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January 1, 2013
Happy New Year to everyone. Hope you have a great 2013
Here is the first newsletter for the year, it contains all our trip specials and what shows and fly shops we will be at. Check it out and let us know your thoughts.
January Newsletter
Hope to see you at the shows or fly shop visits.
Thanks
December 21, 2012
As you gather with your family and friends I wish you a joyous holiday season. Thank you for being part of my life and making it so rich and rewarding.
November 19, 2012
So you want to target big browns with streamers, we can make it happen. It doesn’t matter if you have never thrown big heavy flies on sink tips or sinking lines. I have developed the right rod, reel and line systems that make it possible for everyone to have a chance at one of these big trophy browns that the South Holston and Watauga Tailwaters are known for. Here is a sampling of some of the fish from the past week.
Don’t forget about the Winter Smallie Floats, yes thats right smallies in the dead of winter. A float this past week yielded 30 smallies and some nice rainbows all in the same stretch of water. If you want to try some winter smallies, I am having a introductory price for these new floats, $295 for a trip down this awesome section of river. Here is some of what’s available.
We are launching a new website after the first of the year and are already promoting it on Facebook, click here: East Tennessee on the Fly click on the like button and be sure to send your friends to like it as well.
Until next week Happy Thanksgiving!!!!
October 23, 2012
until the snow is flying. The browns on the Watauga and South Holston are making redds and beginning their spawning ritual. The colors on the browns have been spectacular this year.
Soon it will be time for our Winter Float Trip Specials and you can go sling some streamers for the big trophy trout these tow tailwaters are noted for. Keep an eye on this blog for the Winter Trip Special pricing announcement.
Mark your calendars for November 3rd and 4th, 2012 and be sure to attend the WNC Fly Fishing Expo at the Ag Center in Asheville, NC. It is located across the street from the Asheville Airport. If you want to learn more about Tenkara casting and fishing techniques then be sure to come to the show. I will be giving casting and fishing technique demos on the casting pond throughout the weekend. When I am note giving casting demos, look for me in the A & S Outfitters Fly Shop booth, you may also find me in the TFO, Chota and Flymen Fishing Company booths as well. I hope to see you there.
September 4, 2012
What a great weekend guiding the Saluda River Trout Unlimited group from Columbia, South Carolina. We did smallies on the Holston Proper, and trout on the Watauga and South Holston. The fishing was good and the company was great. The TVA made it challenging to get our floats in but we worked around the generation schedules and got in the trips. The weather was great except for right at the end of the day on Saturday, we had to take refuge in a riverside shelter in the Cedar Rapids area while it rained cats and dogs. I think I pumped nearly 4 inches of water out of the boat before rowing out in the dark. Here are some pictures from this great weekend.
 
Mark your calendars for October 8th and come see me give a presentation to the Saluda River TU group. I will be speaking about how to be more successful on the South Holston, Watauga and Holston Proper rivers when you come to visit out great fishing destination.
August 18, 2012
The lower Watauga Quality Zone float has become home to some big stripers, the fishing is tough as the smaller fish are very weary of these mighty preditors. Today while floating at the start of the ledges, Bill was saying we need a twenty incher today and BAM!!!. As he was working and fighting this rainbow a big hungry striper cm charging after it and was only inches away from attacking when Bill lifted the fish away from him and worked it to the net, It was great fight and Bill and his brother John were very excited. I promised them to put them on my blog with the “Hero Shot”
June 2, 2012
The past week of fishing on the South Holston and Watauga Tailwaters as well as the Holston Proper has been as hto as the weather. We have been breaking records for high temperatures each day, whew!!!!
I had the privilege of taking the Bailey Family out for two great days of fishing, one on the Holston Proper for smallies and the other on the Watauga Tailwater for trout. They were a great family who enjoy doing things in the great outdoors together. The smallmouth were on poppers for me and my folks most of the day, nothing like a great topwater bite. We have a new wounded minnow pattern that had the bass going up in the air and coming down on the bait. After I fine tune this fly design I will make a video on how to tie it.
 
The next day it was off to the Watauga Tailwater. The bite was good right from the boat ramp, my folks got right into catching doubles. As the day went on we got into a dry fly bite as well as some good deep big ugly nymphing. The Watuaga is such a beautiful scenic river and catching some great trout throughout the day just made this a great trip for the Bailey family. I look forward to many more trips with them in the future.
 
On Monday, Memorial Day we paused to remember those who sacrificed for us. Thank you too all those who have given their all from the Revolutionary War to present day battles.
I had the great honor to take Vietnam era veteran Ed and his son John from Southwest Virginia on a float on Memorial Day down the Holston Proper. The smallies were feeding on the top as well as crawdad pattern flies on the bottom. It was fun watching Ed using his 4 wt rod going after those hard fighting bronzebacks. Be sure to keep and eye on my YouTube channel for a video of him fighting a nice nearly seventeen inch long smallie.
The next three days were father and son, Bryan and Hunter, on their annual week long trip to fish East Tennessee. Day one was floating the Watauga Tailwater and Hunter picked up where he left off last year. He got a good number of good browns on terrestrials on this float, while his dad was getting all nice rainbows on midges. What a great day with some great guys.
Day two was the Holston Proper for some great smallmouth bass action. The weather had given us a little rain the afternoon and evening before so the river had a little color and the carp where in a feeding frenzy along the banks so the edges were stained out about eight to ten feet. With those conditions we used the sinking lines and Clouser Minnows on the Temple Fork Outfitters Clouser Series 8 wt’s. This system of the Rio Lake sinking lines and Clouser rods make for easy casting and presentation getting the bass to hit the flies with gusto. The Clouser Hybrid series of flies were the hot ticket, they were so good even the dragonflies wanted to bite them. After a great riverside shady lunch of grilled burgers and Karen’s homemade BBQ Beans and Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin cookies it was back to more fishing.
 
 
Day three was on to the South Holston to go after some of those legendary brown trout this great tailwater is known for. We put on as the water was coming over the Weir labyrinth and waited a few minutes for the water to settle out before getting into the first feeding lane. The bite was on from the start and got better with every cast. It was Zebra midges, Scuds, and the G-Man getting it done that day. The South Holston is fishing the best I have seen in years and the river is loaded with some really hard fighting fifteen to seventeen inch browns.
 
The Cicadas are out and about, the fish are eating them with abandon, if you want to get in on this hot action with big cicada dry flies, give me a call. These rainbows that are feeding on these Cicadas are averaging in the fifteen to twenty inch range. Come get you some.
May 14, 2012
The past week has been a bunch of smallie and trout doubles for my clients. The trout on the Watauga have been on fire for zebra midges most of the day. Jim and Susan were constantly hooking up on doubles as the fished the Upper Watauga near Wilbur Dam and Bee Cliff Cabins. Casting accuracy was needed as we work the midges in tight places to get the bite, their patience and excellent casting skills helped them throughout the day.
Then it was on to smallmouth bass on the Holston Proper and they excelled at teasing those stubborn smallies into biting in some tight cover. The barometric pressure was all over the map that day making the fish very lethargic, but their ability to hit small targets and making their flies look so life like helped them get the bigger smallies to bite. The Double G was the best topwater fly and the Tequeelly was the best streamer for the day.
A father and daughter duo from Cincinnati, Ohio had another great day on the Holston Proper. They had never fly fished for smallmouth bass or thrown streamers and big popper flies, so we had a little casting lesson first thing that morning and then off to fishing. Hillary picked up on how to fish for them quickly. She really got a nice smallie as her first about a hour into the float. After landing this hard fighting smallie she said, “this is absolutely awesome and I will be back to do this again SOON”. She became very good at sight fishing, seeing the bass in the shallows and casting her fly to the best spot and enticing the bass to eat. Dad was just happy to clean up any fish that she left in the spots.
Well this coming weekend is Troutfest. I will be in the Temple Fork Outfitters booth with my good friends, Rick Pope, Bob Clouser and Lefty Kreh. Be sure to stop by and register for a float trip with me. There will be an old wicker creel with sign up slips on one of the tables in the booth. Hope to see you there.
May 8, 2012
The Springtime fishing is great this year. The trout on the Watauga and South Holston are giving the clients great catches. The smallmouth bass have been awesome, The topwater bite was good until this week. The fishing this week has been medium weight streamers on sink tips giving the best results.
To view and sign up for our monthly newsletter be sure to click the link: May Newsletter
 
 
 
To get to Troutfest from your location put this address into your GPS or any driving direction software to get there: 7906 East Lamar Alexander Parkway, Townsend, TN.
Troutfest is a Fly Fishing Exposition and Fundraiser held in Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. Proceeds from this event are donated to Great Smoky Mountains National Park Fisheries Department, Friends of the Smokies Fisheries Scholarship Fund or other youth educational conservation projects. The Little River Chapter of Trout Unlimited sponsors this event as our major fundraiser and annual festival. This year the event will be one of the largest venues for fly anglers in the Southeast United States.
Some of the best fly tyers from our area will be demonstrating throughout the two day event. As many as 8 tyers will perform at one time all weekend. It’s free and the tyers are specialized in many different types of fly tying such as trout, bass, panfish and saltwater.
Lefty Kreh, Bob Clouser and other notable fly fishermen will offer free seminars both days. Here’s your chance to meet and talk to some of the most famous legends in our sport.
National Fly Tackle Manufacturers will be on hand with their gear in the National Exhibition Tent. Meet the people who work for or own these companies and see all the new fishing gear.
Other exhibitors will include fly shops, artists, non-profit organizations and government fish and game agencies including Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Troutfest is a sanctioned annual event of the Little River Chapter of Trout Unlimited which is chartered by Trout Unlimited National as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The Chapter secures permits and liability insurance for this event.
The Chapter entity provides funding with other sponsors to underwrite this event. The Chapter holds all funds and disperses profits to Great Smoky Mountains National Park Fisheries Department and Friends of Great Smokies National Park Fisheries Scholarship Fund. Profits will be also be used for youth education fishery programs. Some funds will be retained as seed money for next year’s Troutfest.
Many of the volunteers are LRCTU members but many more come from other non-profit organizations such as other TU Chapters, The Fly Fishing Federation and individuals who are not connected with non-profit organizations. You do not need to be a TU member to volunteer or participate. All donations are tax deductible.
Townsend and Great Smoky Mountains National Park offers you the most beautiful place on earth to fly fish for trout with 800 miles of streams holding rainbow, brook and brown trout. And of course, the Little River runs right through town. The month of May is prime time for fishing in the Smokies so you will want to set aside some time to be on the streams. Located in Tuckaleechee Cove, Townsend is known as the “Peaceful Side of the Smokies.”
Townsend offers motels, lodges, campgrounds and rental cabins for your lodging. Though not a huge tourist destination, the town does have some great restaurants and special accommodations.
Troutfest was created in 2004 by the Little River Chapter of Trout Unlimted to celebrate fly fishing and promote regionally the experience provided by this pursuit. Secondly, the chapter decided that any proceeds derived from the event would go directly to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Fisheries Department to sustain and improve fish habitat within the Park.
Thanks to visitors like you, Troutfest has contributed more than $170,000 to this effort since 2004. In addition chapter members and friends annually volunteer between 1500 and 2000 hours to insure a successful, fun and educational experience.
In addition to Troutfest, the chapter also supports a variety of Park projects throughout the year.
April 22, 2012
It has been a exceptional week of fishing here in East Tennessee. The weather has been up and down, cold rain and only in the fifties one day, then bright bluebird sunny days and near eighty the next. That hasn’t affected the fishing at all, the smallies on the Holston Proper as well as the trout on the Watauga and South Holston don’t seem to mind the big weather swings. They are hungry and the bugs are coming off good, so they have plenty of food source to feed up on. The Holston Proper was hatching caddis, white mayflies, and hendricksons. The smallies were in a feeding frenzy going after all those bugs. Poppers were the right fly when they were sipping bugs on the surface, they would put a good bend in the TFO Clouser Series 6wts. Here is Linda Heller with a good one taken on a chartreuse popper.
The wind picked up some as the weather was changing so we went to Clouser Minnows. The feeding activity was very good under the surface on the new style Clouser Minnows that Mr. Bob Clouser brought along on this trip. He spent three days floating with me testing some new designs that you will be able to purchase through his website. They are made with new synthetic materials with plenty of flash and movement to mimic dying minnows. Even the smaller fish were hitting it with a vengeance.
 
The fish were taking these new flies very well. The primary colors that Mr. Clouser was using were called Walleye and Baby Bass. Watching Bob and Linda work these flies was such a treat for me. It was all about keeping it moving and accuracy on casting the flies to the proper spot, no matter if it was on a backhand or forward cast.
 
Bob Clouser and Linda Heller also enjoyed a day floating the Watauga fishing streamers for the big ones, it was a fun day. The sun was little to bright for the big boys to come out and play, but it had been 7 seven or eight years since they both last fished the Watauga so it was a great day of remembering the fish stories from the past.
The week finished out on the Watauga with caddis popping off and getting some great fishing on dry and dropper rigs with a tan caddis and blood midge droppers. A couple of great guys from northern Georgia enjoyed a fun day floating the Watauga.
Now the weather folks are calling for snow tonight and Monday with heavy winds, so its off to the tying bench to get more Clouser Minnows and trout flies tied up to get ready for the busy next few weeks with clients.
Be sure to check out my Troutfishers videos on Youtube. I will be uploading some new ones this week showing Bob Clouser fighting some nice smallies on the Holston Proper.
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