Technical Tips From Southeastern Fly and Fishing Reports from Around the US.

As some of you know I have been writing articles for the Little River Journal. I have just finished the first of a two part series on tailwater fishing. For those of you who have signed up to receive the Journal look for a new article in the upcoming edition. For those of you who have not signed up here is a link just scroll to the bottom of the page and you will see the Journal Logo. Signing up for the Journal is painless and it comes to your email.

The article has some interesting observations that I have made and opinions I have formed over the years, as well as some things I have learned from others. I hope you find it enjoyable, here is a small portion of Observations from the Tailwaters part I:



Ledges
There are several tailwaters in the Southeast that have ledges which seem to run miles upon miles. A ledge is not always just a large drop; sometimes a ledge can be as short as just two or three inches. A 6” – 8” ledge is large enough to provide cover for almost any trout in the river.

The South Holston, located in Upper East Tennessee, is a tailwater with multiple ledges for most of the upper river, arguably providing some of the best cover for fish in the Southeast. The majority of the ledges are of the smaller variety, but some can be larger and measured in feet. Most ledges are large enough to support the large trout that South Holston has become known for over the years.

It is surprising how large fish will support themselves against a small ledge. Usually, the fish can be found holding just below the structure, as it provides a nice current break and an opportunity to rest. A long section of ledges can also produce additional dissolved oxygen.

This is just a small portion of the part I.

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To help keep everyone in the loop with what’s going on in the world of fly fishing here is the second Fly Fishing Report from Around the US. I’ve touched base with some old friends in the fly fishing and guiding business from around the United States. These folks have agreed to give us fishing reports. See the Resources Page for their information.

I will kick off the reports this month from Middle TN:

The Caney Fork is still producing some of the best floats for Southeastern Fly here in Middle TN. This weekend the Army Corps. is cranking some generation, but when the water is turned back to one generator it will be time to fish the "Big Uglies" (marabou and deer hair) again. The fish have been extremely cooperative this year as past reports indicate.

The Elk River- Check back at the beginning of next week for this weekends trip.

Idaho:
The Henry's Fork- Thanks to Jeff Etnyre of Hyde Boats for this report.

Nymphing is still pretty effective. Midges will be the name of the game for a while until water temperatures warm up. When this happens, we'll start seeing blue winged olives. After eating tiny midges all winter, the fish look forward to the first mayfly hatch of the season.

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Kathy Robinson from Robinson Brothers Guide Service in Apalachicola, Florida sent us this report:

Its Official!! The Pompano just began showing up in the last week or so. We heard rumors that a fish or two were caught off the beach but for our purposes, yesterday was the day! Both Capt. Tommy Holland and Capt. Dave Armentrout caught their first pompano on March 19th. Still waiting to hear if Capt. Nathan Donahoe has boated his yet or not, but the mild sunny days we've had the past few days have definitely made the difference.

Spring Break is in full swing on the Forgotten Coast - maybe not quite as crazy-busy as in years past but that just means there's less traffic and quicker service in area restaurants. The inshore fishing has been over the top and we are looking forward to a banner month in April.

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North Georgia:

Kent Klewin of Real Job Fly Fishing says- The Toccoa River trout fishing has picked up the last week and we expect it to only get better with the warming trend in weather. The dun caddis have been hatching in low numbers but we are expecting there to be a heavy hatch during the beginning of this month. Blue Wing Olive patterns are still a go to pattern on overcast rainy days when they tend to hatch. Midge adults are hatching sporadically and there's a constant stream of midge larva in the foam lines available to the trout at all times. If warm weather continues we can expect to start seeing our spring mayfly hatches to begin.

Thanks to everyone who makes these reports possible.

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Also, I want to give a Shout Out to everyone from the Cohutta Chapter TU and thank them for the press in their Newsletter. I look forward to floating with some of you this summer here in Middle TN.

So, there we have a few things to browse while getting ready to hit the river. This weekend will be very nice in the Southeast and I am going to take advantage of the nice weather. Trips are being booked, which is a plus and I have set aside some time for my own fishing as well. When you get ready to book a trip I appreciate the consideration to help make your trip to Middle TN and enjoyable one. Click Here To Start @ The Home Page & Book Your Trip Now.

Pre-Spring Caney Fork Streamer Fishing

We started the float at Center Hill Dam early on Friday morning. I was joined by James C., Mike, Rob and Robb. James is a local who fishes the Caney and the Elk. Mike is from the Middle Tennessee area, but hasn’t fished with a fly rod in years, but caught on quick. With one generator running Mike picked up on the 8 weight and streamer fishing remarkably fast. Rob and Robb are bass fly fishermen from Ottawa, which is just across the border in Canada and Northwest of the Adirondacks. The group was participating in a "Team Building Exercise".

Rob and Robb were heading back to the frozen North on Saturday, so all four took a much deserved day off and booked a trip to the Caney Fork for some fly fishing. It was a little cool and damp, but for the first time in several weeks the wind was down. This is a positive change from previous reports and I for one am glad for the less windy days.

Since there were four fly fishermen on this trip I grabbed the services of fellow guide Mark Roberts. Mark did an outstanding job putting his boat on fish and serving up the food while I attended to fly rods at lunch. Thanks Mark.

We threw everything we had at them on this trip. We had flashes on every color but we grabbed the most fish on white. At one point during the morning a fish came up to and pushed a yellow Zonker about six inches, but didn’t eat it. That has been happening some this year, but this time it was in more shallow water. I had a good look at the fish when it moved the fly right out of its zone. This was pretty interesting stuff to say the least.

We took an extended float, so when we finally hit the ramp at dark everyone was pretty tired from casting buck tail and marabou. The rain set in just as we tied down the boats and loaded the rods. I can type on and on, but the photos tell a much better story than I can. Let's start off with the first fish of the day, just after we shoved off…

James Removes the Skunk with the First Fish of the Day Just a Few Yards from the Ramp

Rob with a Brown Caught on a Streamer

Mike's First Brown on a Streamer

One of the Few Brookies Caught

Mike and Mark Discuss Technique

James with Another Brown, Released Itself in the Net (that was close)

Robb's Brown of the Day

Rob's Bet Winning Brown (the first brown 18 or over) Pay-up Guys

The Group Just Before Lunch

A Nice Caney Fork Fish

Mike Takes in the Scenery at Lunch

Thanks James, Mike, Rob and Robb. I appreciate it and look forward to the next time.
David

Fly Fishing Little Red River (part II)

During the first day of floating we did manage to drown a few nymphs. BHPT's and sow bugs worked best. Gary was throwing his newest rod, which was a St Croix that he built himself. This rod added an easy 20 feet to his cast.

Gary's First Fish On The First Rod He Built Himself

The browns in the Little Red River are something to behold. Yes, there are some that were much bigger than we are showing here. But these are some of the most colorful fish I have seen in a while. Check out the tail color on the one above.

This Brown Was Fooled By A Nymph

Nymphs and sow bugs were the flies of the weekend. We drifted them below indicators, between wind gusts. Almost every nymph we tried brought fish to the boat. As long as we could get a clean drift, usually in the more swift water, we could hook up. But, if the wind grabbed hold of the line or the indicator, or both we couldn't even hook-up on a trash fish. Like I said before larger fish were taken on marabou and bucktail, which is our favorite way to fish.

A Pit Stop For Lunch And Then We Resumed Throwing The Big Stuff

Sometimes the best fish of the day comes just after dark. On the long float as we were rowing out, below John's Pocket and above Winkley Shoal, we hooked up on a fish that felt to be one of those large browns for which the Little Red has become famous. The big stuff was working and when we return we will have an even larger arsenal of big flies to offer up. When we finally got the fish to the boat it was a slightly over-sized brown, but not that 40 pounder we were looking to catch. Once we un-hooked and released the fish we resumed the long row out.

This One Was Caught After Hours

Fly Fishing the Little Red River

We’ve been planning our trip to the Little Red River for about three months. I was part of a group who were invited to spend a weekend at a friend's riverside home on the Little Red. Usually we take a spring trip and this time we slipped away a little early in the year to do a bit of fishing in one of Arkansas’ most celebrated trout rivers.

The Accommodations & the Drifter

We were on the road headed West just after lunch on Thursday, with a quick stop in Memphis to pick up the keys, as well as the guy who owns the keys, we were on the road headed West again. We managed to make a few stops along the way, including a stop to check out the new Supreme boats at a local dealer. These are nice rigs with plenty of space and an excellent design to draw very little water. The side trips delayed our progress a little, but we made it safely and in time to do a bit of night fishing with Big Ugly Streamers.

The Pyramid....A Possible New Location For Bass Pro

We Had Plenty of Windshield Time. Glad To See Arkansas

Friday morning we stopped in the Little Red Fly Shop for a few flies and some information about the float of the day. I was a little worried about the wind, but we figured with all the turns we would be OK for at least part of our float…The part of our float that had the least wind was after dark and what seemed like well beyond after dark and just before first light the next morning.

The Arsenal Hanging Up & Ready To Go

We launched the drifters from JFK Park about 11:00 a.m. for a 19,000 mile OK, OK, a 10 mile float. Yep, it was already late and we knew we had potential to be on an unknown river after dark. A little adventure is sometimes needed to keep life interesting. Throw in a few slaps of a beaver’s tail and you know exactly what I mean by “adventure”.

The Little Red River and Sugarloaf Mountain, Arkansas

There are some long flat water stretches on the Little Red which are tough on a fly fisher person, but there are also a good number shoals, stumps and other structure to make the float very interesting. One of the best parts of our float was below Cow Shoals. There are cold water springs, lots of structure and uneven bottom. Throw in a few bends, runs and shoals and you get me drift. We caught the majority of our fish in this section. But, the scenery of the river through this area was as good as a river East of the Rockies and West of the Smoky’s gets.

There Were A lot of These....Geese and Docks

On the more technical side we threw big nasty streamers into the wind, most of the day Friday, with some luck. Throwing to the bank and stripping back worked pretty good. Swimming the fly with various retrieves worked the best…..again. To pick up the numbers of fish we threw nymphs, midge patterns and/or sow bugs. Sow bugs became compassionately know as “Flat Bastards” Only, because sow bug sounds a little too bland for our taste. Naturally I threw a #12 BHPT with a big tungsten bead. After a while I only switched out the dropper to other patterns and consistently the #12 BHPT would out fish all the other flies I tried.

All Natural Brown Trout With Very Big Pecks

The Little Red and the hospitality were outstanding. Below are a few pictures of our trip, with rest to follow in Part II later this week. We have some trips on the books, in and around Middle Tennessee, so look for those reports as well. I hope you enjoy the photos and report.

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This Guy Never Moved The Entire Weekend

Polls Have Closed

Over 83% of the anglers who voted on the recent poll want to see more techniques. And, the rest of the anglers want to see the reports from around the country. We can do that. Already in the reports I have begun to add a little about the techniques used to catch some of the fish we have been catching. In the coming weeks and reports look for additional information on what we used and how we fish what we use.

Update- today I have been tying flies for our trip to Heber Springs and the Little Red River. I've got several full boxes of flies and some other stuff lying around in the bottom of bags. Also, I can always get some flies out of the bottom of the boat, if worse comes to worse.

Anyway, when we get back there are a few trips lined up and I am working on an outing for a weekend with an old friend. So, it looks like there will be plenty to report-on in the coming weeks and months.

Hope to see you on the river and thanks for stopping by.

DP

Polls Are About To Close

Judging from the "What Information Would You Like To See From Southeastern Fly?" poll results, on the right side of this blog, most of the people want More Fishing Techniques. I've been watching the poll and as I have written the last few articles I've been incorporating more fishing techniques into each article. Also, I will keep in contact with guides from around the US and keep those Additional Fishing Reports coming.

Thank you to those who have responded and for those who are mulling it over...well go ahead and cast your vote.

Again thanks for taking the time to stop by.
DP

Doctors Notes and Sailboats

The day started off cool and windy. The forecast called for windy and warm, with a front coming through after lunch. There would be no place to hide from the wind today.

The Front Rolls In

After stopping for the morning coffee Anthony brought out his doctors note that said he was not allowed to row, however fishing would be therapeutic. I continued to sip my coffee… We launched at the dam with Anthony at the oars.

The warming trend was right on schedule as the day heated up pretty quick. Because it is February the custom in my boat is to throw streamers as long as the shoulder allows. Dan boated 4 fish in the first hour as we continued with Anthony at the oars. I was trying some new bucktails which were producing a flash, a tug and fish, but nothing to write home about.

Anthony At Rest On The Oars

PM Rain / Snow / Wind

High 51° F

There were bugs on the water early in the day, which is a good thing to see in February. We are not just talking midges here either. With the wind blowing the fish were hit or miss and everyone we talked to seemed to be struggling just a little. There were a lot of boats on the river today and for the most part all were courteous.

	Date	Time (Central)	Generators
	2/21/2009	midnight - 5am	0
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Center Hill Dam Water Release Schedule

A slow swim was the retrieve for the day as the fish seemed to be hunkered down and waiting for the front to blow through. Swimming the Fly- (definition) Feeling the fly in the tip of the rod as you strip or swing the fly.

From observation only: It doesn’t matter which type of strip you prefer, whether the jerk strip, a slow wrist strip or a full on strip with the sweep of your arm, always try and keep some contact in with the fly in the tip of the rod. Predatory fish do not like to see prey-fish fall. We’ve been choosing flies, for the most part, that flutter and rise when stopped. Several times throughout February and really since the beginning of this streamer season the fish have taken advantage of a fly that has stopped the forward progression and began to flutter to surface.

Dan Holds A Nice Brown

I ran through the color chart pretty quick with white winning the day. Yellow worked for the most part on brookies and an all natural Matuka rounded out the day and one of the many slams. Bucktails and Marabou are really a great way to fish.

Just for kicks and for shoulder relief, I drowned a nymph/ midge combo. Within 20 feet of the first drift a rainbow took the Dan-O-Magic that was hanging just below a BHPT. This tells me the fish are still keyed into bugs. The 5 wt went back into the rod holder and in favor of the 8 wt I had been throwing all day.

A Future Predator

Perspective-(definition) one's "point of view”. Everyone wants that “big fish” and everyone wants to be a “trophy hunter”. I have to admit it is a lot of fun to catch those bigger fish. The fight with the bigger fish is a challenge and the accomplishment makes for a great day. If you’ve been watching On The Rise you see the crew traveling all over the country chasing trout. For the most part, except for their upcoming Arkansas episode, Frank is catching normal size fish. He is not hooking up on fish much bigger than the 15-16” and sometimes is happy with an 11” trout. Over the past couple of months I have noticed a trend, both in my boat and from conversation within the fly fishing and even the bait community. After catching bigger fish it seems difficult to appreciate a 14-16” trout. It is funny to me how later in the year, after the weather warms and traffic on the river gets back to 40 and 50 watercraft and just as many waders, we will be saying those 16” fish make our day. I guess it is all relevant to the time of year and sometimes how hard the wind is blowing…

Sunday’s Streamer Tactics on the Caney Fork

It was cold Sunday morning as we pushed off from the ramp. The moon was just coming off full and the skies were as blue as the typical February day would allow. There was not a threat of rain; however the weather guessers had called for clouds. The clouds weren’t there when we left the ramp, so we thought our plans of throwing streamers may need to be changed. But, it is important to stick with a plan, if you have a plan, and today the plan was to throw buck tail and marabou.

The Moon Phase

It was cold Sunday morning as we pushed off from the ramp. The moon was just coming off full and the skies were as blue as the typical February day would allow. There was not a threat of rain; however the weather guessers had called for clouds. The clouds weren’t there when we left the ramp, so we thought our plans of throwing streamers may need to be changed. But, it is important to stick with a plan, if you have a plan, and today the plan was to throw bucktail and marabou.

	Date	Time (Central)	Generators
	2/15/2009	midnight - 6am	0
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The Center Hill Dam Water Release

David K. and Anthony were on the boat with me and I decided to test out their arm strength over a long day of eight weights and hopefully bigger fish. There were several things I wanted to try and these two can cast well enough and know how to fish well enough to try some different things.

We dug into the bag of tricks early and began throwing some tandem rigs. We tried a couple different colors and some rigs with the same colors. That seemed to work well early on, but as the float continued we decided to concentrate more on color and technique than on the number of flies tied to the tippet.

There are a lot of things that seem to matter when fishing streamers. We have heard them before: the right cast, a quick strip, a slow strip, look for rocks, and don’t look for rocks. It can get confusing, but the rewards can be great if you stick with the plan.

Swimming the Fly- (definition) Feeling the fly in the tip of the rod as you strip or swing the fly.

Over the past several floats I have been concentrating on how to fish different patterns. Brent and Mark learned last week. Anthony and David K. produced fish this week. A Matuka should be fished completely different than a Clouser. This is not to say either fly is better, just different. My newest term….well new to me anyway is “Swimming the fly”.

Anyway back to our day. We caught several good fish on several different patterns. Yes I did get my turn in the casting brace and yes the brown was a nice fish. Part of the excitement about streamer fishing is the flashes, the follows and the visible takes on the fly.

The River Will Hold A Surprise Or Two

The brown above came up from the bottom and hit the fly in a position within the water column that I couldn’t see. When the fish hit the fly, I gave a little more insurance with a strip set on the rod and then the fish went to the bottom to eat its prey. After several tugs and headshakes the fish began the process of trying to break loose by going under a log in the river and shaking its head against the bottom some more. Anthony dropped the anchor to stop our descent downstream while the fish and I continued our game of give and take. Finally, the fish stopped moving for a long enough period of time that we thought it may have been wedged under the log for good. The only thing left to do was stick the rod straight down in the water and give a few tugs, which I hoped would break the fish free and we could play another round of tug. I must have looked funny leaned over the side of the boat with the rod stuck down, in the water, almost to the grip. Finally the fish came out from the log, made a short run and then started coming to the boat. This fish would make runs that took a little time to get up to speed, similar to a locomotive pulling from a stop. A couple short runs later from the fish......with me switching the rod position to apply side pressure, the fish came to the net.

We spent quite a while reviving the fish in the net, then outside the net. When the fish made the decision to leave it only took a couple of kicks from the big tail to get up to speed and back to the bottom it went. A friend of mine had given me a fine Cuban cigar and the only thing left to do was to light the cigar and enjoy the moment.

David K With Yet Another One Of His Browns

David K. is an accomplished nymph and midge fisherman. He tied up his nymph and midge rod and we soon got into some dead drifting action under the indicator. With David K. on the dead drift and Anthony still throwing the streamers we cruised through some nice water. David K. hooked some fish on his rig, but soon was back on the 8 weight lobbing those three inch morsels to the trout in the Caney Fork.

Anthony Gets His Shot With A Nice Brown Trout

I have to say that Anthony has become one of the better streamer fishermen I have seen in a while. He’s not Kelly Galloup, but he boats more fish of size in a trip than most folks boat in two trips. This is why he will be working diligently on his rowing techniques for awhile.

Anthony Gets His Shot With Another Nice Brown Trout

If you want to catch some healthy fish it is a good time to be out on the water. Be careful when wading, because there are some boats on the river who don’t always understand how a wake affects a wading fisherman.

For those who are considering booking a trip, the past several trips have been good and people are seemingly satisfied with their choice to fish over watch TV. We can fish some nymph rigs and sometimes that is a good thing to slow the pace of life down. If you want to fish streamers and throw some marabou the next two months have historically been great days to be on the river.

What Information Would You Like To See From Southeastern Fly?

In an effort to give the folks who read this blog the information they might be looking for, I have created a poll over to the right side of the page. Please take a moment to review the poll and vote for your preference. Also, if there is additional info you would like to see on the blog, but is not on the poll, just drop me an email at diperry@mindspring.com .

A Day Fly Fishing The Caney Fork River....With Brent & Mark

After a real good Friday on the river I was back on the water again today. This time Mark S. and Brent F. from Chattanooga, TN came aboard to throw those streamers at the trout on the Caney Fork. The generation was good for this type of fishing and the temperature was as good as it gets for a February day. It started off cloudy and then cleared at lunch time. Then a change back to cloudy for a while....then just dark.

Releases

	Date	Time (Central)	Generators
	2/8/2009	midnight - 5am	0
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Brent and Mark can really lay the line out and it only took them a little bit of time to get used to the rods and line I had set up for today's fishing. We fished the Caney with streamers again because it had been working well over the past few trips. The river did not disappoint.

Brent started the day off with a nice brown only a short way from the ramp. Then he hooked and landed what he said was the largest trout he had ever caught. It was an aggressive brown that was parked next to some rocks on the bank. Brent did a great job on the rod and got the brown on the reel so we could listen to the drag as the fish sped down stream shaking its head. We got the fish in the boat and took the necessary hero shot. Then we made darn sure the fish was strong enough to swim away. With a couple kicks of the tail it was off back to the rocks where it all started.

Brent's Brown...Keep That Rod Tip Down Toward The Water

No one really knows what they are going to find in the water or on the bank for that matter. And, every once in a while a fine little nugget will show up. Today was not one of those days, but we did find "a once nice" rod and reel combo in the river. There is no telling how long it has been there, but from all appearances, and with the vegetation it had gathered, the combo had been there a while.

If This Is Yours Let Me Know....Yes It Still Works

Brent tagged another fish or two before Mark got into a rhythm of cast and strip. But when Mark came on, he came on big. Mark learned the value of keeping that rod tip toward the water and stripping a short while later and hooked into a nice rainbow that was holding near a downed stump. The fight was fun to watch as the fish rocketed toward the boat while Mark stripped line as fast as he could make his hand move. After a few moments the rainbow was in the net and then secured its chance for the photo-op. We told that rainbow to go tell all its friends it got it's picture taken and then released the fish back into the river. OK we didn't really say that.

Mark's Rainbow...That Is Just A Bloody Lip

I have decided to add an addition to the shore lunch. Not because my clients demand it, not because they are good luck, but, only because dangit I really like Golden Oreos! It doesn't take much to please me that's for sure.

33" of Golden Oreos! It's The Little Things In Life...
(47" on the Caney Conversion Chart)

Mark and Brent were a pleasure to have aboard today. They listened when they needed to listen and they could place their flies where the flies needed to be placed. The guys boated a healthy number of healthy fish today and hopefully learned a technique that will help them with their fishing in the future.

Streamers are exiting because the fish are usually aggressive and you can watch them strike the fly if you have it at the correct depth. My plans are to continue to throw the big stuff as long as possible, but nymph and midge water levels are just around the corner.

For the next month or so the generation should give us the best of both worlds. If you want to throw streamers early and drift the bugs late we can hook you up on both techniques.

The Drifter At Lunch