Watauga River Fly Fishing Report June 7 2024

Hello Everyone,

We’ve been staying busy on the Watauga river. The TVA has been running water most of the day. There has been windows of low water each day, but it has been random to say the least. That’s not what you want to hear if you’re a wade angler, but it has provided some great fishing from a drift boat. The most consistent rig has been a nymph rig. Getting flies down deep is the key. We have also been getting some fish in the slower edges with dry dropper rigs, but the nymph rig has still been the top producer. An attractor followed by a zebra midge or a frenchie has been working great on the nymph rig. For the dry dropper we’ve been using a terrestrial followed by a stripper midge. Give us a shout if you would like more information, or if you would like to book a trip. Email is wataugariverguides@gmail.com and phone number is 423-202-5184. If we don’t answer, please leave a message and we will call you back asap.

Tight Lines,

Huck

Watauga River Fly Fishing Report May 31st 2024

Hey Everyone, I apologize for the lack of fishing reports. The Watauga river has been fishing great. Most of the fishing is nymphing. We are having a few periods of dry fly fishing, it’s not been everyday, but there have been some sulphurs hatching. Sulphur nymphs, midge pupa, and attractor patterns have been working well. Give us a call if you would like more information, or if you would like to book a trip. 423-202-5184

Tight Lines,

Huck

Tight Line Fly Fishing

Hello everyone,

I’ve been getting quite a few questions on tight line fly fishing. There are several names and similar techniques, euro nymphing, Czech nymphing, mono rig, to name a few. Each of these techniques are similar in that you are casting and fishing with only the leader, not the fly line. I am calling what we are doing tight lining, or tight line fly fishing because we are not limiting this technique to one style of fishing. This is often thought of as a wading tactic. We have been working and tweaking this technique to be fished from a drift boat both from anchor and while drifting. Nymphing is the first thing that people think of with tight lining. You cast out and maintain contact with your nymphs as they drift. With this rig you have the ability to control the depth of the fly, which we want to be near the bottom. You feel the flies bouncing across the river bottom and make depth adjustments without changing the rig, but by moving your fly rod and tightening your line. The beauty of this system is the amount of control that you have over your presentation. It is this control that allows us to fish each water type, depth, and speed efficiently. This is not only a nymphing technique, streamers and even dry flies can be fished effectively using this method. We have been working with several proven leader formulas, tapers, and combinations to best suit our needs on the Watauga and South Holston. If this sounds like something that is interesting to you, please give us a shout at 423-202-5184, or wataugariverguides@gmail.com. We do lessons as well as guided fly fishing trips.

Tight Lines,

Huck