Elk on 7-18

[grubbah]

Was anybody else on the Elk Sunday?  The place was a madhouse I thought.  It was only my second time at the elk but it was much worse than the other time.  Parking lot was jam packed with people in the grass even, and the number of canoes and kayaks surprised me.

Is that normal on the Elk on Sundays or did I just catch a bad day?

[David L. Darnell]

normal, seems to get worst as the years go by.

[troutaddict]

You are not kidding, I was there for a few minutes and didn't even get out the gear.  Were you there early when all the 'lovely canoe people' were screaming and yelling at each other.  You could hear all the noise for miles.  Didn't wet a hook, just left.   Was worse than I've seen anywhere.

[David L. Darnell]

Working weekends has it's perks if you are outdoors type, I live between 2 canoe rentals, on weekends at times it sounds like people are getting raped down on the river, can't for the life of me figure out why people want to come out in the boonies and bring all the noise with them.

Ask my wife about the time we hiked up from Bryson City to campside 53. Bunch of boy scouts from Orlando made it to camp about 10pm, with their boom boxes booming.

[grubbah]

You are not kidding, I was there for a few minutes and didn't even get out the gear.  Were you there early when all the 'lovely canoe people' were screaming and yelling at each other.  You could hear all the noise for miles.  Didn't wet a hook, just left.   Was worse than I've seen anywhere.

Yeah, I was there early.  It was almost comical as they passed by me.  Canoes single file.  First canoe goes by and they ask If I caught anything.  second canoe not 5 feet behind asks me if I caught anything.  Its not like they couldn't hear me talking to the people 5 feet in front of them.  3rd canoe the guy asks me what kind of fishing line that was...... uhh....   

And yeah, quiet didnt seem to be something they understood.   

[Mike Anderson]

Everybody sold their timeshares and bought a canoe. Isn't it great. Fishing on weekends is a dying past time, soon so will buying Trout Stamps and fishing licenses.

[troutaddict]

Absolutely Mike, If something doesn't happen soon, the fly fisherman will be the minority ----- Wait a minute, It’s too late, already happening.  Any TWRA listening??

[kcnal]

If the creek was that bad, makes me wonder what the dam looked like...

[kcnal]

I stopped by Monday afternoon.  Really just to throw a couple of new nymphs I was tying and try to get some pictures of the insects.  Yes it was early (afternoon) and hot, but very slow....must have been some "fantastic" pressure over the weekend.

[JayA]

I remember way back when you could fish JPP on the weekends.  Now I will only go there during the week.  I have not fished the Elk on the weekend in several years for the same reason.  During the week is the ticket as David said.

But if you think its bad here try Yosemite streams on the weekend!  Even during the week it is somewhat crowded.  I told all Californians that ask that TN was awful compared to there in the hopes that they would stay put and not move here to add to our crowds!

[grubbah]

I was down at the Elk again this morning/afternoon and the crowd wasnt too bad.  A few canoes here and there but for the most part civilized people unlike last week  After about Noon I think I had the whole place to myself, the only crowd was up on the gravel bank right by the parking area.  Granted, it was way too hot to be out there but it beats a day in the office by a mile!

I did get to watch what looked like a guide work with a father/son team and I saw the son (I'm guessing 13ish years old) catch a rainbow from a distance.  It sure is great to see the younger crowd pick up fly fishing, reminds me of when I started about 18ish years ago.

I also wish I had a video camera or something on me.  Around the bend I was watching a heron for a while then suddenly he lunged from the log he was perched on and pulled up a real nice rainbow - Down the hatch it went.