South Holston April 14-15

By flyfish

Apr

27

I fished two days with Jerry Ferguson and his son Logan on the South Holston River. Jerry lives on the river and wanted me to work with Logan on his fly fishing. So we meet up here at the shop and headed on to the river. We got to the river and Jerry wanted me to work with Logan for most of the day. I got both of them set up and sent Jerry in down river while me and Logan fished a good run. Logan was into fish right off the get go, and after a little work on his casting an mending he was hooking up pretty regular. Jerry wasn’t fishing much just watching us and taking pictures. He did catch a few fish in the morning. We stopped for lunch then headed to another spot. The fishing was still good. Logan caught some fish- then he got into looking for bugs. Every clump of Didymo Logan pulled up was full of Sulphur Nymphs and Beatis nymphs. By the end of the day, Logan had landed 18 nice trout. The biggest one was about 14.”  This was a great day!

Day 2

On the second day of our trip Jerry decided to fish. We got set up and headed to our first stop. We got to fishing and were catching a few, then the “rubber hatch” hit us. Several guys in one man pontoons came through us so we decided to move upstream.  As soon as we  stepped in the water,  Jerry start catching fish. I took Logan  upstream of Jerry and we were into fish too. Every time I looked at Jerry or Logan one of them had a fish on. Man the fishing was on fire! I had something happen to me that I have never had happen before. Both Jerry and Logan caught a true double. They both caught two fish at the same time, one on the top fly and one on the bottom fly. That tells you how good the fishing was. When we stopped for lunch and we asked Logan how many fish he had caught so far. He said he had landed 26 fish. Man that is a great morning of fishing! After lunch the river was pretty crowded so we found a section that didn’t have as many people in it. Jerry started working a run and was catching some smaller fish.  He did catch one really nice Rainbow. Logan and I worked another run when I spotted a big Brown Trout laying in the back of a pool. We worked the fish, and he took. That fish fought hard and Logan did a great job of fighting the fish. After a long fight we finally got the fish to the net. It was a big fat 21″ Brown trout. We took some pictures,  measured it, and then watched him swim away. It was a great fish, and one I don’t think Logan will forget for a while. I don’t know how much the fish weighted but I would guess that is was a 5-6lb fish. It was fat and healthy. We fished for a little while longer, caught a couple more then called it a day.

Not bad for a 9 year old boy- right? Way to go Logan!

If you would like to fish the South Holston River at its best come fishing now. The river is on fire.

Tight Lines,

Matt Champion

Nymph Fishing on South Holston River

By flyfish

Apr

23

I cannot even begin to tell you how good the nymph fishing was yesterday. Actually it has been this good for 2 weeks now.  Sulphur nymphs are moving and fish are eating them. Nothing wrong with smaller nymphs also.  Tons of fish are being caught on midge pupae.  So it is – pick your poison. It has been that good. And as usual, presentation and a good drift is the key.

Tight Lines,

Rod Champion

www.southholstonriverflyshop.com

Week End Past – Good Fishing

By flyfish

Apr

13

Midge and black fly larva are catching fishing. And definitely micro mayflies are working. On Matt’s trips this weekend, they caught fish and a bunch of them. TVA is running 200 cubic feet per second continual flow. So wading is a piece of cake.  There are BWO’s on the water some and fish are rising to them, some. There are black fly’s coming off and spinners coming back to the water late evening , fish are sipping them. And black  fly larva are always available for trout.

This should be a good week for nymph and larva fishing.

Tight lines,

Rod Champion
www.southholstonriverflyshop.com

Slucing is over as of Friday

By flyfish

Apr

8

It looks like Friday is the last day of sluicing on South Holston River. The prediction is for three  one hour pulses a day. So low water fishing will be on. Please check schedule always to make  sure that is what is happening. – ALWAYS Check schedule.  That should mean Sulphurs are not far away.

This week, I have fished every afternoon but Monday.

Midge pupae and black fly larva has been the key for me. Fish have been really eating them. They are full of both. They are in their mouths – their mouths are running over.

And as usual, black fly adults and spinners galore late evening.  I have seen a lot of BWO’s on the water. But fish don’t seem to be eating them. I have followed them out of sight many times this week- no fish ate them.

Come on, the water should be friendly to waders.

Tight lines,

Rod  Champion

South Holston 3-27

By flyfish

Apr

6

Mike Devon and his son Mike Jr. come over the mountain from Greenville, SC to fish with me a for a half a day. We met up here at the shop and headed off to the river about 11am. TVA was still slucing 800 cfs so we jumped in the boat and off we went. Mike Sr. was a fly fisherman, but Mike Jr. had never really done any flyfishing. So we started off working on his cast and mending. He picked it very quickly so we headed off down river. It was a warm pretty day and there were a lot of boats and wade fisherman on the water, but it didnt stop the fish from eating. The first fish that Mike Jr. got in the boat was a nice 16-17″ Rainbow that put up on heck of a fight. We netted the Rainbow and took a couple of pictures then off we went Mike Sr. was picking fish up out of the back of the boat, and Mike Jr. was getting hits. We got Mike Jr’s hook set down pat and he started hooking up regularly. We caught fish good all the down the river. At one time I had to dodge boats and wade fisherman at the sametime, and that was the only slow time of the day. As the day went on the Black Flies were all over the water and you could see fish sipping everywhere, and the fish were really feeding on nymphs an midges under the water as well. It was just a great day on the water. We caught a lot of fish landed one very nice Rainbow, and hooked into several really nice fish that we just couldnt keep bottoned. But we did caught alot of nice Browns and Rainbows.

Thanks agian to Mike Sr. and Mike Jr. for a great day of fishing.

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

Tight Lines,

Matt Champion

South Holston Fly Shop

Good Friday-

By flyfish

Apr

3

Strange name to call such a day.

Fishing wise , it was a great day. Blackflies galore with a BWO smathering. Scooter and I have been tying some different midge patterns. One from the other day is a keeper . On high water, it caught fish real well.

Yesterday on the 500 cybic feet per second flow, if the fish rose, they ate it.  All were browns except for one rainbow.  The colors of browns were magnificent.

TVA is projecting 500 cubic feet per second for this next week. Now don’t trust this in print. Always , ALWAYS check the TVA schedule by phone and computer . It is always best to re check in the morning before you come. TVA has been keeping to thier schedule .  But the “subject to change without notice” is there.

The steady 500 cubic feet per second is nothing but ” sweet”.

On Matt’s guide trip Saturday, they flat caught fish on midge pupae and nymphs fished deep.

This coming week should be some kind of fishing.

Come join us.

Rod Champion