The brown trout are much like salmon in that they will travel upstream long distances to spawn. It is believed that many of these browns will actually return to the same location where they were born and where they spawned in previous years. For this exodus, the trout need to be in excellent shape as they begin the spawning process which consumes a great deal of energy. They need to be in prime condition!
As fall approaches the brown trout on the S. Holston and Watauga tailwaters will continue to feed heavily, gaining weight for their annual fall migration and ensuing spawn. As of now the browns continue to stack in the flats, runs, and tailouts gorging themselves during specific feeding windows on their desired forage. We have been keying in on these windows, giving our anglers multiple shots at huge brown trout each and every trip.
As our days continue to shorten these impressive predators will key in on big baitfish schools or smaller trout depending on the section of river. This is where we come in with big streamer patterns and try to coax a mammoth brown into eating our big offering. When not susceptible to the streamers we are fishing scud, mayfly, and midge patterns to big pods of roaming browns, mostly on the lower S. Holston.
Justin Shroyer of the Trophy Waters Guide Service in Boone NC is an expert on the So Ho and the Watauga Rivers and knows just where to find these preseason lunkers.