult. As a result, we came up empty. On the way back we took another route over gravel roads through the forest and incredibly beautiful country. We are hearing that a stocking happened and about fish being caught in the river here in our campground, so we’ll focus on it for the next couple of days.
Friday, August 15 – We took the kayaks out again in the morning after the wind settled down and it warmed up a bit. We continue to stay committed to the fly rods and put on clouser flys to try to entice a larger trout. We soon had some action. Joan adjusted her kayak position with her small paddle and when she started bringing the fly in again, she realized that she had a fish on. By the time she went to set the hook, it released it and swam away. She figures it was about a two pound fish. That was the only action for the outing. We went back to Shirley’s Restaurant for dinner and fished the large lake (Watauga) before and after from shore. We put on large grasshopper flies and had fun with bluegills hitting the fly, but it was too big for them to get hooked. We were hoping for a larger bass to take it, but it never happened. Rich and Tim stopped by again and said they checked out the Nolichucky Campground near Erwin. They didn’t think we would like it because it looked like a scene from a Grateful Dead concert.
Saturday, August 16 – We took the kayaks out yet again this morning and gave it another try, but closer to our campsite. We saw a few very large trout, but were unable to get them to bite. Some have been catching trout on corn and dough-balls, but we don’t have flies that resemble these. Maybe we need to get some salmon egg flies. The weather continues to be great, but is slowly warming up.
Sunday, August 17 – We went back to Valley Forge Baptist Church and enjoyed a very lively, meaningful service. Folks there were very friendly and inviting and it was good to see Gary and Patty again. We stopped at Walmart, and then returned back to the campground. We had picked up some salmon eggs and tried to float them with the fly rods in the kayaks. They didn’t stay on real well and we came up empty again.
Monday, August 18 – We decided to get out and wade again below the steel bridge before they start generating. John says that Joan’s fly fishing has improved dramatically. She is getting the fly out more than 50 feet. She got three hits and John got one, but none landed. This has been a good learning experience with the fly rods, with much more to learn. We have loved this area and will most assuredly be back. After we were done fishing we drove over to Stoney’s Pizza for lunch, then stopped by and visited with Clyde (see Tuesday, August 12) for awhile. In the evening, we sat out by a fire and enjoyed the river for the last time.
View Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/johnjoanW/WataugaDamTVARecreationAreaElizabethtonTnAugust3August19
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