I got back from fishing with Charlie and hooked the boat up for a afternoon float on the South Holston River. We put in the water about 2:30 and the Sulphurs were coming off good. We saw several fish rising to the duns on the surface. We caught several fish in the first section of river all under the water, and we could not sit down on any of the fish for long so that we would not run out of water or day light. So we keep moving down the river pitting a fish off here an there till we hit a flatter hole. Were we just slaughtered the trout. They were caughting one about ever other cast there for a while. Nothing big but lots of 12″ Rainbows. Then I saw one of the guys rods load up, and I know that he had a big fish on. He fought the fish for a few seconds and the hook pop out, but it was alot bigger then anything else we had hooked all day. We move on down it the hole still caughting one about ever cast. Jimmy was caughting them right out from in front of the boat it was unreal the numbers of fish. We would miss a fish and an got anyother hit on the same cast. It was great fishing. All in all the guys had to of caught 60 fish on that afternoon float.

 We had a great time fishing and they got to enjoy a great race on Saturday night.

If you would like to Float the S. Holston give us a call at 423-878-2822.

 Great fishing,

Matt Champion 

Champion Outfitters Guide Service

Charlie Kennedy and I fished both the South Holston and the Watauga River in East Tennessee on Aug. 22 & 23. Wednesday we fish all day on the South Holston we started in the morning fishing Beetles with a several takers but we missed most of the fish that took. We did manage to land two nice Brown trout before moving up to some faster moving water. When we got to the faster moving water there were Blue Winged Olives coming off and the fish were rising to them. So we switched over to a BWO Comparadun and start catch fish on almost ever cast. The fog was on the water till about 12pm and the Blue Wings keep coming off till the sun burned through the fog. We didnt catch any big fish, but we missed a couple of really nice Browns. Charlie caught 25-30 Browns ranging for 8-12″ it was a blast. When the hatch was over we decised to go up and float on high water.

On high water the Sulphurs poured off and fish were taking them. We caught several nice Browns on Sulphur Dries, and a couple on nymphs. It was a great day on the water.

 The next day I meet Charlie over on the Watauga River for a morning of fly fishing. We started out an the fishing was kind of tough so we headed up to a long running section of river. When we got in the running water we started catching little wild Rainbows. They were not big but they fought hard. The biggest Rainbow we caught out of the running water was about 12″ we even caught one Brook Trout about 11″. When we got to the top of the run we got into a flatter pool so we decide to throw a Beetle to see if we could not finish out the Watauga River Slam. On the first cast we caught a Brook Trout. Then we work our way on our and Charlie caught the biggest fish of the morning a nice 14″ Rainbow that just sipped in that Beetle. We worked on up and casted to some trout rising along the banks. Charlie missed a couple and made some great cast to the fish an we caught a couple nice little Browns off the bank before calling it a day. At the end of the day I guest Charlie caught somewhere in the range of 30 fish that morning. It was a great day on the water.

If you would like a Guided Trip give us a call at 423-878-2822.

 Tight Lines,

Matt Champion 

Champion Outfitters Guide Service.

I got to actually go fishing this morning. There was fog on the water till 9:30  So waited that out. Fished down low on the river today. Started with a Beetle; no luck.  Fished a nice bank, but don’t think the big fish were in the low water . Didn’t even spook any. So as soon as fish started eating midges, I put on a sulphur dry and a Loop Wing Midge- size 22. This is a little jewel I made a few years back. Has been a good one off and on on this and the Watauga Rivers. it is a simple tie: TMC 2488 hook- Olive Brown Wapsi stretch tubing for body- Silver 1/16 Tungston Bead- and a crystal flash Loop wing behind the bead. I always zap-a-gap the thread before wrapping the tubing. Makes it darn near un breakable.

Drooped the midge some 3′ below the dry and moved on to water 4-5 ‘ deep. That was the ticket.

The first fish was a Silver rainbow and hot as a fire cracker. The next was a 16″ brown that burned the drag on the Lamson reel. Honestly , those fish down low on the South Holston are pure terror. Nothing bigger than 16″ on my 2 hour  get-a-way, but a blast.

I sure needed that break from the shop–

Take care,

RodC

The race kept people off the river yesterday. Those who came were rewarded well. The Big Fish were moving. Everyone who came by was seeing them. Any many of them  caught them.

” Red” caught a ” 100 fish” Several close to the 20″ range. Can you say Black fly and Sulphur dry. Paul slayed em’ too. John Barker and his group that we guided caught fish well on black flies. Beleive John said 20 something.. We appreciate your business, John.  And then there is ” Malcohlm Robertson”. What are we going to do with him. He went Big Fish fishing only. Even during the sulphur hatch[ which was from 10:00- 12:00] he threw  his ” Big Fish’ Fly. I am sworn to silence on this secret weapon of his. There are tales of Malcolm being ” drug” up stream by several of the big browns. That might be a slight stretch… But he did his thing., big time.

Matt’s afternoon float with Sam was a good one. Sulphurs came off well with the water running.  And fish rose to dries. Nice man, good afternoon fishing.

Thanks Sam..

So next year guys and gals; brave the race traffic, it might be worth it.. it was yesterday.

Tight Lines,

Rod C

I meet Joe Rusin in Spruce Pine, NC on Saturday for a day of Smallmouth Bass fishing in Western North Carolina. After meeting up me and Joe headed down to fish the Toe River. Man is the water low and clear. That made the fishing a little tuff with the bright Blue Bird skies. So we had to go down for the fish and Joe caught several nice Smallies bumping the bottom. We could not get any of the nicer fish to come up on top, but we could get them to eat on the bottom. We caught a good number of bass and could of caught more except Joe wouldnt set the hook on the little Smallmouths that took the fly. So we stopped for Lunch and headed to anyother spot. The water was slow running and we had several hit just including one Spotted Bass. We just didnt get any of them to hand except for one big Redeye bass.  After that we packed up and move to an area that had alot of shade and the water was cooler. We down thru a couple of hole before calling it a day. Once we got in the shade the fish turned on some Joe landed 4 or 5 Smallies and 4 Redeyes, and I hooked a couple behind him on a Clouser fished to the bank. Just a great way to end the day.

 Good fishing and Great company.

 Tight Lines,

Matt Champion 

Champion Outfitters Guide Service.

Quent and I hit the South Holston River in East Tennessee Friday of a day of wade fishing. We started up hit with a few fish but the fishing was pretty slow so we headed up to the grates to let Quent take a shot at the Blackfly hatch. When we got there the trout were rising so we put on a size 24 Blackfly Dry, and Quent missed the first few that took before he got the hang of it. He caught 4 or 5 nice Brown Trout dries before we decide to head down stream. We headed down stream to get ahead of the water, and started site fishing to big Browns with a beetle. We caught several nice Browns in the 12″ range and miss several more before working our way up stream were we spotted a few nice Browns sitting on the bottom. Quent made several cast before getting one to take it was a nice 17″ Brown Trout. Then we worked our way on up stream and saw a Big Brown feeding so we tossed the beetle at him. It landed about six feet short of him, but he turn swam six or seven feet and took the beetle. Man that was a pretty site to see that fish swam that far to take the beetle. But he shook the fly loss and swam off.

 It was a great day on the water.

If you would like a guided trip on the S. Holston give us a call at 423-878-2822

 Matt Champion 

Champion Outfitters Guide Service.

Beetle Fishing has been good all summer long. But really heated up last week. A friend , Blake, caught and released a 26 1/4″ Brown last Wednesday. This was done on low water.

I have been fishing a size 10, TMC 100 hook ,  and doing real well. Nothing in Blake’s territory , but plenty of quality brown’s. The hook up is much better on that size for me.

Don’t think the banks are the only place trout will eat a beetle. If they rise, don’t hesitate to toss it them out in open water. You will be pleasantly surprised. Matt had a client last week catch an 18″ brown , low water, middle of the day, in slow moving , bright sunshine filled water. They caught numerous 13- 15″ Browns that evening on the beetle.

Don’t worry about seeing the Beetle. Just watch for a rise, sip or smack. And don’t do as I do. When a big wake travels several yards to eat your beetle, don’t take it out of thier mouth. Sometimes it is best to let them turn their heads down before lifting your rod. And that is literally all you need to do- lift your rod.

So go toss a Beetle and be patient…

Tight Lines,

Rod Champion

423-878-2822

Friday afternoon me and Jason floated the South Holston River on High water. We just floated a short section of water, but we caught alot of trout. We put in about 5:30pm and they were cutting the water off at 8:00 so we didnt have to long to fish. We boated about 30 fish  in that short period of time. Most of the trout that we caught were Rainbows with some nice Browns mixed in. We didnt caught a Brown untill the sun got off the water and then that was all we caught.  We boated about 15 Brown Trout out of one hole after the sun got off the water and the fog started to roll in. We took off the water as it was starting to drop.

 Just a great day on the water.

 Tight lines,

Matt Champion 

Champion Outfitters Guide Service.

Josh and I went Tuesday an floated for Smallies on the North Fork of the Holston River. This is a great Smallmouth Bass river that runs out of Virgina into East Tennessee around Kingsport, TN. The North Fork is full of Smallmouth Bass.

The water was low but the fishing was very good. I am not sure how many fish we ended up getting to hand, but it was a lot. It seemed like about everyother cast we either had a hit or had one on. We didnt catch any big fish, but tons of fish. We saw alot of good size Smallies and some big fish along the way. With the water so low you could see the big fish but they could also see you. It also made it hard to get the bigger bass when the smaller ones would run over an take your bait before it got to them.

 The North Fork of Holston River is a beatiful river that is full of Smallmouth Bass, Redeyes and Bream. Along with tons of baitfish. We saw lots of fish chasing minnows and several schools of Smallies busting schools of baitfish. There is lots of grass growing in the river right now and the grass is full of minnows. You would see minnow jumping everywhere when you would throw a popper around the patches of grass.

 It was hot but it was a great day on the water.

 Good fishing,

Matt Champion 

Champion Outfitters Guide Service.

Yesterday afternoon Richard, and Ann Mills from Asheville,N.C and I fished the South Holston River in East Tennessee. Richard was wanting to learn how to fish this tailrace, and Ann  wanted to learn how to flyfish. So we left the shop about 12:30 to fish the afternoon Sulphur hatch. We fished the upper section of the river and there were some Sulphurs coming off when we got to the water. I started helping Ann with her casting and she missed several fish on a CDC Comparadun while Richard fished down below us. Richard caught a couple of before the water came up on us along with missing a good many others. Ann managed to get one to hand and missed several other fish including breaking one off.

 After the water came up we ran down stream to get in front of the water. Ann missed a fish right off the get go and moved down stream to the head of a hole. Ann missed several out of the head of the hole while Richard fished down below us. Richard missed several right below us then moved down stream. While working his way across the river. I looked down and saw his rod doubled over. As I worked my way to him I kneforw that he had a nice fish. We landed the nice 17″ Rainbow Trout and started working our way up stream. Richard missed a couple more out before catching another nice 12″ Rainbow on a Rubber legged Prince Nymph. After that we decide to call it a day. It was a great day on the water.

 Good Fishing,

Matt Champion

Champion Outfitters Guide Service

Low and behold, the Sulphurs were strong yesterday. People really caught fish on Comparaduns- 16- 18 and Split case nymphs in size 16-18. They are really pouncing on this floating nymph.

Sulphurs are coming off up high on the river. And Black flies are coming off as strong as can be up high , also- Sizes 20-24.

Rod

Sulphurs sporatic but fish were looking up. They ate a Sulphur 16 Comparadun like a hatch was on. Lots of 12-14″ browns; beautiful and fiesty. This river is absolutely full of wild browns.

Black flies have poured off this week in the upper part of the river. Size 24 dry flies- black comparduns, and zebra midges of different varaitions have really worked. As have Ginny midges and Jujubee midges.

The last 10 days, a lot of  big fish 20+” fish have been caught by fly guys.

TVA has backed off it’s generation schedule some and are giving a lot of wade time. As the water is going down, fishing has been superb , on into dark. Sulpurs, BWO’s and midges have flat worked.

Tight lines.

Rod Champion