So far we’ve mostly seen some false starts as far as spring fishing has been concerned. Some nice weather with setbacks and little in the way of hatches. It finally seems as if that’s over and we’re really there!
There was a whole lot of this going on
Saturday was easily the best day of fishing we’ve seen so far this year. And by heads and tails. Charity and I were both out guiding separate parties but had similar experiences. You could just tell things were right when there were more fish caught on nymphs in a few hours than previous days had yielded over the course of the whole day. And that was before the bugs started to hatch…
Yep… Looks about right
My group fished a combination of Haystacks and Quill Gordon Parachutes through the afternoon. I was curious to see if there was any preference between the two patterns which both mimic the same insect. Charity, on the hand, had a more “If it’s working don’t change it” approach and stuck with the Haystack all afternoon.
I will say that the nymphs fished very well and we kept a dropper on most of the time. Also in the spirit of “If it’s working don’t change it” we found that some nice fish that we never saw rise took the nymph. Even as I desperately wanted to clip the nymph off I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Maybe that 17″ brown that ate a Pat’s Nymph, ran crazy all over the place, and came off after jumping two feet in the air influenced my decision but who knows…..
Tom Moak who fished with Charity prepares to release a chunky wild rainbow trout
We’re getting some real rain as I write this but don’t despair. The creeks were actually getting pretty low for this time of year so this is a good thing. There should be plenty of room for the creeks to hold the water so we don’t expect any blowouts.
Most of the TVA tailwaters are in great shape. I’m a little aggravated to report that the Clinch has merely given us another head fake as predicted flows for this week don’t look great right now. Looks like you’ll need a boat to get much meaningful fishing in over there, but we’ll see….
All the other tailwaters are looking good, so get out there! We’re heading out for a camping trip for a few days with the kids since they’re on spring break. (The rain has arrive perfectly on cue!)
If you need to book a trip you can do so by clicking that “Book Your Trip Now” Button on the top right of the page. Even if you’re not ready to book a trip you can check our availability for a trip to make your plans.
One last thing… We just received a cancellation for our April 10-13 Hazel Creek Camp and can accomodate one more angler. The slot is “unguided” which means you get all the amenities of camp but you’ll fish without a guide. We always have several folks come along like this as they’re already competent Smoky Mountain anglers or have been on the trip several times and know the ins and out. You can book that by clicking here.