the road to nowhere

The gentleman that owns the trout pond we took the kids to told me about a creek in Bryson city that he had been catching fish at recently. He gave me directions and I decided to give it a shot. Bryson is about an hour away so I woke up early to make my trip. I got on a road they call "the road to nowhere." I was told to go till the road dead ends at a tunnel, park and hike to my desired fishing spot. The man had told me about walking through the tunnel and encountering a bear at the other end the last time he was there. I assumed that meant the fishing spots were on the other end of the tunnel. I had passed over the creek about a half mile south of where the road ended but figured it must continue on up the trail. I could still here the creek at the parking spot but could not see it. The tunnel is very long, vey dark, and very creepy. I could only see the hole at the other end and a small amount of light on walls. I did not have a light and could not see the floor or my feet. While walking through I stepped on a few unknown dark and damp objects. The only sounds were the loud echoes of my footsteps and the drip of water from the ceiling. I do not scare easily but if anyone else was in the tunnel with me I am glad they did not make themselves known because I would have freaked out. I was glad when I walked out 200 yards later into the light. On the other side I could no longer hear the creek. I hiked in about a mile and a half listening for water at every turn. I decided I must have misunderstood the directions and turned back. When I got to the car I looked around for a way down to the creek but could not find one. I was beginning to think this was really a road to nowhere. I drove down to where I had crossed over the creek and found a trail. I fished under the bridge with no luck and then hiked down river about a mile. I tried several holes and runs with still no luck. The only things I caught where a couple of trees and rocks. It was still nice to get out and explore a new area. It was 10:30 and I decided I still had time to get to the nantahala and salvage the day. When I got to the river it was crowded and most of my usual spots were taken. I worked a new hole with a San Juan worm and caught a nice rainbow and brook. I then drove several miles upstream and found a large hole that was crystal clear and full of brook trout. I worked an olive wollybugger and caught 20 plus small brookies. It still amazes me that no matter how clear the water is the fish still seem to appear out of nowhere.