We were in the park everyday day last week with clients, and fishing ourselves and it was a good week for dry fly fishing. The Quill Gordons, BWO’s, Blue Quills, Red Quills and even Yellow Sallies, believe it or not, are coming off throughout the day. We have tried nymphs but the fish seem to want the adult more than anything. The sun usually has to come out for the bugs to get active, but when it does, have some dries ready. I would definitely have some adams in #16 – #12 and some Gordons in your box, that should get you by. With the water down and clear, I would also use a thin leader. Here are some photos of the fish we caught.

We also got to float yesterday afternoon and had a lot of fun. It was nice to have a day of warm weather and sun, the fish seemed to like it too. We caught all of our fish on nymphs so it shouldn’t be long until the tailwaters get just right. We saw fish sipping midges but couldn’t get them to eat any dries. It was nice to get the drifter wet and get Ashley out on the water, and as you can see she had a good day spotting, then catching fish. She isn’t too shabby with a fly rod. Oh yeah, and we got to see a family of Bald Eagles fishing in front of us. We hope that you can come join us on the water and experience some of this great fishing. Thanks for reading with us and have a blessed day.

We were back on the Holston river again today  and got to take out  two guys that are not strangers to trout. It was also the first time they both had ever been in a drift boat. The Lord blessed us with a beautiful day to be out and we were loving it after all the rainy days we have seen here lately. I have really been wanting to bring them out for a while, but  our schedules couldn’t  match up. We finally got together for a day on the river and started out with a good sign. Jeff holds his first trout from the Holston proudly.

Right after this fish we moved down and hooked into a bigger brown and enduring a long fight it was lost at the boat with the hook becoming a projectile. It hurts, but occasionally it happens and makes you appreciate the ones you do boat. Today Jeff wanted to learn a little more about the Fly Fishing world and wanted to improve his casting skills.

He was a natural and didn’t need much work and his skills showed when he hooked and landed his first trout on a fly rod. He actually landed two more later in the day when the fish started to rise more on the caddis and cahills. John was bringing up the rear of the boat with nice fish like this rainbow that came out of nowhere to eat his lure.

John also caught a few smallmouth through out the day, one of which was a pretty nice fish and the colors on it were gorgeous. There is something about catching two of my favorite fish in one river and they both inhabit the same holes that gets me excited. I don’t think that there is a better fighting fish than a river smallmouth. I really enjoyed fishing with Jeff and John and introducing them to some new water and different ways to catch fish. We also got a visit from a large adult bald eagle and an osprey on the water after lunch. These two guys are definitely outdoorsman and were a lot of fun to fish with. Jeff and John are big into deer hunting and also competition archery. They travel all over the country to hunt and have a lot of trophies under their belt. Below is the bigger smallie that John caught this afternoon right after catching that big rainbow.

I couldn’t think of a better way to spend the day than to be out on the water enjoying nature and catching fish. Thanks for being with us on our report and let us guide you on your next adventure.

Today we were back on the Holston and it was a beautiful day. The sun was shining and the fish were biting. We started about 9:00am and started seeing a few caddis coming off. The fish would eat the adults but it had to be force fed to them. They really liked the soft hackles and nymphs. There were a few other fisherman on the water and they all said they were catching a few as well. The fishing has been great everywhere lately. The caddis hatch is slowly fading out on the Holston though and I don’t see it lasting much longer. Don’t worry though the cahill’s are coming off and will continue for a little while.

Geoff”s first trip in a drift boat was a successful one and it started out with a nice rainbow. The fishing was really good for the first hour then slowed down for another hour. When it slowed down we threw some buggers and still caught fish. The hatch picked back up and was steady for the most part of the afternoon. The fish we caught today were healthy fat fish and some were pretty good size. After fishing for trout most of the day we decided to try out some smallmouth. We didn’t see a lot of the smallies so we went back to the trout. We came upon a pod of fish rising and stopped to throw some flies at them. We were surprised when Alex hooked up with this monster on a Dry. Then shortly after, Geoff was in the same situation.

All in all we were blessed with an incredible day of fishing, great weather and good times. Did I mention we ran into a full grown Bald Eagle. You don’t realize how big those birds are until they fly right over the top of you. Have a great day and we hope you can spend a day on the water with us.