We had our annual Snowbird trip a little later this year. It was good to see Colonel Bill Brooks and Coach Doug Brooks, along with Chris McRoberts and Alan Grover, but they all had to leave early. It rained every day, and it rained a lot, so much so that one night when the roar of the creek woke me up at around 2AM, and I put my poncho on and went out to make sure nobody was being washed down the creek! The constant rain and high water messed up my plans to come down Snowbird Creek from the top and get some new speckled trout creeks. Instead, I fished some blue lines in Robbinsville, along with a Snowbird tributary right behind my tent and a Panther Creek tributary on the way home.
Ben Wilson emailed me and said he was fishing in the area, and he was gracious enough to allow me to join him on a day-trip to Cataloochee. I caught all three species (hat trick/"smokies slam") in Cataloochee Creek, Palmer Creek, and the roadside section of Rough Fork. In addition, I caught specs and rainbows in Caldwell Fork, and 15-20 specs and rainbows up the trail on Rough Fork during a heavy rain. I was not counting fish, but I have pictures of 24, not including the fish I caught during the rainstorm - it was a fun day! Ben got Caldwell Fork, Palmer Creek, Mossy Branch, Rough Fork and Messer Fork - he will most likely be the next person to reach 1,000 NC creeks.
