When the mayflies are hatching on the South Holston or Watauga Tailwaters in East Tennessee, do you struggle during the time they are feeding on emergers just under the film. I use this easy to tie knot on a three soft hackle rig that has made for some memorable days for clients on these great tailwaters. I use an anchor soft hackle with a oversized brass or copper bead in the thorax, the upper two flies are standard biot body, peacock herl thorax soft hackles. This system is tied on a straight piece of 3x or 4x fluorocarbon leader. The first fly is 6 feet from the flyline/leader connection and then each fly is 20 to 36 inches below that. Here is the video on tying the dropper knot. I hope this information helps you have a great day on the water.
         
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February 3, 2013January 1, 2013Happy New YearHappy 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. Hope to see you at the shows or fly shop visits. Thanks December 21, 2012Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!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, 2012Streamer Season is in full swingSo 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!!!! November 5, 2012Trophy’s and Tenkara, Debbie Griffith please readOne quick note, Debbie Griffith, please call me at 423-360-1468, your email address did not come through on the email you sent me. So you think that with winter coming your smallmouth bass addiction has to end until next spring? Not here in East Tennessee, we have the privilege of having a smallmouth bass fishery that gives us a great bite on smallies all year. The winter fishing season brings out the Trophy Bronzebacks. You want to try out this crazy winter fishing for smallies, send me an email to fishwithrandy@embarqmail.com and I will send you and introductory trip coupon good from November 26th, 2012 through February 28th, 2013. This coupon will be good for a one or two person, six (6) hour float on this special water for only $295. Smallies in the dead of winter, yeah you heard right. There also may be some big trophy trout in the 4 to 10 pound range thrown in at no extra charge.
Tenkara style of fishing has become very popular and my recent casting and technique demonstrations have really brought out folks looking for information on this new style of fishing. I am seeing a new group of fisher persons who want to get into fly fishing but get frustrated with the traditional western style of rod, reel, line, leader, tippet and fly. Then there is all the casting techniques, mending skills, stripping skills, and such. With Tenkara it is just simply rod, line and fly. The cast is simple and the new rods that Temple Fork Outfitters has brought onto the market make casting effortless. The folks I worked with on casting at the recent WNC Fly Fishing Expo were amazed at how quick they picked up the casting skill needed, you could see the confidence that they could go fly fishing and not have a high level of frustration. The Tenkara style of fishing is bringing new blood into the sport and I like this. I know how much I, my friends and clients enjoy the benefits of being in the great outdoors and it makes me happy to see others joining in on this fun. You need to take a hard look at Tenkara and join in on the simplicity of it, don’t we all need something a little more simple to help bring down the stress we all face each and every day in out lives.
October 23, 2012Fall is beautiful and it won’t be long….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. October 1, 2012What are those small tan, gray and black things flying around?That was the question one of my clients asked the other day, I answered “MIDGES”. When you see those little specks of dust with wings then you know its time to break out that special fly box that only measures about three inches by 4 inches and with the center leaf in it, holds over 400 flies. Thats right it’s that time of year here on the South Holston and Watauga Tailwaters where we get serious with small bugs. We usually do a double nymph rig under a strike indicator during these midging trips, but the rewards are great. This year we have started using a new strike indicator that was developed by a fellow guide and it is called the “New Zealand Strike Indicator System” and you can find more info at www.strikeindicator.com Here is a picture on how this simple system works, it lands softly when casting to those spooky fish and is extremely sensitive to the slightest touch from the trout. As they say in one of the famous marketing slogans “Try it you will like it”. If you local fly shop doesn’t carry them ask them to get them.
Here are the midges we have been having good success with during the midging trips this fall. Get out those 3x cheaters and yes that 7x tippett.
Hope you are enjoying a great day and you are getting to wet a line. Be sure to support your local fly shop and with the holiday’s just around the corner be sure to stop by the fly shop and pick up a gift certificate for that outdoors person this year. Until next time “tightlines and heavy nets” September 18, 2012Fall season is upon usThe Fall fishing season is upon us, we are seeing lots of Blue Wing Olives on both the Watauga Tailwater near Elizabethton Tennessee as well as the South Holston Tailwater near Bristol Tennessee. The Watauga Tailwater is also having awesome Cranefly and Caddis hatches during the day. We have been fishing the past week with nothing but dry flies and having a ball. The fish give us all kinds of rises to the dries, from explosive hit and run to gentle sipping “where did my fly go” takes. The folks are loving fishing dry flies all day. Here are a few of the happy folks from the past couple of weeks. Doubles on dries!!
look at the tail on this one
A father and son fishing/golf trip, Rich’s first trout on the fly rod, way to go!!
Day two, another good dry fly fish for Dad!!
We can’t forget about the smallmouth and largemouth bass on the Holston Proper the Todds Wiggle Minnow getting it done!!
The time is now to start thinking about booking your trips as we begin the “Hunt for Troutsquatch” on our Fall and Winter streamer trips, I am already booking dates in November and December for these memory filled trips. Give me a call and get yours booked. We are also blesses with wintertime smallmouth bass fishing, nothing like catching trophy smallmouth bass in the dead of winter. Give me a call to get the lowdown on this great winter fishery. September 4, 2012Great weekend with Saluda TU groupWhat 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. May 14, 2012Smallies and trout doublesThe 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. |
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