SoHo Browns

A buddy of mine and I fished the Watuaga and the South Holston three times in November and the fishing was slow on the Watauga but on fire at the South Holston. We caught some of our best browns yet and witnessed some true monsters getting hooked up. Most of our success came on tiny black fly immitations with a few split case nymphs thrown in the mix. Watch out for any redds and don't wade blindly. Also remember a large portion of the spawning habitat is closed this time of year.

On a side note if you are in the area and hungry you should really stop by Webb's Country Store for a home cooked meal. Their spagetti on Saturday is my favorite.

More Small Stream Browns

Fished another small stream filled with browns. The fishing was fantastic, especially when the sun reached the water from about 11-4. I caught 20+ , mostly on an EHC with no dropper. It just was not necessary as they were keyed in to the dry today. I fished my first EHC til it fell apart from being mangled by the fish. The leaves are starting to turn and drop in earnest at the higher elevations so wading on leaf covered rocks is beginning to get interesting. It makes for some great scenery though.

Wild Fall Browns

I fished solo today on a local wild stream full of browns. The day started off slow and chilly but as the sun hit the water about 11:30 the fishing caught fire. I ended the the day with 15 fish for about 3 hours of fishing. I also hiked around and found a few more blue lines that may hold some promise.

TN Tailwaters

We hit the South Holston with an all day assault on Sat and it did not disappoint. Started out at the weir for some stocker action and hooked up with 20+ rainbows before lunch. After lunch we hit the grates for a few hours and I finally hooked up with a couple of really good browns over 20". My fishing buddy caught a good brown as well as a number of rainbows. We both agreed on one thing, you had better be on your A game with those fish. They have seen it all and man they are picky about fly selection and presentation.

As the generation hit we decided to head down river and finish out the day. We only caught two more fish but they were both nice browns in the 16 to 18 inch range. The fish downstream were more consistently keying on sulfurs which were sporadically coming off all evening. The fish on the upper stretch were keying more on midges and black flies.

Small Streams back on par.

With the rains from Fay, the small streams are full to the brim and the fishing today was outstanding. I caught 16 rainbows from 4-9 inches, all on a yellow Sally. I don't know how long the water levels will hold but it is great while it lasts. Hopefully Hannah will shed her good graces in about two weeks and see us through to the fall.

Warm Water Fix

My son and I decided to beat the heat with a little warm water fishing in a local stream. We also mixed in a lot of swimming and splashing as well. We caught mostly sunfish and an occasional red eye. There is nothing better than a six year old, a three weight, and willing blue gill!

Small Stream Browns

With my brother in from Montana, we just had to hit one of my favorite small streams. With the recent rains the water levels were close to normal and we caught a couple of nice browns. The go to flies were an elk haired caddis and cricket imitation.

TN Tailwaters

My brother was in from Montana so we hit the Watauga and South Holston rivers in TN. We got on the water about 8:30 at the Watauga. We fished for two hours with nothing to show for our efforts. No fish rising and nothing on nymphs. Being a weekday, we did have the river to ourselves. After some exploring we headed off to the South Holston.
We arrived at the Weir parking area with only a few picknickers and 1 other fisherman in the stretch we wanted to fish. We rigged up with sulfur comparaduns (16) and picked up fish almost immediately. The fish were feeding aggressively and we brought rainbow after rainbow to hand. It seems the good folks at the TWRC had paid a visit with the stocking truck. We did manage to pick up a few wild browns but none of significant size. The rainbows ranged from 10-16 inches. We stopped when the generation started at 1 PM. We lost count but figure at least 30 fish apiece.

Rainbows in the Heat

Fished another small stream at lower altitudes today. The rainbows were extremely aggressive and we caught 25+ in about 3 hours. The go to fly today was a size 14 yellow sally. The water levels here in western NC are getting low again since the last rains more than a week ago. The water temps are also edging up, but for now the fishing is still pretty good for this time of year.

Appalachian Wild Brown Trout

We hit another local wild trout stream full of browns today. They were much more sensitive to movement than the brookies we have been targeting recently. They were however about twice as big as most of the brookies we catch. They also shunned the usual calf-tailed offerings and most were caught on an elk haired caddis.

BTW.. Is it just me or is that second image the gateway to Small Stream Heaven?

More NC Wild Trout

Fished another tributary of a local wild trout stream with my son and the fish did not disappoint. We caught 11 in 2 hours. The water temperatures are starting to edge up to about 65 degrees at this altitude. The recent showers are really helping with water levels this year. So far so good (not great though).

Brookies in a Downpour.

Fished the high elevations of a local trout stream yesterday and got caught in a downpour. The good thing was the fish didn't seem to mind at least until it washed us off the stream. It was all good news as this stream is just recovering from an extreme drought last year. It was not looking good for this year either until the last couple of days. Keep the rain coming, we can take it.

Small Stream Fishing .. As Good as it Gets!

I went back small stream fishing with my son today and had a grand time. We caught about 15 fish in a couple of hours. We also caught bugs, threw rocks, and had a water fight. Can't just do that with most of my fishing buddies. The water temps are just right and the fish are very active. The only down side is that the water levels are starting to drop and get low. Hope the spring rains pick up in the higher elevations.

Small Stream Fly Fishing ON FIRE (5-14-2008)

After making a few trips the past couple of weeks with less than optimum weather conditions, I hit the streams today with partly sunny skies and no wind. The water temps were in the high 50's and the fishing was tremendous. The final body count was 27 for 2.5 hours of fishing. Most were in the 3-6 inch range with a couple topping 8". I also broke a larger fish (12"... okay maybe 10") off when I set the hook a little too aggressively. This stream was a local wild trout stream that had suffered badly in last years drought. Great to see a few larger fish still out there.

Back to Basics

I finally left the sucker fishing for some spring small stream fishing. We were looking for some brookies in the higher reaches of a blue line. Not much in the way of fish but the scenery wasn't half bad.

Sucker Run Starting to Taper. (4-30-2008)

Drove by and had a look at my number 1 sucker spot and I am not sure if it is the cooler weather the last week or what but the numbers seemed to be down. I did not have time to fish today but plan on hitting them hard one more time tomorrow. I have a new fly pattern to try and if it works out I'll post it up.

I just can't resist

Fished the suckers again on Tuesday. I thought by now the run would be starting to run down. I was wrong. The fish were stacked up in the riffles more today than in the weeks past. I drifted a weighted bugger down and had one on just about every cast. The fish were also more aggressive as the water temp has increased about 7 degrees in the past couple of weeks. I stopped fishing after 40 landed. The biggest was a 24 inch buck that took me downstream into a large pool. I was fishing by myself and landing the fish was a chore even on 3x and a 6wt rod.

On the downside, there were a couple of bait fisherman that observed me slaying the suckers and I fear this spawning hole may be out of the closet. Oh well, they at least have to have waders to get to where I was... so maybe I can stretch one more week out of this particular run. I have others in reserve if this one is over-run. That is the great thing about the sucker run... low pressure.

Sucker Run Part II

Hit the sucker run again today and the fish did not disappoint. We caught about 10 in thirty minutes or so. I took a friend with me today and all he had was a three weight as we had started the day fishing small streams. It was a trip to see him try to cast a weighted bugger with that thing.. and then land suckers that almost bent the little rod double. Man some good fun was had.

Southern Salmon Run (Suckers)

The suckers have been running the last week in good numbers on a local warm water stream. I noticed them arriving last Thursday and caught a few. I had not expected them and to tell you the truth this is the first time I have targeted them. What a blast they are. Most of the fish I caught were 18-24" and fight great on a 5wt or 6wt. Tried them again Saturday and they were swarming the shallows. I caught about 30 before I broke off my tippet section and noticed I did not have anything on me bigger than 7x to use on my furled leader. Oh well.

So this morning I hit them about 11am with a full spool of 3x and a six pack of freshly tied large heavy olive buggers. This seems to be the best fly I have tried. The first day I was using small clouser type baitfish flies trying for white bass. I then switched to some large nymphs but the most effective seems to be plain ol' buggers drifted right in their face.

TN Tailwaters

I fished the Watauga river on Sat. March 29th and only managed a couple of fish. The hatch (or lack thereof) was a real disappointment. I caught all fish on a black fly larvae pattern size 22. I saw just a couple BWO's coming off but the hatch never really took off. After 2:00 I was invaded by a group of bait fishermen and abandoned my spot for the South Holston.

I parked at the Weir grates and immediately started picking up small browns in the riffles using a WD40 BWO emerger size 24. About 3:30 the duns started hatching in earnest and I switched to a BWO parachute size 18 and managed about 4 on top, but not before I had to add about 4 feet of 7x tippet. The better fish were rising in the still water and were hard to fool. Down and across seemed to be the only way to get a good look from a fish.

WNC Small Streams

Fished a couple of small wild streams off the Parkway on Saturday. We had high expectations with the warming temps of the last week. The first stream we hit had water temps still in the 40's but by 1pm we started picking up fish on dries. This pattern seemed to be the ticket in the fast moving waters. The recent rains had the water at levels I had not seen since last spring. We picked up mostly rainbows in the lower sections of the streams but moved up into wild brookies after lunch.

We managed about 6 fish but had hoped for a lot more. The water temps were still just a little too cold but looks promising with a week or two of temps in the 60s.

Snow on the SoHo

FRIGID !
That was the word on the TN Tailwaters this weekend. A fishing buddy and I awoke at 7:30 in Elizabethton to 45 degree temps and misting rain. By 9 am it was a full blown snow storm with temps in the teens and howling winds. Oh well, you drive the distance.. you gotta fish. We found the river mostly deserted with only a few hardy souls on the lower end. We tried several spots and finally about 11 the BWOs started popping off.
You literally had to time your cast when the wind subsided for a split second to keep the size 18 parachute out of your ear. We managed about a dozen browns like the one pictured. We may have had more but the temps, wind and an increasing dose of the Hypo drove us to the truck after about three hours.