Another trip down Watauga River

We set out a little before 9:00AM on Saturday morning to do a little fishing on Watauga River.  It was pretty overcast to start out the morning but I had checked the weather and it was supposed to be a nice day.  The fishing finally seems to be picking up as right off we started catching some trout.  Supprising though not many others were on the water this far up river.

We continued down river with out much happening.  In one of our favorite holes just below where Stoney Creek joins with Watauga River, Jordan caught his first trout using his fly rod.  It wasn't much of a trout but as we always say "A fish is a fish".  He finished the hole by catching 2 more off of his fly rod.  I spent a good bit of the time helping him and even caught a decent little rainbow with Jordan's fly rod while showing him how to cast a little better. 

We still hadn't seen anyone else on the river until we got to Hunter Bridge.  There were half a dozen people wade fishing in this area.  Once we got down past this section we did have a group of kayakers come down behind us.  They weren't fishing but were out just enjoying the river.  They were going fairly slow so we stayed fairly close to them for the rest of our trip down river.  We also met up with another group of two kayaks and 4 guys on pontoon float boats.  I am still amazed at the lack of people who kayak fish on the Watauga River. 

We had a great day on the water and the fishing turned out to be one of the better times we have this summer.  Can't wait to get out next weekend if the weather permits.

Watauga River, Siam Bridge To Blackbottom

Here is the track for the trip.

Watauga River Information

I felt it was time to add a little bit of information on where we kayak and fish. We spend the majority of our time on Watauga River in Elizabethton, TN. Although Watauga River starts in North Carolina, my only experience is with the sections within Carter and Washington Counties of Tennessee. The river starts as it flows out of Wilbur Dam and flows for approximately 20 miles until it converges with Boone Lake. There are two sections that we primarily float. The first section, which I refer to as upper section is approximately five and a half to six miles long. It starts just below Siam Bridge and stops at Riverside Park at the Elizabethton Twins ball field. The second section is the trophy section and starts at Riverbend boat ramp and stops at the CSX railroad bridge in Watauga, TN and is approximately four to four and a half miles long.

Watauga River is kept in the low to mid 50s all summer long due to the release of water from Wilbur Reservoir. During the summer kayak and rafting season the Tennessee Valley Authority maintains a fairly consistent generation schedule that can be found HERE with daily release info found HERE.  Normally you can expect the generation to begin between noon and 1:00PM, Monday through Saturday with Sunday being free from generation.  These times are subject to change if power is needed so always check the daily release information.

The river conditions themselves are fairly mild even for the new paddlers.  We were able to paddle the river, under generation our first time down with no experience at all with no problems.  When not generating, which is the best time to fish the river, it is a very easy and relaxing trip.

Siam Bridge to Riverside Park (Upper Section)
On the upper section there are no areas that would give any concern as long as you pay attention.  As with any thing done on moving water you need to always take caution and be prepared for accidents, however as long as you stay alert it is a great river to float and fish.  Our first few times down we did take a couple of spills due to getting caught on rocks and then getting the kayak turned in awkward positions.  None of these resulted in more than getting wet and having to drag the kayaks to the side to drain water out.  The biggest piece of advice I could give is keep everything you don't want to lease on some sort of leash.  I keep everything from water bottles to tackle boxes on lanyards attached with carabiners. 

Depending on the water level, which varies throughout the summer with rainfall, there are several areas which may or may not require you to have to get out and drag the kayak through the shallows.  The great thing is many of these areas are also nice spots to stop and do a little wade fishing.  There are several areas that are over a persons head but for the most part these sections are very calm and can be paddled through with ease.  Overall the upper section is our go to section for fishing and just plain having fun.  The fishing, even on bad days is excellent, usually resulting in a dozen or more trout being caught between a couple of fishermen.

One of the nicest things about kayaking this section of the river, especially for the inexperienced kayaker is that you are always in sight of houses and normally there are others on the water either fishing or boating.  If something were to happen, help is on hand.  There are several rafting companies located on the rivers edge as you head down river and on more than one occasion the weather has gone bad on us and each we were offered a spot to get off the water at these rafting companies.

Riverbend boat ramp to CSX Bridge (Trophy Section)
The trophy section of Watauga River is about the same as the upper section as far as the skill required to float it.  It is however a little deeper with fewer areas where you are able to get out of the kayak and wade fish.  It is also much more secluded, with areas where if something happened you would pretty much be on your own.

The fishing itself is on par with the upper section, with the main difference being the potential size of the trout.  As per the name the trophy section is stocked with larger trout than other sections of Watauga River.  With this in mind there are a different set of regulations that one must adhere to while fishing this section.  Check the TWRA site for the most current regulations. 

Overall both of these sections are a lot of fun to float and as long as common sense and a little caution is taken then you will have a great time on the water.  There is only one spot that I would not recommend the novice kayaker to attempt and that would be at Sycamore Shoals right before you reach Riverbend.  There is a drop off in the water that I will not even attempt yet.  This is why I do not paddle the short section between Riverside park and Riverbend.  Other than this one section I highly recommend anyone to give this river a shot.  The trout fishing is outstanding, the water relaxing and scenery breathtaking!

Feel free to check out the About Us page for how to contact me if you have questions or would like more detailed information.

Trip to Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Our three oldest kids were out of town on a church trip so Misty and I decided to take Abby down to Gatlinburg, TN for the weekend. While down there we took a drive into the Smokies and headed to Cades Cove. The weather was great albeit a bit on the hot side. This was actually Abigayle's second time in Cades Cove, although her first time she was only a few weeks old. So I guess it had been five years ago give or take a week or so. Needless to say she didn't remember much about it, however if you ask her she will tell you all about her first time there (the one 5 years ago). Got to love the imagination of a five year old.

We spotted quite a few deer while in the cove and even got to see several bear with their cubs. We also hiked out to Abrams Falls which was a first for all three of us. Abby was a trooper and made it the entire 5 miles round trip with minimal complaining.  The hike itself was not the hardest Misty or I had made before but it had been quite a while since either of us had done any hiking.  I will freely admit that we were both wore out by the end and are feeling it today.  It was all worth it however.  Any time spent with the family like that is always worth every moment.  We saw some beautiful scenery and got some much needed exercise to boot.  Who could ask for more?

After the hike up to the falls we went back to the car and found us a nice spot to have a quick little picnic.  After that we finished the loop through the cove and headed back home.  It was a great little vacation and hopefully we will get a chance to do it again sometime soon with the rest of the family.

⇒ Click here for an album of pictures from the trip. ⇒ Click here for a slideshow of pictures from the trip.

Cades Cove Abrams Falls

Here is the track for the hike out to Abrams Falls.

Short trip down Watauga River

We hadn't been on the water the last couple of weekends so Jordan and I got up late Saturday morning and decided to hit the river. We got everything loaded up and set out fron Hunter Bridge on Watauga River. We usually put in farther up river but since it was around noon when we got started and generation was to start at 1 PM we decided to make it a shorter trip.

Right away we started catching fish. There is a great little hole just past the bridge and between the two of us we caught 13 trout out of it. All of them were rainbows between 10 and 14 inches. We moved on to let some of the folks wade fishing get a little action.

The next few holes we normally fish turned out pretty hot just as the first one was. I finally got the chance to snap a photo of a trout as Jordan was getting the hook out. It seems like every time he catches one I am not able to get a picture and it's pretty hard to get a picture of one I have caught.

We didn't make it far down the river though when some storm clouds rolled in on us. We barely got out of the river and had my wife meet us where we were before the rain unloaded. It wasn't a long float but we had a good day anyways.

Short Watauga River Trip

Here is the track for the trip.

A birthday float down Watauga River

It's been a couple weeks since we made this trip.  I have been lazy and hadn't gotten around to posting it but here it is finally. 

I had taken a couple days off of work for Jordan and Abigayle's birthday.  We had Jordan's party at the lake on Saturday so we decided to make a run down Watauga River on Friday, which was actually Jordan's 17th birthday (happy birthday Jordan!).  Jordan invited a friend of his to go down with us so we all met at Riverside Park in Elizabethton bright and early Friday morning.  We left Aaron's car at the park and took our's to our put in spot up by Siam Bridge. 

This was Aaron's first time kayaking and he was using our spare Flex Vertex 85 Kayak.  We spent a little bit going over a few details before putting in and once on the water we went over a few more things.  Once I felt Aaron was comfortable we got to fishing. 

We made most all of our normal stops along the way and all of us caught several decent trout.  Nothing major happened throughout the day aside from Aaron dropping one of my ultra-lite rods he had borrowed into the water in a nice deep hole.  We tried getting it and although we could see it setting on the bottom about 10 feet below us we just couldn't get to it.  Alas it was only a cheap Wal-mart rod.

On a side note we had warned Aaron several time to put sun screen on several time, which he ignored.  From what I understand he was severely sunburned afterwards.  Maybe next time he will listen to our advice!

All-in-all we had a great time and I am glad the three of us got a chance to go down the river together for Jordan's birthday.  Hopefully we will get a chance to do it again soon.

Watauga River Trip

Here is a track of the trip using EveryTrail on my Google Droid X.

Two trips for Monday, May 30, 2011 and Tuesday, May 31, 2011

We made two different trips on Monday and Tuesday. The first trip was another float down the trophy section of Watauga River and the second one we paddled out to a large island on Watauga Lake.

The Watauga River trip was fairly uneventful. We hit the water by just after 8:00 AM. Caught a few nice trout and had a fun day on the water but nothing to speak of really. We did get to chat with a few more drift boaters and had a couple of rafters come by. One thing I do feel as though I need to bring up is etiquette on the water. Normally I try to be as courtius to others as possible and will give up good stretches of water if others are even near by. My thought is that there is always more spots down river somewhere. I very upset with the way the rafters acted when they came by. Jordan and I were sitting in a calm stretch playing with some trout when the rafters came by yelling, splashing and squirting water everywhere. Even when they got along side of us they were slapping their paddles on the water.

Without a doubt I know they saw us there because several of them even waved at us. I understand that they paid a lot of money to take that trip however a little common courtesy in a hundred yard stretch of water goes a long way with the others you are sharing the river with.

Well that's my rant for the day!

Watauga River Trophy Section

Here is a track of the float down the trophy section of Watauga River.

On Tuesday we headed out a little after 1:00 PM to let the kids play at the lake and to spend some time together as a family. We took all three of our kayaks so that Brianna, my oldest daughter, could try out the kayak some.

Once at Watauga Lake we got the kayaks in the water and started out. I let Brianna get used to the kayak and then took her out to an island not far from the swimming area we were at. The island is kinda small and has several older geese nests on it. Once I felt she was ready we decided to kayak down the lake to a large island we are planning a camping trip on. It was a good little paddle to it and all three of us were pretty wore out.

I had planned to paddle back to where we started but decided to call Misty to drive up the lake from where she was with our two youngest ones and pick the three of us up.

Watauga Lake

Here is a track of our trip on Watauga Lake.

All in all we had a great day and a great Memorial day weekend. Jordan and I went kayaking all four days I was off for a total of just over 20 miles of water time. We caught a good bit of trout with several of them being pretty decent. A man can't ask for much better of a time!