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Fishing
Reports For The
Smoky Mountains And East Tennessee Tail waters
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SEE MORE REPORTS
SEE MORE REPORTS
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Reports 1-13 have
been deleted due to website disc space |
| SEPTEMBER
4, 2008 |
MIKE
BRAUN ON THE SOUTH HOLSTON RIVER |
| Mike
Braun is visiting from Michigan and since the waters are low again in
the Park, we decided to try the South Holston River. It was a beautiful
day and we started by working just below the Weir Dam. The Sulfurs
started to hatch and Mike had fish all around him. It was a brilliant
sunshiny day and getting a fish to look at a fly was really difficult.
Fish were feeding all around but they would not look at Compara Duns or
Tan Wulffs or any other fly that we tried. It was discouraging so we
moved down river and tried fishing with a BHPT and an indicator. Mike
had a little better luck while fishing this method. We enjoyed a great
day on the river and it is a beautiful time to be out. The seasons are
changing and it won't be long until we start seeing cooler weather.
Sulfurs are still hatching and if you want to try to get in on the last
of this hatch, please call us at 423-586- 6198.
Hugh |
| SEPTEMBER
2, 2008 |
FISHING
THE SOUTH HOLSTON RIVER WITH WAYNE AND TRACI WOODS |
Wayne
and Traci Woods were visiting from Indianapolis, Indiana. We decided to
make our trip to the South Holston River and away we went. We did not
find too many other flyfishermen on the river yesterday and we began at
Webb's Bridge, where the fish were feeding actively. Both people caught
or missed several fish in this location and it was great watching them
fish.
We moved up river and began fishing again along Big Springs Road. It
seemed that this area produced better for Wayne, but Traci also caught
some as well. We ended up the day about 4:00PM as the water began to
come up. It had been a beautiful day to be on the water and all of us
enjoyed the river. I hope that this very nice couple are able to come
back during the Peak of Color season to fish this great river.
If Carolyn or I can
help with a guided trip to the South Holston or Watauga Rivers, please
call
423-586-6198.
Hugh
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| AUGUST
30, 2008 |
SPENDING
A FEW HOURS ON THE SOUTH HOLSTON RIVER |
| Carolyn
and I spent the last half of the day on the South Holston River. The
first area that we stopped and fished was not productive, but on our
next stop, they were feeding as well as you could have asked for. I only
took a few pictures, but it seemed like that we were getting strikes on
80% of our casts. Browns and rainbows were feeding with equal vigor. I
will probably be spending more time on this river for the rest of the
Fall. If you would like to try this fine river through the Fall months,
please call at:423-586-6198.
Hugh |
| AUGUST
28, 2008 |
A
NEW TEACHING AID FOR THE YOUNGER BEGINNERS |
| This
morning, I drove over to Little River Outfitters and picked up a new rod
and reel that I have been wanting to buy for close to two years. I
needed a small 3wt. rod for the many new beginners that I have been
teaching for several years. The rod that I chose was the Temple Fork
Outfitters-7ft. 3wt. 4 piece outfit. I had Daniel Drake to match it with
a Ross Reel and a SA Mastery GPX line. I added a 7ft. 5X tapered leader
to round out the lineup and off to Elkmont Campgrounds I drove, to
christen it. The creek is running somewhat full and is in great fishing
condition at the moment. I only fished under the bridge in the middle of
the Campgrounds and it was just a minute until I took a nice 9 in.
rainbow. The rod felt great and the fish felt great while I was playing
it.
OKAY DADS! We
have great water conditions and a new flyrod and reel that will feel
great in your child's hands. If you are going to be in the Smokies over
the Labor Day weekend, here is your opportunity to give your young son
or daughter the training that they need with great new equipment. You
may even want to try it on a Brookie Stream. Give us a call at
423-586-6198.
Hugh |
| AUGUST
23, 2008 |
CAROLYN
AND I FISHING WATERS CLOSER TO THE CHEROKEE DAM |
As
I mentioned in the last report, the water temperatures are getting
warmer on the lower sections of the Holston River. We decided to
try a few miles upriver to see if the water would be colder, and it was.
We drove to a friends property and while we were adorning our gear, he
drove up. He had planned to move an RV and we just followed him to it.
It sat overlooking the river right where we wanted to fish. While he was
hooking things to his SUV, we waded out and began fishing. Both of us
had BHPT Nymphs fished under a strike indicator and it was only
about 8-10 minutes until I had a fish on. This one was a nice fish and
appeared to be in the 18- 20 in. range. I had it almost to my feet and
it came off. Our friend was watching as we moved out into the river and
in another 5 minutes I hooked a real nice fish. Within a minute, he had
me down into my backing and was all the way to the other side of the
river. I knew that I had a very large fish, so I hollered to my friend
up on the bank and asked him to bring his camera. After several minutes
of playing the fish and many hard runs, he began to tire. My friend
walked to the edge of the river and as I got the fish close, he began to
take pictures. His camera turned out to be a film camera and we don't
have any pictures back yet. That may take a few days. The fish measured
(twice) at 24inches, and was possibly the biggest one that I have ever
caught in the Holston River. He was beautiful and a pure trophy. The
water was colder in this stretch of the river and he put up a good
fight. We released him completely revived for another day. Let's hope
that he makes it for another season. We caught one more and left. It was
a great few minutes on the river.
If Carolyn or I can help with a guided trip, please call 423-586-6198.
Hugh |
| AUGUST
21, 2008 |
FRED
KLIMAS AND STEVEN HARRIS ON THE HOLSTON RIVER |
| I
met with Fred and Steven on Thursday morning. We went immediately to the
Holston River and began working on casting and mending skills. It was
the first attempt for Steven and it had been a few years for Fred. The
water temperature is warming up in that section of the river and I will
probably not fish that section very much longer. It has been a great
part of the river and it will be like loosing an old friend. I'll be
trying a section up closer to the dam later this weekend.
I worked with
Fred for a few minutes and his biggest problem was putting strong wrist
action into his false cast. As the wind began to pick up later in the
day, this became a problem for both guys. I felt like after about 10-15
minutes, that I could turn Fred loose to fish and I began to work with
Steven. Steven had used a spinning rod and this old memory problem
haunted him for the rest of the day. It is really difficult to break a
habit that has formed from many years ago. It caused a lot of tangling
for Steven. Never the less, both guys caught a few fish and missed some
more strikes. The wind finally drove us off the river and we called it a
day. It was a hard day of teaching and learning for all of us. I hope
they get in a lot of practice real soon and smooth some of those strong
wrist actions out.
Hugh |
| AUGUST
18, 2008 |
BOB
BANDEEN ON THE HOLSTON RIVER |
| Bob
Bandeen is an attorney from Michigan and he has been used to fishing
some pretty big water. We hit the Holston River pretty early and he
showed me some fine long distance casting. It wasn't but a few minutes
until he had a nice fish on. This was a moderate size rainbow and just
shortly after hooking this fish, he was into a nice brown. The day just
got better for him and within an hour he had caught 3 browns. After
that, it seemed like the rainbows came alive. Bob caught lot of nice
fish until just after lunch. The water began rising from a pulse and the
fish just seemed to turn off. It was really a great day on the water
with Bob, and I hope I get to fish on another stream with him later on.
He was a very fortunate man to be able to catch so many brown trout in
one day. I commend him on his skills.
If Carolyn or I
can help with a guided trip, please let us know. 423-586- 6198.
Hugh |
| AUGUST
15, 2008 |
FISHING
THE HOLSTON RIVER WITH CAROLYN |
| Carolyn
and I had the morning off so we drove down to the Holston River. TVA has
been generating very heavily for almost a month now and I was interested
to see how much the water has warmed up. It was not bad. I estimated it
to be about 62 degrees to the feel of the hand. We started up the river
and Carolyn hooked the first fish right away on a BHPTN. I was trying a
Blackfly pattern and came up empty. I switched over and in just a few
minutes I hooked a very nice fish. It took about 20 minutes to wear this
fellow down and he turned out to be the best that I have ever taken from
the Holston River. He not only was one of the biggest, but he was
colored more highly than any rainbow that I have ever landed while
fishing this water. Carolyn came in close and began to photograph the
fish with the new Pentax W60. I think that you'll like the
results.
We are still
doing trips on this river and this will show the type of fish that you
may encounter while fishing this excellent water. If Carolyn or I can
help with a guided trip, please call 423-586-6198. |
| AUGUST
14, 2008 |
FISHING
WITH BILL BOLINGER ON THE CANEY FORK RIVER |
| How
is that for form? Bill had just hooked a fish when I took this photo. It
was one of a very few that we hooked into yesterday. This was my first
trip to the Caney, other than looking at it from afar. It was a tough
day for both of us and for most other fishermen that we talked to. The
generation that had taken place in the morning must have disturbed the
fish and they had not settled into a feeding pattern while we were
there. Bill is a great fisherman and I want to thank him for showing me
the ropes on this fine water. We tried the water at the dam, at Happy
Hollow, and finally at Betty's Island. It is beautiful water and I hope
to catch a better generation schedule at another time.
Hugh
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As
you can see, the new Pentax W60 has arrived. I have not had the
opportunity to try it out on the stream as of yet. After down loading
some software, I did take some
pictures of the peaches that are ready to pick. This will give you a little sample of
what you will be seeing soon. I hope that you enjoy the pictures of the
fruit, and maybe I'll be on the Caney Fork tomorrow.
Hugh |
| AUGUST
9, 2008 |
STEVE
AND HEATH DAVIS ON THE OCONALUFTEE RIVER AND LITTLE RIVER |
Steve
Davis is a saltwater guide in Key West Florida. He has taught his son,
Heath, about everything there is to know about fishing in that region
and now it is time for Heath to start to school at The University of the
Cumberland's, in Williamsburg , Kentucky. To help broaden both of
their experiences, they wanted to learn as much as they could about
flyfishing in our mountain streams. We spent the day working on many
different skills that are used here and how they differ from the heavier
gear that they normally use on the saltwater outings that they are
so familiar with.
The gear and lines that we use are much lighter and require a softer
presentation than the 8- 12wts that they have used for so long. The
strikes yesterday were very subtle and as expected, it took a while to
begin to catch fish. It was a very interesting day for all of us, as
three professionals tried to alter the methods and techniques that both
had engrained into their memory. They were great sportsmen and adjusted
to whatever I would try to show them. They caught fish and especially
enjoyed the beautiful scenery of the Smokies. Heath will probably begin
classes this coming week and I wish him success in his career that will
follow. I hope they both are able to fish and explore new water as time
permits. Good luck to them.
Hugh
Our new Pentax
Optio WD60 camera is due to arrive tomorrow. It has the new 8GB memory
card with it, so we hope to be placing videos on our reports soon. |
| AUGUST
5, 2008 |
VICTOR
, KELLY, MIKE AND CHIP ON LITTLE RIVER |
| Carolyn
and I had the pleasure of guiding a great group of saltwater fishermen
from Florida yesterday. We began by giving casting and mending
instructions at Metcalf Bottoms. This took a couple of hours, but was
very necessary to acquaint each of them with the fundamentals of
casting and mending under tight stream conditions. It also had it's
downfall as well. It allowed several people to get on the stream ahead
of us and it caused problems with catching fish all day. The warm water
conditions have pushed all the fishermen into the upper reaches of the
mountain streams and if you don't get a real early start, you are
automatically fishing behind someone. It turned out that we were behind
about 8 people and that made for tough fishing. We had several strikes,
but only landed small fish. I commend all the fellas for their hard work
on the stream and I saw lots of improvement as the day went on. Their
rod handling abilities improved greatly and that is what I wanted to
see. We thanked them at the end of the day for all their hard work
at mastering this skill. We hope to see them again in the future.
I did want to
comment on what a pleasure it was to guide such a fine, well mannered
young gentleman as Kelly. Great job, Mom and Dad on raising such a fine
Son.
Because of the
intense heat at the moment, we are recommending 1/2 day trips until it
cools down some. If Carolyn or I can help with a guided trip, please
call us at 423-586-6198.
Hugh |
| JULY
25, 2008 |
LOGAN
DELINGER ON LITTLE RIVER |
| Logan
Delinger and I spent the day on Little River working on skills and
catching a few fish. We tried 3 different areas of the stream to finally
finish out the day. The area through the campgrounds seemed to produce
the most fish. We just had to deal with swimmers and tubers and, as we were
beginning to get into a lot of fish, the tubers took over the stream.
That is probably over now since school has begun. Hook set and timing
was the last thing for Logan to accomplish and by the afternoon, he was
doing well. We finished the day with Logan buying a new rod and reel
from Little River Outfitters and I think this will make a great deal of
difference in his fishing from this point on. Good luck to him and good
fishing.
Hugh |
| JULY
17, 2008 |
THE
HOLSTON RIVER IS STILL OFFERING THIS TYPE OF FISHING |
| Carolyn
and I wanted to start a new page off by showing you what type of fishing
is still available in the Holston River, below Cherokee Dam. We spent
about two hours on the river several miles downstream of the dam this
morning. The water was off and the fish were feeding like crazy. We
caught fish on Elk Hair Caddis and Beadhead Pheasant tail Nymphs for the
whole time we were there. The size of the fish is outstanding and the
fight that they put up "will wear you out." We want to invite
you to take advantage of the fantastic fishing that is so close to us
and you don't have to drive a lot of miles to get in on this mid summer
bonanza. You can see by the look on Carolyn's face in the top right
photo, that there is a slight sense of shock or astoundment at the way
the fish she has on, is peeling off line as it streaks downstream. Don't
let another week go by without letting us take you on a guided trip
where the fishing can be as good as you can find in the U.S.A. Call us
at 423- 586- 6198 for your trip to remember for a lifetime.
Hugh
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Phone
Number: 423-586-6198 or
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