Douglas Dam - Tailwaters Campground TVA - Sevierville, Tn (July 21 - July 28)

Monday, July 21 - We left Cumberland Mt. SP at 9:25 AM and 82 deg. and arrived at Douglas Dam at 11:15 AM and 87 deg. We had a detour around Knoxville which added a few minutes. We first tried the headwater campground, but there was only one very small site available. We decided to take our chances and went over to the tailwater campground and found a nice site next to a very helpful couple, Herman and Cookie who gave us a rundown on the place. We are right on the water about a quarter mile from the dam. The water varies about 6 feet in depth depending upon the activity of the power plant. The water rose all after noon and even now at 6:15 PM is running fairly fast. John fished from shore for a short time before the t-storms rolled through, but didn't catch anything. It is hot here, so we are sitting inside with the air-conditioning on listening to the thunder.
(Update) After the rain, it turned out to be a beautiful, cool evening. John took advantage by tossing a popper with the fly rod for awhile and caught three nice sized bream. He didn't want the job of cleaning them, so he let them go.

Tuesday, July 22 - We took our coffee walk down to the dam and John fished a little along the way. No fish. They have fixed up a nice little park along the water with a patch of bamboo and other plantings. We had breakfast, then headed into town for groceries. On the way we stopped at Bass Pro Shops and dropped some $$$ on a new fly rod for Joan, some line and a few flys. We next stopped at the Smoky Mt. Information Center and got some directions on our trip tomorrow to Cades Cove. We also bought some books on the park. We came home and John tried out Joan's new rod and caught a bluegill in about 2 minutes. Joan tried it out and she looked very good. We fished from shore for a while, but nothing bit. John has seen some very large SM Bass jump, but we have not figured out how to catch them yet. It is now raining very hard with some lightning thrown in as well.

Wednesday, July 23 - We got up fairly early and headed south into Smokey Mountain National Park. We took a route that bypassed most of Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg and made our way to Cades Cove. We were told earlier that the loop road there would be closed to car traffic so bicyclists could use the trail until 10 am, but that information somehow slipped our minds. Anyway, that gave us an opportunity to talk to the ranger at the campground and get information about camping in the park. He told us that the park fills up on weekends, so if you are in an area that allows reservations, you could get a spot early in the week, but would have to give it up by the weekend. This would not apply to about half the campgrounds in the park that are first-come-first-served. You would not have a problem getting a site if you come in early in the week. At 10am the gates opened letting the cars through. There is a steady line of cars traveling this loop all day, but biking it seems doable during the times that cars are not allowed. We've decided that next time we will get there at 6:30 on a Wednesday or Saturday when it is bikes only. It is really a beautiful loop with many buildings from the 1800s there to see and tour. The meadows often have deer, and bear can also be sited, although we only saw deer. We tried checking out some streams for fishing, but soon became obvious that we needed more information. We have also decided to loop back around the southern end of the park on our way back next month. On the way back to the camper we stopped for a late lunch in Townsend at Lily's Cafe which was good and ice cream at a trading post in Wears Valley. While we were eating it, it poured rain. In the evening John wore the bluegill out with Joan's new fly rod and a floating ant fly and then we sat by Herman's and Cookie's campfire and chatted until bedtime.

Thursday, July 24 – Let it be known to all that today John did not get skunked. He decided to give it one more try in the weeds just behind our campsite that extend about 100 feet into the river with a large plastic worm. He rigged it weedless and was pulling it slowly through the thick cover, when a large explosion of water erupted. He knew that if the bass got his head down into the weeds, which they usually do, it would be all over. He muscled (yes he still has a few) the bass into shore to the applause of Joan. This gal (not Joan) weighed in at 7.5 pounds and was 23 inches long. Although John usually releases bass of this size, we decided to invite our neighbors Cookie and Herman over for fish dinner.
(Update) – We launched the kayaks in the river and paddled against the current of one turbine discharge towards the dam. They shut it off at 8PM which was only about 10 minutes, so by the time we got about 100 yards from the dam, they shut it off. We fished until dark, but only some small hits. It was great, however, to be out again on a beautiful evening.

Friday, July 25 – We fished a little in the morning with no success and after breakfast, drove to Bass Pro Shops again to see the upstairs that we had missed before. We successfully accomplished that without even spending any money. We also went to the flea market and left with all our money. We were hoping to get some fresh veggies, especially tomatoes, but everything was overpriced and not that good. Very disappointing! After a nice spaghetti dinner, we fished from shore, and John managed to land a bunch of bluegills and bream on a new fly he purchased, but Joan came up empty. This evening is perfect for sitting outside and watching the river. There has been a yellow-crowned night heron sitting in the tree next to our site most of the evening.

Saturday, July 26 – We woke up to rain this morning and heard we got about an inch. We grabbed our umbrellas and took a nice coffee walk down by the dam, then returned for bacon & egg breakfast that John prepared. Afterwards we fished for awhile from our bank and John caught several bluegills and one especially big one. If fought very well on the fly rod. The heat is supposed to increase here next week, so we are going to skip a couple of stops that are lower elevations and head to Warrior’s Gap State Park south of Kingsport, TN. A nice lady named Sally stopped by from French Broad Baptist Church and invited us to the service here in the morning. We said we were already planning on coming. She gave us a neat cookbook with recipes by members of their church as a welcome. Joan has already highlighted several for us to try.

Sunday, July 27 - We really enjoyed a wonderful service on the lawn by the camp store that was hosted by the French Broad River Valley Baptist Church. We heard the pastor play mandolin and the music director play guitar and lead the singing. They played old hymns, but did them in a more contemporary style. The youth director shared a good message on forgiveness. Sadly, there were only us and another lady there from the campground. Everyone else who attended was from the church. John fished with the fly rod for awhile and caught some really nice bream. When he got the idea to keep some to add to dinner, they miraculously stopped biting. It is hot here today, so we are sitting by the fan planning our next stops and catching up on reading.

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