Elk River Fishing Report 2015

We have all heard of the Dog Days of Summer, otherwise known as hopper season, and now we have the Dog Days of Winter. The Dog Days of Winter are easily identified when temperatures dip into the single digits and Ginger the Non-Fishing Dog won't even lift her head when the door is opened. Nope the warm wood floor is fine by her, thank you very much...and drop some food in the bowl before heading to the river. So with everyone else still lazing around the house it was up to me to get out in the eight degree temps to see what's happening on the tailwaters of Middle TN. Every man needs a mission right?

Anglers will be happy to know that in spite of all the rain, high water and heavy releases, the fish are still hungry on our tailwaters. That's right they still have to eat and if an angler can catch some falling water, well it's recommend.

There has been ice on all the rivers. Not that the rivers are frozen over because that is certainly not the case. But there seems to be ice in all the shady areas on the bank. That may have changed since this last round of rains over the past few days. The ice makes for some nice photos and also the ice-falls show clearly where there may be a small channel coming into the river. I always wondered why fish hold right here and now I know...or at least I think I know.

The fly of choice has been the nymph. We fished streamers until arms began to get sore with very little action. It was amazing how much better the nymph performed. So we settled into nymphs and hit all the structure. The structure may have been a blowdown, a ledge, or just a channel, but whenever we found some structure we fished it. We fished it and the fish responded.

The fish responded from most every place thought they should be hiding. There is one brown that we have lost with three different anglers over the past few months. This fish is sitting at the upstream side of a very large root ball. The nymphs have been going into the spot on near perfect drifts. The fish ate more than three times, but we've only had three solid hook ups. Of those hook-ups we had on clear break of the tippet and two short fights and just enough time to get to know the fish. So the story goes on and we will keep trying to bring this fish to the net. It is just another reason we keep going to the river during the "Dog Days of Winter". 

To see the latest fishing report click here and for more booking information see our Homepage.  If you are a seasoned angler or have never picked up a fly rod and want to set up a day on the river just email or call/text 615-796-5143 to book a day on the water.