bamboo fly rods,Fishing Report,Underground's Best

We fish for the places it takes us

The casual observer might assume that catching fish was pretty much the point of fly fishing, but they'd be several degrees off true North. Getting skunked isn't fun – and more bigger fish is usually better than fewer smaller fish – but I love fly fishing for the places it takes me. Need a reminder ...

By Tom Chandler 5/15/2006
Food,Travel,Uncategorized

The Slaw Dog Resurrection on Tuesday evening

Due to overwhelming demand (and several thinly veiled threats from Dave Edmondson), Tuesday evening will find me hosting a Tennessee Slaw Dog cookout at the Trout Underground World Headquarters.

For those who can't make it but wish to simultaneously participate in this homage to Eastern Tennessee ...

By Tom Chandler 5/13/2006
Fishing Report,Travel

The Trout Underground lives

A quick 16 hours of travel, and I arrived back at Trout Underground World Headquarters late Tuesday night. When you live in a remote area, going anywhere usually involves at least a long travel day - travel being the thing where you drive a long ways, hang out with thousands of quietly desperate people ...

By Tom Chandler 5/11/2006
Fishing Report,Travel

Leaving on a jet plane

I've only got a few minutes before I have to leave the happy little burg of Townsend for the Knoxville airport, beginning my seemingly interminable journey home on a tiny, buzzing, sealed flying tube with wings - powered by flammable-liquid guzzling engines burning at truly galactic temperatures....

By Tom Chandler 5/9/2006
Food,Travel,Underground's Best

ALERT! The Slaw Dog deconstructed

The river's apparently blown by last night's rain (running 3.5 feet in Townsend where it normally runs 2 feet - and stop me when all this sounds too familiar...). I took the opportunity to drive to the local Phillips 66 gas station - home of the fabled, much-anticipated, Tennessee Slaw Dog....

By Tom Chandler 5/8/2006
bamboo fly rods,Fishing Report,Travel

St. Brookie

With the most sleep I've had in two weeks behind me (six hours, woo-hoo!), today's expedition was a 30 minute drive away and a hike down a steep hill to a small, overgrown stream that was rumored to hold brookies. I was fishing the North Carolina side of the park, and drove over Newfound Gap, which ...

By Tom Chandler 5/7/2006
bamboo fly rods,Fishing Report,Travel

Staging a breakout

Sitting in a motel room less than two miles from the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park – no matter how good it is for you – is an excruciating exercise. Like medicine that tastes bad, eventually you might decide the disease is less painful than the cure. Besides, I wanted to see if ...

By Tom Chandler 5/6/2006
Fishing Report,Travel

The fine line between resting and insanity

It's a beautiful day in the Smokies – not the kind of day you'd want to spend in a dark motel room watching daytime television and trying to sleep away a hacking cough. Outside, fleets of Harleys rumble up and down Townsend's main drag, and a steady stream of cars flow into the park, presumably filled ...

By Tom Chandler 5/6/2006
Fishing Report,Travel,Underground's Best

Afternoon [cough] in the [hack hack] Smokies

Without going into the gory details, suffice it to say that I've been a bad, bad boy and brought my cold back upon me. Yesterday was pretty harsh on my apparently aging respiratory system, transforming me from a strong, virile fishing machine into a pathetic little cough monster, and on the drive home ...

By Tom Chandler 5/5/2006
bamboo fly rods,Fishing Report,Travel

Two rivers, one day

According to Ian, the Tennessee trout fishing universe tends to fall in two hemispheres; the tailwater specialists and the small stream folks. Obviously, plenty fish both, but it's a rare fly fisher that doesn't lean towards one to the exclusion of the other. On Wednesday - after a day in the park - ...

By Tom Chandler 5/4/2006
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