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March 9, 2010
Been on the water with clients the past few days and it has been good, weather and fishing. The Watauga is fishing great on both low water and under generation. The BWO’s are coming off in droves and the feeding frenzy is on. Today was good numbers and some big fish thrown in for good measure. The browns were fighting hard digging deep as you fought back, and the rainbows were up on the surface giving those great tail dances. The South Holston is fishing extremely well while wading and the BWO’s really come off good in the mid afternoons. The weather was nice Sunday while floating the Holston proper for smallies, but the water below the Holston Army Ordinance Plant was still pretty cold, 45 degrees in the mid afternoon. The upper section we float through the Eastman Chemical Company is warm and some nice 4 to 5 pound smallies are being caught. While doing this float you have the chance to catch a 3 to 5 pound trout above the low water dam and then once we slide over the dam the warm water discharges take the river to 60 degrees and the smallies are stacked up in this section.
How are your sight fishing and casting skills for trophy class trout? Want to try you hand at casting to a tight target where rainbows that can go upwards of 15 pounds will only move 6 or 7 inches to take your presentation. We have almost fifteen miles of private waters on five different streams. One of the streams has the second highest biomass on streams in Virginia and another is number five in the state. Some folks who have fished all over the country for trout say this water ranks highly on their list of places they prefer to fish. If you are interested in fishing these waters give me a call and get hooked up with a catch of a lifetime.
The Nolichucky muskies are starting to move around this week. These are some of the greatest freshwater predator fish I have ever chased. They are proving to be a worthy adversary. It is a day of 10 weight fly rods and big flies, but the rewards can be so sweet. This type of fishing requires a different mindset because it can be a day of hard fishing just to see a follow, but those who have the obsession understand. I grew up fishing for these as a teenager on lakes in the northern states, I had a uncle who shared the passion. Keep and eye on this blog for more updates and pictures as we start spending more time hunting these great predators.
February 25, 2010
Well today mother nature threw more snow at us this morning here in Kingsport, Tennessee. It has been great fishing so far this week starting with the warm sunny weather over the weekend and continuing into the first part of the week. There were plenty of folks out fishing on both the South Holston near Bristol, Tennessee and the Watauga in Elizabethton. The South Holston has been having some good BWO hatches and a AK’s Parchute is the best emerger/dry to be throwing. There are also plenty of adult blackflies and the trout are sipping them madly at the surface. You should be using a Griffiths Gnat for those fish sipping blackflies. I have also been trying a new swing technique for emergers and it was working very well for me. More to come on this after some more exhausting river test’s, its tough but somebody has to do it.
The Watauga is doing great on Quality Zone floats, the standard deep nymphing rig with 2 BB shot to get it down seemed to work before the morning generation hits you. Then as the water falls the BWO’s start coming off and it was sweet on dry flies in the Ledges down near the town of Watauga, Tennessee. The Watauga seems to be just waiting for the caddis to start coming off. There are still some big boys being landed on the Watauga, baitfish streamers seem to be the ticket for them. How would you like a 12 pound brown tugging on your line. The TWRA and Tennessee Tech fisheries biologist spent some time on the Watauga doing some shocking and said they had 20/20 groups . The 20/20 is 20 fish at or over 20 inches in each section they monitor. That is good news for everyone. Makes you want to get out there and toss some big bugs.
In a couple of weeks we will be throwing plenty of these as the Caddis Hatch starts winding up. If you haven’t gotten your trips booked, now is the time to call me, dates are filling fast so get on the calendar and experience the fog like caddis hatches on the Watauga.
February 24, 2010
The new Orvis Hydros is a great rod and this is the proof. Field & Stream picked it as part of its best new fishing gear for 2010. To see the reviews, click here
I have two of them and they are great feeling and casting. Accuracy is dead on and they are light enough to cast all day with out wearing your arm out. It doesn’t matter if its trout fishing on the South Holston or Watauga Tailwaters or smallie fishing on the Nolichucky or Holston Proper these rods will get the job done and make for an enjoyable day on the river.
February 18, 2010
Well the TVA has gotten the lakes down to a manageable level and without any heavy rains in the future the generation will allow good floats and wades. The Watauga is fishing great with BWO’s hatching all up and down the river. We can float the upper sections when they generate and then it is the Quality Zone on the weekends when the water slows down. So get yourself to Elizabethton, Tennessee and wet a line on the Watuaga.
 
The South Holston has dry fly action as well as deep nymphing. It is so nice to see that strike indicator make that slight twitch and then feeling the head shake as you come tight to the fish. The best nymphs the past week have been Princes and San Juan Worms. When it come to dries, the BWO AK’s Parachute has been the “bee’s knee’s” (if you like GIECO commercials). They take it hard and fast, when you land a fish it is back in their mouth. This also causes us to loose some fish, usually browns with those sharp teeth. As they fight and swing their heads back and forth it cuts the leader. So it is getting time to get out and fish and the South Holston Tailwater in Bristol, Tennessee is the place to get hooked up on one of those butter belly browns.
 
 
Don’t forget that smallmouth bass fishing is just around the corner, I am already getting calls from folks who want to make sure that they get their trip in this year on Tennessee’s best smallie river, The Holston Proper River near Kingsport, Tennessee. Just to give everyone a little help on where we are located and where this great smallmouth river is, it is 20 minutes from the ‘Worlds Fastest Half Mile” and the NASCAR fan’s favorite track, Bristol Motor Speedway. So if you want to come and get hooked up to fight the best fighting freshwater fish out there, give me a call or email and lets get you scheduled for a great outdoor experience.
 
February 9, 2010
The TVA is slowing down this week on generating through Wilbur and Watauga Dams. So my fellow Orvis endorsed guide Patrick Fulkrod and I decided to float the Watauga. It was a great day weather wise, mid twenties when we started but it quickly warmed to the mid thirties by 10 am. We started of deep nymphing so we could try out several new Orvis Helios rods that had came in this week, a 10′ 5wt nymph rod and 11′ 6wt switch rod. They both performed flawlessly in the applications we were testing. Deep nymphing in wide sections of the river allowed us to make great mends with these longer rods and keep the flies in the strike zone, while keeping the boat further away from the fish pods. The cast effortlessly and placement of the flies was spot on. We feel that we caught many more fish this way because the boat wasn’t in their window of vision and the pods didn’t spook. Then there is the issue of trying to set the hook at greater distances from the boat with shorter rods. That 11′ Helios Switch rod reacted quickly and there were no missed hook sets from sixty feet away.
Then as the sun came out and the temperature got into the forties, the BWO’s started popping off everywhere and the fish were in a feeding frenzy, you were turning all around trying to figure out which fish you wanted to target. Placing the fly about 2 feet above the rise form was the best way to get the fishes attention. They were feeding so aggressively that the fly would be back in their mouth. Many nice browns were brought to the net. It was so great to float the Watauga Tailwater in Elizabethton. Most winter floats have been done on the South Holston near Bristol, Tennessee. The South Holston Tailwater is fishing great, good BWO hatches and lots of fish coming to the net.
I am looking forward to better weather as we get closer to springtime and the Caddis Hatch, but we can’t forget about those smallmouth bass down on the Holston Proper and Nolichucky. We are so lucky to not have to travel to far away locations to enjoy great fishing. The fisheries that the TWRA and TVA have created, make it possible for folks to come to the Southern Appalachians to enjoy our beautiful scenery and hospitality.
Just remember that based on the tourism studies, the Tri Cities area, Bristol, Kingsport, and Johnson City are a days or less drive to 65% of most people that are east of the Mississippi River system.
Here are some pictures fro the trip yesterday.
 
February 6, 2010
If you are wanting to learn the A to Z of fly fishing, click here, and get signed up for the Orvis Fly Fishing Schools available in the Sevierville/Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area of the Great Smoky Mountains. I will be one of the Orvis Endorsed Guides teaching the schools. These are two day schools that will give you all the information, hands on experience, and confidence to go fly fishing anywhere you wish.
Here is a brief description of what they Orvis Fishing School at Orvis Sevierville has to offer:
Some of the South’s best fishing is available in the area with 800 miles of fishable trout water in Great Smoky Mountain National Park alone! The unique cabins at Hidden Mountain Resorts make this is a great location to combine the Orvis Fly Fishing School with a family vacation. Other outdoor activities include hiking, horseback riding, tubing and nearby white water rafting. With shopping, art galleries, Dollywood, Splash Country and other local attractions, Sevierville offers fun for the entire family. The fly fishing lessons cover everything from fly casting, choosing the right tackle, leaders and knots, to fly selection and how to safely release fish.
I hope to see you at one of the schools.
 
January 27, 2010
If you are in or around the Louisville, Knetucky area this coming Saturday, January 30th, Come to the Kentuckiana Fly Fishing Show at the Fern Valley Inn and Conference Center on Fern Valley Road. I will have my wooden drfitboat with me in the booth and will be giving two presentation/seminars during the day. Please stop by the booth to say hello. I will have a Orvis Helios and the new Hydros rods in the booth for you to test cast. Looking forward to seeing everyone.
January 21, 2010
Well my good friend and fellow guide, Patrick Fulkrod and I took his new drfitboat down the South Holston. It was cold and rainy but that didn’t seem to bother the fish, they were already wet. We put in at the weir boat ramp just outside of Bristol, Tennessee and were going to spend the day floating all the way to the ramp on Rockhold Road near Bluff City. That is a good all day float on some very productive waters. We started off deep nymphing and tossing bunny streamers. It was kind of slow until we got between the power lines, fish taking BWO nymphs in the slack pools along the edges. We were getting some good follows on streamers but nobody really committing to the bite. We came the first closed spawning section and put the rods down. As we floated towards Hickory Tree Bridge it started to rain harder. We pulled in under the bridge to get dry and have a little soup to warm us up. The rain slacked off so we started to float again just using streamers, Matt yells fish on and a nice butter belly brown comes to the net. We tried some more deep nymphing for the next couple runs, but no luck so we figured it would be streamers the rest of the way. All through Cedar Rapids and down through Big Springs Road it was fish after fish chasing streamers, way cool. When we came to the slow pool on the lower end of Big Springs Road near the house on the island at Webb Bridge we started seeing rising fish to the BWO’s that were coming off. Tying on a small parachute emerger then doing an air mend to get it to land right in the sweet spot was the ticket. A nice rainbow crushed the fly. After floating through the second closed spawning section at Weaver Pike Bridge we went back to the streamers with success the rest of the way. As we came to the Rockhold area, the Tennessee Tech University fisheries biologist were shocking the river doing a study. We spoke for a few minutes and they told us they shocked up a couple of nice fish earlier that morning. It was a cold wet day with some friends and nice fish to boot. Ready to go again.
 
January 17, 2010
I have two good friends who are guides on the lower South Carolina and Northern Georgia coast. They are very good at inshore fishing for many species. Right now they are having a great clear water low tide redfish bonanza. They are seeing hundreds of fish schooling and feeding in the shallow low tide conditions. Some really nice toads are being caught. Capt. Jack Brown who is near Beaufort South, is a exceptionally experienced salt guide who began his career of the New Jersey shore and then migrated south to St. Helenas Island. He has many well known friends in the world of saltwater fishing, Jose Wejebe is the most known. If you watch the Spainish Fly Shows you have seen Jack. I just got done watching todays show and Jack was also featured in the Shimano ads on todays show, he is the one with Jose in the Gheenoe style boat leaning over the side and you can hear his voice complementing Jose on such a fine fish. I spent a week with Jack fishing out of his Maverick Flats Skiff in and around Hunting Island State Park. The week was beyond expectations, early morning tailing reds in the grass flats, afternoon schools pushing bait in the low tide oyster racks, and sharks in the creeks in between tide flows. I couldn’t have asked for a better week. I highly recommend you get in touch with Capt. Jack Brown of Predator Fly Fishing at 843- 838-9369 and get on his calendar for a trip of a lifetime. I will be back down to fish with him during the cobia run in late May early June.
Jack looking for tailing reds
Capt. Dave Edens in St. Simons Island, Georgia is my other salty friend. Dave is a trout fanatic who fished the salt as a hobby and then decided to take the plunge and become a full time salty bum. He started Fly Cast Charters and it has taken off like gangbusters. He is staying booked and have great days on the water with clients. Be sure to give Capt. Dave a call if you are vacation in the area south of Savannah. Be sure to check out Capt. Dave’s website www.flycastcharters.com and his fishing report/blog to keep up with what is happening.
Have a great week, back to tying flies and getting ready for some upcoming fishing shows and presentations.
January 14, 2010
Today on the South Holston Tailwater near Bristol, Tennessee it was dry flies. We got their just after the water came down and started to fish near the Weirs. There were fish taking nymphs just before they got to the surface, a small zebra midge swung was the ticket. As the sun rose higher in the sky and that warmth started building the hatches started. There were BWO’s in size 20, Grey Midges in size 30, and Black Flies in a size 26. The action was hot and heavy as long as the sun was out, but if a brief cloud covered the sun the fish and bugs would shut down.
The rainbow to brown ratio favored those beautiful native South Holston brown trout by a margin of 2/3 thirds to 1/3. The South Holston is an amazing fishery. Here is the BWO that was used today.
The TVA has slowed way down on generation so the South Holston will be prime for wading and the Watauga in Elizabethton, Tennessee will be the best bet for floating. On the Watauga Tailwater we have the Quality Trout Zone, or Trophy Section as the locals call it, which includes the Caddis Riffle. In just about two months we will be floating the Watauga Tailwater working the now famous Mothers Day Caddis Hatch as it starts its annual run.
Give us a call or send an email to get your trip scheduled, we are already booking the Caddis Hatch trips, so don’t delay. Make sure you get to experience the Caddis Hatch on the Watauga Tailwater.
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