July 3rd Southeast Fishing Report.

A heat wave has hit the US with a vengeance. Here in east Tennessee we've seen triple digit temperatures for the first time since 2007. We broke all time high records four days in a row over the end of last week. Luckily, it feels like things are starting to move more towards normal summer patterns. The fishing has remained productive despite the high air temperature. Our tailwaters are supplying cold, clean flows as the demand for electricity increases. Watch the flow schedules and plan your trip for the best flows. Clinch River. Norris Lake is still 3' below normal summer pool. The discharge water temperatures range from 45 degrees in the early morning to 52 degrees late in the day. We should continue to see fishable flows here for mos of the summer. Power demand will probably mean higher afternoon flows. The fishing has remained productive. The bite is noticeably better during the early morning hours until mid day. Fishing during the high sun requires longer, finer leaders and more accurate presentations. Keep your indicators small to match your nymphs and midge patterns. We're seeing a solid #20 - #22 black caddis emergence every day. The fish are on the emergers and your presentation should be slightly below the surface. Still seeing some sulfurs, making a sulfur dun a great indicator/point fly. Hiwassee River. The Wass' has two faces right now. Low water flows in the mornings, then high flows during the late morning and afternoons. The low flows are good for wading anglers, but the fish like the colder releases and tend to be a little sluggish during low water. Generation releases are dumping 55 degree water into the tailrace and that's when we're targeting our drift boat trips. The HI' is doing what it does every summer, providing dependable dry fly fishing. The Isonychias are emerging, along with several species of caddis, a lot of baetis, and a few sulfurs. Bugger/nymph fishing is still a strong producer, but a iso/bwo setup is doing equally as well. We enjoy the dry fly action so that's what we've been doing. As usual, the Hiwassee doesn't produce the largest fish but there's plenty of them with the occasional nice fish mixed in. Cumberland River. The Cumby is back. The USCOE is giving floatable windows every day now. The water clarity is good and the water temperatures are great for this time of year. Now's the time to fish the Cumberland River. The fishing has been good. Look for fish in the riffles and eddy lines. Various nymphs are working well as long as you can get a good drift along the bottom. Pheasant tails and prince nymphs are top producers now along with standard beadhead midge patterns. The next two months will hold some really great dry fly fishing. Give us a call for more information about a summer time Cumberland River Guided Float Trip. Holston River. The Holston has a couple different options right now. Trout fishing has remained solid on the upper river during low and falling water conditions. The lower river has seen really good smallmouth with some fair trout mixed in. The smallies are active on a variety of poppers and streamers while the trout are working on midges, crane flies and olives. Hope everyone has a safe and fun Independence Day. Remember, despite some recent rains, fireworks should still be used with extreme caution to prevent fires.