Posted on May 20 2025
Drove down this morning to fish with a long time friend from North Carolina who fishes the South Holston, a TVA stream that has an incredible number of wild brown trout. Unfortunately most of the fish are under twelve inches long. It's a fun place to fish but lacks the excitement provided by a hot Delaware River rainbow or lunker brown.
Elected to go east and spent time on the BK and the BE. There were enough bugs to get fish rising and my friend landed a nice 17 inch brown in the first hour of fishing. There was a sneaky draft out of the north west than kept the black flies away. There was no feeding frenzy but we had fish to throw at until the sun got off the water at which time the cold temperature shut things down.
Saw ragged robin, (the precursor of green drakes), along the banks, and newly hatched dragonflies that were darting around looking for mayflies to eat. There were caddis and sulfurs as well as March Browns on the water.
It seems that the freestones are starting to emerge from the doldrums, hopefully the cold air temperatures won't not slow things down.
Angler119’- Fishing with an old friend is always wonderful way to spent the day. Seeing bugs and landing a nice fish is a bonus. Dennis- Thanks for the info and congrats on catching a gorgeous 18” brown. Fantastic. Ed
Off to a late start after mowing I fished the upper WB. I arrived about two and stayed till 5. I landed a 18 in very fat brown and that was the only fish in the net. There were Hendricksons , caddis and Bwo. The fish were sporadic feeders at best. No refusals. Lots of casting practice.
Ed I was wading without much trouble. There was a line of fisherman from the red barn past the state parking area.
I’m sensing a musical reference to the musical “Paint Your Wagon”…Mariah comes to mind…and it sure is nice fishing with old friends..stay safe