I’ve not had the time to post much lately. My 1st born son Aaron came six weeks early and was born on Aug. 14th 2010. We both thought we had a few more weeks to think about this parenthood deal. So we’ve been spending a great deal of time in the NICU at the hospital for premie’s. But he’s growing well and should be coming home in no time. 
The South Holston river continues to fish very well on low water with fishing coming up very reguarly on low water for sulphurs in the upper end of the river. The high water fishing is still good with the fish keyed up on sulphurs, however you’ve got to have your presentation and techniques down because the fish aren’t cutting anyone any slack. We’ve also had success fishing streamers and nymphs on high water when the fish aren’t on the dries. Here are some pics from the first few weeks of august.
I was able to make it out the the Watauga River today. I was hoping to find a nice relaxing float. I had some streamer fishing in mind with a few new/old patterns I’m working on. I put on after the crowds at 11:30. Although I had catching in the back of my mind it was nice to get away and relax from all the craziness of sleepless nights and midnight feedings. I had made it down to through the first couple runs with little success on the streamers and I was about to switch over to the nymph rigs to work one of my favorite spots. I dropped the anchor and with a loud kersploosh it was gone in the middle of a 6 foot deep run. It was definitely not in a place that I could wade in after it without drowning. Next to where I parked the boat while lamenting about the anchor I found a rock I thought would be suitable for the days use as an anchor…. to my surprise it actually worked quite well in fact. As a result of using this make shift anchor, I found myself fishing each spot longer and with more dedication as I didn’t know when the rock was going to break free from the rope and leave me anchor less. At 1 0′clock I started nymph fishing. I was using a three fly rig with a heavy nymph on point and a smaller nymph and grey/silver midge dropper. I had caught several nice fish in the upper stretch of the float. They seemed to really like the grey midge. The rainbows were very colored up today and the pictures I took never seem to do the true colors justice. 
They were stunning.
I continued to work my way down into the quality trout zone picking up fish along the way. With the rain that we got last week it’s very surprising that the river isn’t holding any more water than it is. It still seems to be at all time summer lows with rocks everywhere. I’d hate to think about how bad it would be if we had not gotten any rain. You would probably have to rehydrate the fish to get them to eat. Make no mistake about it though, low water or not the water is still plenty cold enough. 
On days like this you feel as though you’re picking up the fish that everyone else left behind, which is just fine by me. After reaching the quality trout zone, I started picking off fish in pretty short order on the nymph rig. I stopped in one of the flats below the old campground to take some video of a family of otters playing for my wife. She only ever gets to see the otters at the zoo and loves to watch them play. Above the caddis riffle there was a good number of fish rising on crane flies. I found a small sulphur to get the job done. At least a few were willing to take it. I continued to work my way down river and with the nymph rig. I was talking with a guy in a raft with two dogs who was working a run. I told him about losing my anchor and showed off my rock. A few minutes later when he passed me he had lost his anchor. Go figure….. a bad day for anchors. I shared some of my grey midges with him and kept on my way.
There was around 6:30 or so a good hatch of small blue wing olives down near the ledges. There were several nice fish down there that were willing to take a 22 CDC BWO as a willing offering. The late hatch of blue wing olives does give me hope for the coming weeks as we watch that progress. Though I will say it’s a bit of shell shock after spending all summer fishing 16′s to have to step down to 22′s. Luckily there’s enough of a glare at that time of day that it’s not that hard to track the dark silhouette of the dry against the white glare on the water at the right angle. I took several more fishing on nymphs and midges as I worked through the last couple of runs. All in all a pretty good day of fishing. I put 45-50 fish in the boat and got to relax after all. So I’m off now to order a couple of anchors from hyde which will promptly be painted orange or chartreuse when I get them. I’ll leave you with a picture of the rock that saved my day and somehow stayed on the whole way down river. 
“Tight Lines and Bright Anchors in 2010″
Guide-Josh McFadden
423.367.8618
guide@hatchhunters.com
Posted in Reports, South Holston River, Watauga River
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Tagged Anchor, Browns, Fly Fishing, Grey/Silver Zebra, Midges, Nymph, Rainbows, South Holston River, Streamers, Sulphur, Watauga River
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I had heard about this new product and decided to order some for myself to give it a try. This fly line dressing from Springbook/TFO was created by Flip Pallot. You simply spray this silicon spray on your fly line with your line on the reel.,and your good to go. I used this on a recent outing and was very impressed. They say that it makes your lines cast like new. I would say that it makes them cast better than new. It’s the best $9.95 I’ve spent on a fly fishing item. I highly recommend it. It’s especially good for those of us that don’t take the time to clean and dress our lines as we should normally. If you pick some up you won’t be disappointed.
It occured to me the other day that it was time to restock with some midges. There’s only one way to do that, sit down and crank em out. I picked up some TMC 2487 #18 and some beads and went at it. For this project I’m recycling a fly box. This Big Cliff fly box has been through a couple of years of abuse. The foam was all worn down and peeling away from the box anyway, so I tore out all of the foam pieces and zapped 12 strong magnets in there. I tied up 4 dozen zebra midges today in various color schemes. I tied up some with tungsten some with brass. Next I’ll have to tackle the #20-24′s not a bad way to spend an evening in front of the tv. I plan on hitting the South Holston in the morning to put a small dent in this bunch and sore lip a couple of fish.
Guide-Josh McFadden
423.367.8618
guide@hatchhunters.com
I met Ken at the shop this morning, he was trying to get in a quick half day wade while his sons were at a golf tourney in Abingdon. We got suited up and went to a good spot down river to wade. The nymph bite this morning was quite strange. All of the fish we caught all morning were on midges even through 2 pm in the afternoon. I’m not sure if it was the weather that had the fish put down or just the ever changing generation schedule. But they were on the midge. They wouldn’t even consider a nymph. Both browns and rainbows at midges and scuds very well. As the water was about to show up we moved down river for a little while to find more midging fish and stuck several more fish down there. While Ken was finishing up at a spot with a few lasts casts before he had to get on his way. A roar broke the silence of the pool. Some guys upriver, whom apparently weren’t privy to the tailwater experience were wet wading. One of the guys wet wading was shall we say, very impressed with how cold the water was. Shouting something to the effect of “It’s so cold! Why’s the water so cold! It SUMMERTIME!” I suppose he was expecting to step into bath water. Ken and I shared a good laugh over that one. Well, Ken had to get back to see his sons on the last couple of holes in Abingdon. So I took Ken back up to the shop and met up with my friend Greg and hooked to the boat for an quick afternoon float. Now they started generating early today at 11 insted of the usual 12 or 1 schedule. So Greg and I dropped the boat in the water and I ran the truck down to Jack’s. I was after one thing only for a quick afternoon float and that was dry fly only. Plus I only brought the 4wt with so nymphing wasn’t much of an option anyhow. We rigged up and floated down to the first likely strech we could get into dries. As usual they were rising but in signifigantly fewer numbers than in weeks past. I tied on the old reliable 16 and gave Greg a Cripple to tie on. With in the first few casts I was into fish. I had 3 fish on in short order. Greg had 1 fish come up after the cripple and he missed the hookset. So I gave him a 16 comparadun I tied. We picked up fish in the usual places. In one spot Greg and I missed a 15 inch and 17 inch fish respectively. So they were still eating, but again just not in the numbers we’ve been accustomed to. We decided to pass up some rising fish for better spots down river. We anchored up in one of the favorite spots down river and I caught two 14 inch fish back to back which is always fun on the 4wt. As the dry action stopped we rowed out and took off the water @5:45. Passing Matt on the river his guys were picking up quite a few fish on nymphs. So that’s good news. So be it the over cast skies or the fluctuating generation schedule the fishing was a little irregular today. Still not bad, It’s never bad here but just different.
We’ll have to see what the next few days have in store.
Hopefully rain
“Tight Lines in 2010″
Guide-Josh McFadden
423.367.8618
guide@hatchhunters.com
Posted in Reports, South Holston River
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Tagged #16 Comparadun, Cripple, Dry Fly Fishing, Float, Generation Schedule, Hatch, Midge, Nymph, Over Cast, South Holston River, Wade
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I met with Joe in Elizabethton for a full day on the Watauga on Friday. We had plans of floating the South Holston, when we recieved the curve ball of no generation on Friday. So we hit the Watauga. Joe is a very accomplished angler whom could do everything a guide could want. So we rigged up 4 rods and hit the river tournament style. I rowed out into the first stretch. I gave Joe and nymph rig with a Crusader and a midge on. As soon as the flies hit the water before he could really think about making a cast. He had to set the hook on a nice rainbow. We worked down through the river slowly throwing nymphs in the runs, streamer fishing the flat water, and dry dropper and terrestrial fishing the rest. The upper stretch of the QTZ float is nymph fishing very well right now. The Crusader more than proved itself over on the Watauga as well. Joe easily caught fish in the ranks of a 40-50 fish day. Two thirds of those fish came on a Crusader or the midge and the others we pulled out of the deep water on a very bright streamer. I had a great day out on the water with Joe. It’s a pleasure to guide someone who can mend and cast well. You just know your in for a banner day. On a side note we were pulled over by a TWRA officer near the ledges. He went through the full drill. Liscense check, Life Jacket Check, Cooler Check. It was good to see them out. So be prepared for that.
Be Safe
Guide-Josh McFadden
423.367.8618
guide@hatchhunters.com
Posted in Reports, Watauga River
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Tagged Casting, Crusader, Dry Fly, Float, Mending, Midge, Nymph, Streamer, Terrestrial, TVA, TWRA, Watauga River
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They were stunning.
