Foscoe Fishing Company Blog - Fishing Reports
Foscoe Fishing Company offers the most complete report of fly fishing conditions in western North carolina and Eastern Tennessee. Our professional reports are updated regularly with water flows, recommended flies and equipment, and special fishing tips for the most important fly-fishing destinations in Blue Ridge Mountains. Plan your next fishing trip knowing you’ll arrive without any surprises and discover some new fishing destinations in the area.
South Holston Sulfurs
The South Holston sulfur hatch has been extraordinary during high water generation. The prolific hatch typically appears around three and lasts a few hours, during which the dry fly action is hot. Sulfur patterns in sizes 14-18 matching the color of the naturals as closley as possible have been fooling plenty of fat, 12-14 inch browns. The bugs have also brought some of the bigger fish to the surface, so a 20 incher is a very feasible goal every time on the river. Call the shop and ask for Jay for a shot at some late afternoon dry fly action.
July Fishing Report
Despite lower local water levels, the fishing has been great! Browns and Rainbows have been caught on dry and dropper rigs using a vareity of diferent drys and smaller buggy nymphs. Terrestrial patterns such as beetles and ants work great for a top fly as they are always abundant this time of year. Dropper nymph rigs have also been productive when fishing fast deeper water.
On the Tennesse tailwaters, fishing has also been great. On the South Holston, the sulphur hatch has been excellent! The dry fly fishing during generation has been amazing and large fish have been caught! Also, beetles and other terrestrials have been bringing up large fish here and on the Watauga. As always midges, small caddis, and craneflies are always present.
Local & Tenn. Hatch Report June 23, 2010
Fishing continues to be good on the S. Holston and Watauga rivers. With the generators finally kicked on, the Holston the high water sulfur mayfly hatch is wide open. Fish emerger, dun, cripple and spinner patterns in sizes 16, 18 during the hatch. Before the hatch fish a variety of mayfly nymphs in the same size as well as midge larva, scud, and sow bug patterns. Low water nymphing is much the same. The low water terrestrial fishing has been very good so make sure to bring plenty of beetle, hopper, ant and inch worm patterns.
On the Watauga river expect to use the same variety of terrestrials as the Holston. There have also been sporadic sulfur, tan caddis,small crane fly and midge hatches throughout the day. Both rivers are fishing good, this is a good time to find a big fish on a dry fly!
Small stream fishing locally has also been good lately, especially first thing in the morning or late in the evening . A variety of bugs will work on local streams so bring several mayfly,caddis, stone-fly and midge patterns to try on top and bellow the surface . Don’t forget terrestrials!
This is a good time to come up and fish because the crowds are usually a little smaller the fish are hungry and its not 100 degrees here.
Have Fun,
matt
June Fishing Report
You’ll find great fishing right now if you’re on the South Holston or Watauga rivers! On the Holston, look for good midge and sulphur hatches during the day with sulphur spinner falls in the evening. On the Watauga, There have been sporadic caddis hatches and fish have been taking emerging patterns fairly well. Also look for the usual midge hatch as well as sulphurs. Look for sulphur spinner falls in the evening until dark.
Delayed Harvest waters have now changed over to a catch and keep fishery so fishing pressure will make for tough fishing. With that being said, fish can still be found in less likely areas such as along undercut banks and shallow riffles. Nymphing with mayfly and caddis patterns should produce fish. Good hatches of caddis flies have been hatching mid morning along with midges. Also, sulphur mayflies are starting to show up along with small yellow stoneflies. Don’t forget to look for terrestrials such as beetles and ants this time of year. They provide a ton of food for trout during the summer months!
TN Tailwater and NC Delayed Harvest Fishing Report
You’ll find great fishing right now if your on the South Holston or Watauaga rivers! On the Holston, look for good midge hatches throughout the day and Sulphur hatches in the evening. On the Watuaga, a few sporadic caddis hatches have been productive times to fish. Also Look for large hatches of Sulphurs in the evening until dark. As usual, midges are always present along with a few craneflies.
The Delayed Harvest fishing on the Watauga in NC has also been productive. Good hatches of caddis flies have been hatching mid morning along with midges. Also, sulphur mayflies are starting to show up along with small yellow stoneflies. Dont forget to look for terrestrials such as beetles and ants this time of year!
S. Holston TN. & Watauga Delayed Harvest NC fishing report March 15, 2010
Well, after a recent stocking of the Watauga Delayed Harvest the fish are responding well to the high water and the nymph fishing should continue to be good through June. We are still using an assortment of searching patterns, san juan worms, prince nymphs, hares ears,…. along with a small midge or mayfly pattern. A good blue wing olive hatch has been occurring through the middle part of the day. Fish are rising to a variety of olive patterns in sizes 12-18. Droppers have also been effective during the hatch.
After fishing through the weekend low water on the S. Holston the two major hatches observed were Blue Wing Olives, and Black Flies. The blue wing hatch happened around lunch time on both Saturday and Sunday. The fish responded well to nymphs, emergers, and dry flies in the 16-18 range. The major black fly hatch happened the two or three hours right before dark on both days. Although black flies were seen sporadically throughout the day the majority came off late in the afternoon. The fish were taking black fly and midge patterns in the 20-24 range.
Be paitent fishing tiny flies, dry them off frequently and make many passes by your target fish.
good luck,
matt
In search of the season’s first smallie…
Tuesday afternoon offered temperatures in the 60’s and a beautiful blue sky, so naturally I coerced my roommate Joey into floating a section of the Watauga in his canoe. We began our float just below the DH section in search of the season’s first smallie and possibly a large trout. Armed with my six weight and a pearl Murdich Minnow, we eased downstream and began pounding the banks. We beached the canoe alongside the first likely looking riffle and I was rewarded with an aggressive strike from a headstrong wild brown. What he lacked in size he more than made up for with his tenacious headshakes. Continuing on, we fished riffles and tail-outs picking up fish at each stop. I was surprised, but pleased, to hook into several stocked fish well downstream of the DH section. As the sun eased behind the clouds and the mercury dropped, Joey and I decided to put down our rods and pick up the paddles in order to arrive at the takeout before dark, not to mention our feet had become ice blocks after wet-wading riffles all afternoon. The total fish count for about two and a half hours of fishing came to eight–one wild brown, one wild ‘bow, three stocked ‘bows and three pale stocked brookies, all on streamers. No smallies, but a good day all in all. I assure you, nymphing would have produced several trout, and once the water temperature warms some the smallies will be moving. Tight lines until next time.
Who says you can’t fish in sub-freezing temperatures?
After sitting in the house for most of the day I decided to take advantage of the sunny, yet still cold, weather. To give you a sense of the air and water temperature, the hog you see below, along with my rod and net, are all resting on ice at the edge of the river. I geared up and headed to a DH section of the Watauga I hadn’t fished since the fall, but knew held some nice fish. Needless to say my efforts were rewarded. An hour into the trip I had only brought three fish to hand, so I decided to move downstream to a nice little run where a client lost a good-sized brown during a trip last October. The 22 1/2″ beauty you see above ate my trailing soft hackle within the first ten drifts through the run. After settling myself down, I fished meticulously and caught five more fish from the same spot, none comparable to the nice holdover ‘bow, but fun to catch all the same. Determined to reach double digits in fish caught, I returned to a deep slow pool I fished earlier in the afternoon. It didn’t take long to pull a feisty little rainbow of the bottom to attain my goal of double digit numbers. The day ended when I hooked a second monster who broke my 5X tippet after some vicious head shakes. I never saw the fish, but I’m almost certain it would have put the pictured ‘bow to shame. Of course they can be as big as you want when you fail to actually bring them to hand or see them. Losing that last fish left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth, but anytime you land a fish over 20 inches it’s a great day on the water regardless. Tight lines until next time.
Local and TN Tailwater Fishing Report February 4, 2010
Well after another very wet and cold couple of weeks the rivers are back up and running. I don’t see any stop to the generators on the TN tail-waters in the near future. The local streams are up but are very fishable, high off color water are our favorite water conditions to really get into them.
We floated the Holston River several times in the past week and have had some great dry fly fishing as well as excellent nymphing, especially in the recently reopened spawn areas. Its nice to fish to fish that haven’t seen a fake bug in four months. Our dry fly fishing was most successful using blue wing patterns in the 18-20 range either olive, grey, or black. The prominent hatch that we have seen in the last week were black flies. Patterns in the 20-24 range seem to work well. I usually have an assortment of colors from light to dark for these little guys. If you have fished over there enough you know they will eat a variety of different patterns and colors so be prepared!
Nymph fishing the reopened spawn water was borderline cheating. We fished a lot of bigger patterns that usually are saved for the Delayed Harvest waters. Prince nymphs, San Juan worms, copper johns, and of course the normal small blue wings and midge patterns worked well.
Our local Delayed Harvest water, the Watauga River, has been fishing well. There are plenty of fish to catch and the water levels are great. We have had the best luck on bigger patterns in the 12-16 range. Prince Nymphs, zug bugs, San Juan worms, pheasant tails, have all produced fish. Try not to over complicate things, really try to spot fish from the bank, move in slow and sink your flies to the right depth.
Good luck and make sure to come by and see us if your in the area or even if your not.
Farm Pond Bass Fishing
I recently had the opportunity to go and fish a small pond in SC while on a duck hunting trip. “Farm pond” fishing is one of my favorite ways to get a line wet. Usually there are alot of different species lurking in those dingy waters like large mouth bass, sunfish (bream), crappie, catfish, and there’s always the stories of the giant snapping turtle as big as a dinner table.
I am no Nathan Webber when it comes to bass fishing, but we did alright fishing brown woolly buggers on a slow retrieve. The bass were hungry, but not too willing to chase anything moving fast. After we caught a few bucket mouths, we switched to some trout patterns like copper johns and soft hackles to catch some bream.
Small pond fishing is a great way to keep fishing in the winter, or if you live far from a trout stream. Its easy to run out for an afternoon and cast some flies to eager fish- or maybe even hook that giant snapping turtle. -John
