Ashley and I hit the Holston today after church and had a nice day on the river. The sun was covered pretty much all day so the midges weren’t coming off like we had hoped but the fish would still eat a zebra midge with no problem. There were a lot of Black Flies in sizes 26 on the water the entire day and the fish were eating them so if you have patterns that small, throw them. We temped the water and it was 45 degrees, which is a few degrees cooler than the last time I was on the water. Ashley actually pickied up fish right off the bat with a zebra midge and we caught more all day long with them. Here is a shot of her first fish of the day, and the fish seemed to have a towing package because they put a good bend in the rod.

Later in the float, the sun came out and there were more gray midges coming off which brought the fish to the surface. They were selective though, we threw a lot of emergers and small dries and got rejected a lot. The fly that would work the best was a small adams in sizes 20-24 and fished them in riffles. If you can help getting too close with a longer cast than do it because they are spooky. We noticed some carp moving around in the backwaters, so we had to see if they would eat a fly. If the carp are moving around and the water is close to 50, maybe we could see some smallmouth action soon. Keep your fingers crossed. Here is a picture of my golden beauty, I love these fish, they fight harder than any other fresh water fish. If you can get past the lips they are actually a pretty fish.

Thanks for reading with us and hope to see you guys out on the water.

So yesterday my buddy/guide Tyler and I loaded up the drifter, only not for floating a river but for stalking flats in search for carp. These flats are really nice and hard to get to unless you have a boat that will float in 6 inches of water, plus the drift boat can slide in undetected. Usually these flats are really clear and seeing the fish isn’t that hard, but yesterday was a different story. They were very murky and seeing the fish from a good distance was out of the question, not to mention the wind was blowing hard. Most of the time when we got a glimpse of the fish we were already on top of them, which if you fly fish for Carp you know they are already spooked at that point.

Once we figured out where they liked to sit on the flat we would keep a good distance and focus on the area. This helped us to spot more fish instead of scanning the entire flat and missing them altogether. Tyler spotted the first couple of fish, but only got one to nibble on the fly and the fish didn’t fully take it. It was pretty tough but still fun. We switched positions after a while so Tyler got behind the oars and I got on deck. There was a bad storm moving in so we started to row back to the dock, as we were rowing back I kept throwing at the bank and stripping it back out and finally got one to eat. After I hooked the fish he pulled almost all of the line off my reel. After about a 5 minute fight with this bruiser he decided to throw the fly at the boat.

Carp fishing can be pretty slow sometimes so hooking up with one is always a treat. Spotting a fish, casting at it, then watching your line get tight, there is nothing that gets you heart beating faster than that. Oh except for the long runs and hard pulls. Fly fishing for carp is great when trout and bass fishing gets slow because they thrive in warm water and it gives you a opportunity to keep fishing. It also gives you the feeling of Bonefishing without having to go to the Keys or Bahamas. I love it and have a few clients who  do as well. Thanks for reading with us and we will be carping for a little while longer, at least until Fall gets here and the trout fishing is on again.

Sorry guys that we haven’t posted a fishing report in a while, but it has been busy and a little crazy for us. That’s not a bad thing though considering we have been fishing a lot. The fishing has been good everywhere lately and the weather has been great for the most part. We have been hiking into the backcountry for some Smoky’s trout and on the tailwaters with the boat for trout and smallmouth. We have even been doing a little carp fishing in between. Here are a few shots of the park and some of the fish  we caught while in the backcountry.

We have also been seeing some wild animals like deer and boar on the trail. I don’t mind to see the boar and bear as long as they stay their distance. I try to keep mine as well. The park is beautiful this time of year with all the colors and people have been taking advantage of it. This weekend was very busy and a lot of people were out fishing and hiking. I love to see everybody out enjoying Gods work, but I have noticed that people are not always cleaning up after themselves. Just remember to pack it out. The tailwaters have been fishing really good with healthy trout and nice smallmouth. Most the fish this year have been really healthy and have been very colorful. So far in 2010 the fishing has been exceptional and I hope that there won’t be anything that will change that. Every time the water starts to get low we get a row of showers that boosts it back to normal. Here are some pictures of  some trout and smallmouth from the holston.

Well I hope that you all get a chance to get out and do some fishing while the weather is nice because I think that we are going to have a hot summer ahead of us. Thanks for being with us and we hope you will join us on the water soon. Be safe out there and have fun. I just want to add that if you see an animal in the wild keep your distance and you can avoid trouble for both you and the animal. Later guys.