Frank, Bob, Joe and Bob all came up from the Columbia area of South Carolina for a day of fishing on the South Holston River. All of these guys were experted fly fisherman and all they wanted was for me to show them different spots of on the river and different pattern to catch the South Holston Trout on.

With TVA running water in the morning we headed downstream to fish the morning. I started Frank and Bob out in some flat water with Dry and Dropper rigs. While Bob and Joe fished the running water. Frank got on fish right away, but was having problems keeping the fish hooked on the little Midge dropper. I went down to see how Bob and Frank was doing in the running water. Bob had caught a Rainbow and Joe had missed one or two. Joe was a small stream fisherman and he move around a little to much for these big rivers. So I worked with Bob alittle bit and he hooked an landed a nice 18″ Brown that jumped twice. It was a beautiful fish. The water hit us about 11:30am so we broke for lunch. After lunch we headed upstream to fish a section right after the water had dropped. I put Bob and Frank in the flat water again and they both started hooking fish right off the bat. So I left them to see how Joe and Bob was doing. Bob had switched over to a Dry and dropper and was caught fish out of the running water. Joe had caught one on nymphs fished in the faster water. So I switched Joe over to a Dry and Dropper and he had a few hits right away. I saw a good many fish rising above us so we moved up and the fish would hit but we just couldnt get a hook in one. By the time the dry would move the fish were gone. Then the fish just turned off. So we moved to another section of the river. Bob hooked up pretty quick and landed a nice 21 3/4″ Brown Trout and then he caught another the same size. Frank hooked up and landed a nice 14″ Brown. Joe get into the action and hooked a really big Brown but the hook popped out. It started getting dark on us so we called it a day.

 It was a great day we caught fish and I had a great time fishing with the guys. I really enjoyed fishing with all of the guys.

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

Happy New Year,

Matt Champion 

Champion Outfitters Guide Service

Ron and Josh Liljedahl from Hendersville, NC meet up with me at the shop for a day of wade fishing on the S. Holston. After getting wader up at the shop we headed down to the river. The weather had changed from the days before and it put the fish down. We started out up high on the river and Josh caught a couple of nice Browns before we decided to break for lunch. After lunch we went downstream looking for a BWO hatch. We got to the water and there was a few fish rising but not many. So I put Josh on a dry and dropper while Ron fish nymphs in the runs. Ron hooked into one fish on the nymph rig. While Josh started getting a good many hits on the midge dropper. I switched Ron over to a Dry and Dropper rig and he caught a couple right away. Then the fish just turned off. So we decided to move upstream to see if we couldnt find some feeding fish. We found a few fish feeding and Ron caught a nice 20″ Brown Trout out of a run. While Josh caught several nice 14-16″ Browns but he never could land a big fish. He did manage to hook into to Big Brown that day, but both popped loss.

With the front that move in on us the fishing was a little slow, but we did manage to catch a few fish an have a great time.

It was a great day on the water and I had a great time fishing with both Ron and Josh.

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

Hope all had a good Christmas . Seems a shame that people wear themselves out during such a time. 

Matt has several guide reports to give us, but I will give a ” normal “size fish report. All his fish are abnormal… abnormally large… Fishing has been tough lately;  the last 4 or 5 days. But at least this evening midges and black flies were on. Thanks to Al Hines of Boone, we got a great black fly larva sampling. One fish was full of them .. from size 32 or smaller to size 22. And  the fish was packed with them. The two I pumped had midge pupae- size 22 in them. I layed a size 22 stripper right up against them, and it was a match. Beautiful little thing, dark brown with goldish segements. My fish were caught on a stripper with NO weight. Then up late several fish ate a size 24 Phase 11 BWO emerger. This fly looks like a crippled spinner to me . It is a very effective pattern. I trimmed the trailing shuck to almost nothing.

I have gone back to the book ‘Midge Magic” to try to get a handle on these midges. This book is DYNAMITE. It shows real midges and Don Holbrook’s  patterns that match them. The beauty of his fly pictures are that they show the patterns wet, set right up against the real midge. Then the materials used are given. Don Holbrook gives us 25 years of studying midges . I am goiung to study the hound out of this book. His black fly larva patterns look exactly  like the ones Al Hines brought in this evening. I am going to tie some tonight and try them tomorrow .

We have a few copies of the Midge Magic book. It cost $29 and is worth a million $. If you want one, give us a buzz at 423-878-2822.

Tight lines,

Rod Champion

Will Massey from Tega Cay, SC and Lewis Efird from Gastonia, NC met me here at the shop for a half day wade trip on the S. Holston River. We hit the water about 1:30pm and Lewis hooked into a big Brown Trout right away. After a good hard fight, I was finally able to get my hand on the 27″ bruser. Then Will hooked into a good fish and we got him to hand it was a fat 23″ Brown.

After both guys caught several smaller fish; when I say smaller fish I mean 12-14″ fish. Louis hooked into another really nice Brown , 21″. We took a couple of pictures of him then he was back in the water. Will hooked into a couple more big Browns right before dark. One popped loose and the other broke him off. Lewis landed one other really nice Brown about 22″ that we didnt even take a picture of.

 Here are the guys after a great day of fishing.

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

Good Fishing,

Matt Champion

Champion Outfitters Guide Service

A friend of mine Kevin Lowe from Kingsport, TN and I (Matt) took off of a afternoon of Trout fishing on the South Holston River in East Tennessee. We caught alot of big fish this afternoon here are some pictures from this evenings outing.

Kevin’s Big Brown

Here is one that I caught a Big 27″ Brown

 We did not even take pictures of all the fish that we caught. We several more in the 20″ and over range.

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

Good Fishing,

Matt Champion

Champion Outfitters Guide Service

George and Tommy Xanders from Cincinnati, OH wanted to fish the South Holston River on there way back home from school. George goes  to UNC and Tommy goes to UGA. They met me here at the shop for a half day wade trip. The weather was winter time weather cold; wind blowing about 20-30mph and it was snowing. We hit the river about 11am and  were into fish right way. Tommy’s biggest was about a 10″ trout. He topped that on his first fish.

Then he definently topped that fish on his next fish, a big fat 21″ Brown Trout.

Then George got into the action with a nice Brown Trout.

George  then hooked into a Big Brown that took down in the Backing a couple of time before we got her to hand. She was a Big Fat 24″ fish that had a lot of weight to it.

The guys were wanting to see some other parts of the river being their first time here. So we packed up and moved down river to try another spot. When we got there George started fishing the back of a run while Tommy headed to the top of the run. Tommy got into a pod of fish in the head of a the run. He caught three out of it, lost two others, and missed a couple. George didnt have as much luck he missed a couple and hooked into one or two others.

Here is a picture of a nice Brown and Rainbow that Tommy caught. The other fish was a 16″ Brown but we didnt take a picture of it.

Here the Rainbow

 If you would like to get in on this action while its hot give us a call at 423-878-2822.

Tight Lines,

Matt Champion 

Champion Outfitters Guide Service

I ran down to the river for a hour or so of fishing before dark. An of course by the time I close up shop the rain had started so I got the fish in the pouring rain, but I did manage to hook and land on really nice Brown Trout. He measured 23″, and put up one heck of a fight.

If you would like a chance at catching one of these Browns give us a Call at 423-878-2822 

Enjoy,

Matt Champion 

Champion Outfitters Guide Service

Here is a picture of a Big Brown Trout that Gary Tolbert from Statesville, NC caught yesterday evening while fishing on the South Holston River.

Congratulations Gary,

Rod and Matt

Well I got to get out of the shop and go fishing on my own yesterday. So I went to try and catch a big fish. I caught plenty of little fish, but never could land any of the big fish that I hooked up on. I did have one really big Brown Trout on that I got right to the shore and Jeff tried to help me net it, but it too off downstream between him an the bank. An he was gone with both of my flies. I managed to hook into a couple more big Browns, but just could not keep any of them hooked up, thats fishing. I did manage to land one nice Brown about 19″ right at dark. Man the Browns are beautiful right now, and they are fired up.

If you would like a chance at a Big Brown trout give us a call at 423-878-2822.

Tight Lines,

Matt Champion

Champion Outfitters Guide Service

Here is a picture of one I caught last night.

Fished Tuesday… the weather was very warm, and the fish were not as hungry. Caught a good many on the Little Black stripper. But I came to scud fish and that I did. The stomach pumps revealed size 16 Sow Bugs . Of course, I had not tied any size 16 grey sow bugs , so I fished the 20 and 22 olive scuds I had tied. Fish ate them and ate them well. You could catch 4 or 5 ourt of each little trough. Had been wanting to fish a no weight scud over shallow grass beds. It worked on a size 20 scud. My experience Tuesday was when they want a scud, they knock it hard. Really blast it. And they would grab it and hold it as they ran back to cover.

Fishng slowed to  a crawl by 2:30 ….

Most of my fish were in the 12-13″ range. Nothing big, but nothing tiny… good stuff.

Take Care,

Rod Champion

Bill Bolinger meet me here at the shop for a day of wade fishing on the South Holston River in East Tennessee. Bill was wanting to catch a Big Brown over 21″, his personal best. So we set out in the morning looking for nothing but Big Browns. We started out up high on the river and fished over some really big Browns all morning long. We did hook into one really nice Brown, but he popped loose. We also missed a couple. At about 1pm we decided to head down to Webb’s Store for a hot meal. After lunch we headed downstream to another section of river again looking for big fish. We spotted on Really Big Brown, but he was not instead in eating anything. Late in the Afternoone we decided to head back upstream to see if we could not get into one of the Browns we had fished over that morning, but the fish just were not wanting to eat anything Monday. So with the Sun gone and it getting dark we called it a day. Bill caught alot of fish, but we were not able to land one of the Big Browns that we were looking for. Thats just fishing.

It was a great day on the water and a pleasure fishing with Bill.

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

Tight Lines,

Matt Champion

Champion Outfitters Guide Service

Since this is my first report I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Dave Creger (a lot of folks on the river know me by the tag on my truck which reads “Flyfan”) and I’m working with Matt and Rod building their marketing program. If you’re on their email list then you’re getting the weekly newsletter I’m doing for them. (BTW- If you like the newsletter let Rod and Matt know and if you don’t shoot me a post and tell me about it!)

I was on the SoHo this past Friday and caught the two Brown’s shown here, and Matt suggested I share the pics with you. The larger fish measured right at 24 inches and the other pic (which Matt took) is of a Brown of about 18 inches or so. If you fish the SoHo regularly you already know what a great trout river it is. If you don’t…what are you waiting for?

Jim Ray met me at the shop for day two of his fishing trip. It was very cool Tuesday Morning so we didn’t start until 9:30am. Also TVA generated until 9:00 so we had to wait for the water to drop back down. We started out with a Sulphur Dry with a Midge Dropper an we had hits right away. Jim caught a couple of little Browns and then he caught a nice Rainbow. He also missed a couple on the Sulphur Dry. Then about 10:30 – 11:00am the Black Flies started coming off, and fish started rising everywhere to them. Then the wind started again and the fish stopped rising so we decided to go eat lunch.

After Lunch we headed to another section of river. When we got to the water I saw a couple of fish rising, but not enough to put on a dry fly. I put Jim on a tandem rig with a nymph and a Midge. Jim started hooking into fish right away including one hot 14-16″ Rainbow that jump about 4-5 times before throwing the fly. We could see a good number of Blue Winged Olive and Sulphurs floating on the water. An the fish were really feeding on them in the little run above us. Jim caught several fish in this section of water including rolling a really nice Rainbow. When the sun dropped below the mountain the fish stopped rising, and the fishing really slowed so we decided to hit another piece of water that would have some sun on it.

 We got to the next section of water and I rigged Jim up with a tandem nymph rig. I put on a nymph and a egg to fish up thru a section of good running water. As we were working our way up stream we spotted a pod of good fish sitting in a run. Jim worked the run over good and hooked into a really big Brown Trout. It is hard to tell exactly how big that fish was but I guessed that it was 26-27″ fish. The fish took us into the backing three times and after a long fight an a lot of walking down stream she broke us off in the grass. Man that was a heck of a fight. That fish was hot! We worked our way back up stream and Jim caught several more fish out of the run including a nice 14″ Brown. Then he hooked into another really nice Brown Trout. We fought the fish and got him to hand. It was a really nice 20″ Male Brown Trout. The fish this time of year are in spawning colors. Man what a gorgeous fish. As we worked on up thru the section of running water it was getting dark on us. Jim managed to hook into a couple more fish including on big fish that we never saw just felt for a second. It was a great two days on the water with Jim, and we had  good fishing. I really enjoyed fishing with Jim and he hooked into a number of Big Browns in his two days on the South Holston.

If you would like a to try and catch one of the Big South Holston Brown Trout,this is the time to do it. They are out moving around.

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

Tight Lines,

Matt Champion

Champion Outfitters Guide Service

I fished Tuesday from 12:00 til 3:30.  The weather was very cool- mid 40’s and overcast.  A dandy winter day to fish. Caught the water on the way down and fish were on. Wind was too bad to any dry fly fishing . So used a dry and dropper. The fish really ate the Little Black stripper. Caught several very nice fish. One brown was 18″ s or so.

The stomach pumps showed many, many scuds. From a size 14 sow bug to size 20 orange scuds. Some were olive but grey was the predominant color. Sample also had midges that looked like the little stripper.

Fishing is very good now. And guys are catching Big Browns as well. If you want a shot at the Big boys , give us a call. We will put you in the Bruisers. Matt knows where they are .

Tight Lines,

Rod C 

Jim Ray from Richmond, VA meet me here at the shop for a day of Wade fishing on the South Holston River in East Tennessee. Jim and I headed down to the river at about 9:30am and it was a cold morning. We started out with a dry and dropper with several fish taking the midge dropper. The wind was our biggest problem the wind was blowing hard up the river which made cast tough. We did mange to caught a few fish before lunch. We headed down to Webb’s Store to get a warm bit to eat. After lunch we headed back up the river to try and find a place out of the wind. We did fish a little break from the wind and the Blue Winged Olives were on the water. There was some fish taking them, but all the fish took the midge dropper. When the sun went behind the clouds for good the fish stopped hitting so we fished some nymph rigs in some faster running water. We managed to caught one nice Rainbow before moving spots. So we head to our next spot and the wind had died down some for the evening. I fixed Jim up with a nymph rig and he broke off a really big Brown in a run. Then he landed the best fish of the day a 15″ Brown that really colored up.

It was tough weather condictions Monday, but we had a great day on the water. We also saw a lot of big Browns moving around and Jim hooked into a couple of them.

For a Guided Trip give us a call at 423-878-2822.

Tight Lines,

Matt Champion

Champion Outfitters Guide Service

November 28, 2007

  Mike & Don from the Knoxville area headed to our shop on the South Holston River for a day of fishing. Mike reserved a guide tripwith us for his pal Don, as a birthday gift. Happy Birthday Don! After a stop at the shop for some supplies we headed to the river. Once in the river we went over a few tailwater tips as both these guys are smaller stream mountain fisherman. After about 30 minutes getting more comfortable with the larger water and conditions both guys were getting strikes and only a few minutes after that Mike was hooked up with his first fish of the day! A beutiful 13″ South Holston Rainbow!  Followed  soon after by Don hooking into his first tailwater fish a colorfull wild brown! We stuck with dry dropper riggs all day. This also new as these guys dont fish a nymph much. After some friendly ribbing from one pal to the other about going to the dark side( nymph fishing) several more fish were hooked with 10 or so coming to hand. After a brief break and talk of  the amazing amount of rising fish and the smaller flies used on the tailwaters as compaired to mountain stream fishing we headed for the truck to change location for a couple more hours of fishing.

                      After a short hike into our evening spot and only a few steps in the water Mike was on fish missing several and landing 3 in only a few minutes. We worked over quite a few runs and both guys managed to bring several fish to hand. As the evening sun set and the temps dropped fishing got a little tough, we still managed a few to hand. With the last fish of the day coming on the last cast by Don with a sulpher  DRY!! A fiesty little rainbow to cap off a great day !!

                                                                                                      THANKS GUYS!!!!!

                                                                                                                      Guide,  Kevin Lowe

Champion Outfitters Guide Service

I meet up with Bill Thomas from Charlotte, NC for a half day wade trip on the South Holston River. Bill meet me at the shop at about 11:30am and we head down to the river. Bill has a bad knee so we didnt walk to far down stream before getting in the water. Before we even got our feet wet we hooked up on a nice Brown. We worked our way out in the river fishing a Sulphur Dry with a Little Stripper as a dropper. Bill hooked up on a few nice Browns and Rainbows. We just could not get any of the Hugh Browns swiming around us to take any of our fly. At about 2:30pm Bill knee was hurting him so we called it a day.

It was a great day on the water with Bill and I had a great time fishing with him. It was also great to see all the Big Browns moving around.

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

Tight Lines,

Matt Champion

Champion Outfitters Guide Service

I meet Jeff Meyers at Wal-Mart in Elizabethton, TN for a day of wade fishing on the Watauga River. They were running water in the morning on the Watauga so we fished until the water came up and headed over to the South Holston River.

The fishing on the Watauga was slow it was a cold morning and the fish just didnt want the hit much with the cloud cover hanging over us. Jeff missed a really nice Rainbow before the water came up, and that is when we decided to head over the Holston.

We started down low on the S. Holston and Jeff hooked into a nice Rainbow that popped loss. I spotted some big fish sitting in a hole, but we could not get them to eat anything. After lunch we headed up stream were Jeff caught and landed his first fish on a fly rod. At the end of the day Jeff landed four nice Brown and his casting had improved alot. Not a bad day for the first time ever fishing with a fly rod.

For a Guided Trip give us a call at 423-878-2822

Thanks,

Matt Champion 

Champion Outfitters Guide Service.

Matt was right… seems like he always is.  He said black bead version of the Little stripper was the way to go when the sun is not on the water.  He definetly was right.

I got to fish from 2:00 til dark. Fished down lower on the river. The Big Browns are up high on the river, and many have come to fish them. So I went low.  Big Browns mean 10+ lb. bruisers. Please, please watch out for the beds, if you come. Anyway , back to my trip. It was overcast and 50 degrees. Perfect weather to be on the river. I saw few bugs, a couple of Sulphurs . There were a few rising fish. There are always some midge and black fly sippers in this long, slow pool.  For some reason, I seem to be pulled to these kind of pools. Don’t know if it is the less competition or I just plain like “tough fish”.  And slow , slick water means that. And around the grass beds where the water was real low,  tough existed yesterday. Torpedoes leaving their wakes was the case . I wondered then , and do now, if a Beetle quietly dropped in them  would not have made those wakes come eat.

Anyway , in the 3 feet deep water , over the grass beds and between them , fish ate Blake’s Stripper. But not with wild abandon.  You know, pick a fish up here and there. All these fish were 12″ and better. A good mixture of Browns and Rainbows.  The real fun began, when I listened to my son.  The “Little Black Stripper” was the key. Nice Browns began to eat it. Boy, was it fun. The back of the pool had a little current, not much, but a little. And the 14-16″ browns were sitting there just waiting on this midge pupae imitation. These were fat, wide browns .. gorgeous fish. The width of them really caught my eye. These fish have eaten well, very well. And because of their location, not many people disturb them. So they sit and eat all day. And their size shows it.

I tie a size 16 – white cdc winged Sulphur Comparadun with a biot body for my strike indicator. It floats well because of the biot body; is very visable; and is very sensitive to takes.  Another good thing about it is that it cast so well.  I would highly suggest this kind of fly for your dry , dropper rig. Don’t tie it for beauty. Tie it for the above reasons. And you will still catch some fish on it. If it is yellow here, some fish will always eat it.

So, if you don’t want to just pound bedding fish all day.  Then just go fishing. There are plenty of quality fish everywhere.

Oh yea, remember Matt’s advice.

Tight Lines,

Rod Champion

423-878-2822