As I’m writing this fishing report from R&R Fly Fishing world headquarters in Townsend, Tennessee I’m glad to say the sun is shining! That’s the first bit of sun we’ve seen in a long while. The weather has varied somewhat between gray and damp all the way to wet and cold. I’m as easy to get along with as any outdoorsman, but after a while being outside in constantly damp weather just gets old!
A mild afternoon on Abrams Creek
Water temperatures have actually been relatively mild but fishing has been up and down depending on the day. The continual parade of cold fronts and warm fronts has kept the fish from getting into a solid groove. We’re catching some fish, but haven’t had any explosively productive days.
We’ve fielded some emails and phone calls about possible dry fly fishing in this relatively mild weather, but it remains a nymph fishing situation. If you know a stream well enough you might have a particular slot or shallow riffle in your back pocket where you can find a trout willing to rise. Other than that just go with the nymphs.
I hate to say it but the tailwater situation hasn’t improved at all. Our local tailwaters in East Tennessee are still super high, and unusually so for this time of year. The Clinch is sluicing water beyond the range of maximum generation and the Holston below Cherokee Dam finally stopped spilling but is pushing an incredible amount of water around the clock. The Hiwassee at Reliance is now spilling as well and inflows for all these rivers don’t bode well for the possibility of diminished flows any time soon. More wet weather in the forecast also promises to keep flows up.
The one bright spot for anglers with boats is the South Holston. There’s no place to wade up there but flows are negotiable for floating and still getting into some fish. The same goes for the Watauga, but it’s high enough we wouldn’t recommend making this your first float. It’s not a super technical river to float, but you certainly need some skills on the oars when the Watauga is high.
