Ralph Gaurio and his wife Lara Lynn came over from Toyo, Japan to fish with me on the South Holston River while they were here to visit there daughter. We meet up here at the shop, and headed to the river. We got the river and there were a few fish rising, and I spotted a couple of big Browns sitting in a hole. So I rigged Ralph up and he started fishing for the Browns. Then I rigged up Lara Lynn and she headed upstream to fish for some for the rising fish. Ralph worked over the big Browns for a good well, and caught several nice sized Browns out of the hole. He then finally hooked into one of the Browns. After a good long fight Ralph got the fish into the shallows and we landed the Big Brown trout. We took a few pictures of the 28″ Brown and watched her swim away. What a great catch on a size 22 fly and 6X tippet. After lunch we headed upstream to see if ther were any Sulphurs coming off. There was not as big of a hatch as there had been, but there was fish rising. We were able to hook some of the fish on the dries, and then the fish switched to midges. We caught several before we called it a day on midge droppers.
If you would like a Guided Trip give us a call at 423-878-2822.
Tight Lines,
Matt Champion
South Holston Fly Shop
Gina and Jason meet up with me in Elizabethton, TN for a float trip on the Watauga River. We put on the water and started catching fish right off the bat. We were catching fish on nymphs in the morning. Then we found a few fish rising so Jason switched over to dry. We caught several on the dry and dropper then we got down to the Caddis Riffle and Jason hooked into a Big Rainbow. After a good long fight we got the fish to the net. We got a few pictures of the 20″ Rainbow and watched her swam off. We continued to catch fish all afternoon, and Gina hooked into another big Rainbow that broke us off.
It was a great day on the water and I really enjoyed fishing with Gina and Jason.
If you would like a Guided Trip give us a call at 423-878-2822.
Tight Lines,
Matt Champion
South Holston Fly Shop
Day 1
We meet up at the shop and headed to the river. We got to the river and we there wasn’t much going on the surface so we did some nymph fishing. We started out with a double nymph rig, and started catching fish right away. We were catching mainly small Rainbows, but they were alot of fun to catch. Then John hooked into a nice Brown and as he fought the fish I thought it look funny. When we got it close I saw why things looked funny. He had two Browns on a true double one on the top fly one on the bottom fly. That is the picture above. After lunch we headed upstream to see if we could found a Sulphur hatch. We arrived upstream and there were some Sulphurs coming off. We had a good afternoon of Dry fly fishing.
Day 2
John Freedman meet me at the shop on the at shop and we headed to the river. We arrived at our first spot and we saw some fish rising on midges. We got in the water I spotted a Big Brown sitting in a run and we fished to it for a while, and we did get the fish to take but missed her. caught a good many fish out of hole and decide to take a little brake. He told me to fish while he took a brake. Then I hooked into a really big Brown. After a good fight we took a quick picture of the fish and watch him swim off. We took a brake for lunch and then headed upstream to fish the Sulphur hatch. After a good afternoon of Dry fly fishing 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
Rick Pitts came down to fish with me on the South Holston River. Rick was in Knoxville, TN for some business and wanted to fish while he was down here. We meet up at the shop in the morning and headed to the river. We got to the river and there was a few fish midging. So we started out with a dry and dropper an caught fish pretty good all morning. Then the Sulphurs started coming off after lunch and we got in some good dry fly fishing. It was hot and the sun was really bright so the fish were tougher to day then they had been a few days before. We had a pretty good Sulphur hatch, but it didnt last long. By four the bugs had pretty much died out and there was not much going on. Rick had to drive back to Knoxville so we decided to call it at day around 4:30.
It was a great day on the water with Rick and I hope that I will get to fish with him again.
If you would like a Guide Trip give us a call at 423-878-2822.
Good Fishing,
Matt Champion
South Holston River Fly Shop
Van Lewis from Roanoke, VA came down to fish the South Holston River with me on Friday. We meet up here at the shop around 10:30am and headed to the river. When we got to the river there was a few Sulphurs coming off but not many yet. So we started with dries and droppers. The fish seemed to key in on the the dropper more than the dry. Then around 1pm the Sulphurs started coming off, and we had a great afternoon of dry fly fishing. Around 3pm we called it a day.
What a great day on the water.
If you would like a Guide Trip give us a call at 423-878-2822.
Tight Lines,
Matt Champion
South Holston Fly Shop
Jim Ray came down to fish the South Holston River, and because they were running water in the afternoons he decided to take a afternoon float trip. So TVA was cutting the water on later in the afternoon, and we had to wait for the water to come up before we could put the boat in the water. When the water came up around 3pm we got on the water. It was alittle slow at first, but we did manage to caught a few fish on nymphs before the Sulphurs started coming off. That is when the fish started rising, and we had good fishing for the rest of the afternoon. We got into one pod of fish, and Jim really went to town on them. He caught about all of the one that rose including one really nice Brown about 16-17″. We ended the day about dark, and Jim had to get on the road. It was a great day on the river.
If you would like a Guided Trip give us a call at 423-878-2822.
Tight Lines,
Matt Champion
South Holston River Fly Shop
Tommy and Barbara came down to float with me on the Watauga River on Thursday. We meet up at the shop and head over to the water. With the lack of rain the Watauga River is low and clear right now. That makes the fishing a little tuffer, but the fish are still willing to eat. We got on the river and we started getting into fish right away. The contiuned to catch fish all day, and having a great time. The fishing was a little slow because of the low clear water, but we did manage to catch a good many fish. Most of the fish that we caught were on nymphs, but we did caught a few on beatles too.
I really enjoyed may day on the water with Tommy and Barbara an hope to fish with them again sometime.
If you would like a Guided Trip on the Watauga River give us a Call at 423-878-2822.
Good Fishing,
Matt Champion
South Holston River Fly Shop
