The Dog Dayz of summer have been in full swing and we are counting down the days on the calendar until October 1st.  OCTOBER 1st YOU ASK???? Oh yes, the day that the NC Wildlife Resource Commission stocks the Delayed Harvest Waters and enforces catch & release.  NEW FISH PLEASE !  Fish that have not seen every fly in our fly box including the size 24 midge you tied up the night before thinking “this is the one”. Fish that don’t turn around and look at you like you are stupid  for making a perfectly good drift over them 15 times on 7x tippet.  

Low water and 70 degree water temperatures have not made it  impossible to catch good numbers of fish this month but it has definitely filled the need for anglers to be ethical in selecting their targets so that we do not cause any casualties to the larger fish in the river. The amount of anglers confined to the Davidson River and a few other local streams have pretty much required the resuscitation of almost every trout over  16 inches. Come October more water will be available for public fishing and cooler water temperatures should finally spread everyone out and allow you to stay on top of that trophy fish you have been EYE ’ N. 

Check the Blue Lines if you want to lose the crowds.

Try the Tailwaters of Tennessee

Or chase Smallmouth on the fly

SEPTEMBER IS HERE!

Frustrated with the lazy trout in Western North Carolina, some friends and I decided to take a fishing trip up to Tennessee looking for some more activity. We made our way over to the South Holston River with gear, boats, and plenty of food to find a great weekend of dry fly fishing.

The generation schedule has been pretty compromising to both wade fisherman and floaters, which enabled us to capitalize on the amount of time spent on the water. Interestingly enough, we woke up to the sound of rising fish sipping various dry midges and black flies.

Day 1

As the first day progressed, the Sulfurs started to appear just in time for the water to greet us. LUNCH TIME! We headed down to see the boys at Webb’s Grill to gorge on the infamous lunch special…..ya you know it……SPAGHETTI with Garlic Bread! I ate so much I needed help getting back to the truck. Nonetheless, we dropped the boats and proceeded to anchor up on pods of rising brown trout, feeding on emerging sulphers and any dun that dared to land on the water. Most fish we boated were in the 12-14 pound range, but every fish was healthy and gave a 5 wt z-axis all it could handle.

Day 2

We spent the second day tracing our steps from the previous day. Rising fish being caught on black sprout midges and then switching over to the sulphers as the water began to rise. It was a nice change of pace casting dries on 10 & 12 foot leaders to rising fish instead of the usual tandem rig under a strike indicator.

If you are looking some great dry fly action, a float trip down the S. Holston River is where it’s at!

Go Early, Fish Hard… Stay Late!