If you ever wake up early and get all of your stuff ready to go fishing, but don’t know what to throw, go outside and look at your bumper, or as we like to call it, the hatch chart. It will tell you all you need to know (colors, sizes, etc.).

The park has been fishing great with several hatches coming off and fish rising to them. The main hatch is still the Yellow Sallies with a few Golden Stones and Cahills mixed in. If you see lots of bugs flying around and not much happening on top of the water use the Joe Grobarek philosophy, if all else fails throw the adams. Also don’t forget about the terrestrials. Most folks think that it has to be summer before you throw terrestrials, but if they are out crawling around I guarantee that the fish won’t refuse one hitting the water.

We have been spending most of our time lately on the lower rivers fishing for smallies. We’ve seen plenty of topwater action during the day, but streamers have put more fish in the boat. The spawn should be over with shortly and the bigger fish will be hungry and looking for anything that swims, crawls or floats.

Dave and Chris helping us break in our new Sage VXP rods.

Everyone has one of those stories where the big one got away, but I can verify Chris’. He stuck a pig and after a few second it came out of the water only to show us how big he was and to throw the fly right back at us. Chris if you are reading this, I feel for you. After a much needed break to clear his head we were back to fishing and it wasn’t long before they were doubled up and Chris had forgotten all about it.

Check out the size of that Redeye.

When we got to the end of the float they said that it would be cool to catch a few trout, so we rigged up the 5 wts, put on some nymphs and it within a few minutes they were both hooked up.

Dave with a nice Holston bow.

Chris stuck another pig, only this time it was a big bow and with one jump we saw the line curling back and watch it land in the boat . At that point we just laughed and decided to call it a day. These guys were great fisherman and even better company, but the best part about taking a father/son trip is listening to all the trash talk on the ride home.

Dale is from Nashville and has done a good bit of bass fishing and has done some fly fishing, but hasn’t done them both at the same time. It didn’t take ole Dale to long to put both together and start catching some fish. In fact I think it was like the 5th cast and he was hooked up.

Not a trophy, but he hit a popper like he was.

Fishing poppers takes a little time to learn and involves a lot of patience. In fact you really have to believe that what you are throwing is going to work. Sometimes the fish aren’t turned on and they are very selective, but they seem to always be enticed by a topwater fly if presented right. After a short lunch break we switched to streamers and Dale really started working the river. He caught several more and lost some nice ones, but it happens. We had a great day and Dale really seemed to catch on to fly fishing.

Tyler and I hit the river today in between storms for a little Smallmouth action. The water was close to 60 on the lower stretch and it had a little color to it which wasn’t too bad. The fish seemed to be active throughout the day and we had a lot of fish follow the fly all the way to the boat, but didn’t hook up with all of them.  I guess that’s why they call it fishing not catching. We did catch quite a few though, with one being really nice. We didn’t have any scales on us but I would say he would go about 4 pounds or so. The ramp at the bottom was a mud pit too, but the trustee old Frontier pulled it out with no problem. Needless to say, the boat needed a bath badly. If the water stays at normal level within the next few days and the temps continue to be warm, I’d say we will be in full Smallie swing.

As for the Clinch, it looks like it will be poor for a little while until they get the lake levels down. In the mean time, we will be in the park and if the weather allows, the Holston for some grade A Caddis hatches. Stay tuned for more info on the Clinch and other trips we take. If you would like to book a trip to catch some of these hard hitting fish, you can contact us by phone or email from our contact us page. Have a great day and don’t let the weather keep you down.

Tim Doyle and I had a trip in the park Thursday with a family of 5. The weather couldn’t have been better, and the bugs were everywhere. The fish weren’t shy when the fly drifted over them either. The family caught quite a few altogether, with a good mix of rainbows and browns. The folks got to see how fast a Smoky Mountain trout can eat a fly and spit it out, a traditional trait of our trout. We had enough takes though, so the fisherman got the hang of it after a while. Tim and Leslie were the folks I fished with and they were great people and really got fly fishing. I would have more pictures of the fish we caught including a 14 inch rainbow that Tim caught and a nice brown from Leslie, but I decided to take a dip and ruin my camera, but here are some that I managed to get earlier in the day.

I also took David, Mike and Jim to the South Holston for a float trip the very next day. We had planned on floating the Holston in Rutledge, TN, but it has been running high for the past 2 weeks and after the day that Hugh Hartsell and I had with BWO’s on Wednesday, I thought we would travel back to Bristol for the hatch. The weather channel was calling for 78 degrees and sunny, but we got about 60 degrees and cloudy with wind, so the fishing wasn’t great to start with. We needed the sun to come out for just a little bit to start the hatch off but it never showed itself. We still caught fish with dries and had strikes with beatis nymphs, but the bugs were not thick and the fish were picky. Jim was 85 and showed us all that because he was up in years doesn’t mean he forgot how to fish; he caught a whopper just down from the ramp. Jim just had it when it came to trout fishing. Mike was also a good fisherman and had a great cast. David, the son, is a student at UT and set all this up so his dad and grandpa could enjoy a day of fishing.

We’ve also been floating the lower Little River for smallmouth. I thought that with these really warm days the smallies would be active, but I think they need another week or so before it starts to get good. I have heard from other fisherman that they are catching a few but it’s not great. Sunday afternoon around 2:00pm we launched the raft and it was a beautiful day, and the water levels were perfect. The water temp was around 58 which is a good temp to be fishing for smallmouth, but their metabolism is still a little slow; however, that should change shortly. The full moon does affects how the fish feed at night and that will limit how much they feed during the day. We also just witnessed a super moon, which makes night seem like day. They will also be feeding on craw patterns and hellgramites right now, so I would spend more time fishing with them. Today was technically the first day of Spring, so we can’t say the fishing has been bad. One thing we can say, is that it is about to get awesome.

Thanks for reading with us and we hope you can get out and spend some time on the water, and if you don’t have much time, you can call us.

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.

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.