South Holston river Tennessee 1/16-17/20

[AndyS]

Thursday January 17th I hit the banks of the South Holston river near Bristol Tennessee. Had very high hopes after doing my homework,fished the ever-so-strange weir area. Fished hard most of the day and put in my time with nothing much to show for it. Place was a bustle with fishermen, some dead sticking corn, others fly fishing, others throwing bobbers with live bait. Placed looked very fishy, but I couldn't connect during the balmy 57* afternoon. Since I did so poorly I decided to hit the fly shop by the river and see if I could book a float trip last minute, they said sure !!

Friday January 18th met the guide at the shop and it was just a few hundred yards drive to splash the boat, launch temp 27*. Drifted the incredibly fishy looking river, picking the ice from my guides from time to time, very quiet on the off season, just one other boat. Fished and fished for hours and my guide asked if I wanted to try Rapalas, I said no I'll stick to my guns and see what happens. Started getting some follows and short hits, then started catching 12 inch brown trout. Halfway through the trip lost count of follows and short hits, picked away at small fish, air started to warm up a bit. Floated through the "restricted area for spawning" and ate lunch as we floated. I peered down into the gin clear water and saw foot long trout shooting all over the place, really cool. Finally caught a decent trout "made quota" with a rainbow of all things. Ran just about the entire river in about 7 hours, picked a few more very pretty small brown trout.

I have a ton of photos and would like to do comparisons between the West Branch in NY and the SoHo that looks like a combination of the Lehigh, West branch and main stem Delaware river all rolled into one. Took the boat out of the river behind Bristol Motor Speedway (where cars go in circles) and people watch.