Rainbow Trout Fishing Reports

This week I helped out the vets at project healing waters. What I do is take them fly fishing. It's a way to keep their mind off of their troubles. As you can see I put them on some fish. It was the least I could do for so many who help to keep America free!!! Thank you all who served!!!

This week I helped out the vets at project healing waters. What I do is take them fly fishing. It's a way to keep their mind off of their troubles. As you can see I put them on some fish. It was the least I could do for so many who help to keep America free!!! Thank you all who served!!!

This week I helped out the vets at project healing waters. What I do is take them fly fishing. It's a way to keep their mind off of their troubles. As you can see I put them on some fish. It was the least I could do for so many who help to keep America free!!! Thank you all who served!!!

Cooler weather in the morning has made it necessary to break out the waders. First time since early spring. This means the water temperature has dropped greatly. Fish are biting very good. Look for the iso hatch soon and a few PMD's. Caddis has always been a good fly for this river.

Heading into fall and steelhead season looks like it will remain open! Reports that are trickling in from the Lower River are very positive and optimistic for a decent or at least average season. So good news. Trending back toward average or even fishable is a plus. We just got back from the Owyhee and dove right into to our upper river trout trips and have not had a chance to chase steel just yet but can’t wait. In fact, with a token day off circled on the calendar, some steelheading for us is on the docket! Can’t wait. It is not often we get to hold cork ourselves and fish so, I guess we “have to” go see how the run is shaping up and do some “research”. Stay tuned. Looking forward to sharing some grip and grins. We have some spots open for steel in the fall, and if you missed a season, this could be the time to get that fix. Fall trout fishing can be really good. Combo trout and steelhead and camping in the canyon and you have a winner of a trip. Shoot, fall trout fishing and not even targeting steelhead normally sees some incidental chrome bonus. Or we can just strictly focus on steelhead and swing away. Choose your weapon and fish of choice. That is the beauty of the Deschutes. Steelhead tactics remain unchanged… classic swing. Dry lines in the low light with your go to confidence flies (GB Skunks, Purple Peril.. you know). Sink tips for sun on the water or shade up and nap before evening swing shade sessions. You can nymph more trouty type steelhead riffles and lies too or mid-day. That is the beauty with steelhead, doesn’t change much and not a super scientific match the hatch game. Reading water and where the prime lies are, having fish actually around and being there when they are in a grabby making poor life decisions mood have more to do with it than the magic fly. Yes, it takes years to learn the fine nuances of how and where they are, that separates the steelhead Jedis that consistently catch fish and the steelheaders that get more casting practice than fighting fish. Trout- look for tail end of caddis activity, an uptick in BWOs, possible Mahogany duns, and October caddis. Normally October caddis we don’t focus on a ton, but if you see a monster rise under a tree (think salmon fly take), that is a fish keyed on October Caddis and they are normally soft pitch to get to eat a big dry. Fall is a mix of dry/drop, a little more indicator fishing with at least one big stone type nymph in the mix (random steelhead producer) and looking for fish on dries when you see hatches develop.

The dog day of summer mean its time to escape the heat and head for the headwaters and small streams of North Georgia or the cooled tailwaters of the Chattahoochee River or Toccoa River. The dry fly bite has been excellent. Trout can be caught on a myriad of flies as all insects are present. Stoneflies, mayflies, caddis and terrestrial imitations will catch fish throughout the day. If you are out at an odd time when trout don't want to rise add a small/simple dropper fly below your dry. Majority of the hatching bugs are on the small end of the spectrum with some larger mayflies showing up in the evening. The Appalachian slam (brook, brown, and rainbow trout) is still very achievable on most days. Several customers have landed theirs on half day outings since June. Be sure to keep an eye on the weather as afternoon thunderstorms can pop up quickly. For me, lightning is a quick time out, but heavy winds can be scary under a dense canopy. Chattahoochee Tailwater Fly Fishing The tailwater below Lanier is still a good bet for a shorter day on the water. The normal patterns of midges and junk flies are still catching most of the trout. The recent rains we have had have thrown a bit of a curveball at the trout but with the right adjustments you can still do well. Bigger flies or small streamers have been fishing well in the lowlight hours. For a break in the trout action, bigger groups of bass than normal have also been gathering at the mouths of creeks once water levels in the feeder creeks reside.

The Madison River is the most famous fly fishing river in the world for a reason.

A nice Beaverhead River Rainbow Trout!

Late July 2022 As we enter into the latter half of the summer here in East Tennessee, seasonal patterns are right down the fairway, and fishing has been as good as it gets. I’ll focus on the tailwaters – The Watauga River below Wilbur Dam, and the South Holston River below South Holston Dam. Our tailwaters are fed by their respective dams, and without a lot of precipitation and flow contribution from the tributaries, fishing ‘low’ water (e.g. when the dams are not releasing), particularly in the high traffic areas, is something I tend to avoid. Thankfully, for the last 6+ weeks, the Watauga has been consistently releasing good flows starting in the early afternoon, and we have a healthy amount of precipitation in the 7 day forecast both locally and in the feeder streams through TN and NC. In the last week, which was comprised of 4 full day client floats and 2 days on my own, all on the Watauga River in sections ranging from the Dam to the Lake, surface feeding activity has been consistent enough to provide anglers of nearly all skill levels with shots at brown trout and rainbow trout on dry flies. With some patience, those who have experience in dry fly fishing have landed – and lost – a few trout, both rainbow and brown, approaching 20 inches, with a lot of very sporty 10-12" wild rainbows mixed in. Generation, Dam releases, High Water, whatever you’d like to call it, opens up the river for both the angler and the predatory fish. We have been covering a lot of water, predmoninantly with a streamer rod in hand(s), while stopping for rising fish. Working risers with dry flies can easily take up half the day if that is the angler preference. Streamer fishing has produced some truly remarkable fish for a few folks who came in knowing what to do – it’s not an easy approach, but it’s certainly my favorite, and I am not alone there. For those with less fly fishing experience, or just because it’s also awesome and a change of pace, we’ll throw some fairly sizeable jerkbaits, which always has the potential to elicit some breathtaking eats from the ambush predator brown trout. Some trips go from early afternoon until dusk, while others, client schedule permitting, go past 1a.m.. Starting at 9:30p.m. as of this report (July 27 th ), I’ll break down our gear and rig up mousing rods – streamer rods with floating, glow-tip fly line – and by or before 10p.m., it will be completely dark in many of the runs and pools. While I have run, and still offer, an evening kickoff with a mousing-centric float until 4a.m., the afternoon flows, bite windows, and bug activity recently is not something to be missed. Conventional, streamer, mousing, and dry flies are all in play, and on every cast, I wouldn’t be surprised if an eat resulted in a 10" fish or a 20"+ fish. While we prefer the latter, they are the exception to the rule, though it’s been active enough to cover all of my favorite types of trout fishing as very reasonable options to boat some good fish. Oh, and it’s beetle season, so low water isn’t all bad since we can fish sections that aren’t fished by other boats. Since you’re still here, I’ll add that the stripers from Boone lake are up in the rivers in the lower halves, and feed during the flows and conditions that are prime for both streamer/jerkbait fishing and mousing. I love my office, and while it takes effort, and more often than not, a lot of it, I have had the privilege of watching others fall for it, too.

Summer heat is here for sure!!! Fishing only in the early morning. Being on the river at 6:00 am and off by 10:00. Summer heat is not good for trout. They will die if water temps are above 70 degrees which is why it's early morning only. Go up in size of your tippet and get the fish in quickly. Revive them and let them swim away. Bite has been good in the early morning. Mainly midges, soft-hackles and Caddis with the occasional PMD still coming off. Come join me in the AM and spend the rest of the day on a river float.

Summer heat is here for sure!!! Fishing only in the early morning. Being on the river at 6:00 am and off by 10:00. Summer heat is not good for trout. They will die if water temps are above 70 degrees which is why it's early morning only. Go up in size of your tippet and get the fish in quickly. Revive them and let them swim away. Bite has been good in the early morning. Mainly midges, soft-hackles and Caddis with the occasional PMD still coming off. Come join me in the AM and spend the rest of the day on a river float.

Summer heat is here for sure!!! Fishing only in the early morning. Being on the river at 6:00 am and off by 10:00. Summer heat is not good for trout. They will die if water temps are above 70 degrees which is why it's early morning only. Go up in size of your tippet and get the fish in quickly. Revive them and let them swim away. Bite has been good in the early morning. Mainly midges, soft-hackles and Caddis with the occasional PMD still coming off. Come join me in the AM and spend the rest of the day on a river float.

Summer heat is here for sure!!! Fishing only in the early morning. Being on the river at 6:00 am and off by 10:00. Summer heat is not good for trout. They will die if water temps are above 70 degrees which is why it's early morning only. Go up in size of your tippet and get the fish in quickly. Revive them and let them swim away. Bite has been good in the early morning. Mainly midges, soft-hackles and Caddis with the occasional PMD still coming off. Come join me in the AM and spend the rest of the day on a river float.

Summer heat is here for sure!!! Fishing only in the early morning. Being on the river at 6:00 am and off by 10:00. Summer heat is not good for trout. They will die if water temps are above 70 degrees which is why it's early morning only. Go up in size of your tippet and get the fish in quickly. Revive them and let them swim away. Bite has been good in the early morning. Mainly midges, soft-hackles and Caddis with the occasional PMD still coming off. Come join me in the AM and spend the rest of the day on a river float.

Summer heat is here for sure!!! Fishing only in the early morning. Being on the river at 6:00 am and off by 10:00. Summer heat is not good for trout. They will die if water temps are above 70 degrees which is why it's early morning only. Go up in size of your tippet and get the fish in quickly. Revive them and let them swim away. Bite has been good in the early morning. Mainly midges, soft-hackles and Caddis with the occasional PMD still coming off. Come join me in the AM and spend the rest of the day on a river float.