Memorial Day- A Debt of Thanks

By flyfish

May

31

From my Father’s generation of World War 2 to my generation in Vietnam  to today’s Iraq and Afghanistan soldiers, we owe deepest thanks. For they have kept our way of living alive.  Their blood has kept us a free nation.

Yesterday, Sunday, I got a phone call. ” Hello Rod , this is Chuck Miller.”  Chuck Miller, I thought you were in Afghanistan, I was thinking.  Actually , Chuck was calling  from Afghanistan to book a trip the week after he comes home. Threw chills up my spine.

Was a real reminder of what today stands for. These guys are fighting and dying for us. So to all Veterans, THANK YOU !

And to those still fighting, may God protect you and keep you safe. So you can come home to our FREE Nation and do such fun things as fly fish.

Speaking to us here in the states , the Sulphurs are coming off ! The dry fly fishing is wide open.

Thank you ,

Rod Champion

Dry Fly Fishing at it’s Best!

By flyfish

May

24

I know this sounds redundant since February of this year. But it is the truth.  Dry fly fishing could not be any better.  Ranging in size for 14-18 , the sulphurs last week were numerous.  They were all up and down the river.  Sulphur nymphs , emergers, dun patterns and then spinners, all caught fish at their designated time.   This past  Saturday, I heard of near blanket hatches  on some parts of the river. Heard tales of size 14 and larger PMD colored sulphurs.

Sulphur nymphs have still been hot as a fire cracker. Some stick with them all thru a hatch and hammer then.  And then nuts like me go to a dry as quickly as possible.  For me this past week, I fished Wednesday  thru Saturday evenings only. Would close the shop and head to the river. Each day was able to catch sulphurs on the water . And then fish large spinner falls . I can still see Saturday evenings spinner fall in my mind. I was where spinners were dropping out of the air and fish were set up every where sipping them. Fantastic pretty well describes the feeling and the sight. Fish literally everywhere eating them. Almost wall to wall trout were  set up smacking the dying bugs. It is impossible to get any better than that for me.

All of Matt’s trips were better than good. All caught fish well. And most quality fish.

I have two full AAA Grouse skins with head, wings and tails attched to the full skin. Great soft hackle and nymph leg materials. Each is $23, which is a very good price for AAA skins with all attached. Give us a buzz at 423-878-2822 if interested.

Tight Lines All,

Rod Champion

Everything is turning up yellow or sulphur orange

By flyfish

May

17

It is on, here on the South Holston River in East Tennessee. Everyone was celebrating all up and down the river this past week. Sulphurs are popping up everywhere now, not just down stream. The bugs are anywhere from big pale yellows to smaller sulphur orange.  Sulphur nymphs are catching fish extremely well.  As are sulphur emergers , duns and spinners. Matthew Guinn and I spent two wonderful afternoons fishing the sulphur spinner fall.  Before the spinners arrived, Matthew really caught fish on a nymph.  It literally was almost every cast.   He caught a very fat 22″ brown that would have pushed 6 lbs.  Now that is a big brown trout. You know me, I held out for the dry fly fishing. It was worth it. It was superb .
On Matthew Champion’s guide trips , the fishing was also hot as a fire cracker. Sulphur dries with a sulphur nymph dropper was the ticket for his clients. And Bob Wolf also had a very good dry fly fishing only trip on Friday.
Have I ever told you what a great river this is. Well, it is. And the current fishing is as good as it gets.
Tight Lines All,
Rod Champion

Sulphur Dry Fly Fishing is back.

By flyfish

May

11

Friday evening was my first official sulphur dry fly ONLY trip for 2010 here on the South Holston River in East tennessee.
Have enjoyed watching that piece of yarn go down and catching fish on nymphs. But there is nothing like watching a fish sip a dry fly. And they did Friday evening. First there were emergers, then duns, then the spinners came back. Two hours of gloriouys dry fly fishing. One thing for sure. If you did not have the right color and size for the spinner representation, the browns did not want it. That still amazes me that at dark the fish still want it to be just right. They can flat see.
So it has started . And started with a sip.
Tight Lines,
Rod Champion

Watauga River 5/3/10

By flyfish

May

7

I fished the Watauga River Monday, and it fished well. We were going to fish the trophy section of the Watauga, but with all of the rain that came through the night before, the river was running muddy down low – so we took off upstream. The rain had not muddied up the river above the Doe River, so we put in and headed down the river.  We started out and we caught a couple of fish right off the bat.  Then we moved down some, and really got into the rest of the day.  The fishing was really good.  We didn’t catch any big fish, but a lot of 10-12″ fish.   All in all it was really a good day on the water.  The rain ended before we got going, and it only got hot one time during the day -  then the cloud cover came in.

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

Good Fishing,
Matt Champion
South Holston Fly Shop

Sulphurs are beginning to show up!

By flyfish

May

3

The Sulphurs came off late afternoon wednesday  on the South Holston River. This was my first encounter this year with enough sulphurs to actaully call it a hatch.  And they came off pretty darn good for about 45 minutes.  Matt encountered them sparingly thru the week on guide trips. And being in the shop all week, I heard of the same small hatches from a number of people.  So it is close, real close.

On guide trips , Matt’s clients caught fish real well all week on nymphs . And I mean real well. The stories of continued  from customers all week on how good the fishing is , here on the South Holston River. And about how good the average size fish is.

Come join us, the river is m still on fire.

Tight Lines,

Rod Champion

South Holston River Fly Shop

423-878-2822