Empty nymph casings

 

At long last, the cicadas have come to cheer up the weary anglers who have been swamped by high water on Middle Tennessee’s tailwaters, and the tailwaters throughout the southeast for that matter. On Friday, I spent some time checking on the emergence of our winged friends after their 13 year slumber. Along the Little Harpeth River when I was walking, it did not take long

A meal in the eyes of every fish around

 to come across a ton of nymph casings, and growing adults were not far off. No males were singing yet, but that should only be a few days off.  While the constant buzzing may be a nuissance to most people, fishermen hear and sing a much different tune. These ugly little critters provide fish the protein equivalent of dropping off a high school football team at an all-you-can-eat buffet for 4 to 6 weeks. That’s right, fish will be gorging themselves every chance they get. If and when a cicada hits the water,  it’s game over. No matter the species of fish, from catfish to trout, cicadas will be hammered throughout the water column. Stock up on those patterns, and have a mixture of them ready to go. And by all means, enjoy this noisy beginning to the summer season!  

Here they come

Buzz'd Mudders ready to roll

This past Saturday, the Buzz’d Mudders descended on Highland Park to give it hell. and that we did….Our first Tough Mudder wound up being an adventure none of us will ever forget. The whole team left it all out on the line, whether swimming through icy mud, climbing walls, enduring a ridiculous amount of trail running, and yes, more running through crazy amounts of mud where you are obviously supposed to be on a dirtbike or ATV.

Jocks On the Rocks - swimming through ice water

Obstacles were dominated one after the other. That is, until we hit some Electroshock Therapy. sure, it’s right before we hit the finish line, but it’s also right after we had to walk the plank and jump into the not-so-warm pond and swim out. Once we all got through Electroshock, which of course we have a video of, it was all over but the homework, we were off to celebrate and wait for the soreness to completely set in.

Clay's Fired Up!

I could not be more proud of the Buzz’d Mudders, each and every one of them did an unbelievable job! Nothing is more inspiring than seeing people come together for a common goal and go through so much to see that it happens and make sure no one is left behind. Through this event, a close-knit team was born and everlasting bonds created. Just think, this is the first Tough Mudder of many for the Buzz’d crew. Great job again, and Thank you so much for being a part of this! Mad props to all of you Mudders!

Smokehouse Exit

Nick getting some love

Working the wall

Mols wearing out the Funky Monkey

Twinkle toes - the most unstable balance beam

Fire Walker

And what kind of person would I be for not throwing out a HUGE shout-out to our phenomenal support staff – We have Tricia and Kelly to thank for taking all these awesome pictures, tracking down water for us when we were in dire need, rinsing out muddy eyeballs, you name it!! And how could we possibly forget our awesome traveling fans, JW and Connie – Thank you so much for coming to see us!

Kelly rinsing muddy eyes

This is what Ice cubes look like in the mud - Now go crawl through it! The Buzz'd Mudders did!

Time to warm up and get sore!

Well folks, the weather has finally started to turn, with the Bradford Pears leading the way…..Fly lines have been coming out to stretch, full fly boxes are being organized, and cabin fever has worn out its welcome. The boat is ready to roll, I think even it knows that water clarity is improving all over the place. 

More and more of my conversations with people are about fishing, what flies to use, etc.  I am finally starting to listen to what the weather man has to say. That’s right people, it’s time. I expect to see great fishing this year from all of our Middle Tennessee fisheries. The Caney Fork should start to offer more and more windows of fishable water in the near future, but if you can float it, that is the way to go. Pack the big nasty streamers, and put your streamer-junkie hat on, because you need to be getting the fly in the cover and down deep to those pigs that are hiding out in these high flows just waiting to ambush a fluttering baitfish. If it were me, I would look for some shad kills and then get after those browns and the occasional big ‘bow!

The Elk is also running high right now, but when the generation stops, get in on the falling water, especially as the water clarity improves…… break out the usual suspects as far as nymphs are concerned, and don’t overlook those soft hackles or the basic wooly buggers, as all will produce well on the Elk. 

Warmwater opportunities will be picking up as the warm weather continues, be thinking basic nymph patterns, wooly buggers, baitfish patterns, and eventually……poppers. Another Winter in the books folks, time for tight lines and sunburns!!! Good luck out there, and always leave the water cleaner than you found it.

-Braton

We love you bro, and we know your superpowers will bring you back stronger than ever.

-Braton

The gang floating the Duck

Well, it has just been that hot outside, hot enough to make me call up some good friends, and head for the Duck River while the fly rod stays at home. That’s right, I said it. I felt like the kids in The Sandlot, just defeated by the heat that we have been dealing with. It was time to go canoeing. It turned out to be a great day for it, although it was a billion degrees outside, but we made it work, that’s for sure.

Hanging out with Cash

Even before we made our first stop we had a nice Discovery Channel moment, as we came across two Rattlesnakes all tangled up near the bank of the river. And these were no baby snakes either, these reptiles were legit. Of course we got closer than we should have to get some cool pictures and a bit of video. No worries though, no one felt the need to act like any of the crazies on the Discovery Channel and try to handle the snakes, thats just dumb. Not to mention the snakes were busy enough as it was.

Rattlesnakes on the banks

It wound up being a great way to spend a day on the water with some great friends. A couple of canoes flipped over, no adult beverages were lost, but enough were consumed, and everyone made it out safe and sound. Unless some people floating behind us got a little too close to the snakes of course.

Mel and Mols

The Sunday that will live forever

Submerged Police car on Sawyer Brown Road

I know many people saw this weekend going much differently in their minds, and without question, this weekend will never be forgotten.  After getting Adam as situated as we could with his house flooding last night, I finally made it home, and waited to see what today would bring us. Lunchtime found my good friend and Homeowners Association President DJ Farris and I fighting a flooding problem with a squeegee at another building in our complex. As we drove out to assess the damage around Bellevue, we heard on the radio that they needed a lot of help and boats at the River Plantation Townhomes, as there were still a lot of people trapped.  So we headed that way, just a 3 minute drive from our place. coincedentally I got there at the same time as another good friend of mine, Austin Pennington. He was there looking for a friend who was stranded, and within a few minutes, we were on a War Eagle Duck boat, driven by Hal, the new River Captain of Bellevue. From 2pm until total darkness, we were rescuing people, dogs, cats, some belongings, expensive horse saddles, etc. Hal handled the boat like a champ, and the three of us did all the swimming and navigating through completely flooded homes to get to people who were stranded.

Swimming through a carport to a townhouse

It is a very eery feeling when you have to swim over a car that is completely submerged, and grab onto the top of a street light when you are caught in a raging current. An even worse feeling is when you finally push a door open that is held shut by 5 feet of water, and make your way into someone’s home, looking at all of their belongings just floating around, even couches and refridgerators. The only good feeling to come out of something like that is knowing that the residents are now safe.  My sincerest thoughts and prayers go out to all residents of Bellevue and the entire middle Tennessee in this time of tragedy.

Austin and DJ getting a Black Lab into the boat

I am very confident that without the help of all the volunteers that showed up today, there would still be people stranded in those townhomes. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Hal, who can handle a boat like no other, DJ, who is a natural Rescue Tech, especially when it comes to animals, He and Minnie the cat got acquainted before dark,  and Austin, who I was obviously meant to spend a Sunday afternoon with swimming from garage to garage, looking for those who needed help.  Great job everyone, and remember, there is nothing stronger than the heart of a volunteer.

A happy reunion

DJ and Braton

Austin and Braton

DJ on the bow for our last run of the night

Please pray for everyone in the mid-state, as we recover from this historic tragedy.

-Braton