Tightlines Fly Fishing Guide Service

SMALLIES ARE ON FIRE

gloomis1297

The smallmouth fishing on the Lower Holston is on fire. The grass beds are thick and the smallies are all staging on the edges in ambush mode. We're taking significant numbers of fish and at least one large one daily right now. The Cicada's are popping lower in the river, there are plenty of baitfish.....it's going to be a GREAT summer for smallie fishing.

The South Holston isalso fishing quite well. There are tons of sulphers coming off in high water right now. TVA is givin [...]

SMALLMOUTH HEAVEN & S. HOLSTON SULPHERS TOO!

gloomis1297

Hold on to your 6wt guys and gals, the smallmouth are slammin. Their spawn is now officially over and they have put their feedbags on. The good news is that for the time being we also have water on the North Fork of the Holston River. It's a freestoner loaded with BIG smallies and it's been catch and release for 35 years. We're spending some time here successfully and will be doing so until the water falls out too low to float. The lower Holston is also fishing very well and produ [...]

WATAUGA STILL HOLDING STRONG

gloomis1297

The Watauga River is still holding very strong these days and that's where we're spending most of our time. We've got a nice light cahill hatch in the late afternoons. We're also taking some BIG browns and rainbows on streamers and they are extremely aggressive right now chasing shad. Browns in excess of 8lbs are being caught daily at this stage so we're VERY excited for ourclients to say the least.

The smallmouth fishing is right around the corner too and we're [...]

WATAUGA CADDIS IN FULL SWING

gloomis1297

The Watauga River is simply the place to be for the next few weeks.......it has been awesome. We have numerous large fish (18"+) taken each day on the surface and on nymph rigs. Each afternoon the Caddis hatch occurs starting around 1pm and it's been pretty solid all the way into the evening. There are also plenty of Hendrickson's as well. Unfortunately, it's bumper boats in the "trophy" section and those fish have been heavily pressured and it's starting to dwindl [...]

THE BUGS ARE STARTING

gloomis1297

Well...Well....the Watauga River Caddis Hatch is beginning. We went out this weekend and clobbered the fish throwing a size 16 caddis pattern. There were not a lot of bugs, but there were enough. We must have had 100 heads up in one riffle alone. It was sick.....sat on these fish for 2 hours and picked off each one deliberately.....this is why fishing is so fun. We only have 4 more days available to take you fishing, so give us a call.....soon!

SPRING IS COMING

gloomis1297

Spring is just around the corner and we can't wait! The warmer temps and consistent rainfall tell us that it's time to fish and fish hard. We've had two gorgeous east tennessee weeks and the fishing has been darn good. The midge activity is strong sub-surface and our go to pattern is a 22 black midge larva with a single strand of flash for an emerging looking bug. There are stillplenty of blue wings around on those overcast days and any small pattern like a black copper john [...]

Beautiful Weekend on the Watauga

gloomis1297

The worst thing a trout fisherman sees when he wakes up in the morning is the bright sun. It's a double edge sword though. Nice sunny skies make for a comfortable and beautiful day on the river, but frankly, I'd rather save the sun for yard work. Give me overcast skies for fishing. Unforunately, mother nature didn't recieve our request this weekend. It made fo [...]

HIGH STICKING & GAIL FORCE WINDS

gloomis1297

It was a very nice weekend on the river to say the least. Overcast skies and balmy february temps caught my attention and forced me to drive to the fish. Saturday was spent in the South Holston, attempting to make an unsuspecting trout rise to the surface with a size 20 BWO pattern. It worked moderately well, but surprisingly, there weren't as many bugs as I had anticipated. Conditions wereperfectfor these beautiful mayflies. Unfortunately, the trout were less than impressed. I did catch [...]

WINTER FISHING IS GOOD...WINTER BEER DRINKING BETTER

gloomis1297

This is technically our off season so it give us the opportunity to go fish ourselves. We do occasionally run a trip but mostly....it's just us fishing. The fishing has been pretty darn good too. The Watuaga is fishing superbly right now. Daily Blue Wings are abundant and large for that size mayfly (size 18). The fish will readily take a CDC comparadun or even [...]

Watauga River

gloomis1297

The Watauga River fished extremely well this past weekend. We fished the upper stretch from Wilbur Dam downstream and focused on the streamer rigs. We were fishing deep sinking lines (300 grain) and stripping a 3-4" articulated baitfish and had an average of 10 strikes an hour. Nothing HUGE was caught but a few good 2-3lb brownies were taken. Concentrate on sweeping the tailouts with the streamersin this post spawn time. Pockets of slack water next to moderate currents also produced really [...]

South Holston River

gloomis1297

Despite our warm temps the winter fishing on the Holston has been excellent. At 65 degree highs it's hard to imagine it being called winter fishing though. The blue wings are popping daily and the fish have taken notice. Even some of the better fish are up to them. We're fishing 18-22 CDC comparaduns with great success. Barr's Emergers are working great too. Stay to the smaller side ofthe range for more consistent success. The black fly larva are also fishing great subsurface as are [...]

South Holston River

gloomis1297

The South Holston is coming into its true winter fishing prowess. The crowds are dying down slightly but the fish aren't. On cloudy days we're seeing good to excellent blue wing hatches and there are plenty of fish, even some over 20 inches, feeding on them regularly. They are sipping these beautiful mayflies and drag free drifts are critical as are 12-15 foot 6-7x leaders and 30-40 footreach casts. It's tricky fishing, but for those that can manage, you'll have an excellent [...]

Watauga River

gloomis1297

It's hard to really classify this as winter fishing, but it is december and the morning temps are below 30. As a result, some of the crowds have deminished and we're not complaining because the fishing is excellent. On cloudy days we're seeing sporadic Blue Wing hatches but that's never been why you come to the watauga. You come for nymphing and streamer fishing and it has been excellentof late. Large browns and even some of the large rainbows have been crushing big, light colore [...]

Watauga River

gloomis1297

The Watauga River is fishing superbly right now, but it's not for rookies. It's 3rd year graduate school classes out there right now. Fish are not in their normal holding lanes. They are in the 2nd and 3rd lanes but stacked up this. We're having good success on smaller midge larva, peacock soft hackles and hare's ear nymph patterns. When the water is up (50% of the time it is this year), the streamers are golden. These fish are attacking the olive or black buggers and the big fis [...]

South Holston River

gloomis1297

The South Holston River is really coming into it's own for the fall season. With cooler temperatures and a few more cloudy days the blue wing olives have really started to get active. The fish have taken notice as well! Size 20 - 24 BWO patterns are getting the job done. CDC Comparaduns are great for the more selective fish but we're having good luck on the traditional ties and the parachute BWO's also. We do slightly color the parachute posts with a Gray 70 prism marker once we see [...]

South Holston

gloomis1297

It's a nice time to be on the South Holston right now! We're in the trailing edges of the sulpher hatch but there are just enough that the fish go nuts for them when they come off. It only lasts about 45 mins though and it is pretty sparse. Despite that, the fish seem to be aggressively feeding on them. Look for the sulphers around 2:30-3pm. The BWO's are the more predominant hatch right now. Of course, they like overcast skies and preferrably wind/rain/snow. This past weekend b [...]

South Holston River

gloomis1297

The South Holston is fishing fantastic right now. We're not getting a lot of water release from TVA (out of S. Holston Lake), but the wade fishing has been great. Consistent daily Blue Wing Olive Hatches are here and the fish have transistioned off the sulphers and right over to these little beauties. Concentrate on quilly body, CDC Comparaduns and any imitation that has a slim profile. Size 20 is the way to go, but don't hesitate to go smaller. It's really been a goood summer, [...]

South Holston River

gloomis1297

The South Holston has been fishing fantastic and for those that don't know it, November is the best month of the year on this river. The tail end of the sulpher hatch is happening right now, but they are few and far between. That said, the Blue Wing Olive (my favorite mayfly) has taken over and the fish have keyed into them. TVA hasn't been releasing much water on the weekends so wade fishing is excellent. It's not uncommon to have 30+ fish days right now. These fish love a size [...]

Great Nymphing on the Watauga

gloomis1297

The watauga has been consistently fishing better each day. With the much needed 4 days of rain, we anticipate it to improve even more. We're sticking to the sub-surface nymphing for the most part. We are seeing a few BWO's though and will jump to a dry fly / emerger if it is warranted. We're making sure to be right on the bottom and we're focusing on secondary seams and fast water. The rainbows are piled up in those slots because of the low water we've had all season. Th [...]

Smallmouth on Lower Holston

gloomis1297

Well folks the productive days of catching smallies will be coming to a close pretty soon. As many of you know winter smallie fishing can be done, but it's tough and not the best use of your time. With the 4 days of much needed rain this past week we're anticipating about two to three more weeks of targeting this great fish and we'll probably call it good for the remainder of the season. We're still catching a few on top water but we have moved back to the the sub-surface ba [...]