The South Holston has been giving up the goods as some really big fish are being caught. The migrations of lake run rainbows continue to make their way up river. The first of the big lake run brown trout are also being caught. High numbers of fish are piling up in the riffles and rapids gorging themselves on scuds, bluewing nymphs, and blackfly larva. On the lower river around 2pm everyday the bluewings will hatch resulting in decent to good dry fly activity. Overcast days will result in the biggest hatches. Surface activity can also be had in the morning hours as small hatches of blackflies are coming off. Look for this hatch over sandy bottoms and slower moving water.
Be sure to fish long 12ft leaders and 6x flouro tippet to these finicky risers. Good patterns for the blackflies are tiny black parachute or emerger patterns tied on 22-24 hooks. Don't be afraid to give your flies tiny strips back to you at the end of the drifts, as they bugs are very active emergers. As the rainbows come off the beds look for giant males to stack in nearby bug-laden riffles as they try to regain some bulk they lost during the spawn.
This report provided by our friend Justin Shroyer at the Trophy Water Guide Service of Boone NC.
828-386-1040 For more information about streams see Trout University Stream.