trout in the smokies.......drum below watts 3-15

[hiwasseekid]

There are lots of benefits to going to the University of Tennessee besides the football and the fishing location is one of them. I went to Watts Bar two weekends ago drum fishing ......caught seven 15lbs and several between 10 and 15 lbs. All and all you can't beat big fish consistently. I know i sound crazy for fishing for drum but hey, if there were stripers i would fish for them. Anyway i feel like i justify myself by going to the smokies and fly fishing for some wild trout....went this past weekend and caught five in about 4 hours. Anybody have suggestions or locations for these finicky wild trout? Any one out there know if the stripers are there and im not catching them or have they not moved up yet?

 

[hog daddy]

what are you catching the drum on i relly like using crawfish but they are geting harder to find around here??

 

[TennesseeTalker]

RE: trout in the smokies.......drum below watts

I was just wondering what you do with a drum after you've caught it. Are they edible? I've heard no, but have seen lots of folks on here talk about them and even take their pictures with them. I always thought they were like carp .. and where I come from .. people say those fish go in the dumpster. So .. you drum fishing people ... just what do you do with that fish? How do you cook it? Was just curious. In the past if I caught one ... I'd throw it back and make sure no one saw me!


TT

 

[DHaun]

RE: trout in the smokies.......drum below watts

I catch so many of them fishing for stripers with shad lures that I decided to start being positive about it and enjoy the fight they offer. If I have a bad day fishing, a huge drum pulling off some drag for 10 minutes on light tackle is better than nothing.

I have never eaten freshwater drum nor do I ever plan to, but inshore saltwater fishing considers both red (redfish) and black drum pretty high up on the list of species to catch and eat. They have redfish tourneys like we have bass tourneys and numerous people hire guides to target just these species on the coast during their seasonal migrations. The freshwater drum might be junkfish to some folks but I think like any other species they are a resource of our river system and I would rather have them here to catch than not.

 

[Sunshine]

Hey Hiwassee Kid, where in the Smokies did you catch those trout? I do quite a bit of hiking up there as there is a group of us trying to hike all the trails. We are over half finished. Those mountains are my favorite place to be. When I read Trial by Trail I learned that I could fish up there with a spin rod. So I went out and bought a telescoping spin rod to carry in my pack. I haven't caught anything yet, but I'm determined I am going to someday.
Did you catch yours in an easy-to-get-to creek or were you in the backcountry? I have found them in pools and even had one chase my lure, but no catches yet. Catching one would be a real treat for me.

 

[drumking]

30 years ago I tried eating small drum (1 or 2 lbs) and they seem to taste a little like Bass when they are small. Large ones I have never tried. They are a lazy fish and I can tell in about 10 seconds when I'm striper fishing if it is a drum or not. I got my username "drumking" by catching so many over 20 lbs below Watts Bar dam. Catching drum beats catching nothing. Did anyone ever remove the "Tennessee pearls" from the head of a drum?

 

[Jmax]

O.K. don't laugh at this one it is not a joke.emoSmile I had a friend that would take drum often and eat them. I never tried them myself but had heard the same stories you guys are saying. Finally I could not stand it and asked him about it. He told me he had been shown how to cook them by his grandmother, they were cajuns. He told me he boiled the drum after he cut off the head, scales and took out the guts. He boiled it long enough the meat fell off the bones. The whole bone structure and fins would stay in one piece. He than drained the meat and picked any left off the bones. he mixed it with seasoning rolled it into balls and he called them "Drum Balls"emoBigsmile See I knew you would laugh but again this is no joke. One of my other buddies said they were great.emoThumbsup Kind of like fried fish patties. Down in south Arkansas I ran with a bunch of those cajuns and they could cook anything and make it taste good. Could drink you under a table also. I always wanted to try "Drum Balls" but never had the chance.(Your laughing again)emoCool Jmax

 

[TennesseeTalker]

hmmmm .. I'd try drum balls IF I had enough beer first! emoTongue emoTongue emoTongue

Oh wait ... I forgot I don't drink beer!!!

TT

 

[ranman]

Trout in the smokies are very educated,some of the most heavily pressured fish around.The trick is to get away from the major roads and use very small leaders and flies. thunderheads,parachute adams,and pheasant tail nymphs are my main ones.the middle fork of the prong is a good little stream for numbers of fish.

 

[hiwasseekid]

most of my trout came from the easy access parts of the stream in the lower reaches of the mountains.....i figure that this time of the year most of the fish will be in the lower potions of the stream due to the extremely cold temperatures of the water. This only applies to the rainbow and browns, brookies live for the frigid water. I caught all of mine fly-fishing.....i would find spin fishing a little im practical due to the narrowness of the stream....a good drift with a fly might cover a little more water than a good cast with a spinning rod....if you have instant messenger you can im ...my screen name is hiwasseekid so....feel free to do so

 

[Sunshine]

Thanks guys. I'll remember your advice and keep trying. Sounds like you both have success up there. We are usually out in the backcountry on our hikes. I will try to have what you have suggested in my arsenal next time. My love for fishing started with wanting to learn to fly fish, but ended up in bass fishing. I know my spin rod is not the best for the streams, but it travels easily on long hikes and I can use it other places. I'm also hoping to someday catch a smallie in Abrams Creek. I've heard a lot about that.

I love to bass fish too. I am a member of the Georgia Peaches in Atlanta and the TN club that Kim has started. I will also be fishing with the WBT next month on Neely Henry as well as a couple of other ladies in this forum (BassBullet & Truckin'BassLady). We will all be non-boaters and really looking forward to a great experience. Thanks again for the tips on those trout. I look forward to the day I take one off the hook to release it back into the stream.

 

[ranman]

As far as spinning tackle goes I've always done well with a black roostertail with a gold blade.Just throw it downstream and let it hang in the current or across/down and let it hang in the current.Also try the Joe's flies inline spinners,they are like regular trout flies but have a small spinner on them.They are kinda hard to cast unless you put a couple of split shot on them though.

 

[Sunshine]

I'll certainly keep all of this in mind. We should be going back to start hiking again sometime next month. I initially bought a roostertail but there is supposedly a law up there against treble hooks. I felt like that would have been pretty manageable with a spin rod needing the little bit of weight, but I had to scrap that idea. I have just been tying some flies on that I bought at Wal-Mart. I toss them out into the current as far as I can and let it take it downstream, and then start working them back toward me around any rocks that they might be hiding under or around. It's not the best, but it gives me a little bit of satisfaction to at least try. As I had said before, I have had one chase it. I was just happy for that. I have also tried a very small jig head with a very small piece of plastic that was supposedly made for trout. That got them curious and out from the rocks, but no takers. People laugh at me, but I'm gonna catch one.

 

[churly]

I am a very avid trout fisherman. i use to run Trips on the Caney and the Clinch if you want detailed info about catching fish on those rivers inbox me. I'd be happy to tell you how to catch one. I'm looking at a 7.5lb brown right now on my wall. he was caught on 4lb mono you wanna talk about fun! Every one of my close friends have monster browns and rainbows on the wall from those rivers. One of buddies hooked the state record in the Caney but we couldn't land it i know that brown was pushing 30lbs! We just didn't have the net to get him in. I aslo heard a rumor of TWRA shocking a 36lber out of the caney. As for the mountains I have some die-hard fly fishing buddies that get into the back country alot. They use alot of terrestrials. Ants and stuff and they catch alot of those fish. I also have a killer drum recipe....


Take a piece of pine board and spinkle whatever seasonings you like on the board. then lay the whole drum across the board and put him in the oven @ 325. Let that sucker bake all night. get up in the morning and scrape the drum of of the board and eat the board-LOL!

 

[NRG]

RE: trout in the smokies.......drum below watts

DHaun - 3/15/2006 11:03 AM I catch so many of them fishing for stripers with shad lures that I decided to start being positive about it and enjoy the fight they offer. If I have a bad day fishing, a huge drum pulling off some drag for 10 minutes on light tackle is better than nothing. 

</p>

CCF3 .. wouldnt have caught even one fish had not been for the drum I caught .. at that point was happy to have something bittin my hook</p>

 

[TennesseeTalker]

churly - 3/15/2006 3:53 PM


Take a piece of pine board and spinkle whatever seasonings you like on the board. then lay the whole drum across the board and put him in the oven @ 325. Let that sucker bake all night. get up in the morning and scrape the drum off of the board and eat the board-LOL!

And to think ... I was starting to write that down!!!

TT

 

[fishin3]

Hey Sunshine. You can some time find rooster tails that are single hook. I get them at BPS and some other stores around here. Some of the stream up in Tellico and portions of the Hiwassee river is single hook only artifical. Try to get some of them I also think they hang up less than the trable hooks in the fast water.

 

[coondog]

hey Kid you want to cook drum here's how.
1st, build a good hot fire
2nd, put the drum on a board and place it over the fire.
3rd, get a case of beer for yourself and a case for the drum and as the drum cooks keep it good and soaked in beer, and oh don't let yourself get dry,
4th, when your case of beer is gone throw the drum away and eat the board

try bald river for those wild trout, on a telico nymph.

good luck, good fishing, and good cooking.

 

[TnHoss]

Sunshine, just snip the other two hooks off your roostertail and your good to go. Its perfectly legal in the park. The black with a gold blade like ranman described is tops in the park and a brown with gold blade comes in a very close second.I hike and fish the park several times a year and if I want to eat trout then those two colors are my meal tickets. Also if you hike in the Elkmont area go up the Little river trail about 4 miles and hang a right at the Goshen prong trail head and walk about another 1/2 mile and start fishing, after easter weekend its seems like the fish in that stream go on a feeding frenzy, cast your roostertail (no bigger than 1/8 to 1/24 oz) upstream at the head of a pool and reel fast enough to keep the line tight and the blade spinning and I promise before long you will catch trout. That goes for any trout stream. Good luck.

 

[Sunshine]

I am happy to now know that there are roostertails with single hooks. That's really cool. That will now be on my shopping list I assure you. I am ashamed to admit I never thought of just cutting the two hooks off of a treble hook. I know exactly where you are talking about up Little River Trail. I have been there several times but with no time to stop and fish. I will certainly be visiting the area again specifically for fishing. Last fall I spent a day by myself in the Smokies and stopped in Elkmont to play around with my spin rod for a while. I hiked about a mile up and found a big rock in the middle of Little River. I climbed out and sat there overlooking this big perfect pool of water. Long story short -- I eventually had five trout sitting at the edge of the rocks watching my lure. I just couldn't get them interested enough to take it. I'll keep working on it, especially now that I have so much new information and ideas to try out.