Undoubtedly the first fish I ever caught on a fly was a Bluegill. Then came Rock Bass , Smallmouth and Largemouth. Once I went to college the focus was mainly on Smallies because of their availability in the area. I had always wanted to fly fish for trout but had never got the chance. My second quarter of college,we were offered an elective course called Intro to Fly Fishing(I Majored in Fisheries Management). Our final was one of pure pleasure. A fly fishing trip to the Smokies. I was excited. It was February 1990 when our group made that trip to Elkmont. Everyone paired up and went their own way. I was the only one(besides the instructors) out of 20 people who had their own fly rod or had even fly fished before. We walked up a trail above the campground area to get further away from the others. The fellow who was with me really had no interest in fishing. So he sat on the rocks and read most of the time. I moved further upstream on the trail and watched the surface like a hawk. There was plenty of spots to pick from but the outfitter only supplied us with Dries. Adams in sizes 14-18! So I was looking for risers.Then it happened. Hundreds of little bugs started coming off the water. They appeared to be BWO's or at least that's what we were told
would be hatching ,I didn't care. I tied on the #18 because it was the closest in size to the Bugs. There were very few risers though and for a brief moment I felt as if there were no use trying. But as always something comes over me and an effort would be made. Drift after drift no trout. A rise here , a rise there but none to my Adams. I was ready to call it quits. I was now on the tail end of the hatch and it was almost time to meet at the campground.
One more cast I thought to myself and I'm done for the day. The last cast , the last drift there was a little slurp on the surface. I set the hook and brought in a little 8" Rainbow. My trip was complete. I was the only one in the group who caught anything at all(excepy for my instructors). That day forever changed me. I still Smallie fish but my love is for trout whether it be Brown,Brook or Rainbow!