Boy, last weekend was tough. We caught 65 or so fish on Friday and about a dozen the morning on Saturday but it all went down hill from there. The water has dropped to normal summer flows of about 350 cfs, resulting in clear water and temps in the mid 50's. It's stabilized by this past tuesday and the fishing is back on now. A smaller sub-species of Caddis and some hendricksons are coming off in the afternoon and evenings but your best to stay with the nymph rigs for right now. We're fishing a size 16 pheasant tail with a size 18 soft hackle hare's ear and having good success. By afternoon were switching to the dry fly and taking some nice trout. Now that the water temps, clarity and levels have stabilized, the fishing should be excellent well into the summer. Give us a call to book a trip...it's a memorable experience!

The smallmouth spawn is in full swing now and while you can fish, the fishing will be slow and you'll only be catching juvenile fish. The juvenile smallies (non-sexually mature fish) have moved into the primary feeding lanes as the larger fish have returned to the spawning beds. You can catch fish during this time, but they will mostly be in the 10-13" inch class or smaller. The larger fish won't be very active during this time. Look for the larger fish to move back into the feeding lanes around the middle of next week. Hold your stick tight because they will be very aggressive and hungry. The last week of May all the way through the summer should produce great smallies! We're certainly looking forward to it. In the interim, please don't target spawning fish.

Well the TVA had some unexpected issues with the generators at Wilbur Dam. As a result, they are unable to run water for approximately the next three-four weeks. The water temps will rise with these 80 degree days and the algae plumps will explode. You'll also notice a "rust" tint to the water. Your best bet is to stay off this river for awhile. The elevating water temps will stress the fish and catching them will only threaten their ability to survive. If you want good trout fishing head to the S. Holston

The Jackson has really been on fire the past two weeks and we expect it to continue. With falling and clearing water conditions, this river has been producing numerous 20"+ fish a day on streamers and the hendricksons are starting to pop in the afternoons. We're sticking to nymph rigs in the morning and then transistioning to either streamers or dry flies in the afternoon. Sometimes we're fishing right 'til dark and it's been outstanding. As you might be aware, you're only going to get to fish this with one of three people: Rod Salyers, Blaine Chocklett or myself so give us a call soon. The Hendricksons should keep up for the next few weeks and we'll also see the Green Drakes in early June. Trust us, there's a reason why we drive 3.5 hours to fish this river....it's outstanding!

The pre-spawn activity this week has been dynamite on the smallmouth rivers. The spawn should occur on Monday or Tuesday and don't plan on fishing it again until about the 22nd of May. But, if you can get out in the next 3 days, do it. The weather is supposed to cooperate and the afternoon bite has been good. We're mostly fishing clousers in White/White and Chartreuse/White and have been having pretty good success. The "Shag Shad" has also been doing quite well as have the bottom bouncers. Bottom Line is.....don't fish to spawning smallmouth, but you've got a few days left. Plan on giving us a call to book your post spawn smallmouth trip after May 22nd. It's unbelieve how hard hungry fish fight!