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.
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
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.
I met up with Jim & Jim (Father and Son)on Thursday for an afternoon half day float on the South Holston. The sulphur hatch was as big as has been in the last few weeks. Dry fly fishing was the name of the game so I rowed down a ways from the grates where I knew we would find some dry fly action. On the short row down, Jim (Father) was counting the sulphurs he could see where there were just a few as the hatch was starting. I told him that it would be the last time that he’d be able to count them. Like clockwork the sulphurs started to pour off with fish eating them right away. The CDC Comparadun in a #16 was the order of the afternoon so that’s what we stuck with. We caught quite a few and here’s a few pics of the nicer ones.
The hatch died down as usual around 5pm and we picked up a few fish on nymphs before the takeout as well.
It can’t be said enough that the dry fly fishing on this river is like no other.
I came up with this fly a few weeks ago. It came about through several ideas that I had. I like the look of a wingcase that extends over the back of a nymph similar to Sloans Mighty May but I wanted it to be soft and gummy feeling to the fish. I think that fish tend to hold onto a fly a little longer if it’s not too hard feeling and has a little bite. I had these rubber legs around from when I was tying rubber leg princes a few years ago. This fly has produced very well for me in the last few weeks wading on low water on the South Holston. Fish ate this fly 3-1 over a split case nymph which says a whole lot of it’s effectiveness. If it works on this river it will most likely work anywhere mayfly nymphs are very prevalent. The fly has a lot going for it in the trigger department. The rubber tails which are split kick back and forth in the current and when the fly is sinking down. The segmented abdomen makes it look very realistic with the d rib. I recommend you tie some up to fish on the South Holston or for your home waters.
Crusader Nymph
by Josh McFadden
TMC 9300 #16
3/32 Tungsten Bead
Black 8/0 Thread
Micro Centipede Legs for Tails
Small Vinyl D-Rib
Brown Muskrat Dubbing
Partridge Legs
Black 1/8 inch Scudback
