Saturday, I had the great pleasure of attending the first ever South Holston Fly Fishing Fest held at River’s Way Outdoor Adventure Center which is located near Bluff City TN. In addition to promoting fly fishing, the Fest served as a fund-raiser for River’s Way, a non-profit operation that provides retreats for the purpose of teaching team building and leadership skills to disadvantaged children.
So armed with my Google Map detailed printout, I started on the 3 ½ hour trip from Charlotte. My trip took me thru Abingdon VA to let my son-in-law, Steve, off at the Virginia Creeper Trail for biking. I don’t understand why someone would go biking just for the effort and not trout fish along the way, but that is another matter.
Breezing along RT 58 which becomes RT 44 at the state line, I suddenly came to a dead end on RT 421. Now Google did not mention that! So, I decided to go left being that the SoHo River was in that direction…WRONG! However, that did allow me to travel over the 264 foot high dam that creates the 7,580-acre very beautiful South Holston Lake.
By the way, there is a communications problem when you ask directions from anyone around the lake as they are too familiar with their surroundings. They can not understand why you don’t know where the big red barn is or where the hairpin curve is. I, on the other hand, could not understand why they did not know where RT 421 or RT 44 was after having lived there all their lives.
After enjoying the beautiful views of the lake and the mountains I proceeded thru the Google directions until I came across the South Holston River Fly Shop on Emmett Road. They gave me the final directions necessary to get to the Fest. It was a small shop but they had a good selection of equipment including flies that work well on the SOHO.
I was surprised to see all the cars, the tents, and all the people at the event. It was well served by 14 featured fly tyers, and Bill Oyster bamboo rods, as well as several guides and outfitters. There were demos on entomology, casting, Smoky Mountain brookies, and much, much more. Many of the demos were on the SOHO as well.
In addition, I had the opportunity to learn more about Project Healing Waters and Casting for Recovery which are two more exciting non-profit organizations that I have been interested in.
All in all, it was an interesting day filled wonderful people, beautiful scenery and interesting topics. I plan to attend future Fests if indeed they are continued.