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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.
January 8, 2010
We are tying a record today for seven consecutive days below freezing, tomorrow will break the record and Sunday will set a new one. We are not supposed to get above freezing until Monday and then gradually warm up next week into the mid to upper forties by the end of the week. YOHOOO a heat wave coming. The TVA is also slowing down on generation so we can wade possibly next week.
The raft sits comfortably under its cover and snow
The Hyde exposed to the elements
The wooden driftboat snug in the warm garage
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