Uncle Fup's Fly Fishing with Dad: Labor Day Photo-op

Rainbow trout caught in Lynn Camp Creek on Labor Day 2011

I had been looking forward to doing some bass fishing over the three-day break, but when the Labor Day weekend arrived it had 100-degree heat and 100% humidity rolling in with it. That just about ensured that we would be heading to a stream. While the fishing wouldn't be very good, even though the choice was convenient; the Chief had asked a friend to take some photos of he, D, and I fishing, and her husband was ready to learn.

Mrs. K and Mad Freddy have been pretty good family friends for a longtime, especially to Dad, close enough that I think all of the children look at him as something of a surrogate uncle. Mrs. K is an accomplished photographer and has been helping the old man capture some photos of his youth over the last year. For his part, Mad Freddy is one of those guys who can pretty much do anything he wants. An avid angler, he has decided to take up fly fishing some with us. The more the merrier.

The pictures really necessitated a nice backdrop and time constraints would encourage us to be close to home. Considering the heat, we wanted a location that would have some cool water. On Sunday, the heat broke some, and rain came through the evening and night. We decided to scout out Lynn Camp Creek that morning and if the water was up, then head to the Nolin Lake tailwaters (in a freak coincidence of history, both bodies of water owe their names to the same incident). Well, Monday morning water levels in Lynn Camp were fine and the temperature was reasonable. The only problem was that it was still raining and the mercury was somewhere in the 60s around Lynn Camp where the skies were clear to the west. Nevertheless, we settled on Lynn Camp.

Lynn Camp Creek arises in Southeastern LaRue County and ultimately empties into the Green River well east of Munfordville, the county seat. It contains about five miles of decent trout waters in Hart County that are stocked monthly by the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife. To my mind, there are three problems with it. First, the stream bed is relatively narrow, making trees and underbrush a constant hazard to casting. Second, there are a couple of extended stretches with very little cobble or structure friendly to fish, essentially requiring 1/4 to 1/2 mile walks through silty water to get to the best holes. Third, DFW announces the stocking dates, encouraging anglers to descend on the stream and deplete fish numbers radically over a period of just a few days each month.

The trout waters are basically defined by three bridges, with the center bridge serving as the stocking location. Our plan was that Mad Freddy and the Chief would start at the middle bridge and work upstream, while D and I would start at the lower bridge and work our way up. Shortly after lunch, all of us would meet up with Mrs. K at the center bridge for pictures.

Well D and I started downstream and within a couple hundred yards came across a remarkable spot that offered some openess and so much diversity that almost every time of structural diversity one could imaging in a stream was contained within a few hundred yards. We set up there and began fishing for a couple of hundred yards, taking in some largemouth. I was more interested in finding trout, though, and so we headed upstream.

Along the way, we stopped occasionally and fished a number of holes with mixed results. Shortly before we reached the center bridge, and just before lunch, I found a spot I thought looked ideal of a decent-sized bass. I was pretty certain any trout to be had would be a bit further upstream, but time was running short and I wanted to catch a decent fish. So I tied on one of my chartreuse SHWAPF, and began casting downstream, more or less just letting the fly be carried by the current into murky water under a log as the stream bent back to the right. Before long, I felt a strike, and suddenly I had a bit of a fight. Five minutes later, I landed the trout pictured above, begged D to take a couple of photos, and then rehabilitated the fish, returning it to the stream. Then Mad Freddy walked up. It was time to meet Mrs. K for pictures.

There is really not much else to say. We didn't catch anything during the picture session, and we needed to get back shortly after. I've included a few of the good ones below.