July River Report - South Holston & Watauga Rivers

AN OVERVIEW

Summer months are quickly slipping away here in East Tennessee. Kids starting back to school and last minute family vacations have been a hot topic in the evenings at the shop. July was a very dry month for us on our two tailwaters. The majority of our drift boat fishing was done over on the Watauga yet again. When we would see the South Holston having a prolonged generation during the evening hours (4pm-7pm), we’d load up the boats and go hunt for a sulphur hatch. When the sulphur hatches did occur, they were on the quicker side but proved to be pretty good! During these 4pm to 7pm schedules, we admittedly didn’t throw any nymphs. Instead, we focused on finding fish that were feeding on the surface.

The Watauga stayed pretty solid all month even with the added pressure, hot temps and lower flows. We shifted our focus to fish more shallow, faster water in shaded areas, which gave our customers success. Concentrating on those areas, and running a “right angle” rig with 5 and 6X tippet to small perdigon flies, was able to produce most of the days. Smaller hatches left short windows of opportunity and a lot to be desired for dry fly fishing on the Watauga. Each afternoon during the recreation flow, we caught plenty of fish by moving to traditional, deeper nymph rigs and working the soft and slower seams.

As I write this, it is day 3 of big rains here at The Fly Box. Both the South Holston and Watauga are swollen and look like chocolate milk. Hopefully we continue to get more rain in the mountains over the next few days and weeks, which would allow us to see higher flows on the South Holston.

SOUTH HOLSTON RIVER

Low flows during the day, with short windows of high water each evening, continues to allow the wade anglers to have the entire river as their playground. High sun, hot weather, and skinny water have made the SOHO or “LOHO” very technical for anglers. A dry dropper, with small nymphs and midges, is our go-to set up. When the one-hour pulse makes its way down the river, try switching to a traditional light in-line rig for continued success. Swinging small, soft hackles during this pulse has been fun and super effective. If the hatches aren’t occurring, and chasing an indicator around all day isn’t your thing, fishing smaller dry fly patterns and emergers can put fish to the hand . In the words of a good customer and friend, “It’s amazing what a drag-free drift can do”.

Concentrate on your approach while fishing. As the sun gets up, slow down! Fish the runs methodically by treating them like a giant spring creek. These fish see a lot of people and bugs. Concentrate on perfect drifts and accurate casts, and give the fish a chance to settle down between shots.

DRY FLY FISHING

On low water, anglers that were wanting to find fish on drys had the best success on falling water after the one-hour pulses. Dry fly fishing on high-water in the evenings was technical! A drag-free drift was an absolute must. The Trout Hunter 9’5x in the finesse series, paired with 5.5 nylon down to the dry fly was our go-to set up. If fish are refusing your fly, try dropping down in tippet size. If that still does not produce, changing to a low-profile dry fly, such as a puff daddy or a cripple, can be the ticket!

LOOKING AHEAD

With the rain we are getting this week, and hopefully more in the coming days, we will see more consistent releases. Cold water not only makes the fish happy, but will help with hatches. Wade anglers will most likely have the river in the mornings. If you do float the afternoon generation, you can nymph with a bounce rig to get deep quick. A deep in-line rig can produce fish in shallow and slower moving water. You may catch a few less fish, but you may be surprised by a bigger fish sitting off by itself. With the dirty water over the next few days on both rivers, it’s a great time to break out the streamer rods. Seven and eight weights, paired with a sink tip and a larger articulated streamer, just may pay off in the long run.

Click here for the South Holston Dam generation schedule!

Suggested Patterns

Nymphs

Split case #16-18 (beaded and non beaded)

Quill body perdigon #16-18

Olive, tan and cream midges #20

Stripper midge #20

Micro Olive Bullet #18-20

Dry Flies

Birchell’s Hatch Midge #18-20

Morgans Midge #18

Parachute Sulphur & BWO #16-18

Pink Albert PMD #18-14

Sulphur Puff Daddy #18

WATAUGA RIVER

Throughout July, we continued to have great days. With the ongoing pressure we’ve been seeing since May, anglers are starting to experience tougher days a little more frequently on the Watauga. It has been an early morning start to beat the heat and the traffic out on the water. On the 240cfs flow, a chubby/dropper has been fun and interactive with some really good eats on the chubby. Beatles early and later in the evening under trees as the water is rising has been pretty good also. In the past, I have been trying to beat the afternoon high-water recreation flow. As of lately, I have been finding success with fishing this new-to-us right angle rig. Increasing our tippet size to 4.5X and running a larger, oversized bead nymph allows the fly to get deep quick. It also prevents it from being swung all over the place like traditional in-line rigs tend to do at times.

LOOKING AHEAD

The daily recreation flows will continue to allow for good fishing and even better people watching. As many of you know, the raft and tubing companies are in full swing right now. It’s not uncommon to see 60-100 tubers in a day on the weekends! I try and remind myself they are there to have fun also, so being kind seems to pay off in the long run. As the summer winds down, so will the crowds during the week. If you’re able to fish during the weekdays, go for it!

Click here for the Wilbur Dam generation schedule!

Suggested Patterns

Nymphs

Sulphur nymphs #16

Quill body perdigon #16

Spanish Bullet Olive #18

Tungsten Soft Hackle #16-18

Dry Flies

Chubby in #10 and 12 various colors

PMD #16

Sulphur sparkle duns in #16

Sulphur puff daddy #16

Shuttle Service Contacts

Both guys are solid shuttle drivers on the South Holston and Watauga! Tell them we sent you.

Ronny - 423-737-7767

Jeff - 423-741-4884