Short Clinch Trip with a Friend

This past Wednesday I chose to take the afternoon of and meet a buddy on the Clinch.  I left work around noon, and it took a little longer than I expected to get to the river.  However, I was surprised to see only one person wade fishing below the weir dam...  This is usually a bring your own rock kind of place, so this was very strange.  We figured that we had about 3 hours fish, so we geared up and hit the water.  Before long we were wading out to our first spot, and Buzz hooked up before I even had my fly tied on.  He yelled at me that I needed to get my fly in the water and stop tinkering around with my gear.  It was all in good humor, but he was right.  I quickly waded out and made my first cast with the fly rod in about 6 months, and was very pleased to feel the tug of a trout on the other end.  I even took my stringer with me on this trip with the intention of keeping some fish for my kids, but that usually is the death blow on my trips.  When I bring a stringer along, no fish are caught.  The first fish was too small, so it was quickly released.  Unfortunately, about this time I really was starting to regret not having my camera to document what seemed like it would be a fast paced day.  This pace continued on for a while with rising fish all around, and we would pick up a fish every few minutes.  When I arrived at the river I discovered that I was completely out of 6X fluorocarbon tippet, so I had to move on up to 7X (I couldn't buy a strike on 5X).  This turned out to be a double edged sword as the smaller size enticed more strikes, but it also allowed three fish to break me off.  Eventually I got things dialed in and managed to land a 15" rainbow on a very long downstream drift, and it was exciting to feel a good solid tug on the end of the line.  What was most enjoyable about the trip was that Buzz and I were fishing relatively close to each other and were able to carry on a conversation and make jokes about various things throughout the trip.  That is something I have missed over the past few years as either I fishing by myself on tailwaters or when fishing the park streams we are usually too far apart to communicate with each other.   

I am now in the process of restocking my fly box with flies that I discovered I was out of, and replenishing some of those that were broken off while using my 7X tippet.

Of another positive note was the fact that this trip marked the first time I got to wear my new Patagonia Rock Grip wading boots out on the river.  I picked these up over the winter on clearance at about 60% off, and was skeptical about their performance.  I have lots of Patagonia gear and know it is top notch, but these were rubber soled boots and I didn't know how they would stand up to the rock snot in the Clinch.  The night before I chose to only screw in 6 of the supplied studs into each sole, and I spaced them in such a way that I thought would best distribute my weight.  My concern over previous studded soles is that they often left me feeling as if I was ice skating since there were so many studs that the rubber or felt never actually contacted the rock.  These boots were quite possibly the most sure footed boots I have ever worn, or at least they were in the bottom type that we were fishing on below the weir dam.  The next big test would be to try these boots out on either the South Holston or Watauga river with their perfectly smooth and round rocks the size of bowling balls.  That requires a totally different walking technique, and would be a good test for these boots.  Maybe I should take a drive up that way to give it a test, and while there maybe wet my fly line for a few hours.

Thanks for allowing me to ramble on, and until next time...

Tight Lines and God Bless

Clinch River Update 9.20.2014

For the past few months I have heard many reports about how much of a negative impact the stripers are having on the trout population on the Clinch.  I thought it seemed logical because the last three or four trips I have made to the Clinch resulted in low trout/hr catch rates.  However, deer season opens next weekend, so if I didn't make it out this week it could be a while before I return.

I got a late start to the morning after sleeping in, but was surprised to find the river virtually empty when I arrived at 9:30.  I took my time getting ready, and worked my way downstream to one of my favorite runs.  I saw some little brown caddis hatching, and it wasn't long before I was into fish.  In fact, the fish were so active I landed 6 rainbows in my first 20 minutes (almost 20 casts as well).  The first one was a little 7" dink, but the next 5 were in the 11 - 12" range.

First little guy

12" bow

Then, things suddenly stopped.  All I could attribute it to was the fact that the fog had completely burned off, and now the sunlight was bright on the water.  Thankfully, after about 30 minutes the trout adjusted and were back at again.  Unfortunately, apparently everybody decided to float the Clinch today, and for the next 30 minutes I was dodging canoes and kayaks.  I would hook a fish, then a kayak would float through and shut everything down for a few minutes.

I had 4 boats, FOUR OF THEM, float right through the run I was fishing in.  Please note that this run was only about 10 yards wide by 15 yards wide, whereas the river is probably 75+ yards wide at this location...  Only one of the four boats apologized for drifting through on me, and he actually told me to just get ready as there were about 20 other boats behind him coming around the bend.  I managed to hook another couple of fish before I was interrupted again, and chose to call it a day.  As I was getting out of the water, I saw the first of a couple of drift boats coming around the corner.  However, the sulfurs were just starting to hatch, and the fish were very active.  You read that right, sulfurs on the Clinch in September!  Craziness!!!

My take-away from today's trip is that apparently the stripers have not damaged the trout population as severely as I had been lead to believe, as my hourly average was 5 fish/hr (10 trout in 2 hours)...  I will take those numbers any time of the year, and actually those are the highest Clinch catch rates I have had since 2010 when I had some 30+ fish days.  No big trout landed today, but I did see some large buttery brown heads poking out every now and again.  Thankfully, I only missed two strikes (that I saw) all morning, and only had one long distance release.  I feel extremely blessed to have the opportunity to get out today and have so much success, especially considering I had not wet a line since June.

Flies of the Day: #18 BHPT and #20 olive zebra midge.
Catch Rate: 5 fish/hr
Gear used:  Orvis Zero Gravity 8'-6" 5-wt, Orvis Mid-Arbor reel, Rio Grand fly line, SeaGuar FX 7X tippet

Epic Quill Gordon Day

I had originally planned a trip to the mountains Sunday to watch David Knapp tie, and get a couple hours on the water. However, a change of plans for Saturday prompted the wife to suggest I take advantage of the weather and go fish. After a lengthy deliberation of about 1.5 milliseconds, I said okay.

While driving in I saw somebody in about every other pull-off either gearing up or fishing. When I arrived at the trailhead I was surprised to find plenty of open spaces. So, it appears that most everybody was focusing their efforts roadside.


I was anxious to try out some new Patagonia gear, so I had a little more clothing on than was probably necessary. Thankfully, I elected to pack in my waders and put them on after walking a couple miles up the trail.


This is where things began to get interesting....

I found this nice little run and saw one small head poke out of the water, so I decided to give it a go.


I rigged up a #12 Quill Gordon and made my first cast to the middle rear portion of the run. My fly hadn't drifted more than 2 ft before BAM! I caught this little guy.


Keeping with Buzz's posting requirements I took his picture because I figured he would be the only fish of the day. What I didn't expect to happen was to catch 5 more fish on the next 5 consecutive casts.... I actually had a group of hikers see me land the second one, and they hung around to watch me land the next four fish. Eventually they started applauding every time I landed one. I have to say it was quite an experience.




The 5th fish in the 6 fish streak was this 12" beauty that ran me up and down this little run.


I believe this is the best rainbow I have landed on the TN side of the park.

I caught a few more, but eventually wore out this run before moving upstream in search of more water. This was when I met up with RKeeton from the message board and had a nice little chat while searching for more water. I ended up walking another 3/4 mile or so upstream with less than stellar results. I caught a couple more, but there was absolutely no surface activity going on. Thinking that I may have walked above the Quill Gordon hatch range, I walked back downstream and soon got back into the action.




Throughout the day, there were not large numbers of Gordons hatching. However, of all the ones I did see bouncing on the water, none got away free. I did see large numbers of brown stoneflies in a size 16, but had no reason to switch away from the Quill Gordon.

It was an absolutely beautiful day to be in the mountains and on the water. I would hate to speculate as to the quantity of fish landed today. However, a day like today causes one to completely lose track of numbers and just enjoy God's creation. I feel extremely blessed to have been able to enjoy such inspiring scenery and spectacular fishing.


Tight Lines and God Bless!

A Little Cold Front Trout Action

With the changing of the leaves usually comes the spawning of trout in the mountains and tailwaters. Most commonly on the tailwaters is the brown trout spawn on the Caney, South Holston, and Clinch (to an extent). In addition to that there are spawning rainbow and brown trout in the mountains. The pre-spawn period allows anglers opportunities to catch large wild trout that they otherwise may not ever even know existed.

This week East TN experienced its first cold snap of the year along with a cold rainfall. Those two events generally kick start the spawning cycle of trout, so I thought it best to take some time off work and give it a shot. I had intended to go up to the South Holston for some lake run brown trout action, but those plans fell through. So, instead I stayed a little closer to home and wanted to focus on some small stream brown, rainbow, and steelhead action. I also managed to convince my long time fishing buddy and friend Scott to join me even though the weather was predicted to not get above 50 degrees and blustery winds.

When we arrived at the stream we realized that the winds were being blocked by the mountains, always a good thing. The temps topped out around 50 degrees and the sun stayed hidden most of the day. However, we went prepared for those conditions, and it was a very nice day to be out on the water.





After gearing up we took our time looking for any sign of pre-spawn trout. That turned out to be less than promising, so we chose to just blindly fish a productive pool from seasons past. Scott was still tying his flies on, so I went ahead and entered the water and started fishing the pool. The recent rainfall had stained the water some, and there was a decent leaf hatch going on. Regardless, I was determined to give the pool my best effort. I had on a #8 golden stonefly and an egg pattern. On about my third drift I saw my indicator dive in a very deep area of the pool. Knowing it wasn't bottom, I set the hook hard. Due to the water clarity and fish we were chasing I was using 5X tippet, so I was not too concerned about breaking off with a strong hookset. My rod immediately bent double and I started yelling for Scott to come help. I managed to keep the fish isolated to the pool we were in and out of the tree limbs on the opposite side. After a brief two minute battle, we were looking at an 18" rainbow.





That got us pretty excited for the days potential, but little did we know that Scott would only land one other fish the rest of the time. I believe we probably timed our trip a little too soon, and may have to make a return trip in a couple weeks to see how things have progressed.



After our fishing time was up we went back to the parking lot and I put some of my new backpacking gear to use by having hot homemade chili and hot chocolate before making our way back home.

Father's Day Weekend SoHo Camping Trip

I recently got back from a 3-day trip to the SoHo June 16th thru 18th. This was a regular trip for us, however since Trey was born we haven't made this trip in 3 yrs. I was very surprised to see the number of anglers out there beginning on Thursday, and increasing each following day. Water was a bit higher than normal, but still very wadable. This was due to TVA sluicing a continuous 280 CFS from the dam while they are performing maintenance.


Upon arrival, there was only one other tent setup and two other gentlemen sitting there. I talked to the older gentleman who has fished the river for two weeks consecutively for each of the past three months, and he said that the past two days have been the best sulfur hatch of the year. I quickly geared up and hit the water around 2:30, deciding that the tent could wait until after it had cooled down some. About 3:00 the hatch began, and I picked up a couple fish on sulfur nymphs tied klinkhammer style and sulfur duns. I couldn't get into consistent action and was frustrated a couple times when I saw some big heads sucking down dozens of bugs. After a couple hours I headed back to camp to begin setting up the tent. About this time Scott showed up and helped set things up and run over to the fly shop. When we returned from the shop Dave was sitting at the campsite trying to figure out if it was the right spot. Shortly afterward our camp neighbors returned from their afternoon jaunt. I couldn't see them where they were fishing, but I was told that the older man Darrell probably caught 70 fish to the younger's 15. He showed me his fly, and it definitely had been abused.


As evening was approaching, Darrell recommended that I swing a wet fly in the riffles and seams downstream of camp. So, I did as he said and was rewarded with probably a dozen fish in 1.5 hours of fishing. Light was getting low, so I headed back to camp to help Dave cook up some deer steaks and corn on the cob. That is always a tasty meal when on these camping trips. It was a beautiful full moon night, and perfect weather for camping.


The next morning Darrell recommended that I try swinging tiny softhackles, size 24, in the seams for early morning trout. I didn't have any that small, but had some #20 BWO softhackles that the fish were very willing to eat. I fished for probably two hours and landed another dozen fish. Most were probably 8 to 12", but I did manage one brown around 13". Called it quits about 10:00 and came back to camp for a little midmorning snack. After the snack, I tried my luck out on the slackwater area, and was abused by those super selective trout. Did manage a couple more on some sulfur emergers that I swung in the seams. It was very hit-or-miss for most people on the water. I saw and talked to plenty of people who were skunked.


I took a break and came back for lunch and sat down to tie up some comparaduns for the afternoon sulfur hatch. From 3:00 on is when the magic began. However, it only was magical if you had the exact fly imitation. Thankfully, I got into them taking a #18 medium yellow sulfur w/ bleached deer hair sparkle dun pattern. I tried two other shades of sulfur, and both bleach and natural hair wings before finding the one that worked. So, I spent an hour trying to find the right fly, but once I found it the fish were taking it so hard that I had three swallow the fly. One brown actually jumped out of the water and ate the fly as he was entering the water. I fished that fly in two runs for the last hour of the day. I was probably on a 20 trout/hr pace with the fly I mentioned above.


Saturday morning was nuts! People were walking in on top of each other, and I just chose to pack up and come on back home. That is not my cup of tea. I even saw quite a few bait slingers today out there keeping anything with size to it. However, I think the sulfur hatch up there is just now getting ramped up. Be advised though to take a wide variety of sulfur patterns in different shades of yellow, orange, or some combination. Those trout can be some the most finicky I have ever fished for. If you go good luck, and happy Father's Day!

SULFURS! They are back!

The time that so many fly fishermen in East TN wait for every year is finally upon us. The mayfly commonly referred to as the sulfur is hatching on East TN waters. From the freestone mountain streams, to the Clinch and South Holston rivers. See my previous post on the various species of sulfurs that are found in our area Understanding Sulfurs.

I have been lucky enough to make it out a couple times lately to the Clinch. Both trips have been early morning trips that began around 7:00 and end around 11:00. Action both times was consistent, with things really beginning to pick up around 9:30. Although activity was at a decent level, the surface activity was minimal. Most fish have been caught using either a flashback pheasant tail or a standard pheasant tail. Some fish were looking up though, as I did manage to get a couple using my sulfur hackle stacker cripple pattern.

If I were to rate this years hatch on a scale from 1 to 10, I would probably give it a 7. In comparison, last year was probably a 9 and two years ago was a 6. I expect to get out on the water a couple more times in the coming week, along with a two night camping trip on the South Holston. So, keep checking back for an update on those trips.

Below are some pics from the past couple trips.

Early Morning on the Clinch

Battle Scars...

Return to the Four Corners 2011 - Part 2

Part 2 - The fishing part

On our last trip to Durango, we took a float trip with Animas Valley Anglers on the upper San Juan above Navajo Dam. Amy and I both had a blast on that trip, and we caught a good number of quality fish and saw some amazing scenery. So, prior to this trip I called up Will Blanchard, owner of AVA, and he said that he thinks we may as well complete the San Juan float by doing the quality water below the dam. I agreed, and we made arrangements to go on a Monday in order to avoid the typical weekend masses that flock to this world famous tailwater for large trout.

Weather the first two days of our trip was not very favorable for a float, thankfully the conditions changed by the morning of the float. Will picked us up at the hotel, and we made the one hour drive to the tailwater. After getting my one day license for $17, we drove on over to the launch point. While sitting there gearing up the shuttle guys came by and told us that there were at least ten boats currently fishing in the quality water section. The quality water is four miles long, and basically the boats just follow a rotation routine so that everybody has a chance to fish all the good runs. Upon hearing about the quantity of people on the water, Will and I just looked at each other. Will, knowing that I am not a fan of crowds, recommended that we try something a little different. You see, he also doesn't like crowds, and we really wanted to avoid them if possible.

Will's proposal was that we shift gears and float the lower tailwater. The only catch was that the lower tailwater was typically a later season float, and he had not done it since sometime back in the fall. Not only that, but the shuttle guys had told us that they had not ran a shuttle down there in months either. So, it was a little bit of a gamble, but Will thought he could put us on some quality fish. Also, this lower float was 14 miles compared to the 4 miles for the quality water.

We all agreed that it was worth the gamble and shortly took off downstream. It wasn't long before we were into some fish using baetis nymphs:

Most in this first run were about this size

We caught a good number out of this first hole before moving on downstream in hopes of finding better quality fish. The next run we came upon was a beauty, and once again it wasn't long before I hooked up:


The quality did get better here, and we found ourselves pulling a lot of fish out of this run. Plus the browns began to start showing up in the net at this point.




We picked this spot to stop for lunch, and the scenery was quite appealing too:




After lunch, we hesitantly left this spot since we still had a lot of water to cover. Just downstream at the next run we hooked into possibly the best fish of the day. Well, that we landed anyway:


After this fish we switched to large streamers in hopes of turning some big browns. We weren't disappointed as we had several over 20" give chase. Unfortunately, I was unable to get a decent hookset on any of them, and therefore no pictures of big browns to show for it.

It was a wonderful day on the water. A little longer than we originally planned, but the fishing, scenery, and guide was spectacular. We definitely made the right choice by going with this lower section float.

Amy and I are anxiously awaiting our next trip to Durango, and highly recommend Animas Valley Anglers to anyone who is looking for a guide in the area.

I would like to thank my lovely wife for taking the majority of these photos, and the video also in a separate post on the blog.

Early Season Skunk

Desperately needing some time on the water, I headed out to the Clinch this afternoon. I wanted to fish lower on the river, but the generation schedule was not very favorable for the early afternoon. So, I elected to start the afternoon up near the dam, and then migrate downstream around 4:00. There were a few midging fish below the dam, but none of the usual suspects were working. After a little while I made my way downstream to my regular fishing spot. Unfortunately the water was still higher than I am comfortable fishing so I just fished near the shore to prevent getting too far out into the swift current. There was quite a dramatic difference in the midge activity between the dam and lower river. Down low I didn't see a single bug floating above the surface, and therefore I saw no rising trout. Needless to say I picked up the skunk today, but hopefully I got it out of the way so I don't have to think about it again this year. Guess I will have to bite the bullet and go out on a Saturday with everybody else when TVA has a more favorable schedule.

One good thing about today is that I got to take the D90 out on the water. It is quite a significant step up from the D40, and am thrilled with the results. Can't wait to try and get some good fish shots this year with the new camera and good prime glass.

Here are two scenery shots from today.

Much Needed Fishing Break

My work schedule has been really hectic lately. And even though I had a week of vacation in the past 6 weeks, it really didn't allow me to fully unwind because of knowing what was awaiting when I returned home. Today was the first chance to get back on the water since August 9th, which is a very long drought for me.

Leading up to this morning I saw that the weather was forecasting light showers for the morning. On top of that there was a noon football game and it was the first day of bow season. So, for my first day on the water in a long time, it looked like things were falling into place for me.

I got a late start this morning, after turning off my alarm clock accidentally. So, instead of leaving home at 7:00, it was 8:00 before I left. So, it was 8:45 before I stepped foot into the river, but found only one other person there. I slowly made my way downstream to my usual haunts, and got rigged up with my typical midge rigs. I scanned the area and found a trout that appeared to be rising in a regular pattern, and made my presentation. About 5 seconds later, and fish on. First cast and first fish. I looked for another active trout, and presented a fly to it. Second cast, and another hookup. However, this one managed to give me the shake. Fourth cast and another fish, but this one broke my 6X fluoro after wrapping me around a deep rock. At this point, I was on a roll and thinking it was going to be a fabulous day. Little did I know that it would be an hour and 15 minutes before I landed another fish.



After the long dry spell, I settled into another spot and found the fly and depth that was working. I stood in this one pool and managed to pull about another 15 fish out of this one location. The average fish was around 12 - 14", with three pushing 16".

It was exactly what I needed to unwind from the stressful past 6 weeks at work. Hopefully, it won't be as long before I make it back out on the water.




Until next time,
Tight Lines and God Bless