We had a pretty ominous start for the day as Kay was up and down all night from apparent food poisoning, with chills and fever. She rarely gets sick so this was quite unusual. However, she definitely felt better when we got up about 6 am, and returned to her old self as the day wore on.

We’re staying in Curry Village, and it’s like a small city with shops, stores, food establishments, etc. All are pricey as is the norm for national park concessionaires. I walked down to the coffee shop, then across the path to the “reading” room for Internet. The reading room is really a separate building with a big porch and rocking chairs. Internet was good with a strong signal so we were able to keep up with email and news from home. Kay, Nan, and George joined me, and it was a surprise as George is not an early riser.

We drove down the Valley to the trailhead for viewing Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls. The trail was short, but the views of the falls were inspiring. Yosemite Falls is the highest falls in the US.

Nan and George opted for a hike to Mirror Lake, and we stayed behind to further Kay’s recovery. We had reservations at the old and famous Ahwahnee Hotel, and the Mediterranean salad was among the best salads I have ever eaten, comparing favorably with the Caesar salad at the Grand Ely Lodge in Ely, Minnesota.

We departed the hotel and began a long afternoon of sightseeing, stopping along the way at the Tunnel View of the Valley. This is a pretty awesome place.

Here you can see El Capitan, Bridal Veil Falls, and Half Dome.

Our drive continued south and much higher in elevation to the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoia trees. It is almost unimaginable that such living things exist on our earth.

Driving back northward, we diverted off the main road for viewing the Valley. Our first stop provided a great view of both Vernal and Nevada Falls, and Half Dome.

From there, we drove to Glacier Point, one of the best areas from which to view the Valley. The short hike provided spectacular views at every turn.

On a whim, George elected to hike to the top of Sentinel Dome, and Nan and I joined him. This 1.1 mile hike climbed almost a 1,000 feet in elevation in the short distance from the trailhead to the the top, but the views were to behold. After the long, but exhilarating hike, we returned to Curry Village for our last night in the “tent”, ready for a good night’s sleep and tomorrow’s adventures.

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Kay and I slept so so, but awakened early for the hotel breakfast of boiled eggs, toast, and yogurt–yum, yum.

After the others had awakened and had breakfast, I caught the hotel shuttle back to airport with George to pick up the rental car, then we drove back to the hotel to pick up Kay and Nan, and luggage, and departed South San Francisco for Yosemite National Park. We made an uneventful drive, stopping along the way at one of many produce stands to buy apricots, oranges, apples, and cherries. This California fruit is outstanding. We arrived in Yosemite NP in mid-afternoon, and oohed and ahhed at our first waterfall. The drive down into the “valley” was pretty awesome along the steep, curvy roads. As we entered the valley, we stopped and hiked a short distance to a viewing area for Bridal Vail Falls.

At the registration office, I asked Kay to sign us in since she had made the reservations. She was not her usually enthusiastic self, and would have preferred that I do it, but offered to wait in line, etc. Enroute to the “tent”, we stopped by the Visitor’s Center for maps, park guides, and trail recommendations, and then bought sandwiches at an adjoining store–of course paying National Park Service concessionaire prices. Nan and George bought crackers and hummus (we’re all dieting), and we all ate at a picnic table just outside the store. With almost full tummies and armed with all of the info from the Visitor’s Center, we proceeded towards the “tent”, taking requisite photos of Half Dome along the way.

As we approached the “tent” area, we looked and looked for our “tents” among the several hundred, and finally finding them, had a difficult time then finding a parking place. And this is the off season!

As we unloaded the car, it was obvious that Kay was feeling bad; in her usual fashion she toughed it out, but went to bed immediately with chills and fever. She vomited and had other stomach problems, all symptomatic of food poisoning.

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Drove to Little Rock, departing from home about mid-morning. Checked one bag, “marched” through TSA security, and waited for our boarding zone to be announced. The wait, combined with free airport Internet, provided an opportunity to download some reading material for the next 8 days.

Our flight to Houston was uneventful, as was the long flight from Houston to San Francisco, except for the constant, loud, and incessant chattering right behind me; oh well, better than a screaming baby or indignant adult! Kay’s bag was waiting on us at the baggage claim area, and we didn’t have to wait long for the shuttle to our hotel. Kay and Nan texted back and forth, and Nan and George dropped by for a brief visit before we called it a night.

P.S. With a new grandchild having arrived last October, and another on the way for scheduled arrival on August 3, we are opting to do a couple of “fly and drive” trips on our bucket list, and a few local RV trips this year. Kay’s sister, Nan, and her husband, George, invited us to join them on a trip to Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon National Parks, and San Francisco, California; we jumped at the chance as we wanted to spend time with them, and the area was on our bucket list.

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DATE: Saturday, May 12, 2012

TIME: 7:00 AM to 1:30 PM

WEATHER: Low 50s to mid-70s, mostly sunny

WATER CONDITIONS: 0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, Mill Dam Eddy to Riffle above the Island below McClellan’s

FLIES USED: Brown Wayne’s Fly, #20 red/silver Zebra Midge, #16 Elk Hair Caddis, #16 Parachute Sulphur Dun

ROD USED: 8′ 6" 5 wt Winston LT JWF

HATCHES: Midges, caddis, sulphurs, crane flies

OTHER: Fished with Ron and Kaden. It was only Kaden’s second time on water other than Dry Run Creek. We began fishing early in order to avoid the crowds, but as it turned out, we saw no other fishers until we finished at 1:30 pm. Kaden hooked and missed several fish, but caught 4 or 5. He did an excellent job of managing his line, including both upstream and downstream mends. He had all the fishing he wanted by 10 am, so he and I waded out and drove to the house.

I returned and waded back upstream and began fishing, using the #14 cockleburr, catching 3/4 dozen fish in the film. I switched to an elk haired caddis and caught several more. After seeing a few sulphurs hatching, I switched to a #16 parachute sulphur dun. Casting to a spot that has produced fish all spring, I hooked and landed what ended up being a 17-inch rainbow, ending the day with a couple of dozen fish.

Ron caught a bunch of fish as well, including a couple of 15-16 inch rainbows, and several on an elk haired caddis. It was the first time he had fished in some time, and we both had a great time.

DATE: Thursday, May 10, 2012

TIME: 9:00 AM to 1:30 PM

WEATHER: Low to mid-70s, mostly sunny

WATER CONDITIONS: 0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, Mill Dam Eddy to Riffle above the Island below McClellan’s

FLIES USED: Brown Wayne’s Fly, #20 red/silver Zebra Midge, #16 Elk Hair Caddis

ROD USED: n/a

HATCHES: Midges, caddis, sulphurs, crane flies

OTHER: Fished with John, Ted, and Glenda. Walked in at Mill Dam Eddy, and waded upstream to above the island. Ted caught a few fishing the left descending side below the riffle; his first two were nice browns. He then fished the left side of the left riffle using an elk hair caddis and caught several. We moved to a location between the riffles and he caught more in both the left and right riffles on the caddis. Wading out, Ted fished the right-hand side of the island, and had several takes, but no solid hook-ups. He ended the day with 14 or 15 fish, and missed others which refused to fully take the fly.

DATE: Thursday, May 10, 2012

TIME: 9:00 AM to 1:30 PM

WEATHER: Low to mid-70s, mostly sunny

WATER CONDITIONS: 0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, Mill Dam Eddy to Riffle above the Island below McClellan’s

FLIES USED: Brown Wayne’s Fly, #20 red/silver Zebra Midge, #16 Elk Hair Caddis

ROD USED: n/a

HATCHES: Midges, caddis, sulphurs, crane flies

OTHER: Fished with John, Ted, and Glenda. Walked in at Mill Dam Eddy, and waded upstream to above the island. Ted caught a few fishing the left descending side below the riffle; his first two were nice browns. He then fished the left side of the left riffle using an elk hair caddis and caught several. We moved to a location between the riffles and he caught more in both the left and right riffles on the caddis. Wading out, Ted fished the right-hand side of the island, and had several takes, but no solid hook-ups. He ended the day with 14 or 15 fish, and missed others which refused to fully take the fly.

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DATE:  Friday, May 4, 2012

TIME: 8:15 AM to 11:00 AM

WEATHER: Low to mid-80s, mostly sunny, some wind

WATER CONDITIONS: 0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, Mill Dam Eddy to Riffle above the Island below McClellan’s

FLIES USED: Brown Wayne’s Fly, #20 red/silver Zebra Midge,  #16 Elk Hair Caddis

ROD USED:  G. Loomis 9’ 0” 3-weight custom-built IMX

HATCHES: Midges, caddis, sulphurs, crane flies

OTHER: Fished solo.  I walked in relatively early as I was only going to fish a couple of hours, and wanted to fish dries while the weather and river conditions permitted.  A couple of guys from Dyersburg, TN, were on the island walking upstream as I walked upstream, and they asked about the fishing.  I provided information on fishing conditions the last few days, and by coincidence we knew some of the same people—folks who had worked with the Corps that lived in Dyersburg.  They continued wading upstream, while I stopped off at the tail out of the riffle above the island, and using Wayne’s Fly and a zebra midge, began fishing.  It proved to be a slow start, with only a few fish caught.  The first caddis came off about 9:45 AM, and fish immediately began keying on them, and then some small nearly white sulphurs began coming off and fish keyed on them as well. I fished a caddis and caught a few fish, but missed a half dozen on a small parachute sulphur.  I switched to a larger fly and finally caught a couple of fish.  Switching back to the caddis, I caught several more until an obnoxious neighbor from our subdivision walked in right on top of me, saying he needed more shallow water to fish; he was only about 20 feet away, and he would cast over on my side of the riffle.  Fortunately, his guest stayed a decent distance downstream.  I must say this was not unusual for this “neighbor” as he’s always been selfish and arrogant, at least the 15 or so years I’ve known him.  This is the same guy that brought a guide, John, in through another neighbor’s place on the river that had been gracious enough to allow us to trespass.  What an idiot and AH.  Fortunately, he’s a rather poor fly fisher.  I continued to catch fish, but it wasn’t much fun, so I finally gave in and let him have the riffle, which is exactly what he wanted, and he immediately called his friend to come up.  I moved downstream on river left, and asked myself what Wayne would do.  I tied on Wayne’s Fly and a zebra midge and caught 7 fish where the guest had been fishing before moving up to where I had been, and they were in full view of the hook-up, fight, and release of all 7 fish.  Satisfied, I waded downstream and called it a day.  A couple of other fishers were making their way upstream, so it was time to get off the water as people were wading up and pontoons and kayaks were coming down—too crowded for this solitary soul. 

DATE: Thursday, May 3, 2012

TIME: 8:30 AM to 2:00 PM

WEATHER: Low to mid-80s, mostly sunny, some wind

WATER CONDITIONS: 0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, Mill Dam Eddy to Plunge Pool above the Island below McClellan’s

FLIES USED: Brown Wayne’s Fly, #20 red/silver Zebra Midge, #20 furnace Cockleburr, #14 furnace Cockleburr, #20 Kay’s Grey, #20 Dunn’s Dunn, #16 Elk Hair Caddis

ROD USED: Winston 8’ 6” 5-weight WT JWF

HATCHES: Midges, caddis, crane flies

OTHER: Fished with Bruce.  Bruce is a retired structural engineer who I knew in the Mid-South Fly Fishers in Memphis, and with whom I reconnected in church in Mountain Home.  We waded upstream to the tail out of the riffle above the island below McClellan’s (and Otter Creek), and began fishing using Wayne’s Fly in combination with a red/silver Zebra midge and both of us caught fish.  About 9:30 AM, I saw fish begin to take flies on the surface in the river left riffle, so moved in between the riffles to “experiment” with different patterns.  Very shortly thereafter, caddis began emerging, and the fish were keying on them.  Bruce reluctantly came over and began catching fish on caddis.  I noted a fisher upstream in a float boat catching fish seemingly every cast.  I’ve seen only one other person do that in that particular area (Wayne) so I knew this guy had to be a really good fisher.  I moved up to the plunge pool and caught several fish on various midge emergers fished dry.  Bruce waded upstream as well and began fishing the plunge pool, so I waded downstream to fish the riffle he had vacated.  My, oh my, but what a day we had.   The guy in the float boat finally floated downstream, and very politely (which seems to be a rare commodity on the river these days).  I was eager to strike up a conversation and asked how he was doing, and immediately recognized him as a friend, asked, “Do you know me?”  He responded that I looked familiar and I called his name, Donny, and told him mine, then it all clicked, and we conversed for the next 30 minutes.  Donny took several of my fly tying seminars at Ozark Anglers and has become an awesome fly tier as well as fly fisher.  Bruce and I fished a bit longer, then began wading downstream to our walkout point.  He switched to a Wayne’s Fly and Zebra midge and fished the tail out above the island with success, then took a couple of fish along the island.  We noted natural streambank protection along the otherwise caving bank.  All told, Bruce had over 50 fish on dry flies alone, and at least a dozen more on the Wayne’s fly and Zebra midge combination.   

My, oh my, but it was an awesome day with great dry fly fishing and meeting an old friend on the river.

DATE: Wednesday, May 2, 2012

TIME: 9:30 AM to 12:00 Noon

WEATHER: Low to mid-80s, mostly sunny, some wind

WATER CONDITIONS: 0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, Mill Dam Eddy to Riffle above the Island below McClellan’s

FLIES USED: Brown Wayne’s Fly, #20 red/silver Zebra Midge, #20 furnace Cockleburr, #14 furnace Cockleburr, #20 Kay’s Grey, #20 Dunn’s Dunn, #16 Elk Hair Caddis

ROD USED: Winston 8’ 6” 5-weight WT JWF

HATCHES: Midges, caddis, crane fly

OTHER: Fished alone. I waded upstream to the tail out of the riffle above the island below McClellan’s (and Otter Creek), shown in distance in the photograph, and began fishing using Wayne’s Fly in combination with a red/silver Zebra midge.  After several fish, I noted a decent midge hatch in the river left riffle, and tied on Kay’s Grey with little to no success, and then switched to a Dunn’s Dun and had a bit more success, but still not gang busters.  I followed with the #20 furnace cockleburr and had more success, then saw caddis coming off and the show was on as I caught over a dozen and a half on the caddis.  Noting a crane fly hatch and fish taking the crane flies, I switched to a #14 furnace Cockleburr, but had no luck, so switched back to the caddis as the hatch petered out.  Switching back to the combination of Wayne’s Fly and a Zebra midge, I fished along the island, managing to fool a half dozen fish.  As can be seen in the photograph, significant build-up of the bar has occurred, but nature will heal this in time, and as the flow regime changes and more water moves down the right channel, it should become deeper and provide even better fishing.

Though no big fish were caught, it was a pretty awesome day. 

DATE: Tuesday, April 24, 2012

TIME: 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM

WEATHER: Low 40s rising to low 70s, mostly sunny, windy

WATER CONDITIONS: 0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, Mill Dam Eddy to near McClellan’s Dock

FLIES USED: Brown Wayne’s Fly, #14 gray Norfork River Scud, #20 red/silver Zebra Midge, #16 Elk Hair Caddis

ROD USED: Winston 10’ 4-weight WT

HATCHES: Midges, Caddis

OTHER: Fished alone. A neighbor, Ethan, and I walked in about the same time. He remained at Mill Dam Eddy, and I waded upstream and began fishing along the island, managing only a solitary fish, a 10-inch brookie. Further upstream, above the island, the combination of Wayne’s Fly and the zebra midge worked well, taking several fish, including this over-sized, chunky, well-colored rainbow.

Continuing to wade upstream, all the usual places produced fish, though catching was not the machine-gun style we sometimes experience—rather, just moderate and steady. The right descending bank near Ace in the Hole had filled in considerably, and the deep run was pretty narrow, but did produce a few fish. The run below Otter Creek near where the old sycamore tree hung over the bank fished better than the last few years, producing several fish; this brown completed a grand slam.

I waded upstream past Otter Creek to a point about half way between Otter Creek and where McClellan’s Dock use to be, as I had caught lots of fish on the left descending bank there last fall on the scud. It produced several fish, but not near the numbers previously caught.

Fishing my way back downstream, I caught several fish near the sycamore tree across the channel and slightly upstream of Otter Creek. More fish were caught as I waded downstream, including this football-shaped brown.

I fished the right descending run at Ace in the Hole, but this time from the left descending side, and had better success than in the last couple of years.

Another fisher, the best on the river, was here until I came—a great blue heron.

While fishing in this location, I heard the 12:00 o’clock noon Norfork siren. The small riffle and run on the left descending side of the plunge pool held several fish with 3 being caught, including a nice cutthroat. It was here that my day turned from real good to great, even glorious, as I noticed caddis hatching, and fish rising to take the adult insects.

The first riffle upstream of the island below McClellan’s had changed considerably, with most flows discharging from the right side, but the tiny riffle on the left did hold fish. I began there using Wayne’s Fly, but quickly changed to a caddis and was rewarded with a fish practically every cast—it was one of those rare days you never forget! Most of the fish were small, but I did catch a couple in the 15-inch category. I was almost giddy watching the small trout jump out of the water after the caddis fly.

By this time—I had already caught about 5 dozen fish—I knew Kay would be anxious as to why I was not home, so I began walking out, and just before reaching the access noticed a lone fisher rushing upstream—my good friend, Ed. When he found out about the caddis, he was elated. He fished Mill Dam Eddy, with only minor success; we waded upstream, but didn’t have any success along the island. Another fisher was fishing the riffle above the island, and Ed fished his way upstream on the left descending side, with no fish. Finally, at the riffle, he tied on a caddis and was rewarded with several fish. By this time, two other fishers had joined the solitary fisher at the riffle, and were catching quite a few fish, but were using a heavily weighted fly under a strike indicator. They had no clue about the caddis hatch and rising fish. As they left, we moved over to that larger riffle, and while standing there, I tripped and slid over a rounded, moss-covered stone and fell in—getting water in my waders—not a graceful move, and while standing relatively still no less! Ed took pity and said he was ready to go, so we waded downstream and back to the car. As chance would have it—actually a God incident—I had thought about Ed while fishing the caddis hatch. It was sure good to fish with him again, particularly to rising fish!