 |
 |
 |
Smoky Mountain Flyfishing
And East Tennessee
Tailwaters Reports 26
| Gift
Set Top Tailwater Trout Flies |
Gift
Set Top Smoky Mountain Dry Flies |
Gift
Set Top Smoky Mountain Nymphs/Emergers |
Smoky Mountain Terrestrials |
| SEPTEMBER 3, 2010 | MIKE BRIDGES FISHING THE SMOKY MOUNTAIN BLACKBIRD SOFTHACKLE |
|
|
|
|
| Today I
received an email from a friend and client who has purchased and
fished the Blackbird for some time. He sent pictures of some nice
wild fish that he had caught with this great fly on one of his last
trips. After looking at these nice fish I asked him if he would do a
report in his own words about this trip and he agreed to do so. When
I receive it I will place it with this opening that I have done. How
nice it is to see these beautiful wild fish that he has taken.
Fishing the
Smoky Mountain Blackbird
The past few
years, Hugh Hartsell's Smoky Mountain Blackbird has been the
primary producing fly in my fly box. This fly produces for me
throughout North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee in
terms of quantity and quality trout (and even has produced on
smallmouth bass). I cannot imagine going on a fishing trip
without my beloved Blackbird. The fly is fabulous on rainbows,
brooks and browns and especially on larger trout. My belief in
this fly was reconfirmed on a recent trip in Western North
Carolina where the Blackbird was nothing short of
outstanding.
My day began
at daybreak on a medium sized stream on August 1st. The water
was low and I was concerned that fishing would be difficult. I
rigged up the Smokey Mountain Blackbird as a dropper fly to a
standard elk hair caddis. I usually fish the Blackbird in a
dry/dropper combo so that I can fish and cover different
sections of the water. However, the Smoky Mountain Blackbird
can be fished in a variety of methods, as a nymph, an emerger
and even as a streamer.
Since the
water was low and a tad warm on this summer day, I focused my
attention on well oxygenated water that still provided good
cover for the trout. Only a few short distance from where
I started fishing, I hooked and caught a nice eight inch wild
rainbow. I caught two other small trout when I noticed a large
rock in a nice flow in a deeper run. I cast over the rock and
hardly before the flies had time to settle, my caddis jerked and
I knew something had eaten the Blackbird. I erratically jerked
and saw a long bar of thick, bright lemon yellow at least
sixteen inches long appear. Unfortunately, this large trout was
only on a few seconds due to my erratic hook set. Nevertheless,
I was reassured that there were large trout in this river and
knew I had the right fly.
Pressing on,
I connected with more trout and the size began to increase. I
caught one nice stocked brook trout around eleven inches that
had run up into the non stocked water and three more wild
rainbows around ten inches, all on the Blackbird. Looking to my
right, there was a nice pool, with water circulating under a
large mass of overhanging limbs. I crept down and let the flies
completely drift under the limbs and immediately the caddis went
under. This time, my hook set was fine and after a spirited
battle, I brought a chunky thirteen inch brown that had devoured
my Blackbird to the net.
My fishing
slowed a bit as I came to a series of long flat runs. But, I
then came to group of runs and pools. I missed one trout, but
soon caught another nice wild ten inch rainbow on the
Blackbird. The next pool was quite deep and I was a bit
surprised to see a thick 11 inch rainbow come from the depths to
hit my Blackbird and I had some difficulty moving him out of the
crevices of a large rock. But, he was eventually brought to
hand. Moving up a bit more, I came to a nice run and connected
with a strong wild 12 inch rainbow, again on the Blackbird. The
fishing was hot!
However, the
course of the river changed and not in my favor. I came to
another series of long flat runs that were unproductive and
decided to eat lunch. I had already had a great day for me and
almost called it a day. But, I persevered and am glad I did.
The best fishing was in my future.
Continuing
my way up stream, I came to several shallow sections that
contained a large number of yearling trout. I caught several of
these three to six inch wild rainbows and was thrilled to see
these young trout doing so well. I
then saw what I was looking for; a long, deeper run with a
undercut bank on the left. I knew this was a haven for a nice
trout.
I cast to
the back of the run and caught another wild ten inch rainbow.
Casting a bit ahead, I had a nine inch bow hit the caddis while
an eighteen inch rainbow simultaneously hit the Blackbird. Two
trout on at once! Unfortunately, the trout ran in different
directions and the large rainbow broke my 5X tippet. While I
landed the smaller trout, I was a bit frustrated at losing such
a magnificent fish in such unusual circumstances. I went back
to my fly box and pulled a used Blackbird, somewhat frazzled,
just to see how this would work.
I had my
answer immediately as a sixteen inch wild, heavy rainbow nailed
the Blackbird and ran first up and then down the run. After a
long hard fight, I brought the trout to hand. I took a a couple
of photographs and then gently released the trout as I had with
the others. I celebrated watching the trout quickly move back
into her lie and catching one of my largest freestone rainbows
in several years. The celebration soon ended as another wild
rainbow approximately fourteen to fifteen inches again hit the
Blackbird. After another battle, I took the photograph of this
white tipped finned beauty and released it back to the pool.
My hands were almost shaking due to the exhilarating experience.
I gradually
moved ahead and I caught a few eight to ten inch trout shortly
thereafter and then had eight inch smallmouth hit the
Blackbird. I wondered what he was doing there? But, it was
remarkable to see again how the Blackbird produces on such a
variety of fish. Fish absolutely love it. I decided to end the
day on such a good note and headed back to my car. It was an
unforgettable and God blessed day. It was also a moment made
special by the Smoky Mountain Blackbird.
Michael B. Bridges, Esq.
Dobson, Jones, Ball, Phillips & Bridges, P.A. Attorneys at Law 1306 South Church Street P.O. Box 1923 Greenville, SC 29602 Phone: (864) 271-8171 Ext. 206 Fax: (864)
I hope that everyone enjoys Mike's report and it feels good to let others tell their story in their own words. You did a great job Mike and good luck with the Blackbird in the future. Hugh |
| AUGUST 20, 2010 | WE'RE GETTING READY FOR A TRIP TO MONTANA AND CANADA |
|
This will probably be our last
report for a few weeks. We are heading for Bozeman, Montana on the
6th of September and from Bozeman we plan to fish and sightsee
northwards. We hope to make it all the way to Calgary, Alberta,
Canada and fish the Bow River. Other possible stops are the
Beaverhead and Flathead Rivers as we move toward GLACIER NATIONAL
PARK. You can still contact us at
865-712-0407 while we are on the road. Our sons will be at the house while we are away. Our
thanks to everyone who has supported us this season and we look
forward to being able to show lots of the things we encounter while
we are on vacation. Good fishing to you and we'll see you again in a
few weeks. Hugh and Carolyn |
| AUGUST 29, 2010 | GAIL AND BOB DOSSER ON THE SOUTH HOLSTON RIVER |
Gail and Bob drove to my house on
Sunday morning and we were off to the South Holston River by 8:45AM
for a 1/2 day of wade fishing and 1/2 day of float fishing. It had
just been a few days since I had seen some great fishing on that
river. I just knew that we would have a great day doing one type of
fishing or another. It was not to be. We struggled all morning
trying to get some action while wading. Our efforts only produced
one fish. We saw one or two other fish caught all morning by other
fishermen.
We began our float at about
2:00pm after talking with Jack Prater about the conditions and
asking if he could shuttle us. Jack told us that the fishing had
been very poor for the last 3-4 days. That was not a good sign. He
said the Sulfurs had not been coming off like they usually do. This
really gave us cause for low expectations. We began our trip down
the river and we saw Sulfurs hatching right away. At first there was
no feeding at all and farther down the river we began to see small
fish feeding right along the bank. I moved the boat into position
for them to
begin casting to these rising fish and they seemed to be placing
their flies into the feeding lanes. They cast to rising fish after
rising fish with the same refusals. We came to the end of the best
dry fly water and we switched to nymphs. The story was the same all
the way to our takeout point. We talked to several people on the way
downriver and except for a couple of occasions where guys were deep
nymph fishing we only saw a couple of fish on and all the other
people we talked to said they had not had a strike. It was about the
poorest two straight days of fishing that I have ever had. The
conditions seemed right , but the fish were not cooperating. We felt
like the phase of the moon may have been the problem. It also goes
to show that all trips with the best of intentions can not always
work out. |
| August 28, 2010 | Gail and Bob Dosser Fishing on the Holston River Below Cherokee |
|
Today, August 28th, I guided
Bob and Gail Dosser on the Holston River, below Cherokee Dam. We are
right at the last of the season for flyfishing on this river and I
was surprised the water was still pretty cool. It is not to the
danger point yet. Hugh |
| AUGUST 26, 2010 | MORE FISHING ON THE SOUTH HOLSTON WITH PHIL SNAPP |
|
Phil Snapp and I hit the South
Holston River again today in preparation for guided trips that are
taking place this weekend. The fishing was great but I forgot to
check to see if my camera was set in the anti shake mode. It was not
and I'll have to ask forgiveness for all the movement that should
not have been there. Phil did a great job today and when you see
him, give him a big hand. Hugh
|
| AUGUST 17, 2010 | FISHING THE SOUTH HOLSTON RIVER WITH PHIL SNAPP |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Phil
Snapp and I spent the first half of the day on the Watauga River. We
did not seem to have the results on that stream that we would
like to have had. We moved on over to the South Holston River after
lunch and TVA was sluicing about 600 CFS of water per hour. We
walked downstream about 1/4 of a mile and got in the river. Phil
went to one side and I fished the near bank. A few fish were feeding
and I was rigged with a Tan Wulff and a Rockhold Sulfur Emerger. I
began to get a few strikes and I was into some fish pretty quickly.
The strikes became a little more frequent and other fishermen began
to crowd around. In 20- 30 minutes Sulfurs began to hatch and the
fish were becoming more aggressive all the time. After an hour to an
hour and 1/2 I had caught so many fish that I lost count. I finally
got Phil to come back across the river and I handed him my flyrod.
The Sulfurs were coming off in waves and Phil started catching fish
on almost every cast. He had never seen such feeding and people were
gathering around on all sides to watch the show. I believe the
Rockhold Sulfur Emerger caught at least 50 fish by itself and the
Tan Wulff caught almost as many. We probably did not move 10- 15
feet in any direction to catch all of these fish. it was a sight to
behold. It was one of those days to remember and lots of other fish
were being caught as well by people above and below us. It was a
great great day on the river and I think Phil enjoyed it as much as
I did. Get in on this great fishing! Call us at 423-586- 6198 and enjoy the best dry fly fishing to be had in Tennessee. Hugh
|
| AUGUST 12, 2010 | DAN SCOTT AND RENEE McCOY |
|
Renee Mc Coy is from Cookeville,
Tennessee and she decided to give her friend Dan a nice birthday
present in the form of a guided trip to an East Tennessee Tailwater.
We made our way to the Holston River and worked on casting and
mending skills for awhile. Pretty soon they were off to the races
and Dan had his first fish on. It seems like the generation has
caused the Blackflies to become active again and the birds and the
fish were feeding on them. Dan managed to catch several fish during
the half day we were there and Renee even had a fish on for a
minute. It was fun and Renee even had some good business
transactions going on the river. I think Dan is taken with the bug
of flyfishing and I hope that he gets to spend more time on the
river. Hugh |
| AUGUST 11TH, 2010 | CORY GOESTZINGER IN THE GSMNP |
Cory is 10 years old and he is working on a merit Badge with the Cub Scouts. Taking a flyfishing trip and landing a fish was one of the things that he wanted to accomplish. We worked hard on casting and mending skills and he soon had his first fish. It was a small rainbow and soon after that he caught a few chubs. Water temperature and large crowds of people made for some tough fishing but Cory stayed right there until it was time to get back to meet Mom and then on to the next adventure. Cory is an Oklahoma Sooner but I think he loves East Tennessee. We hope he continues what he has learned on this day. Hugh |
| AUGUST 10, 2010 | CONNER FRAMPTON ON THE HOLSTON RIVER |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
|
Conner came from Nashville today
and we spent a very enjoyable , but extremely hot day on the Holston
River. You can see by his youth and his enthusiastic smile that he
was able to endure the heat better than me. As I was driving back
home after the trip, the thermometer said 95 degrees. Conner just
fished right on through it and seemed to enjoy every minute of the
day. He had already picked up a lot of good skills before we met and
with a little bit of coaching, he just got right to the business of
catching some nice trout. He was probably as well trained as anyone
as young as he is that I have met. We fished at the first location
until lunch time and then moved down river. This proved to be a much
better location than the first. It seemed like Conner was into fish
for most of the afternoon and he was really enjoying himself. A lot
of his fish were in the 14 inch range, and one or two might have
gone 15 inches. It was great to get to fish with him and he is
planning on fishing the Watauga River tomorrow. Good luck to him.
Hugh |
| AUGUST 7, 2010 | BEN AND BRAD SHURETT ON THE HOLSTON RIVER |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Ben and Brad Shurett hail from
Texas and Alabama. They are in the newspaper and restaurant
business. Brad gets to fish the Elk River some and Tim's Ford. It is
mostly warm water or salt water for Ben. They both wanted to try the
Holston River today. TVA has been running water all week and today
we had a window to give these fellows a try at the good fishing that
we have been experiencing all summer. It was not easy starting off
and we had to work at it to find what the fish wanted. It seemed
that the fish wanted to feed on top or very near it. We did manage
to catch some on dries and emergers. A small Caddis hatch took place
for a few minutes and they both had a lot of fun. We worked
diligently on casting and mending skills as well as proper timing
for hookset. It was a fun day with two great fellows. My thanks to
them for a lot of fun and their enthusiasm to learn all the things
that I tried to show them. I hope to fish with them again.
Hugh
|
| JULY 25, 2010 | TREMENDOUS SULFUR HATCH ON THE SOUTH HOLSTON RIVER--GOOD YELLOW DRAKE HATCH ON THE WATAUGA RIVER |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
As I have mentioned before, we
are at the time of the year when we switch the focus, or our main
emphasis from the Holston River, below Cherokee Dam to the South
Holston River and the Watauga River. The main hatches have come to
an end on the Holston River, but we are still seeing great Sulfur
hatches on the South Holston. Fishing is actually good on all 3
rivers, but the Sulfur hatch that keeps on taking place on the South
Holston is something to behold. Today, we started first on the
Watauga and we hooked some very nice fish. For some reason, I
managed to lose 8 fish and Carolyn lost several also. One of the
fish was a very nice one.
We moved over to the South Holston just as the "pulse" was taking place and the Sulfur hatch was in high gear. It is just amazing to see so many insects coming off and the river is simply alive with feeding fish. We stayed on the river until 6:30pm, and the bugs were still flying. It also seemed like about 90 percent of the fish that we caught were browns. If you would like to get in on some fantabulous dry fly fishing, just call 423-586-6198. The flies of the day were the Tan Wulff and the Rockhold Sulfur Emerger.
Hugh
|
| JULY 23, 2010 | THE HOLSTON RIVER IN MID SUMMER |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| I've been recovering from some minor surgery for the last 3 weeks and now I'm back on the river. Carolyn and I spent 1/2 day on the Holston River this morning and TVA had decided to run 400CFS instead of the regular 300 that they had originally posted last night. Carolyn started off with a dry fly and a dropper. I changed my setup to a large #14 BHPTN as my top fly and a #16 Flashback Pheasanttail Nymph as the dropper. Since so much water was coming down the river I felt that I needed to get my flies |
