Appalachian Fly Fishing Safari

Two buddies and I piled our gear into a Suburban this past friday and started on a good ol fly fishing safari. We started out visiting small back country streams in NC but water levels we too low to fish. We did hike the creek and look at the fish that were crowded in the pools that were left. We had planned on hiking in and camping but decided to head for the tailwaters of TN where low water would not be a problem.

We pulled into Elizabethton, TN around 9:30 pm and found a hotel for the night. Bright and early the next morning we headed out to River Ridge campground to fish the trophy section of the Watauga. The fishing was slower than what I have experienced the last couple of times I have been there. We managed 8 fish in 3 hours with the biggest being about 13 inches.

Next we headed for the South Holston and fished a couple of pull offs and managed a couple of rainbows in the mid day sun. We had hoped to fish right below the dam but the generation schedule prevented that. After cooking supper on the side of the river, we headed back to western nc.

Along the way we found a small stream that still had enough water to fish and in the last light of the evening we managed 6 more trout. All in all we fished a lot of great water and had a great time. In these times of drought.. thank God for the tailwaters.