Fishing Reports for Smoky Mountains and East Tennessee Tailwaters

For our second day on the water, we decided to try some tailwater fishing on the South Holston River. We arrived at the Weir Dam and there was only two cars there. Down the river we went and we were in the water real quickly. This water was a little bigger and somewhat puzzling to Stan and Ellen because of the very small flies that are required. They mastered their long distance casting real quickly and were doing some nice drifts. Ellen had a strike and turned the fish , but it was not a solid hookset. Stan had one or two takes but could not hold onto any of them. There were very few flies hatching off so we moved to a lower part of the river. In this section, Ellen seemed to be having the better day and had a strike or two but did not connect. In a few minutes after changing flies, she cast and a huge brown came up right in the vicinity of her flies. I yelled for her to jerk and she did but no connection was made. She cast back to the same spot and the fish rose again. He was at least a 25-28 in. fish and would have weighed at least 6lbs. She did not connect this time either. My heart was in my throat again and this was the last time that we saw the fish. We moved on upstream and she hooked a nice smaller brown.

I enjoyed my time on the water with this great couple and I hope they get to spend more time in East Tennessee.

Hugh

I spent the day in the Park with a very delightful couple today from the state of Maine. Stan and Ellen Wells have traveled extensively around the world and fished in places as far away as New Zealand. We were on Abrams Creek for 1/2 of the day and Little River for the other half. Just after we got started on Abrams, Stan hooked a nice rainbow that went about 11inches. We passed rods back and forth so that each one could get a chance at nymphing with a tandem rig setup, as well as fishing a dry and dropper on the more subtle stretches. By the time the day was over, Ellen had caught a few fish using the nymphing techniques. Stan also used it from time to time.

We had a great time together and tomorrow we will spend the day on the South Holston River to try some tailwater fishing.

Hugh

I got to spend the day on Abrams Creek with Michael Collum, and we worked for several hours to perfect his Nymphing skills. Michael caught numerous fish as the day went on and
when the middle of the afternoon rolled around he was prepared to fish Little River and take his best fish of the day. There were some great hatches taking place on Abrams, but the fish were still feeding on the bottom. We did move to Little River in the late afternoon where we finished the day at Metcalf Bottoms Picnic Area. This is where Michael too a nice 12 inch rainbow on his final cast. It was sure great to fish with him and watch his skills improve as the day went on. I hope to see him on the stream using those skills again real soon.

If you would like to take the Advanced Nymphing Class just contact us at:
flyfisherman1@charter.net beeboflyfishingguide@hotmail.com

Pam Davis, from Dexter, Michigan came down to spend a week in the Smokys and we got together for a day of fishing on Abrams Creek. It sure was an action filled day and we saw a little of everything while we spent the day on the stream. Pam has had a little training with a flyrod so when we started on Anthony Creek, she only needed a little bit of instruction to get things going. We began with a Stimulator and a Nymph dropper and after about 15 minutes, she had her first strike and then another on the dry fly. In a minute, she had her first fish on and then another, shortly after that. While she was catching fish in this spot we noticed several deer moving through and after getting back to the car we noticed that they were doing a prescribed burn in the fields leading up to the parking area at the Abrams Falls Trailhead. We did get some great pictures of the burning while we were taking a break for lunch. After taking a break, we moved down the main stream and started fishing back upstream where we have been catching fish for the last few days. Pam still had a Stimulator and an Abrams Creek Searcher Nymph on and she began to get strikes on the Stimulator right away. She was having just as much success as any of the men that I have guided this week and I was really proud of her. We kept moving up the stream and she continued to catch fish at almost every hole. We finally came to the hole that had produced a nice fish each day, and today was no different for Pam. She hooked a nice fish and was playing it up to her feet and I had my camera out making pictures. While we were in the midst of this picture taking, a real blood curdling scream from a child came from the high bank across the creek, in a spot where the trail climbs above the creek, and on the last few days I have been getting out and taking pictures from above, of the guys as they moved thru the area and caught nice fish. This scream was instantly followed by a louder scream of an adult woman. We both looked up, and a small child that looked to be about 5 years old had fallen off the side of the trail down the very steep bluff and was caught in a bush hanging upside down, with his Mother screaming her head off. This place was so steep that it was almost straight off into the water about 30-40 feet below. There was nothing but a few bushes and small trees to break his fall and this is where he hung, upside down! Apparently the Father, quickly bounded and slid down to the child and got hold of him to keep him from falling any farther. MY HEART WAS ALL THE WAY UP IN MY THROAT FOR A FEW SECONDS UNTIL THE father was able to get the child upright and on his feet. After the initial scare and getting the child stabilized, he was able to climb back to the trail with others helping to pull them up. This is the closest thing to a tragedy that I have seen in a long time. I said some of the quickest prayers that I've ever said and things seemed to come out okay. You can see in a picture that I took just how close to death this child was.
From this point on the water became swifter and I handed my rod over to Pam to fish a tandem rig nymph setup so that she could get some practice at doing this type of fishing. It wasn't but just a minute until she had a fish on. We got back to the car and moved over to the Middle Prong and she finished the day nymph fishing there. She caught her last fish in the last hole that we fished in, on the nymph setup.
Pam was great fun to be with and she could hold her own with most of the men that I have had the pleasure to fish with in the Park. I want to thank her for being such a great role model for young women in this sport.

If Carolyn or I can help with a guided trip, please contact us at:
flyfisherman1@charter.net beeboflyfishingguide@hotmail.com

Boy, it was a great pleasure again today to be on the stream with Don Hazel, from Fairfield Glades. Don wanted to do an Advanced Nymphing Class so we decided to go on farther down the trail at Abrams Creek. We rigged his rod with an Abrams Creek Searcher Nymph and a Smoky Mountain Blackbird Softhackle as a dropper. After getting in the creek between the first and second hills, we began to work back upstream. We worked pretty heavily on casting and mending techniques and I tried to emphasize the importance of high sticking since the water was running full from recent rains. In spite of all out attempts, we only caught a few small fish. We decided to move back closer to the confluence of Anthony and Mill Creeks and this seemed to be the ticket. Don started catching fish right away. He caught 4-5 fish out of the first good hole. I stood back out of the way and watched him put into practice all of the methods that I had instructed him to do earlier in the day. They seemed to all be coming together. As he moved up the stream, he was catching one fish after another. Most were on the small side, but occasionally, he would get a decent one. I climbed out of the creek again, as I did yesterday and got on the trail up over him. He started working a nice hole and the fish were cooperating. He caught one, then another. His third fish really was a beauty. When Don set the hook, the battle was on, and the fish went airborne. What an air show it put on. Lots of people were walking by on the trail and they stopped to see what was taking place. This gave me several opportunities to tell about the sport of flyfishing. I had a real difficult time in photographing the fish because of all the bushes between us. If you look close, you can see a beautiful 14 inch rainbow that is the best of the season, so far. Don continued to move upstream and I positioned myself at the point where he would cross the creek and get out. Many people came up and watched as he kept moving closer, and he was catching fish all the way. Everyone was wanting to see the action and know how to fish like that. What a great job he was doing!
After we left Abrams Creek, we moved to the Middle Prong and finished the day out with Don catching a couple more fish. What a great day it was, and my thanks to Don for providing a lot of fine fishing and really taking the class to such a great height.

If Carolyn or I can help with a guided trip or an Advanced Nymphing Class, just contact us at:
flyfisherman1@charter.net beeboflyfishingguide@hotmail.com

I met with Jim Kidd from Gainesville Ga. today at the Abrams Creek Trailhead and we set out to make him an accomplished Nymph Fisherman with the Advanced Nymphing Class. Jim's favorite home water is the Chatuge River on the state line. He's been catching some nice browns there. We started off by using a Stimulator dry fly and a Blackbird dropper in the main river below the confluence of Mill and Anthony Creeks. Nothing seemed to be feeding at the early hour so we started up Anthony Creek. He caught a few small fish in this stream and we decide to go back to Abrams and work this section with tandem rigged nymphs. In just a few minutes , Jim had a fish on. We worked farther up the main stream and he had another fish in just a short time. This fish turned out to be a nice one and I took shots from the trail. It was a little hard to get much of an open spot. Jim continued to move along and in a minute he got a good Abrams Creek dunking. I've been there so many times that I've lost count. I gave him a 10 on style and we moved on to the little bridge at the trailhead. He caught another just below it and we decided it was time to turn him loose on his own. We said our goodbyes and he started back down the trail to fish a stretch a little farther on down the creek. He had the techniques mastered about as quickly as anyone that I have had as a student and he was catching nice fish to show for his skills.

I want to thank him for allowing me to guide him and I look forward to seeing him again soon on the water.

If Carolyn or I can help with a guided trip or flies, just contact us at:
flyfisherman1@charter.net beeboflyfishingguide@hotmail.com

The flies that took fish were the Abrams Creek Searcher Nymph and the Smoky Mountain Blackbird Softhackle

AbramsCreekSearcherNymph.jpg (25370 bytes)

Smoky Mountain Blackbird Softhackle.jpg (49825 bytes)

I met Herman Becker on the South Holston River last year and we talked for awhile and I gave him a card to get back in touch with me when he decided to fish this year. He got back with me a few days ago and made arrangements to stay at Happy Hills resort that advertises on our website. We got together in a couple of days and made our way to the river. We knew that the National Weather Service had given high wind warnings and in just a short while it was really blowing hard. We stuck with it and really had a lot of wind knots to show for our efforts after about 4 hours. We ran to Webb's Store and had lunch (Chicken Quesadios) and then returned back to a lower section of the river. We began to see some rises and pretty soon both guys were catching fish. Herman caught fish on a Beadhead Nymph and an indicator and Bob was catching them on a Sulfur Compara Dun and a BWO dropper. We fished on until about 5:00PM and it was tough going with the wind blowing all day around 20-30 miles per hour. The guys were great sports and seemed to enjoy the day.
They were going to fish the next morning and then go back home. I wish them the best and I want to thank them for allowing me to guide them.

If Carolyn or I can help with a guided trip to a tailwater or a mountain stream, please contact us at:
flyfisherman1@charter.net beeboflyfishingguide@hotmail.com

This is the second year that I have met with, and guided Bill and Kellie. Our original plans were to fish Abrams Creek in the Park, but this got changed because of a scheduled burn along the Abrams Falls Trail. We changed our destination to the South Holston River and we met about the middle of the day. We got into our fishing gear and down the river we went from the Weir Dam. After choosing a place to get into the river we began to look for rises and worked from that point toward hooking a nice brown. The fish were not feeding real well and it wasn't too long until a scheduled pulse. I got Bill and Kellie out of the water for a few minutes to explain how the rising water usually caused the fish to really turn on. The pulse was a small, quick one and I had them back into the river as the water started down. The insects did not start hatching and the fish remained very selective. We continued until almost 5:00PM and decided to go get some lunch. We took it with us and moved to Big Springs Road. As soon as we got to the water in this section you could see fish rising everywhere. We gulped down our meal and got into the water right behind two other fishermen who were using spinning outfits. What a contrast to the upper part of the river! THE FISH WERE REALLY TURNING IT ON AND THEY WERE JUST SLASHING THE WATER IN ALL DIRECTIONS! Bill was amazed. In just a few minutes he had landed two browns and missed several other fish. The fish continued to feed but Bill got a tangle which caused both of us a lot of problems in trying to get it retied. He fished a little longer and was tired by then and needed to get on the road for the rest of the week in the Park.

Today as I was trying to download the pictures, I lost them again. I thought that I had the problem worked out, but they are gone. My apologies to Bill and Kellie.

If Carolyn or I can help with a trip, please contact us at:

flyfisherman1@charter.net beeboflyfishingguide@hotmail.com

I met with Barbara Hunter on Monday and I was very surprised to meet a lady who could handle a flyrod quite well. We went up the Little River Trail and worked with a dry fly and dropper for a while. She had pretty extensive training by her Father and knew how to cast and mend very well. She immediately started getting strikes on a Stimulator, but missed three before solidly hooking one. The first fish looked to be about 11-12 in. long. We fished farther on upstream getting strikes and missing most of them until the hikers and fishermen got so heavy that we decided to go eat lunch and find new waters. After lunch we changed our tactics to tandem rigged nymph fishing in the lower part of Little River. It did not take long to get Barbara into the swing of things and although she had trouble detecting strikes, she was catching fish. We fished this method for 3 hours and went back to the dry fly setup.

It turned out to be a great day with Barbara and her husband, Jack and I hope she gets to practice the techniques that I taught to her.

I want to apologize to BARBARA AND TO CAROLE FOR LOSING ALL THE PICTURES THAT I TOOK OF THE LAST TWO TRIPS. I have no idea of what happened to them but the all seemed to have been deleted.

I met with Carole and Ernie after scheduling a day trip for the Smokys. Carole is a teacher and chemist as is her husband Ernie. Ernie has pioneered some fine beauty products which is sold thru different Wholesale and retail companies. We worked first on casting and mending, and then moved to a spot upstream where we put the skills into practice. We had moved upstream about 300 yds. and Carolyn was working with Carole and I was downstream with Ernie. I heard both ladies scream that Carole had hooked a fish. I looked upstream where they were fishing and Carole was holding onto her rod for dear life. It was bent almost to the water and it was throbbing up and down with a monster fish that had caught the current and was moving on downstream like a freight train turned loose. It was over in just a minute and the fish was gone to places unknown. Both ladies said that the fish looked to be about 18-20in. long. She had hooked it on the SMBSH. Carole was disappointed for a few minutes but then she caught another smaller fish.

We changed Ernie's setup over to adouble nymph rig and he hooked one pretty fast, but lost it. This is the way that the day seemed to go. Hooked fish but not landing them. We had a great time with this fine couple and hope to see them again on the water.

If Carolyn or I can help with a guided trip, please contact us at:
flyfisherman1@charter.net beeboflyfishingguide@hotmail.com

Cindy McCandless got in touch with me a few weeks ago and said that she and Tom would like to come down to the Smokys and try their luck at fishing the mountain streams. We arranged a date to get together and met at Little River Outfitters at 8:30 on Saturday morning. Both anglers had some experience at flyfishing in the Northeast, and I did not have to give too many instructions. We spent the morning fishing lower sections of Little River with Cindy using the Blackbird and Tom using a dry fly. Tom hooked a couple of small fish and Cindy missed several strikes. The fish seemed to be locked down tight and we were not getting good solid takes from larger fish. We had lunch and then moved up higher on Little River. The prominent fly that we kept on seeing hatch off was a light tan or yellowish stonefly. There were a few BWOs and other minor flies but nothing was really coming off. It was a beautiful day, but a frontal system was moving into the area and we were sure that it was affecting the fish. We fished on upstream without seeing any rising fish. Tom caught a few small fish and Cindy finally hooked one large fish, but in just a minute, it was free. At about 3:30PM we decided to call it a day and we talked to several anglers who came by as we were leaving. All gave the same story. They had either caught none or just very small ones. Another beautiful day that had been interrupted by an approaching front. It was good to fish with this great couple and we worked hard on things that could help in future trips. They both loved the beauty of the Smoky Mountains and want to come back. I hope to see them again.

If Carolyn or I can help with a guided trip, please contact us at:
flyfisherman1@charter.net beeboflyfishingguide@hotmail.com

Tom Light has been meeting with a friend from Gray Tennessee for awhile and he recently found out about the fishing in the South Holston River which is not too far away. He got in touch with me via email and this turned into several conversations. This eventually led to our arranging a guided trip on the 28 of March. I picked Tom up at the Jameson Inn which is on I-26 and just happens to be right alongside my route to get to the South Holston River. We met at 8:30AM and found our way on to the river. Tom is in the Fire and Water cleanup business and teaches other individuals and companies to use his proven methods.

We made our way to the Big Springs Road area and got out and began checking out casting and mending techniques. It was just a few minutes until Tom had a fish on.

The water was very low from no rainfall and no generation and it had caused most of the insect hatches to stop. We saw a few rising fish, but nothing to brag about. We fished on until lunch time and too a few small fish and then went to dinner at Webb's Store. The turkey and dressing along with green beans and mashed potatoes was great.. Their food is always fabulous. We highly recommend them.

We left after eating Coconut Creme Pie for dessert, and moved to the Weir Dam. Everyone had left and one person was fishing at the Weir Grates and one person about 1/2 mile down river. We waded out and across the river and found some feeding fish. Tom missed several strikes and caught a few fish, thou none were more than 12in. We decided to move real far down river to hwy. 44 and there were more feeding fish in this area. Tom finished out the day by catching a few more and we decided to get him back to get ready to meet his friend for dinner. It was great getting to spend some time on the river with Tom. We're hoping to do a casting class sometime in the future.

If Carolyn or I can help with a guided trip or flies, please contact us at:
flyfisherman1@charter.net beeboflyfishingguide@hotmail.com

I met with Robert Lockwood today and we decided to try Abrams Creek again thinking the air temperatures might have changed things somewhat since I was there on the 21st. We found it to be almost the same way again today. The flies were hatching off everywhere but, Bob only caught one small brown and we left for dinner. We went to an area of Little River that I had caught some at the other day. The sun was out on the stream and insects were hatching. This looked good and there were some fish feeding as well. Bob missed a couple of strikes and then he had a nice rainbow on. He was using a nice little Sage 3wt, and he handled the fish beautifully. It was a nice 12in. fish. We got interrupted by tourist who wanted to watch, and take pictures, so we moved to another location. At this spot on the creek, he caught two more nice fish in the 11-and 12 in. range and it help to make for a great day. I was really proud of Bob, and I felt like he had worked hard for the fish that he caught. Three straight fish in the 11-12in. range, is not bad for a day in the Park. We fished for awhile longer and Bob was getting tired. We called it a day and made our way back home. It was a good day on the water and congratulations to Bob for some nice fishing.

Smoky Mountain Blackbird.jpg (82504 bytes)

If we can help with a guided trip or flies, please contact us at:

flyfisherman1@charter.net

I had fished a couple of times with Charles Terrell last year and this year, he had brought up a friend with him, and off to the South Holston, we went. Charles's friend Bob had not fly fished before and we worked on casting and mending techniques for awhile until he was comfortable with the flyrod. He caught two fish pretty quickly at the Weir Dam and then later, missed some on down river. The very tiny dark gray midge started hatching off and it gave us all a difficult time for awhile. We went to lunch and started back on a lower section of the river. Charles caught a few nice trout and Bob lost one or two in this section. We called it a day at 3:30PM and I got the guys back home in time for some other obligations they had scheduled. It was good fishing with an old friend and making a new one. I hope he takes up this beautiful sport.

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

flyfisherman1@charter.net beeboflyfishingguide@hotmail.com

I met with Dr. Bob Saylors and his son Robbie, on Wednesday morning. It was a beautiful morning and we headed over to Cades Cove for some early Spring action on Abrams Creek. The creek was in beautiful shape and flies were already hatching off as we walked down the trail. Everything seemed like it would turn out to be a great morning, but after working a few minutes with each of the guys, we found that no fish were feeding. I would have thought that with all the flies that were on the water that fish would have been tearing the water up?? That did not turn out to be the case. We fished dry flies and nymphs with droppers, but to no avail. We did not even see a fish.

We went for lunch in Townsend and them moved to the East Prong of Little River. Things proved to be the same on that river. We did not see a fish. We then moved to the Middle Prong and finally found some small shiners feeding and Robbie caught his first fish. It was not War Paint Shiners that we were looking for, but they did give Robbie some experience for his first trip out with a flyrod. Both of the guys tried extremely hard but , nothing was going to hit this day. A frontal system had apparently put everything down.

It was great fishing with Bob and his son, Robbie. I'm sure they both picked up some new techniques and experience while we were out on the stream. I hope we can get together again sometime.

Hugh

On March 18th, I followed Carolyn up with another 1/2 day of guidance with John, Virginia, Mary, and Stanford Hornsby. We worked again on their casting and mending skills and fished the rest of the afternoon. The weather front that had come thru had left a lot of snow on the top of the mountains and it had really dropped the water temperatures to levels that had put the fish in a state of non feeding. There were some very nice hatches taking place and it was amazing to see all the bug activity and no rising fish. The picture that I placed in the center of the page is made at the Glory Hole and there is a very nice hatch of Blue Quills taking place at that time. All of the family understood that the cold water was affecting the fish but they really worked hard at improving the casting and mending skills. It was a beautiful day, but very nippy and the water would make your feet numb in an hour or two.

I really enjoyed meeting this family and hope to see all of them again this Summer. These two parents have absolutely mastered the task of raising two children to be the most polite and well mannered young people that I have had the opportunity to meet. My hat is off to all of them. I would have liked to have had them close by to consult when my children were growing up.

If Carolyn or I can help with a guided trip, just contact us at:

flyfisherman1@charter.net beeboflyfishingguide@hotmail.com

Mr. and Mrs. John Hornsby and children, Stanford and Mary from Montgomery, Alabama visited the Smokies this week. They enjoy doing activities as a family and have already had some flyfishing experience. They love the Smoky Mountains and wanted to fish in the Park again as they have previously done. Stanford and Mary are learning the art of flyfishing at a young age. Their parents had seen to it that they were dressed in the latest flyfishing gear. The Hornsbys were eager to hit the water, even with the temperatures being low and water level being high.
     We found a stretch of water on the Middle Prong that was open and suitable for everyone to practice our casting and mending techniques. We worked on the techniques for about an hour. We had to be careful about where we fished, because of the water level being so high.
    We moved to the Y and found a great stretch of water to fish and practice our casting and began to move upstream on the Middle Prong. About midday there was a hatch of Quill Gordon's starting, and John changed to over a Quill Gordon dry. We continued to work upstream and finished out the day having learned several new techniques.
     This day of instruction will continue tomorrow afternoon as they take up a new class with Hugh. We are hoping for lower water level and higher temperatures. We all enjoyed the day, and I really appreciate the opportunity to have guided this great family.
     If Hugh and I can be of assistance with a guided trip or with flies, please contact us:
     flyfisherman1@charter.net
     beeboflyfishingguide@hotmail.com
Carolyn

Dr. John White from Tupelo, Mississippi, came to visit the Park at the very beginning of the
hatches to see if his first love (bamboo), would work up here. He has done a lot of fishing in the Ozarks and in the western states, but not too much in the Smokies. It was a beautiful day and the temperature was in the high 70s, but the insects were not hatching very much today. We first tried the East Prong of Little River to no avail and then we moved to the Middle Prong. We tried Quill Gordons, Blue Quills, BWOs and SmokyMountainBlackbird Softhackles. None of these flies worked and we went fishless for several hours. At somewhere around 2:30 we began to see some fish feeding and John worked his way up to the hole and began casting toward the rises. He missed several fish and wasn't sure just what they were feeding on. The flies were so small that I couldn't either. We finally put a Blackbird Deerhair Emerger on as a dropper and this produced some results. After several missed strikes and catching one small fish we moved back to the East Prong and finished the day out there. It was great fishing with John and learning about his love for bamboo. The weather should continue to warm and the hatches should get even heavier. If Carolyn or I can help with a guided trip, just contact us here.

flyfisherman1@charter.net beeboflyfishingguide@hotmail.com

Ernie Roberts and I finally found a day that we felt brave enough to try to battle the wind on a tailwater. We made the trip up to the South Holston River and got a pretty good start. We were catching some pretty nice rainbows for about an hour on Blackbird Deerhair Emergers and Grey Ostrich Buzzers. We fished for about an hour and Ernie hooked into a real nice brown. The fight was on and Ernie battled the fish for several minutes. While the battle was taking place, I began to take pictures of the whole thing. By the time Ernie had things in hand, I had worked my self up along side enough to take some nice closeups of the beautiful fish. We measured the fish at 19in. and then Ernie released it to it's home. We continued on for another hour and caught several more nice rainbows. The wind began to get pretty strong and we decided to call it a day. It was great to be back on the water and if Carolyn or I can help with a guided trip, please contact us at: flyfisherman1@charter.net beeboflyfishingguide@hotmail.com

Craig and Shawn met with me near the Weir Dam this morning on the South Holston River and the temperatures were pretty low. Probably around 12-15 degrees. They had never fished a tailwater before and it was a cold way to start this day. We each tied on different flies to see what was going to interest the fish. We had Blackbird Deerhair Emergers, Griffiths Gnats, and Sulfur ComPara Duns. We were at the spot we wanted to fish as the water started going down, so we worked our way out into the river slowly and began casting. Real quickly, Craig had his first fish on and then lost it. It had taken the Griffiths Gnat. In just a minute , Shawn had a fish as well. One of the guys had the new Pentax camera that takes underwater shots and we began to try that. As the water continued to drop, Sean was beginning to get ahead of us in total fish. He had 4-5 in just a few minutes.
I changed flies and walked back into the river to see if they might be interested in a BWO Emerger. It didn't take but one or two cast to find out that was what they had been looking for. I caught about 4 fish and then I handed my rod to Craig. He was into fish almost immediately. I was amazed to see how active the fish were in such cold weather. The guides were freezing up as fast as we could dip them into the river and thaw them out, but the fish were just tearing the water up.

We were beginning to get pretty cold by 1:00PM so we got out of the river and drove to Webbs Store on hwy 44 to have lunch. They had some fantastic spaghetti with homemade sauce and garlic bread to warm everyone up. In a few minutes we were back on the lower river which was just running down. We fished for a couple of more hours and then it was time for the guys to get back home to Concord , North Carolina. I had a great time with Craig and Shawn, and we all hope that you enjoy a break from the cold weather by looking at the pictures and reading this report. We will be adding more pictures of the trip as I receive them from Craig. I have added pictures of the flies that we used so you can see just what is effective. If Carolyn or I can help with a guided trip or with flies to use on the tailwaters during this colder part of the season, please contact us at:

CDC Sulfur ComPara Dun

CDC Softhackle Emerger

Grey Ostrich Buzzer

flyfisherman1@charter.net beeboflyfishingguide@hotmail.com

After some conversation on a message board and later more conversation via email, I decided to place a few new flies on my website and this brought an order from Craig Lancaster for a unique order of the Stimulator fly. It is very effective in it's own right in the GSMNP, but I have felt for sometime that it has many more uses all thru the season to imitate lots of different insects. What Craig and I decided on was to imitate flies that are seen every season on all trout streams in the Park starting with the Black Stonefly in early April. This is followed by the Brown Stonefly and then the Little Yellow Sally. Next we have the Green Inch Worm, the normal Yellow Stimulator, and following that is the Large Giant Golden Stonefly. As we get into the later part of the summer and early Fall, we see the October Caddis and the Yellow Jacket. I have tied Craig a selection of all these patterns to cover the full range of the season in the Stimulator style fly. I photographed them for you to see and Craig will probably let us know how they perform as the season goes by. You can also see the new Blackbird Klinkhammer and the Blue Streaker that he ordered as well. We will have these flies available this season if you might be interested.

If we can help with flies in any way, please contact us at: flyfisherman1@charter.net

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