Reports for the Smoky Mountains and East Tennessee Tailwaters

Bryan Kennedy, from Iowa, met with me at Little River Outfitters yesterday and we moved immediately to the East Prong of Little River to begin our day. We arrived at the Millsap Picnic Area and lots of flies were hatching off. We got into the water and Bryan fished hard for n hour, but could not get a fish to move. We decided to move across the mountain to the Oconaluftee River and that is where we finished out the day. Bryan had to do a lot of work on his casting and mending skills so we spent a lot of the afternoon doing that. He caught one fish and made one long distance release. He also missed a lot of strikes. I asked Bryan to work hard on all of his skills so that he would not forget the techniques that I taught him. I hope to see him again on a tailwater.

If Carolyn or I can help with a guided trip, please call:423-586-6198.

Hugh

Glenn Allgood, who works at Little River Outfitters, scheduled a trip with me to the Holston River today. Who could ever known that it would turn out to be the greatest fishing adventure that I have ever been on with a client. From the very first part of the morning, Glenn began to hook nice sized rainbows that would set his reel to screaming and take off line almost down to the backing. The smallest fish that we saw all day was about 13inches. The remainder of the day was a continuous series of hook, play, and release, scenarios that seemed like they only got bigger, and bigger, and bigger. I lost count of the 15, 16 , and 18inch fish that he caught and released. Some were long distance releases. He hooked 2 fish that we estimated to be about 20 inches and 1 fish that appeared to be at least 25 inches and would have weighed 5 pounds. This is by far, the most fantastic fishing that I have ever seen anywhere! Glenn proved to be an excellent angler and really knows how to stay at the sport all day. I can only repeat what I have just said. It was the most fantastic day of fishing that I have ever known. I encourage you to stop in at Little River Outfitters and talk with Glenn about the trip. He can tell you about some hookups that took him down the river for 100 yards before he could get the fish to even think of slowing down. This is really Glen's story and you should hear it firsthand. It was great to be out on the river with Glenn today and I hope we get a repeat trip like this next week.

If Carolyn or I can help with a guided trip to any of our tailwaters, please call 423-586- 61298.

Hugh

This is the second time that I have guided J.C. and Adrienne and we chose to try the Holston River on this trip. I was not sure that we would be able to get in a full day because of the weather. We had rain and thunderstorms coming our way about lunch time. The rain came but the rougher weather did not materialize. We were able to finish the day out. The weather did have a negative effect on the fish. They were feeding when we first started and Adrienne had one on pretty quickly. The feeding just slowed down after the rain began, and by the middle of the afternoon, it had completely turned the fish off. Both of the clients were able to catch some fish before the weather put the fish down. We had a great time and I also learned that the attractive couple had just gotten engaged the night before. Congratulations to them! I hope they get to visit East Tenn. again next year and I look forward to seeing them again on the water.
If Carolyn or I can help with a guided trip to one of these great tailwaters, please call us at:
423-586-6198.

Hugh

Fred Snyder and I got together for a class on Advanced Nymphing. Fred worked as hard as anyone that I have ever had in a class. It seemed that his difficulty came when he began to get strikes. This is always a tough time for people who have not had a lot of experience at "nymphing". There were numbers of times that he just could not see the fish hitting the fly. We talked about things that he could do to make his flyline more visible. Lots of small rainbows were feeding on the Oconaluftee but they will have to meet Fred on another day. We talked about him continuing to practice the skills that he had learned and I hope to see him again soon on the water. He was a great gentleman to be with.

If Carolyn or I can help with a guided trip, please call 423-586-6198.

Hugh

Bill Kramer came up from Atlanta, Ga. and we had one "winged dinged heck of a day". It was a day of learning for Bill and the pressure did not let up until the day was completely over. We put in such a strong day that I am sure that he is sore physically and his ears are sensitive as well from hearing me give out instructions. We were into some awfully nice fish and I hated seeing him lose the battle with a few of them. I'm sure he got tired of hearing me bark out instructions, but I wanted him to absorb as much as he could in the day that we were together. He was a great sport and a very nice person to be with on the river. I hope that he will retain as much of the instructions as possible. I know without a doubt that he will want to be back on the Holston River soon. He has a few old scores to settle with some big fish.
If you would like to engage in battle with some of these bruisers that we saw yesterday, just call Carolyn or me at 423-586- 6198 and we will get you on the river and involved in some of the best fishing in Tennessee.

Hugh

Yep! If you haven't taken a guided trip to the Holston River, below Cherokee Dam; you are missing one of the best flyfishing experiences that you can find in the Southeast . These pictures were taken on Saturday, a day off for me. We only fished about 1-1/2 hours and both Carolyn and I hooked several fish that would rival any you could find in size outside of the White River in Arkansas. All of the fish that we caught were between 14-20in. in size. The rainbow that I am holding in the first two pictures was about 19 in. long. The brown trout that I am photographing is 18 in. long. The last picture of the rainbow was about 16 in. long. Carolyn had fish on that would have gone 18in. Boomer got tangled in the line and that was the end of that. The bottom line is: You need to get yourself booked for a trip on this river while the Caddis are hatching off. You can't find fishing like this anywhere else in this area.

If Carolyn or I can help with a guided trip to this fabulous tailwater. please call us at 423-586-6198.

I met with J. Renfro, from Kentucky, on Thursday morning. We made our way to the Holston River on a beautiful morning and set up for the coming Caddis hatch. J. had not done any trout fishing , but he had used his flyrod for Bluegills and Bass. He really found out quickly that there was a great deal of difference in the different types of fish. He did not have a lot of trouble in getting the fish to hit, but he had a lot of trouble in getting the right hookset. Most of the time it was a little too late, but sometimes his strike was too hard. It continued to plague him throughout the day. The fish were feeding heavily, and they provided him with lots of targets to keep him active and trying. I told him to continue to practice on moving water near where he lives and maybe the right timing will come to him. It was a great day to be on the river and we watched a beautiful Osprey taking his lunch on several occasions.

If Carolyn or I can help with a guided trip, just call 423-586-6198.

Hugh

David Strecker and I made a full day of fishing in the Park today. We were on the East Prong of Little River, the Middle Prong of the Little Pigeon River, the Ramsey Prong, Porters Creek, and finally, Metcalf Bottoms. It was a hard, full day of instruction, and fishing for David, and it only yielded about 3 fish. David was a great client, and he fished as well as I could have asked for. The fish were just not feeding and nothing we could present to them made any difference. It just turns out that way on some days. It was a beautiful day to be in the Park and I sure enjoyed his company. I hope to get to fish with him and his sons sometime soon.

If Carolyn or I can help with a guided trip, please contact us at : 423-586-6198

Dan Arnold and I met to fish Abrams Creek on Monday and when we arrived the Green Drakes were hatching. They were beautiful to watch and you would have thought they would have had the fish turned on. They did not!!. We fished hard for several hours and only caught two fish. One turned out to be a respectable 11in. After fishing a beautiful stretch of water, we made our way back to the Middle Prong of Little River. It was getting on into the afternoon and when we arrived a hatch was taking place and some fish were feeding. Dan caught one in the first hole and missed another fish shortly afterward. We finished up the afternoon here and it had turned out to be a beautiful day. I hope that Dan gets back on the water soon and gets to spend more time in the Smokies.

Hugh

Last year I guided Pam Davis, from Michigan, on Abrams Creek. This year we decided to try a tailwater, and I could think of none that were fishing any better than the Holston River, below Cherokee Dam. Pam had brought here Mother and Brother, and her friend, Jen, with her for this trip. Her brother and mother had very little flyfishing experience, so we set out to remedy that with a lot of casting and mending instruction. Pam's friend, Jen, and Pam, are members of a lady's flyfishing group in Michigan, so they get to fish on a regular basis. This was one of the finest experiences on a trip that I have had this year. My wife Carolyn, joined in with me to guide this fine group and we had a fantastic day. It seemed like rods were bent for the better part of the day and especially so, in the last section of river that we fished. The day was gorgeous, and the Caddis hatches were just covering the water. Each person was becoming accustomed to the river and I just took picture after picture of fish being hooked and played. What a pleasure it is for a guide to see everyone enjoying themselves. My thanks to Pam, her family, and friend, for such a great day, and for allowing Carolyn and me to guide them. I hope to see them again sometime in the future.

If Carolyn or I can help with a guided trip or flies, just call 423-586-6198

I met with a great group of guys form Alabama today and we made our way to the South Holston River. None of the fellas had much experience at fishing for trout, and guide Kevin Lowe, helped to instruct this fine group. We had originally planned to do a float trip on the Watauga River, but TVA decided to generate at an inopportune time. That is why we made a wade trip for the South Holston River. There was not much feeding going on for quite a bit of the day and the fellas struggled for sometime to catch fish. In the middle of the afternoon, a good BWO hatch started and the fun began. Things changed real quickly and each of the gentlemen began to get strikes. Timing on hooksets were not always on cue and sometimes the fish just got the better of the situation. We stil had fun and caught some fish. We had a great time and I hope that everyone learned some new techniques. I hope to see them again on the water soon.

If Carolyn or I can help with a guided trip, just call 423-586-6198 or email at flyfisherman1@charter.net

Paul Weeks has lived a good part of his adult life in Connecticut, but he is now to retirement age and he wants to come back home. Part of coming back is to learn the rivers and streams of East Tennessee, so we started with the Holston River, below Cherokee Dam. They were generating early so we started down at Nances Ferry and then moved up to the upper part of the river later in the day. The fish were feeding like crazy when we got into the water and other than working on casting and mending skills, we had a fantastic morning. The generation had slowed the fish down some in the upper part of the river, so the fish were a little slower at feeding. Paul still managed a great day and I want to thank him for allowing me to guide him. I hope to see him again soon on another stream.

If Carolyn or I can help with a guided trip, just call:423-586-6198.

Hugh

John Goss and his wife had come to Carson Newman College to see their daughter. While they were here they wanted to fish the Smokies and maybe a tailwater. Today, we chose to try the Holston River, below Cherokee Dam. By the time that we had finished the day, John said that it was the most fun that he had ever had in his life, outside of his wife and family. I told him that he had probably just finished the best fishing day of all the clients that I have taken out this year. He showed a lot of class and expertise on the water while we were on the river. This good set of techniques proved to land him more nice fish than I have seen all year. Every fish was in the 13-15 inch range, with one 14 inch brown and a 18-20 inch rainbow. This is first class fishing and this is a first class river at the moment. Most of the fish were taken on a small Beadhead Pheasanttail Nymph. I want to thank John for allowing me to guide him and for his fine performance on the stream.
If you are looking for a very good fishing trip, without too much driving, this is it. Contact us and let us take you to a great fishing destination . The Caddis are just starting to hatch and it will only get better. To schedule a guided trip, call 423-586-6198.

Hugh

I met with Robert Hutson at the Sugarland Visitor Center today and we fished the West Prong of the Little Pigeon River, below the Park Headquarters. This water fishes better in the early spring than later in the summer. Our biggest challenge was to get Robert's casting and mending skills up to par. This was something that we worked on all through the day. After lunch, we moved to the waters of Little River just below Elkmont Campgrounds. Robert managed to catch one fish here and we moved later in the day to the West Prong of Little River. It got tougher to cast as the moved on and we finally gave it up at about 3:30. I want Robert to continue to work on casting and mending skills at every opportunity that he has. He is a very pleasant person to be around and an avid photographer as well. I hope to run into him in the Park again.

If Carolyn or I can help with a guided trip, please call:423-586-6198.

Hugh

David and I met at the entrance to Greenbriar this morning and we began practicing his casting and mending skills. The first thing that we saw was that quite a few insects were hatching. My first thoughts had been to try nymphs, but when we saw fishing rising, the dry flies came out fast. It did not take many casts until David began to get strikes. He then began to hook fish, and the day was under way. We broke for lunch about the middle of the day and when we arrived back on the stream, the action had died down on top. We tied on the trusty Smoky Mountain Blackbird Softhackle and he caught a couple more. The water was sort of high and it wore us both down by the middle of the afternoon. It had been a good day and David was very pleased with his level of improvement. My thanks to David for allowing me to guide him and I hope he gets to fish another day or two while he is in East Tennessee.

If Carolyn or I can help with a guided trip, just call:423-586-6198.

Hugh

Today I met with Janice and Jill from Memphis, TN for a 1/2 day trip to Nance's Ferry. They had taken some flycasting lessons, but had never been able to put these lessons to use. Both were excited to go to the river and get away from their jobs at a Memphis Hospital.

We started with the basics of fishing safety and etiquette, how to set up the rig, read the water and surroundings and choose the fly. I showed them the Pitzen knot and flycasting techniques were discussed and practiced.

There were several fishermen already on the water, and we had to walk quite a bit. I saw only occasional fish rising, no hatches and a few Caddis and Black flies. The ladies worked very hard on their casting and mending skills. I was very proud of them, and I hope that they will continue to work on these skills that we practiced. I really enjoyed my 1/2 day with these ladies, and they stated that they had a fantastic day.

If Hugh or I can help with a guided trip or flies, just call 423-586-6198.

Thanks,

Carolyn

I met with Richard and Margaret Strecker today and we drove to the Holston River for a great day of fishing on their 20 wedding anniversary. My congratulations to them on this special day. It had rained quite a bit and the weather service was saying that we might have rain until 2:00pm. That did not happen, so we got quite a bit of fishing in during the early part of the day. Each of them caught a few fish before we broke for lunch and we decided to move in the afternoon to a lower part of the river. I thought that the Caddis might be beginning to hatch if we moved lower downstream. The section that we had fished in the morning was completely dominated by Blackflies and we used an Elk Hair Caddis, with a #26 Blackfly, as the dropper.
We arrived on the lower part of the river and it was raining some when we got into the river this time. I moved to one side of the river with Margaret and Richard stayed on the opposite side of the run that we wanted to fish. We were into fish right away and this continued for the next 1-1/2 hours.
The more fish that we caught, the heavier it rained. I was taking fish off the hook for Margaret on a continuous basis. By the time the rain got so hard that we had to quite, Margaret had caught almost 15 fish and had lost almost as many. It turned into a great afternoon for both Richard and Margaret and I was very pleased with them. I wished them a great time for the rest of their vacation and bid them farewell as the day ended.
If Carolyn or I can help with a guided trip or flies, just call 423-586-6198.

Last year I guided Bob Powell and his son, Nate. Bob was back in the Park again this year and we decided to hit as tailwater that was close by. We arrived at about 9:30 in the morning and the fish were feeding on Blackflies pretty good. It was just a few minutes until Bob had one on and lost it. In a few more minutes, Ron had one on and lost it. A little later, Ron hooked a very nice fish and played the fish for quite awhile. It keep the pressure on and made it's way farther out into the river until the line fouled around the reel. It promptly broke the leader and went on it's merry way. Even though several fish were hooked, we were not able to land even one. The fish are getting bigger and stronger as the weeks go by. This is the one tailwater that you want to try in the next few weeks. I saw the first Caddis hatching today. It won't be but a few days until the hatch is in full swing. If we can help with a guided trip to the Holston River, just call us at: 423-586-6198.

Hugh

Jerry Wester has been in public education for many years in the state of Louisiana. He has wanted to get into the early hatches in the Park, so after some discussion about water temperatures we decide to try the West Prong of Little River, and them Abrams Creek. We did not see any fish or insects on the West Prong, and when we got to Abrams Creek they were out in force. The insects were out but the fish were holding tight. We tried dry flies and nymphs, but we were only able to get strikes on nymphs very late in the evening. Jerry only managed to hook into one fish and he missed several strikes. He learned a lot about techniques and what happens to fish when the water temps get too low. He was a great student and I hope that he got to fish more today. Good luck to Jerry on future trips to the Park. We're hoping that water temperatures come up to fishable levels this weekend.

If you would like a guided trip in the Park or on a tailwater, please call 423-586-6198.

Hugh

Carolyn, Boomer, and I needed to get away from the house for the day and spend some time on the river. We had several things to do along the way and it was early afternoon before we arrived in the Rockhold section. We fished around the twin islands for awhile and did not see any action taking place, so we moved to Big Springs Road. The wind was blowing pretty hard all day and we started off in this new section tossing streamers. I had not gone more than 100yards before I noticed the fish were feeding on a BWO hatch. I changed rods real quickly and started again with a Tan Wulff and a Matched Quill Winged BWO Dun. I had several fish to take the BWO dropper and after about 15 minutes, I had a huge fish to take the fly. I hollered to Carolyn to start taking pictures where she was holding Boomer along the side of the river to keep him away from the fish. The battle was on and the fish looked as long as my arm. Carolyn waded out close to where I was and traffic began to stop along the Big Springs Road to watch the show. While I was battling the fish a gentleman stopped, and got out to see if I needed any assistance. I was fishing without a net and he had one so he waded out in the river to help. I fought the big boy up and down the river, where he made two beautiful jumps. Boomer got off his leash and went out in the river after the fish, but we screamed loud enough at him until he finally turned around and came back in. The gentleman later told me his name was Stan Atkins, and he waded out in the river downstream from the fish where he was able finally to get the net under it. My arms were worn out from the fight and it took a while to get the hook from the fish. I could never have landed this big bruiser if Stan had not taken the time to come out and help. He had a tape and measured the beautiful brown at 24inches. It was a battle with a great fish that I will remember for a long time. My thanks to Carolyn and Stan for all their help and I hope to meet him on the river again soon.
If Carolyn or I can help with a guided trip, please call us at:423-586-6198.

Hugh

David Mahlik Jr. contacted me wanting to get in on some of the very early hatches in the Park. We made plans to fish on the 17th of March, not knowing exactly what the weather conditions would be. This year the water has been high and the temperatures are low due to a snow pack that has been melting. We were not able to fish the East Prong of Little River because the flow was too high. We tried the Middle Prong first and found the water to be slightly high and quite cold. No insects were hatching before noon and we struggled without getting a single fish until lunch. We did a lot of work with both fellas, teaching casting and mending techniques. David Sr. was new to flyfishing and he is the one that I did the most work with. I also showed them how to fish nymphs in single profile and tandem rigged. Since nothing was hatching and the water temps were low, I felt that this would be the only chance we would have at catching fish.
We moved to Abrams Creek after lunch and when we arrived on the stream, lots of small Tan Caddis, along with Blue Quills and Quill Gordons were hatching. I would have thought the fish would be really feeding since the water temps were close to 50 degrees, but nothing was moving. We fished there until late in the afternoon and moved back to the Middle Prong. The insects had begun to hatch some in the late afternoon, but nothing was feeding. We fished until 5:30 and David Sr. caught one small fish. I commend the guys for all their hard attempts. It was a difficult day to say the least. The water just needs to warm up some to make the fish be more active. I hope the skills that the guys learned will be practiced and built upon until they can come back to the Park again. My thanks to them for allowing me to guide them. Let's give the mountain streams another week or two and they should be back to normal. The water levels are looking much better this year. If Carolyn or I can be of help with a guided trip, just call us at:423-586-6198.

Hugh

Matt Champion asked if I would help guide a large group of people from the Pittsburgh area and we met at his shop to get all things in order for the trip. I had the pleasure of guiding Drew De Piccolo and we headed to the Watauga River for a day of floating. None of the guys had much experience with a flyrod so we helped them to fish for awhile with a spinning outfit and then we worked with them to help learn the art of flyfishing. Drew had two sons with him, Shane and Jordan. They were being guided by Kevin Lowe, and he also worked with them to show them how to flyfish. They were both having some luck as we went down the river , but Drew missed a lot of strikes. After switching back and forth from the spinning rod and the flyrod, Drew was pretty disgusted with himself. I brought out one last fly and gave it to him to try. It was an Olive Matuka and it had worked for Carolyn out in Yellowstone National Park. On the first cast, Drew hooked a nice brown. On the next cast, he hooked a monster rainbow. On the next cast, he hooked another nice rainbow! What was going on here?? On the 5th cast, he hooked another nice rainbow! What kind of magic did this new fly have? We floated the rest of the river and Drew continued to have fish hitting or chasing the Matuka. The day had completely turned around. As it was getting close to dark, we took the boats out and went back to the shop where the trip began. I hope that it was a day that all the fellas will remember. I want to thank Matt and Kevin for being such great guides and for showing me many things about fishing the Watauga that I won't forget. They are both great sportsmen and guides. I look forward to fishing with them again sometime in the Spring or Summer.

If Carolyn or I can help with a guided trip to the Watauga or with flies, just call at"423-586-6198.

Olive Conehead Matuka

Jim and Ernie have been wanting to float the Holston River for a couple of weeks and today seemed to be a great day to be on the river. We tried to catch the last of a 2 hour generation schedule so we would have some water to get us past the first few shoals and not drag the bottom out of the boat. It was a little of a late start so we were in low water conditions for a good part of the day. The fish began to feed on a nice Diptera hatch and when we finally started to get some risers, Ernie showed himself by catching a nice 18in. rainbow, the first thing. The feeding seemed to change from Diptera midges to Blackflies from one set of shoals to the next. We got our flies changed to the right patterns and both guys had fish on in a few minutes. We spent several hours fishing through a number of sets of shoals and we found the water coming up from a pulse. This finished the day for us and it was almost dark when we pulled the boat in to the take out point. It was a great day on the river with Jim and Ernie. This was the first float trip of the year and the fish on the Holston River are so fat that you can't get your hand around them. Please take a look at the flies that we offer that will match the Diptera Midge Adult and the Blackfly Adult.
If we can help you with a guided trip to some fabulous fishing on this fine river, and you would like to schedule a trip, just call 423-586-6198 or email us at (click here).

Today, the first signs of Spring were all around while I was on the South Holston River. Even though, there was some snow still on the Holston Mountain, the temperature was rising rapidly. The fish did not want to cooperate early in the day but after lunch I went to the Big Spring area and I was into a nice Blue Winged Olive hatch right away. The fish were feeding on top as if the Sulfurs were hatching. I used a small Tan Wulff for an indicator and placed a natural matched winged BWO Dun pattern on as a dropper. The fish were jumping all over this fly and I was having a difficult time hooking them. It seemed like it took forever to get a solidly hooked fish, but I wanted to show you what they are now feeding on and what to look for when you are back on this river. These hatches should go on for awhile, until the weather becomes too warm and then the Sulfurs will take over as the primary food source.

If Carolyn or I can help with a guided trip or flies, please call us at 423-56-6198.

Today, Ernie Roberts and I made the trip back to the Holston River, below Cherokee Dam. We wanted to test my new Blackfly pattern in another spot. This time we chose the area of River Point. The fish were feeding like crazy when we arrived and we got right into the water without hesitation. In just a couple of cast I had a fish on and it continued to be like this through the afternoon. We caught fish up to 14in. and Ernie hooked a large brown that ran all over the river before it tore the hook out of it's mouth. The biggest fish that I saw feeding looked to be a 4-5lb. fish. After two cast I had spooked the fish and did not see it again. The new Blackfly pattern worked well today, and I will continue to test it. If you are looking for a great fishing trip right now, you need to take a guided wade trip on this river. Here is the hot new Blackfly. Give us a call at 423-586-6198.