The first official spring day is still two days away but we've been feeling spring like for a few weeks now. Weather patterns have remained inconsistent with gorgeous sunny days and cold dreary days splitting time with rain systems. This has been one of the wettest winters I can remember. We'd sure like a chance for things to dry out a bit. Hopefully, the tide will turn soon.

Our spring season has started off with a bang. High waters have kept us off a few of our rivers, but are also opening doors for us on some of our other rivers. The Hiwassee and South Holston tailwaters love the extra flow. Maybe I should say that the guides love the extra water. The high flows allow us to do drift boat trips on sections that are normally too low during the spring. We're certainly enjoying that aspect of the wetter than normal winter.

Hiwassee River The Hiwassee is on fire right now. That's about the only way I can sum it up. Current flow patterns are two turbines 24/7. This is the way we like it on the Hiwassee. The fish can spread out and utilize the entire river for feeding and cover. I temped the water yesterday afternoon and got a reading of 50 degrees. The water clarity is good with just a slight emerald color to it. Perfect conditions for guided fly fishing on the Hiwassee River. Scott N. Managed to land two doubles on St Patricks Day. A double is when and angler catches two fish on one cast with one fish eating the point fly and a second fish eating the dropper.

The fish are in great shape. It's obvious that the winter time delayed harvest has been a positive benefit for our trout. All the trout are spunky, colorful and active. The bite has been steady to incredible depending on the weather and the hatch. Early brown stoneflies are popping with regularity most days. These little stones are about a #16 and can be fished with dry or wet patterns. The Hendricksons #16 have started popping in the afternoons, especially when it's sunny. The fish will isolate on them if they are hatching in numbers. A #16 early brown stonefly

We were in luck a few days ago when it was sunny and warm. The bugs hatched out very well and the fish wore them out all day long. We fished a dry stonefly or hendrickson with #16 dropper nymphs and our lines were tight all day. When it was all said and done, we'd boated 119 fish and there's no telling how many we missed or long disntance released. The next few days were a little more modest with catch rates near fifty fish a day, but the action was still steady. The next few weeks should only get better as spring weather gains a little stronger foothold on the south.

As for our other favorite rivers....We'll, we've really not had a good opportunity to fish them much. Both the Clinch and the Holston have been giving some occasional windows, but they have been short and falling later in the day. I have spent some time pulling streamers on the Clinch on high water and was impressed with the fish I saw. I'm really looking forward to seeing some low water on these two rivers. TVA is scheduled to begin filling area lakes soon. In the meantime, we'll keep working the Hiwassee River and loving the spring hatches.

Our April calandar is filling fast. The weekend of the 6th and 7th is my only open weekend remaining. We still have some availability for weekdays so give us a call if you want in on our great spring guided fly fishing trips. HEre's a picture I snapped of a large raptor on the Hiwassee. My expert friends have identified it as an adolescent bald eagle but it bears a strong resemblance to a golden eagle.



Captain Rocky Cox

Man! What a fantastic day on the river. A light jacket morning turned into a flip flop afternoon in the driftboat. The river was on fire again today. We started on winter stoneflies as the sun hit the water and finished with a massive hendrickson hatch. We fished dry dropper all day and our lines stayed tight. My buddy kept count and he said we caught 119 trout between he and I. I don't know if we did that well but I can say we slayed'em. Can't wait to show this action off tomorrow.

We made it! We survived! Winter is over. Winter might have something to say about that though. East Tennessee received a dusting to several inches last night. Spring is fighting back though as this weekend will see highs in the 60's. It's time to get out and wet those lines.

With springs arrival we have a few other important dates and reminders to share.

Your Tennessee fishing license and trout stamp expired last Friday. Click here to visit TWRA's website to renew your fishing license and trout stamp. Also, as some of you may already know, TWRA now has a one day all species non resident license available as well as the classic three day model. All of my out of state anglers have applauded these options.

March 10th, This Sunday we spring forward an hour as daylight savings time begins. I know this is welcomed news to everyone that enjoys being outside.

Thursday March 14th. We'll be speaking at the Clinch River Trout Unlimited monthly meeting. My presentation is titled "Drift Fishing Tailwaters for Trophy Trout" and will last about an hour. It's free and open to everyone. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in the parish hall of St. Francis Episcopal Church, 158 W. Norris Road, Norris, Tenn. Come out and say hello, enjoy the show and hear some of the good things the Clinch River Chapter is doing to help the river.

Now onto the fishing. The Hiwassee is flat out on fire. Fish counts of 75 - 100 fish are not uncommon on our recent floats. We're still seeing a few shad and white patterns are still turning up above average fish. We're also seeing the spring bugs starting to move. Best setup is a heavy white streamer of your choosing with dark nymphs (#14 - #16 princes nymphs) trailed as a dropper. The recently ending Delayed Harvest season was a huge success and the river is chock full of healthy fish.

The Clinch River and Holston Rivers are both coming into form. Scattered flow schedules have kept us scrambling but things are starting to settle out. We're expecting steady, fishable flows in the next few days. We will be out there pulling streamers until the steady flows start up.

Let's go fishing!