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I met up with Steve and Bob from Atlanta for a day of fishing on the South Holston River. They we’re wanting to learn the techniques necessary to catch fish on South Holston. Due to an afternoon generation schedule with water from 1-7, we had to move down river to get well ahead of the water to get our day in. In the morning the fish we’re held up deep in the runs. We caught a dozen both browns and rainbows before we broke for lunch. The split case nymph had again proved itself to be the top dog of the nymph bite. A split case nymph underneath of a FBPT is a great combination. We headed up to Webb’s Store to take part in the afternoon buffet. Then went back further down river to see if we could find an afternoon hatch. We found good numbers of rising fish downriver that we’re taking sulphur emergers.

CDC Biot Comparaduns was the best productive dry with a yellow glass bead soft hackle we found up at the shop below it about 3 feet.
At the end of a good drift down stream, We let the soft hackle emerger swing up to the top, it seemed to drive the fish nuts. We caught good numbers of fish on the dry and the SH. We had a great day on the water despite the unfavorable generation schedule conditions. If you’re considering a trip up to the South Holston and want to see what the “fly” in fly fishing means then head on up this way.

Guide,
Josh McFadden

Allen and Doug meet up with me here at the shop, and we headed to the river. After arrived at the river and the fishing was a little slow to being with. Then things started warming up. Allen we getting into some fish, and Doug got into the action. Then before lunch Allen hooked into a really Big Rainbow in a run. It made a run then jumped and throw the hook back at us. I would say that it was a Rainbow about 20″. After a good lunch we tried a different section of river. We started out with nymphs and Doug got into fish. Doug hooked into a fish, and I know it was a nice fish right away. After a good fight we landed the 18″ Rainbow. We contiued to caught fish during the afternoon. Then things slowed down. So we headed to another section of river. The pulse hit us and it was the full water so we called it a day.

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

Tight Lines,

Matt Champion 

South Holston River Fly Shop

I met up with Giff and Michael today to float the watauga. The weather could not have been better. And just a short drift from the put in both these guys were landing fish. We fished several differant ways today catching fish on every rig.Michael’s first fish was a beutiful brookie about 14″. We anchored up in a good run and began to fish it with nymphs and both guys picked up a few fish. Giff hooked into a very strong brown that never even let us see it for the first 5 minutes. After several drag screaming runs down stream we got this very strong, awesome 18″ or so brown in the net. After the good fight with the brown we got into rising fish and both guys were catching nice fish on the dry. We continued to catch fish on dry and droppers the rest of the way down river. Both guys stayed after it and landed fish right up to the truck. Hard to ask for a better group of guys. Good times and alot of good fish.      

GUIDE,

Kevin Lowe

David Donn meet up with me here at fly shop. David is from Greensboro, NC. We headed down the river, and we started fishing. When we got to the water there was not much going on so we rigged up a nymph rig. After working with David on his mending he started getting hits. Then he hooked into a really nice Brown that give us a heck on a fight. After a good battle we landed the 18″ Brown. After a quick picture we watched her swam away. We worked why upstream we were picking up some fish. Then David decided to have a snack so he told me to fish. I made several cast then I got a hit. I hooked into a nice 22″ Brown trout. Man that fish gave me one heck of a fight. We got the fish to hand, and after a quick picture we let the fish go. We contiued to catch fish on the nymph rig then we started seeing some Sulphurs coming off and fish rising. So we switched over to a Sulphur Comparadun, and started catching fish. David was hooking into some really nice fish on the dry. Some we landed others broke us off, but we were having great dry fly fishing. There was a thick hatch of Sulphurs coming off, and fish were willing to take them. It was such a good hatch that we never even stopped for lunch. The Sulphur hatch lasted for a little over three hours, and the fish were feeding on them the whole time. We the hatch died down we decide to call it a day.

Man was a great day on the water two Big Browns and lots of fish over 12″.

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

Tight Lines,

Matt Champion

South Holston River Fly Shop

Alan & Wendy from Florida came by to spend a day of their vacation with us, on the Watauga river. Even with rain in the forcast we had a great day with with  just a few sprinkles and a little of a cool breeze. Alan had fly fished before and Wendy was new to fly fishing, she wanted to learn some and brought a book if she decided she did nt like it! The book never came out, she kept a fly rod in her hand for over 8 hours! Both missed a few strikes right off the bat then Alan was hooked up just minutes into the float. After a little work on Wendy’s casting she began to get the hang of it well, both took turns landing fish all down the river. After lunch we ran into some other boats but still continued to hook fish in every run. One spot yielded 3 beutiful brookies over 14″. Alan had landed a bunch of fish and broke a nice fish off that we never got to see, but was really looking to keep a big one on.  And then( like it does quite often) it happened! A soft voice from the back of the boat ” I think I got one!” One glance back and all I seen was a nine foot rod doubled over, a quick look to the water and flashes of a monster rainbow fighting in the current. After a tough fight a rainbow well over 20″ broke of only a few feet from the net. A husband and a guides heart broken and she was thrilled to have just hooked and got to see a nice fish if only for a moment. Fishing continued to be great all down the river and with over 30 fish coming to the net we called it a day. Thank you two I had a good time.

If you would like a guided trip give us a call    

GUIDE,

Kevin Lowe

Met up with Larry Newman for an eve. fishing trip on the South Holston River. We got suited up and headed out to find some hatches. Larry had some fly fishing experience but had never fished the holston. Once we got on the water , Larry was hooked up quickly with his first holston rainbow. That set the standard for the rest of the day. The weather was cool and overcast with thick fog. None of this bothered us and Larry stayed after it hooking and landing fish often. Toward the end of the day we got a good sulpher hatch and began hooking fish on the dry. We never had to move out of our first hole. Larry worked the water over very well and caught fish pretty constant. We even went in halfs on a nice rainbow that took the dry as I was handing him the rod! It was a good trip and Larry enjoyed how strong  Holston fish can be!

Guide, 

Kevin Lowe

I met up with Bob and Hank from Florida up at the shop. They came up with a larger group of guys for a few days of fishing in East Tennessee with their TU Chapter.  We drove over to the Watauga to put in. It was a bit chilly in the morning but by 10am you could just tell it was going to be a great day to be out on the water. We picked up a several fish on the upper section of the float on nymph rigs and small streamer patterns. There was a decent number of sulphurs
and small caddis to come off in the morning, however the fish weren’t really keyed in on them. Right before lunch it was as if someone flicked a switch on and the fish we’re ready for to eat. We continuned to catch good numbers of fish on down through the quality section on dries and nymphs. We caught a couple brookies in the 12-14 inch range. Good numbers of wild rainbows. The first picture below is of “Hank’s Rock Fish”. He thought that he had gotten hung on the bottom, so he handed the rod over to me.
I roll cast towards the would-be-snag and it moves. I said, “Hank that’s a fish and it’s a good one.” So I hand the rod back to Hank.  We we’re able to get it into the boat even though we started out trying to remove a
a snag on bottom. Minutes later Bob was able to one-up Hank’s Fish with a nice rainbow of his own he caught on the dry. We had a superb day out on the water. I couldn’t ask for a better day or better company.

Guide,
Josh McFadden
South Holston River Fly Shop

Sulphurs have been coming off well the last couple of weeks.  They still are not consistent enough to be sure you  are going to get a hatch in a certain place each day. But if you make the right guess, you will have good dry fly fishing. 

I have been getting out most evenings, if TVA’s schedule allows. You will find a Sulphur spinner fall every evening .  Last Saturday- May 24 , as the water was falling. By 7:30 p.m. , there were still big Sulphurs on the water when the sulphur orange bugs begin their journey back to the water. Excellent, excellent dry fly fishing.

Then Monday , up higher on the river, the big sulphurs were all in the air as dark came. So their plunge back down to lay eggs was after dark. Each day has a new journey.

 Before the spinner fall ,I also got tofish that Monday afternoon. Got to the water around 2:00 . Sulphurs were on the water in good numbers. It took the fish a while to begin eating emergers, then dun time came. You had to put it on their head. But when you did, they ate it.  Trout definetly wanted the sulphur orange- size 18 that day. And that definetly was the bug on the water.

I do know sulphurs are on the water with the generators running.

Tight Lines,

RodC 

Micheal and Joe Snapper from Michgain meet up with me here at the shop for a day of wade fishing on the South Holston River. We had some rain on Wednesday and we still had the cloud cover hanging around. We started out in the morning, and the fishing was pretty slow. The fish were not really eating, and there was not bugs coming off at all. We didnt managed a few fish at our first spot, but nothing to write home about. So we changed spots, and we got into some fish on nymphs. Both Micheal and Joe were catching fish, and our luck had changed for the day. When the fishing slowed we headed up to Webb’s Store to grab a bit to eat, and warm up. After lunch we hit another section of the river, and Micheal popped a nice 18″ Brown out of the first run. Then the Sulphurs started popping off. As soon as the Sulphurs started the fish started rising. We spotted a nice fish rising on the edge of a run, and Joe throw a Sulphur Comparadun to it. After about the tenth cast he got it in the right spot, and the fish rose to the fly. After a long battle we got the 20″ Brown to hand.

Then we spot alot of fish rising downstream so me and Joe move down to fish to them. While Micheal fished a soft hackle throw the run hooking into several fish including one very nice fish that popped loss. I switched Micheal over to a Sulphur Comparadun and he started hooking up right away. We keep see a really nice fish rising over in some slower water, but we could not get him to take. Finally Micheal got a good draft over the fish, and he took the dry. Micheal fought the fish very well, and we got him to hand a Big 22″ Brown trout. Joe came up to take some pictures of us with the fish, and then moved back downstream to continue catching fish.

It was a great day on the water. Man it is nice to back in good Sulphur hatches with big fish rising to them. It is always great to catch fish on dries, but to catch two fish 20″ or bigger is just awesome.

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

Good Fishing,

Matt Champion 

South Holston River Fly Shop

Ed and Mitchell meet up with me here at the shop, and we headed over to float the Watauga River. After getting everything together we started down the river. Mitchell was the first to hook up. He caught a Brook trout before we ever left the boat ramp. We headed down the river, and both guys were hooking up on fish pretty constantly on nymphs. About half way down the river we stopped for lunch. While we were eating we watch a hatch of several different bugs coming off. There were Sulphurs, Lt. Cahills, Caddis and Stoneflies all coming out of one run. After lunch the fishing slowed down a little. Then Ed hooked into a really nice Rainbow that took us down to the next run before we got it to hand. It was a big fat 16″ Rainbow. We worked our way down through some pretty runs, but was not getting many takers. Till we hit a nice flat. Then both guys were into fish regularly. We were catching some nice sized Brook trout of the flat so going 13″. After caughting twenty of so fish out of the flat we floated on down. Were Mitchell got into some really nice Rainbows on top out of one run. Ed got into the action with a couple of nice Rainbows on nymphs. Things had slowed down some at the end of the day, and we fined up fishing on run hard with nymph were Mitchell hooked into a Big Rainbow that looked like it was about 18″, but it popped loss. Then Ed and Mitchell ended the day fishing to some rising fish in a long flat pull.

It was a great day on the water, and we caught several really nice Rainbows and Brooks.

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

Good Fishing,

Matt Champion

South Holston River Fly Shop

Len Hamilton meet up with me Tuesday afternoon for a half day float on the South Holston River. We got wadered up and headed to the river. We put in the boat, and there was not many bug coming off so we started with nymphs. We missed several fish on the nymphs and land one really nice 14″ Rainbow that put up a heck of a fight. As we floated downstream the pulse started coming through, but it was more then a pulse. The water really started rising and it got really dirty. So we switch from the nymphs to streamers. We were able to get several fish to go after the streamers, but didnt get any to hand. As the water started dropping we spotted a big Brown rising so we achored the boat to fish to him. After several cast and switching flies Len was hooked up. Man what a great fish that fish put up. We got the big 24″ Brown to the net, and after a quick picture we put him back in the water. Len said that was the biggest Brown he had ever caught, and to caught it on a dry fly what a great caught. As we worked our way to the truck we spotted another big Brown sitting out. Len told me to fish to it. The Brown came up and took the dry on the first cast. After a good fight we netted the 18″ Brown, and we called it a day. What a great day on the water.

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

Good Fishing,

Matt Champion

South Holston River Fly Shop

Gene from Mooresville came over to fish the holston for a day. After suiting up we headed down river. The water was beautiful and on only about the third cast Gene was hooked up. A nice very fat brown to hand first thing, a good way to start the day. We moved up river some and began to fish, the sun was bright and the fishing got a little tough. But Gene stayed after it catching fish pretty constant. We fished dry dropper all day. At one point we hooked into a good fish that ran under a large rock after a brief fight and a good drenching trying to flush out the fish it broke off! We went further up river to finish out the day and caught several fish on the dry. There were just enough sulphers coming off to keep the trout looking up! The sulphers are just gonna explode any day!!  A good day on the water with a good amount of fish caught on the dry and nymph.GUIDE,

Kevin Lowe

South Holston Fly Shop

I met up with Jim Kramer from Greensboro, NC here at the shop, and we headed down to the river. We started out down the river and the water was a little dirty and the fish just didnt seem to out much. We were able to caught two nice Browns on nymphs out of the first hole, but there just wasnt much going on. So we moved down to some running water, but could not do much on nymphs in the runs. We changed up flies and Jim hooked into a Big Rainbow a few cast later. After a good long fight we got the fish to hand. Man it was a nice 21″ Rainbow. We only got a few more hits after that fish so we broke for lunch. After lunch we went looking for some Sulphurs. We got to the river and there were some Sulphurs coming off, and there were a few fish rising to them. We were able to catch a good many of them on a Split Case nymph. We moved downstream, and ran out of Sulphurs so we moved upstream to see if we could fine some more Sulphurs. When we got upstream there were nymph cases all over the water, but we didnt see many Sulphurs on the water. As we fished upstream we found fish sitting. We got a few hits on the Split Case, but not like we had been so I switched over to a Midge dropper. As soon as I switched to the Midge the fish started eating it. We worked our way on upstream the we had a big Brown come up and hit the Sulphur Dry. After a good fight we got the Big 20″ Brown to hand.

I had a great time fishing with Jim and hope to do it again. We had a great day on the water with Jim catching two big fish a Brown and Rainbow.

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

Tight Lines,

Matt Champion 

South Holston River Fly Shop

I met up with the Wolff brothers, Tom and Dave in Elizabethton for a day of floating the watauga river. The morning started off very cool and the weather would change multiple times thru out the day from warm and sunny to rainy and  cooler. With a mass of boats putting in we opted to set back and fish behind the traffic! First spot as I began to rig up Dave hooked up on about the third cast” Fish On!!” A very nice rainbow around 15″ . After a tough fight in the current the fish got of right at the boat. 2 cast later Dave hooked up again. Once all rigged up we began to work our way down river! Both guys had hits in about ever run we fished. We had boated several fish when we came up on our first boat, this other boat was in a run we all wanted to fish but with a brief rain shower on us we went around to the next run and anchored up. Glad we did!After a few cast and a few tweeks to our nymph riggs Tom hooked into a monster bow!! After a fish played near perfect we netted an awesome 17+ inch rainbow! We set still, both guys had several more hook ups and we landed over 10 fish in this spot with most all the fish in the 14 inch class!  Gonna be hard to beat this run, but we were gonna try! On down river we stopped in the upper part of the trophy section and again Tom hooked and landed a very colored up rainbow around 17″! After a brief shore lunch we fished on thru , catching fish all the way down river. Just before time to go home we chased a few rising fish with a dry. A little friendly brother to brother competition of who could get the best drift ensued. With a fish on the dry coming to the net in the end! We boated alot of fish, alot of which were quality fish. All this fishing behind a convoy of other boats! GREAT JOB GUYS!!! I had a blast

If you would like info on a guided trip give us a call .                                                                    

South Holston River Fly Shop Guide,

                                                                                                                                                                                       Kevin Lowe

I met up with Chuck and Harry at the shop to enjoy a half day trip on the SOHO! Chuck and Harry were both fairly new to the sport and wanted to better their casting, presintation and maybe catch a few trout in the process. We started out way up stream and went to work. After about 45 minutes both guys were casting alot better and had missed a few strikes already.  We fished double nymph rigs and even some small dries. Later we eased on down river and found a nice black fly hatch so after a small pulse we went to it. Both guys hooked up quick. Harry also scored his first ever trout on the fly rod! For the next couple hours both guys we fished the hatch both guys landing several and missing several more. Thats gonna happen using a #24 dry! They were even doubled up a time or two. Just before time to leave Harry hooked into a good fish that went screaming down stream and never looked back! POP went the tippet. All in all a good day on the water with a couple really nice guys. I enjoyed it.

GUIDE ,

Kevin Lowe

South Holston River Fly Shop

I met up with Rusty, Tyler and Tommy on
Saturday morning and we hit the river. The weather had changed from the day before and the fish were out Saturday. We hit the water and we could see some fish rising. So we started out with some dries and droppers. Tyler caught several fish right away on a Split Case nymph. Then Rusty got into some fish on a Split Case. While Tommy was getting fish on a Midge Dropper. You could see fish feeding on the bottom and there were a few fish rising to Midges. The fish were feeding on Midges and Black Fly lavra on the bottom. We broke for lunch and after a good lunch we tried a different section of river looking for some Sulphurs. We got to the river and the fish were really feeding on nymphs. We were into fish as soon as we stepped in the water. All three guys were catching fish, and then a few Sulphurs started popping off. Then the fish really started feeding. Around 5:30pm the guys were getting a little tired so we called it a day.

Man I had a great time fishing with Rusty, Tyler and Tommy.

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

Tight Lines,

Matt Champion

South Holston River Fly Shop

Rusty, Tyler and Tommy came up from Columbia, SC to fish with me on Friday and Saturday. We meet up at the shop around 10pm and headed to the river. After a getting wadered up we hit the river. We fished our first spot hard, but didnt get into many fish. It just seemed like the fish were down. We had a front push through and the fish just were not out. So we stopped for lunch and decided to move to another section of the river. We moved upstream and let Tyler watch the water come up at the Weir dams. Then we drove up to let Tyler see the dam and see the view from the top of the dam. After that we headed fishing. We did get into several nice little Rainbows, but the fishing was not nearly as good as it has been. After very one had got several fish to hand we moved back downstream to work some running water. We fished into the evening, and Rusty hooked one big Brown trout. That busted him off.

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

Tight Lines,

Matt Champion

South Holston River Fly Shop 

I met up with Charlie, James, and Tom for their second day of fishing on the South Holston Rvier on Thursday May 01. Gosh these guys could not have picked a better day weather wise for fishing. We suited up at the fly shop and headed down river for some fast water nymph fishing. We picked up quite a few nice fish down there on Split Case Nymphs and Gilled PT Nymphs. The guys definatly learned how important mending is while fishing. I set charlie up in a run with fish stacked up in it. I don’t think he moved from that very spot for an hour and a half he was hooking up on almost every other cast on nice browns. We caught good numbers of browns and rainbows downt there before we broke for lunch at 1:30. We proceded to move down river to try and find some sulphurs after lunch. All the guys picked up several on dry dropper and nymph rigs. We just caught the tail end of the down river hatch. Charlie hooked up with one of the fattest well fed browns I think I’ve ever seen on this river. This fish was just gorging himself on the “buffet of nymphs” that is the South Holston River.  We moved up to an upper section of the river to finish out the day. For about 2 hrs. It was Sulphur Duns, Sulphur Spinners, and Black Flies all being eaten simultaneously. It was a “skate & die” afternoon. A sulphur/blackfly rig was deadly. If a bug moved, skittered, or skated it was toast. I saw one good size brown that we fished to and caught that took 3 different sulphurs on the surface in about 3 seconds. Just Bap, Bam, Splash. We finished out our trip down there and the guys were still fishing when I had to leave. I suspect they continued to catch fish till dark:30.  A guide simply can’t ask for a better group of guys on a better river. It’s just not going to happen.

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

Guide,

Josh McFadden

South Holston River Fly Shop

Sam and Nancy Todd came to fish we me on the South Holston. Sam and Nancy wanted to learn how to fish the river. They also wanted me to help them out with their casting. So headed to the river to work on some casting. After working on their casting for a while we got into some fish. Sam caught one really nice 15″ Rainbow before lunch. We broke for lunch and after lunch we went down the river in search on a Sulphur hatch. We found a few Sulphurs coming off, and Sam was able to caught or hook into a good many on a dry and dropper. Nancy really got her casting down and was able to get into several fish. She also missed several fish. She did have one really nice Brown on, but it popped loss at her feet. The hatch died out, and we called it a day around 6pm.

I had a great time fishing with Sam and Nancy.

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

Good Fishing,

Matt Champion 

James, Charlie and Tom came to fish the S. Holston River with us on Wednesday and Thursday. We meet up at the shop and headed to the river. Tom had not been flyfishing for long so I spent a good bit of time working with him on his casting. While James and Charlies fished around us. After Tom got the casting down good we really went after the fish hard. We had a good morning but the fishing was a little slow. After lunch we got into a little Sulphur hatch. The fish were rising to the Sulphurs and everybody was into fish. James got up in a run and hooked a big Brown that jumped and throw the hook. Then fished back through the run with a dry and dropper and everytime I looked up he had a fish on. Tom was into fish, and was able to caught fish on dries also. Charlie was downstream on us popping fish regular on a Sulphur dry. When the hatch died down and the fish stopped rising we head to fish another area. We didnt get into anymore Sulphurs, but Tom got into a hole the was full of trout. He caught 5 or 6 trout out of the hole before we called it a day.

I had a great time fishing with James and Charlie again and enjoyed fishing with Tom for the first time.

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

Tight Lines,

Matt Champion

South Holston River Fly Shop

Very appropriate ! The month has brought Sulphurs.. maybe not to the extent we would like to see them. But enough to make fish eat Sulphur dries. That has been the case this past week.. that is except yesterday- Friday that is. Every other day, fish were eating wide open. If they weren’t sipping duns , they would attack a spit case nymph.

I am a very lucky man. God has blessed me . To be able to close the shop at 5:00 and fish a Sulphur hatch till dark is truly a gift . And the fight of a 14″ wild trout this week has been something. Tons of 12-16″ fish sipped the comparaduns and shook with all their  mite.  I am not one that has to catch 18″+ fish to be happy. They are icing on the cake, but they aren’t the cake for me.  Now some have caught some truly big fish this week on split cases and the likes. One guy from Maryland has landed several 20+” fish , including a 22″ bow and a 24″ brown. Now that is serious fish.  And I tip my hat to him. What a trip! He got the right combination of stained water and sulphurs . If you get that combo , it is on.  I congratulate him.

So it is on! And when you come, don’t quit before dark. That last hour has been bringing a hatch and a spinner fall of Sulphurs.

If you want one of our guides to take you to these, just let us know. 

Come to the river . May you enjoy it as much as I did last week.

Tight Lines,

Rod Champion

423-878-2822