East Tennessee Fishing Reports

 

Len Hamilton meet up with me Tuesday afternoon for a half day float on the South Holston River. We got wadered up and headed to the river. We put in the boat, and there was not many bug coming off so we started with nymphs. We missed several fish on the nymphs and land one really nice 14″ Rainbow that put up a heck of a fight. As we floated downstream the pulse started coming through, but it was more then a pulse. The water really started rising and it got really dirty. So we switch from the nymphs to streamers. We were able to get several fish to go after the streamers, but didnt get any to hand. As the water started dropping we spotted a big Brown rising so we achored the boat to fish to him. After several cast and switching flies Len was hooked up. Man what a great fish that fish put up. We got the big 24″ Brown to the net, and after a quick picture we put him back in the water. Len said that was the biggest Brown he had ever caught, and to caught it on a dry fly what a great caught. As we worked our way to the truck we spotted another big Brown sitting out. Len told me to fish to it. The Brown came up and took the dry on the first cast. After a good fight we netted the 18″ Brown, and we called it a day. What a great day on the water.

If you would like a Guided Trip give us at 423-878-2822.

Good Fishing,

Matt Champion

South Holston River Fly Shop

Gene from Mooresville came over to fish the holston for a day. After suiting up we headed down river. The water was beutiful and on only about the third cast Gene was hooked up. A nice very fat brown to hand first thing, a good way to start the day. We moved up river some and began to fish, the sun was bright and the fishing got a little tough. But Gene stayed after it catching fish pretty constant. We fished dry dropper all day. At one point we hooked into a good fish that ran under a large rock after a brief fight and a good drenching trying to flush out the fish it broke off! We went further up river to finish out the day and caught several fish on the dry. There were just enough sulphers coming off to keep the trout looking up! The sulphers are just gonna explode any day!!  A good day on the water with a good amount of fish caught on the dry and nymph.GUIDE,

Kevin Lowe

South Holston Fly Shop

 

I met up with Jim Kramer from Greensboro, NC here at the shop, and we headed down to the river. We started out down the river and the water was a little dirty and the fish just didnt seem to out much. We were able to caught two nice Browns on nymphs out of the first hole, but there just wasnt much going on. So we moved down to some running water, but could not do much on nymphs in the runs. We changed up flies and Jim hooked into a Big Rainbow a few cast later. After a good long fight we got the fish to hand. Man it was a nice 21″ Rainbow. We only got a few more hits after that fish so we broke for lunch. After lunch we went looking for some Sulphurs. We got to the river and there were some Sulphurs coming off, and there were a few fish rising to them. We were able to catch a good many of them on a Split Case nymph. We moved downstream, and ran out of Sulphurs so we moved upstream to see if we could fine some more Sulphurs. When we got upstream there were nymph cases all over the water, but we didnt see many Sulphurs on the water. As we fished upstream we found fish sitting. We got a few hits on the Split Case, but not like we had been so I switched over to a Midge dropper. As soon as I switched to the Midge the fish started eating it. We worked our way on upstream the we had a big Brown come up and hit the Sulphur Dry. After a good fight we got the Big 20″ Brown to hand.

I had a great time fishing with Jim and hope to do it again. We had a great day on the water with Jim catching two big fish a Brown and Rainbow.

If you would like a Guided Trip give us a call at 423-878-2822.

Tight Lines,

Matt Champion 

South Holston River Fly Shop

 

I met up with the Wolff brothers, Tom and Dave in Elizabethton for a day of floating the watauga river. The morning started off very cool and the weather would change multiple times thru out the day from warm and sunny to rainy and  cooler. With a mass of boats putting in we opted to set back and fish behind the traffic! First spot as I began to rig up Dave hooked up on about the third cast” Fish On!!” A very nice rainbow around 15″ . After a tough fight in the current the fish got of right at the boat. 2 cast later Dave hooked up again. Once all rigged up we began to work our way down river! Both guys had hits in about ever run we fished. We had boated several fish when we came up on our first boat, this other boat was in a run we all wanted to fish but with a brief rain shower on us we went around to the next run and anchored up. Glad we did!After a few cast and a few tweeks to our nymph riggs Tom hooked into a monster bow!! After a fish played near perfect we netted an awesome 17+ inch rainbow! We set still, both guys had several more hook ups and we landed over 10 fish in this spot with most all the fish in the 14 inch class!  Gonna be hard to beat this run, but we were gonna try! On down river we stopped in the upper part of the trophy section and again Tom hooked and landed a very colored up rainbow around 17″! After a brief shore lunch we fished on thru , catching fish all the way down river. Just before time to go home we chased a few rising fish with a dry. A little friendly brother to brother competition of who could get the best drift ensued. With a fish on the dry coming to the net in the end! We boated alot of fish, alot of which were quality fish. All this fishing behind a convoy of other boats! GREAT JOB GUYS!!! I had a blast

If you would like info on a guided trip give us a call .                                                                    

South Holston River Fly Shop Guide,

                                                                                                                                                                                       Kevin Lowe

 

I met up with Chuck and Harry at the shop to enjoy a half day trip on the SOHO! Chuck and Harry were both fairly new to the sport and wanted to better their casting, presintation and maybe catch a few trout in the process. We started out way up stream and went to work. After about 45 minutes both guys were casting alot better and had missed a few strikes already.  We fished double nymph rigs and even some small dries. Later we eased on down river and found a nice black fly hatch so after a small pulse we went to it. Both guys hooked up quick. Harry also scored his first ever trout on the fly rod! For the next couple hours both guys we fished the hatch both guys landing several and missing several more. Thats gonna happen using a #24 dry! They were even doubled up a time or two. Just before time to leave Harry hooked into a good fish that went screaming down stream and never looked back! POP went the tippet. All in all a good day on the water with a couple really nice guys. I enjoyed it.

GUIDE ,

Kevin Lowe

South Holston River Fly Shop

I met up with Rusty, Tyler and Tommy on
Saturday morning and we hit the river. The weather had changed from the day before and the fish were out Saturday. We hit the water and we could see some fish rising. So we started out with some dries and droppers. Tyler caught several fish right away on a Split Case nymph. Then Rusty got into some fish on a Split Case. While Tommy was getting fish on a Midge Dropper. You could see fish feeding on the bottom and there were a few fish rising to Midges. The fish were feeding on Midges and Black Fly lavra on the bottom. We broke for lunch and after a good lunch we tried a different section of river looking for some Sulphurs. We got to the river and the fish were really feeding on nymphs. We were into fish as soon as we stepped in the water. All three guys were catching fish, and then a few Sulphurs started popping off. Then the fish really started feeding. Around 5:30pm the guys were getting a little tired so we called it a day.

Man I had a great time fishing with Rusty, Tyler and Tommy.

If you would like a Guided Trip give us a Call at 423-878-2822.

Tight Lines,

Matt Champion

South Holston River Fly Shop

Rusty, Tyler and Tommy came up from Columbia, SC to fish with me on Friday and Saturday. We meet up at the shop around 10pm and headed to the river. After a getting wadered up we hit the river. We fished our first spot hard, but didnt get into many fish. It just seemed like the fish were down. We had a front push through and the fish just were not out. So we stopped for lunch and decided to move to another section of the river. We moved upstream and let Tyler watch the water come up at the Weir dams. Then we drove up to let Tyler see the dam and see the view from the top of the dam. After that we headed fishing. We did get into several nice little Rainbows, but the fishing was not nearly as good as it has been. After very one had got several fish to hand we moved back downstream to work some running water. We fished into the evening, and Rusty hooked one big Brown trout. That busted him off.

If you would like a Guided Trip give us a call at 423-878-2822.

Tight Lines,

Matt Champion

South Holston River Fly Shop 

 

I met up with Charlie, James, and Tom for their second day of fishing on the South Holston Rvier on Thursday May 01. Gosh these guys could not have picked a better day weather wise for fishing. We suited up at the fly shop and headed down river for some fast water nymph fishing. We picked up quite a few nice fish down there on Split Case Nymphs and Gilled PT Nymphs. The guys definatly learned how important mending is while fishing. I set charlie up in a run with fish stacked up in it. I don’t think he moved from that very spot for an hour and a half he was hooking up on almost every other cast on nice browns. We caught good numbers of browns and rainbows downt there before we broke for lunch at 1:30. We proceded to move down river to try and find some sulphurs after lunch. All the guys picked up several on dry dropper and nymph rigs. We just caught the tail end of the down river hatch. Charlie hooked up with one of the fattest well fed browns I think I’ve ever seen on this river. This fish was just gorging himself on the “buffet of nymphs” that is the South Holston River.  We moved up to an upper section of the river to finish out the day. For about 2 hrs. It was Sulphur Duns, Sulphur Spinners, and Black Flies all being eaten simultaneously. It was a “skate & die” afternoon. A sulphur/blackfly rig was deadly. If a bug moved, skittered, or skated it was toast. I saw one good size brown that we fished to and caught that took 3 different sulphurs on the surface in about 3 seconds. Just Bap, Bam, Splash. We finished out our trip down there and the guys were still fishing when I had to leave. I suspect they continued to catch fish till dark:30.  A guide simply can’t ask for a better group of guys on a better river. It’s just not going to happen.

If you would like a Guided Trip give us a Call at 423-878-2822. 

Guide,

Josh McFadden

South Holston River Fly Shop

 

Sam and Nancy Todd came to fish we me on the South Holston. Sam and Nancy wanted to learn how to fish the river. They also wanted me to help them out with their casting. So headed to the river to work on some casting. After working on their casting for a while we got into some fish. Sam caught one really nice 15″ Rainbow before lunch. We broke for lunch and after lunch we went down the river in search on a Sulphur hatch. We found a few Sulphurs coming off, and Sam was able to caught or hook into a good many on a dry and dropper. Nancy really got her casting down and was able to get into several fish. She also missed several fish. She did have one really nice Brown on, but it popped loss at her feet. The hatch died out, and we called it a day around 6pm.

I had a great time fishing with Sam and Nancy.

If you would like a Guided Trip give us a call at 423-878-2822.

Good Fishing,

Matt Champion 

South Holston River Fly Shop

 

James, Charlie and Tom came to fish the S. Holston River with us on Wednesday and Thursday. We meet up at the shop and headed to the river. Tom had not been flyfishing for long so I spent a good bit of time working with him on his casting. While James and Charlies fished around us. After Tom got the casting down good we really went after the fish hard. We had a good morning but the fishing was a little slow. After lunch we got into a little Sulphur hatch. The fish were rising to the Sulphurs and everybody was into fish. James got up in a run and hooked a big Brown that jumped and throw the hook. Then fished back through the run with a dry and dropper and everytime I looked up he had a fish on. Tom was into fish, and was able to caught fish on dries also. Charlie was downstream on us popping fish regular on a Sulphur dry. When the hatch died down and the fish stopped rising we head to fish another area. We didnt get into anymore Sulphurs, but Tom got into a hole the was full of trout. He caught 5 or 6 trout out of the hole before we called it a day.

I had a great time fishing with James and Charlie again and enjoyed fishing with Tom for the first time.

If you would like a Guide Trip give us a call at 423-878-2822.

Tight Lines,

Matt Champion

South Holston River Fly Shop