South Holston River Report for
(Click thumbs above for a South Holston River slide-show)
Debbie Griffith with fat South Holston River brown trout on July 20, 2010 (click image for full-size)
It's Sulphur season to the max! Sulphurs are pouring off on high water, and the fish are all over them. High-water dry fly fishing on the South Holston River has to be one of the best fly fishing experiences an angler can have: the high water provides a sense of cover and safety for the trout (though it may be a false sense of safety), which lets us put the boat a lot closer than is possible on low water. That makes the cast less of a challenge, but the heavy current negates that positive effect by making the drift--and required mends--a bigger challenge.
But we'll take that challenge any day, for the chance to drift a dry into the jaws of a South Holston trout. The TVA has been kind enough to turn the spigots on around mid-day lately, letting us walk/wade the morning and get the kinks out with good nymphing action. Then we put in the boat and whack 'em on dries until dark.
That's just what we did with Debbie Griffith and Denise Bruner on Tuesday, July 20: Altamont Anglers guide Teo Whitlock, Debbie and Denise spent the morning walk/wading and fine-tuning the cast and drift in preparation for the afternoon TVA generation. The generation of cold water and heavy current creates a crowd of Sulphurs and thins the crowd of anglerss--you can't fish this heavy water without a boat!
Let's go fishin'!
Bill Matyi with typical South Holston River brown trout on July 3, 2010 (click image for full-size)
Best dry-fly fishing of the year--and only one other boat on the water!
Jason Thaler with a South Holston brownie caught on a #16 Sulphur Compardun, July 5, 2010 (click image for full-size)
Teo Whitlock with a fine South Holston River brown trout (click image to enlarge).
(Altamont Anglers operates on Pisgah National Forest Rivers under USDA Forest Service Permit #PIS6560)
