East Tennessee Guide Report

Everything changes for us tomorrow. Most of east Tennessee's kids will be starting school, and we'll be seeing less traffic on area rivers. Not that its been crowded by no means, but places like the Hiwassee are about to be a lot more peaceful. Now's the time to start planning your September and October guided float trips on one of our southern tailwaters.

Our area weather has been a little wetter than normal over the past few weeks. Pop up showers have been possible most every day. We've noticed an increase in flows at many of our trout tailwaters. The fishing has been very dependable when your floating on your target flows. We've been playing the river hop to keep us on the best fishing. Right now, we're primarily just booking the dates and deciding where to fish the night before the trip.Here's a look at my picks for the best guided float trips in east Tennessee and the southeast as we move into late summer.

Clinch River
Guided float trips on the Clinch River are still the top pick for east Tennessee. An ever changing flow schedule has kept us on our toes though. Weekend flows are still managed under the TVA Recreational Schedule. So the weekends are a sure bet. The weekday schedules are a little more sketchy and are day to day on being a go or not. Norris Lake never reached full pool this summer.

The fishing has been great. The fish have enjoyed the cooler, wet weather and the bite has shown it. Fish are not as spooky as they were a month ago, especially during the mid day hours. Our sulfurs are all but gone. I still see a stray now and then, but those are being left for the swallows. Nymph fishing under a light indicator is the bet bet for staying hooked up. Terrestrials are providing for some exciting strikes so don't be afraid of using a hopper pattern as your indicator. We're seeing our best quality fish on our guided Clinch trips.

Hiwassee River
The Hiwassee tailwater is our most dependable float trip right now. High water is great for our drift boat trips, and the trout. If we can keep seeing some rain in the watershed, we should have water well into the fall.

The fishing on the Hiwassee for trout has been pretty solid. We're not seeing many fish over 13" inches but we're catching plenty of fish. The fishing here isn't as technical as the Clinch so the trips are well suited for any skill level and anyone seeking a bent fly rod. The trout are eating dries well, including Isonychias #12, Blue Winged Olives #18 - #22 and #16 Ginger Caddis. Their also eating a variety of wet flies and nymphs with reckless abandon.

Cumberland River
The Cumberland watershed ha taken on a good dose of rain over recent weeks. Flows are much more angler friendly in the early morning hours and further downstream. The COE is releasing a large amount of water mid morning and it's best to be downstream of it to extend your fishing window.

The good news is that the fish are eating really well when the water is low. Tungsten beaded flies between #14 - #18 are working best right now. Best patterns seem to be darker nymphs with less flash and more buggy. We're still rising some trout on hoppers but the best terrestrial bite is later in the day than we've been able to fish due to the higher flows. The fish quality has been great....all fish are hard fighting and look good.

Other Rivers.
We're starting to see more opportunities to fish other local rivers now that we're doing a bit of river hopping. Two of the notable rivers are the Caney Fork River near Cookeville TN and the South Holston River near Bristol. Both Rivers should make for a great destination over the next few months. They will be a favorite choice of many of my long time clients who are looking to see some different waters. Both offer shots at trophy trout and both are fun places to toss flies.

Dodging storms on the Cumberland.

I spent Saturday on the Cumberland with some old friends. The fishing was fantastic when we were fishing. The bite was hot with us working small nymphs under light indicators. It was shaping up to be a banner day.

Unfortunately, we spent 45 minutes hunkered down on the bank, letting a close by thunderstorm pass. High water caught up with us a few hours after the storms and that was the end of our fishing. We rose a few more fish but the bite had obviously changed.

Always nice to spend the day on the Cumby.