New East Tennessee Fishing Report

Randy Ratliff of the Troutfisher's Guide Service sends us this week's fishing report from East Tennessee.

Hello everyone, I hope you all had an enjoyable holiday season. I was able to spend time with family and friends celebrating Christmas and ringing in the New Year. We had a great year last in 2008 and I want to thank all those who took trips with me. I am looking forward to another good year for 2009 as well.

I am back to guiding and booking trips as Troutfishers Guide Service once again. There will be no changes in where we will be able to take you on your trips, local wades trips in Western North Carolina and East Tennessee or float trips on the Tennessee Tailwaters.

I am also pleased to announce that I am affiliated with Eddie Wyatt’s Fly Shop of Tennessee. Eddie and his crew, Major Mike, Hutch, and Mike J. are a great bunch of guys. Make sure to give them a call or stop by for all you’re fishing and tying needs. I will be doing various casting and tying class/demonstrations at the fly shop throughout the year so be sure to check the fishing report on my website for details.

We are already booking trips for the 2009 season, especially during the Watauga Tailwater caddis hatch. The caddis have started their emergence around April 9th for the last several years, running through Mothers Day on into the first of June. Be sure to give me a call and get your caddis hatch trip on the calendar before the dates disappear. The smallmouth guys are booking up their trips as well. Pound for pound a smallmouth is the best fighting freshwater fish out there. Of course one of my clients, Mark Murphy might disagree. He caught a nice 9-½ pound blue channel cat while on a smallie trip. Don’t forget about our overnight river camping smallmouth trips. I will be putting more info about this on my website.

The South Holston browns are through spawning. It was a sight to see all those big beautiful browns doing their spawning dance. Many nice fish ranging from mid twenties to just over forty inches were caught and released this year.

We are now seeing the BWO’s as the predominant hatch on both the Watauga and South Holston tailwaters. We have been throwing a size 18 to 22 BWO emerger we call the “Down & Dirty”.

Have you wanted learn how to fish those small size 22 to 30 blackfly and midge dries, come book a trip and let me unlock the secrets of this type of fishing. We have been having good days with plenty of average trout and a few good ones thrown in. The best so far on a size 26 dry with 7x tippet has been a 19 ½ inch brown. It is not as intimidating as you would think.

We will be attending two fly fishing shows this year. I will be in the Temple Fork Rods booth at the Atlanta Fly Fishing Festival being held January 24th & 25th in the Gwinnett Center. Be sure to stop and say hello. Our second show will be the Kentuckianna Fly Show being put on by the Derby City Fly Fishers in Louisville, Kentucky on January 31st. I will be giving one of the many seminars available at the event. I will be speaking about smallmouth fishing tips and techniques. We will have the Brookie Skiff boat on display in the booth. I am proud to say that I helped my guide partner Nes help build this beautiful boat last winter. Check out Derby City Fly Fishers website for more details and directions to the convention center www.derbycityflyfishers.com

Well until next month, tight lines and bent rods.

Randy Ratliff: Holston Smallies

Randy Ratliff of Trout-Fishers.net is a Tennessee fishing guide and long time friend of FlyfishMagazine.com. Randy usually goes after giant brown trout but today took time to remind us that during the summer other monsters lurk in the depths of his home water.

While on a beautiful float down the Holston river in East Tennessee this summer, as the day was slowly coming to an end, the water exploded.

Now let me back up and tell you about their day.The husband had been casting flies to every conceivable fish holding spot all along the river. We came to my favorite stretch of the river where many great smallies have come from including a 6 pound beauty. Ted was making casts and meticulously working the fly and picking up many nice average size fish in the 10 to 13 inch range. When his back and arm finally gave out from his several hundred cast day, his lovely wife stood up in the boat and made a cast. This cast was maybe only her twentieth cast of the day. As she worked her fly back to the boat, it started to transition to the surface. She saw the fly coming up towards the boat, suddenly she saw the eyes, then a mouth and then the water exploded as if a small stick of dynamite had gone off. She yelled what do I do, I said just take your time and fight it. After several hard fought minutes, she got the fish to the boat, I scooped this great Holston River specimen into the net. We measured and weighed the smallie and then she held it up for the always great "grip n grin" shot.

Out predominant flies for the day were Todds Wiggle Minnows and light to no weight Clouser Minnows. The fish were staged along the current breaks coming out of the riffles as well as along the grass edges in the big slow pools. This river really fills up with grass during the summer months and can make it tough to bring in the big smallies when they get down and wrapped up in the grass.

If you would like to have a great outdoor experience like this couple, check out my website, www.trout-fishers.net or give us a call at 423-360-1468 to book your trip of a lifetime.

Business trip

Tuesday afternoon I took a break from my day job to get in a little fishing with my friend Phil , Randy and Jackie from Honest Abe Log homes. Since we both had customers with us, this was strictly a business deal. Randy had some experience with a fly rod but this was Jackie's first experience. I intended to take a lot of pictures but we had some tangle issues that occupied my time. While we didn't catch any fish that required a photo, we did all manage to land some fish. The newcomers did a great job and we hauled in about 50 fish as a group. We caught rainbows, browns and brookies and some fish went 13-14 inches, but most were on the small side. Most of the fish were caught on midges and thin mints and we had a great time. All were returned to the river so we can try to catch them again next time. Thanks to Phil for setting up the trip and I think we all look foward to the next "business trip".

Jay Moore: Tenn. Tailwater Slam

While we were out carping FlyFishMagazine.com Middle Tennessee Editor, Jay Moore was busy catching.

Saturday Aug. 16th I had the opportunity to fish the Caney Fork river in Middle Tn. The Caney has become even more popular since the introduction of brook trout to the river this year. People are coming from all over for the chance to catch a brown, a rainbow, and a brookie all in the same day. Saturday was the first time since February that I could fish my favorite spot before generation.
When I got to the river it was still dark, so I tied on a size twelve thin mint by the light of the cargo lamp on my truck and carefully made my way out to a fallen tree that has always produced fish. Before it was light enough to change flies, I had hooked and landed 15 fish. The first three were a brown, brook, and a rainbow in that order. I would like to think I planned it that way, but it was just dumb luck. The brook trout are growing rapidly and are a blast to catch. If you have never caught a brookie, you can expect a lot of jumps and tail walking and in general, a good fight despite their size.
I ended up with 43 fish landed in a little over three hours of fishing. All were caught on a thin mint or a size 16 zebra midge in black or blue. That's the most I have ever hauled in in one day. By 9:30 the water was coming up and it was time for me to go. In middle Tn. we are truly fortunate to have access to some beautiful rivers and some great fishing. If you ever come this way, look me up and we'll give it a try.

J. H. Moore

Jay Moore's Concise Tennessee Fishing Report

Many of you may know that our Middle Tennessee Editor, Jay Moore, is a Texican and thus not one to be long on words. He sends a fishing report in his usual fashion:

Jay-25
Phil-5

Florida Fishing Report: Capt. John Kumiski

Author and noted fly fishing guide, Capt. John Kumiski has posted a new fishing report. In between redfish trips he took some time to target sunfish.

My truck was in the shop for four days last week. After one day I was sick of being home (the weather was perfect) so I returned to the days of my youth, taped a fly rod to the bicycle crossbar, and peddled to the Econlockhatchee River to fish for sunfish.

There weren’t a lot of sunfish there. Usually as you walk the banks you can see a lot of them. I got six or eight, all redbreasts. One was the biggest redbreast I’ve ever caught, with vivid, almost surreal colors. But I didn’t get a stumpknocker, nor a bluegill. Kinda weird.

Read the entire report that includes information on a recent redfish trip via his website.

Photo: Capt. John Kumiski

Capt. John Kumiski: Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 3/3/08

Upcoming Events:

-On March 30 I’ll be giving a program on Fishing Opportunities on Florida’s Space Coast at the FFF Flyfishing Expo in Lakeland, Florida.

Dumb Ideas Dept : NASA is considering putting a commercial launch pad on the west shoreline of the Mosquito Lagoon, in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, about in the middle of what is now the Bio Lab Road. See the official information at this link: http://environmental.ksc.nasa.gov/projects/ksc-cvlc.htm

Locally, the idea hasn’t gone over too well with fishermen and birders. It would result in the closing of the southern half of the Mosquito Lagoon to all entry, from the Haulover Canal south. If this were the only site available that would be one thing, but the Canaveral Air Force Station is littered with old, no longer used launch pads, many of which could be adapted for the use of the commercial launch area. NASA evidently is unwilling to ask the Air Force for permission to do this.

I adapted a letter I got from Doug Olander and forwarded it on to Mario Busacca at this email address: KSC-CVLC@nasa.gov See my letter here: http://www.spottedtail.com/NASALetter.htm Please feel free to copy/adapt it as you need. Please send it along to Mr. Busacca and let him know what you think of NASA’s idea.


A Plausible Explanation for River Rage

Due to a major honey-do that took me four days to complete, the only day I fished this week was Friday. I was supposed to fish with TC Howard but he had to cancel at the last minute. I ended up taking a kayak, alone, out of River Breeze on Friday morning.

It was about 60 degrees, the sun was out, and there was a breeze of about 12 mph out of the east, just a beautiful Florida winter morning.

The water was REAL low. I literally had to drag the kayak much of the way into the pond that I ended up in, wrapping the painter around my waist to better pull the boat over the mud. I didn’t know what to expect, and was surprised and delighted to find a pair of fish tailing less than five minutes after getting there.

My first cast (with a squirrel tail slider) landed about three feet away from them. One of the fish bolted and I thought he had spooked. What actually happened was that he heard the fly hit the water and rushed over and ate it. Releasing a twenty five inch red hooked in four inches of water was a great start to the day.

The amazing thing was that the second fish never spooked. For a good part of the fight with the first fish I really thought I’d get a crack at the second. Didn’t happen of course, but you get the idea that the fish were very relaxed.

Within a couple minutes I found another tailer. I followed this fish around with a camera for at least ten minutes trying to get tailing photos. I got a few, although they’re not great. That fish finally swam almost in to me and spooked.

I’d just put the camera away and there was another fish tailing close by. I pooched the first few casts. By now the fish was real close. The next cast was good and I watched him take the fly. Another release soon followed.

Clouds started to show and made visibility harder. But there were fish cruising and tailing all over the pond and I missed a few more strikes, broke off two fish (no excuse for that except for angler error) and released another. I went to the far end of the pond and determined that it was so shallow (grass tips sticking out of the water) that it would be too hard for me to get out that way. Since there were plenty of fish where I was it was easy to stay there. I stopped for lunch, and then went back to fishing.

By now there were lots of clouds. It was hard to see. I was working harder, and fishing blind. Deciding wading might work better, I tied the painter around my waist and with kayak in tow started stalking the fishies on foot.

It often happens when you kayak fish in the River Breeze area that you frequently hear, but seldom see, motor skiffs. When the water is low, especially when you’ve dragged the boat over extensive damp mudflats to get to your spot, skiffs just can’t get to where you are. So when I heard the outboard getting louder I didn’t think that much of it.

Imagine my surprise and dismay when this yahoo comes roaring around the corner of the pond, heading right for me. He runs right through where I’m fishing. Since the pond is a dead end at the other end, after he passes me he turns around and comes right past me again. In the meantime you can see the wakes of the terrified fish going every which way.

I tell you, I’m not a violent person, but had a had a piece I’d have put a couple of caps through his hull. First off, he ran the skiff through the water I’d already determined was too shallow to paddle through. I wonder why all those prop dredge marks are in all those shallow ponds back there?? Secondly, he boogered up every bird and fish in that pond.

I stayed almost three more hours and only saw one fish tail in that time. I didn’t get another bite, and thought what a jerk that guy was all afternoon. Maybe I’m being selfish, (after all, I don’t own that spot) but he really ruined my afternoon.

Why would anyone do that to another angler? You might think it was ignorance, but this was a new, high-tech skiff- tunnel hull, jackplate, the whole nine yards. Anyone with a skiff like that ought to have some familiarity with the concepts of etiquette and consideration. It seemed like he deliberately went out of his way to burn the pond while I was standing in it.

Incidents like this give a plausible explanation for river rage.

In spite of the occasional jerk encounter, it’s March, one of the best months of the year to fish the Space Coast . So-

Life is short- GO FISHING!!!

Life is great and I love my work!

John Kumiski
www.johnkumiski.com
www.spottedtail.com

Capt. John Kumiski News and Fl Fishing Report

Space Coast Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 2/3/08

Upcoming Events:

-On February 12 I'll be speaking to the Backcountry Flyfishing Association in Orlando. Contact Bill Norton at 407.620.7639 for more information.

-On March 30 I'll be giving a program at the FFF Flyfishing Expo in Lakeland, Florida.

Happy Super Bowl Sunday! Is this a great country, or what!?!?

Before the actual fishing report, a few words about the Somerset Fly Fishing Show-

While I'm at the show, most of my time is spent at my fly tying desk. That's why they invite me. Since I try to be responsible, that's pretty much where I stay. There's a lot of the show I never see. However, I did find a GREAT new product for fishermen, one that almost everyone who uses fishing line and who has the slightest amount of environmental consciousness, needs. Called the Monomaster, it is a waste line holder. All those little pieces of line that you generate every time you change flies or lures are just fed into the device, which is small, easily carried, easily used, and easily emptied. See a picture of it here, or visit their website at www.grasshopperproducts.com.

I also saw two of my favorite artists there. Alan James Robinson uses nautical charts as the canvas for his paintings of fish and other wildlife. Mark Sussino specializes in underwater scenes, usually involving gamefish. Both are excellent artists. While I've never had the pleasure of fishing with Alan, I’ve fished with Mark a couple of times and he's an excellent fly angler, too. Visit their websites and check out their work. I think you'll like it, too.

Monday afternoon Tom Van Horn called and invited me to join he and Chris Myers on a no motor zone expedition on Tuesday. I jumped at the chance, since Tom has access to areas I do not. Tuesday morning found us launching from the NASA Causeway.
I’m not going to say we tore them up. The weather was beautiful in the morning. I found a large school of surprising small (10 pounds or so) black drum. I called Tom and he said he and Chris had found a school of large drum that I'd paddled past without seeing! I got two of the smaller fish, and Chris got one of the behemoths that was about 40 inches long. I went over to see if I could get one but by the time I got there the school was spooked and steaming off, pushing up a large wake. Good stuff.

I kept searching and found a large school of big reds. They were far from suicidal. After working it for about 30 minutes I got one to take a black redfish worm. There was only about two feet of fly line out of the rod when he took. I was all crouched down hoping they wouldn’t see me! The fish was a big one, 25 pounds anyway. I fought it for ten or twelve minutes and was gaining ground when the hook pulled out. I pulled the fly in to check it and the hook was bent out to a 90 degree angle.

I had several shots at tailing drum. A big gator chased me off one pod by giving me a threat display and growling at me. I hooked one more redfish before we left, and lost him too when the hook, not bent out, pulled. I ended up with two drum and a barely legal trout. Had two reds on but couldn't get the slam.

Wednesday Shawn Healy and I launched the Mitzi at River Breeze. While we found some fish, they were by no means thick. We couldn't get any to eat and only got a single strike, which I didn't connect on, all day.

Thursday Scott Radloff and I launched at Parrish Park, and hunted for fish all the way up past Scottsmoor. While we found a few fish we couldn't get them to eat and did not even get a bite.

Friday Dr. George Yarko and I launched at River Breeze. It was cloudy and windy. We found a few fish and while we certainly did not have a career day, he did get a single redfish and a beautiful trout of about 25 inches. It was good to handle a fish again!

Yesterday I ran the Show and Tell at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. I had six people come, a small turnout, but we had beautiful weather and everyone learned a lot.

Today I watch the Super Bowl, and take care of this fishing report and other administrative business. Since I grew up in suburban Boston you know I will root for the Patriots. I will also understand that there are way more important things than football, though.

Life is short- GO FISHING!!!

Life is great and I love my work!

John Kumiski
www.johnkumiski.com
www.spottedtail.com
member Florida Outdoor Writers Association (www.fowa.org), Southeastern Outdoor Press Association (www.seopa.org), Indian River Guides association (www.irga.org)

Capt. John Kumiski: Florida Fishing Report

Capt. John Kumiski is a Florida fishing guide and the author of several books on fly fishing in Salt Water. He sends us regular fishing reports from his home waters on Florida's Space Coast.

Space Coast Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 1/20/08

Upcoming Events:

-On January 22nd I’ll be giving a presentation to the Mangrove Coast Fly Fishers in Sarasota, Florida. Contact John Freeman at 941.228.5938 for information.

-From January 25 through 27 I’ll be a featured fly tyer at the Fly Fishing Show in Somerset, New Jersey. I always enjoy that freezing weather they have there.

-On February 2 I will be holding a Show and Tell Seminar at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Visit http://www.spottedtail.com/show&tell.htm for more information.

-On February 12 I’ll be speaking to the Backcountry Flyfishing Association in Orlando. Contact Paul Norton at 407.620.7639 for more information.

-On March 30 I’ll be giving a program at the FFF Flyfishing Expo in Lakeland, Florida.

Well! It has been quite the miserable week weather-wise. As a result I got out only two days. Sunday last (1/13) Chris Pederson and his six year old grandson Sebastian joined me in Karl Dienst’s Hewes (Many thanks to Karl for letting me borrow his skiff!). We fished the Mosquito Lagoon. The weather was overcast and threatening rain all day, wind about 12 out of the west. We found pretty much the same thing wherever we looked, which is to say very little. When you have a youngster in the boat you especially want some action, but it just wasn’t happening. We got two slot trout all day. We did find a few tailers late in the day but couldn’t buy a strike. On top of that we got caught in a thunderstorm at the end of the day and got very wet, and of course scared to death by the frequent and nearby lightning bolts. At least that part of the day was eventful! And, we didn’t get fried, always a good thing. Hey, I had fun!

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I watched the trees rock back and forth while I worked on putting up the stock photo images into www.johnkumiski.com. That process is not completed, but many of the pages are up and working. I am very excited by this site! Cheryl Kumiski, official sister of John Kumiski and therefore not necessarily an unbiased observer, wrote, “nicely impressive. i am in love with the skyscape page. you need more animals. good job and well done. i enjoyed a few hours there.” I am proud to say that Cheryl is an artist working in glass. Her website can be visited at http://www.cherylkumiski.com/index.html

Thursday evening, the weather forecast for Friday was for overcast skies and northwest winds at 5-10, with a high of 70 degrees. Sick to death of looking at a computer screen I loaded a kayak on the roof. Friday morning found me paddling in the no motor zone.

It never got close to 70 degrees, and it was overcast with occasional drizzle. The wind was as predicted. Not ideal conditions, but I had to look. I started just after 7 and was out for almost two hours when I spotted my first fish, a single tail sticking out of the water. It was weird because it wasn’t moving, it was just sticking up out of the water. However, nearby another tail would appear sporadically. I staked out the yak and waded over.

I tossed the redfish worm a dozen times, didn’t get a sniff, and the tail disappeared. While I waited, hoping it would reappear, I changed flies to a Merkin. The tail reappeared a few yards away, and I tossed the fly several more times. I couldn’t see the fish because of the clouds, but you just know when you’re dragging it right by their nose. No response, and the tail disappeared again.

By this time there had been enough water movement that I figured there were a few other fish around. I took a blind cast away from my target fish and started crawling the Merkin along the bottom. Suddenly, “thump.” Real solid. I set the hook, and the tractor pull was joined.

I battled that fish hard for about fifteen minutes. I tried to keep him from taking any line, and although he got close, he never reached the backing. On the other hand, he wouldn’t let me move him either, and I never did get a look at him. Then the hook disengaged. I pulled in the fly, expecting to see a bent hook. It was, but only a little bit. It just came unbuttoned. Based on the time I spent connected via the five weight I would guess that it was the biggest fish I’d hooked in a year or more (yes I had a crappy tarpon season least year, one that lasted less than a week and that was plagued by terrible weather). Anyway I can safely guess that because I lost the fish!

I was out until after 1 PM and never got another shot. I hardly saw anything else, just a couple mud puffs and wakes as I ran over an unseen inhabitant of Neptune’s kingdom. Yesterday I picked up the now-rigged Mitzi. Today the forecast high is 57 degrees with 20 mph winds. And, there are two championship football games starting in less than an hour! The Mitzi’s maiden voyage will have to wait until tomorrow.

Life is short- GO FISHING!!!

Life is great and I love my work!

John Kumiskiwww.spottedtail.commember Florida Outdoor Writers Association (www.fowa.org), Southeastern Outdoor Press Association (www.seopa.org), Indian River Guides association (www.irga.org)

John Kumiski: Florida Space Coast Fishing Report

FlyfishMagazine's newest associate, Capt. John Kumiski, sends news from Florida's sunny space coast.

Upcoming Events:
-On January 22nd I'll be giving a presentation to the Mangrove Coast Fly Fishers in Sarasota, Florida. Contact John Freeman at 941.228.5938 for information.

-From January 25 through 27 I'll be a featured fly tyer at the Fly Fishing Show in Somerset, New Jersey. I always enjoy that freezing weather they have there.

-On February 2 I will be holding a Show and Tell Seminar at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Visit http://www.spottedtail.com/show&tell.htm for more information.

-On February 12 I'll be speaking to the Backcountry Flyfishing Association in Orlando. Contact Paul Norton at 407.620.7639 for more information.

-On March 30 I'll be giving a program at the FFF Flyfishing Expo in Lakeland, Florida.

-News Flash! I have a new skiff! A brand new Mitzi 17 is at Central Florida Marine getting rigged as I write this. It is not the boat I've been waiting for. That one is still under construction. When it is ready I will be selling this one and buying that one. If you have any interest in a slightly used Mitzi 17 let me know. More information will be forthcoming when I'm ready to sell.

Another news flash! I have a new website up, http://www.johnkumiski.com. The site is still under construction and is still in a testing phase, but it is useable. My goal is to put all my writing and much of my photography on this site, to make it a resource for anglers and outdoor adventure travelers, both individuals and magazine/newspaper/website editors. If you visit the site and find any mistakes, please let me know at john@spottedtail.com . The first ten people to do this will receive a mini prize pack!

On to the fishing!

Monday Capt. Chris Myers had me get up ridiculously early to join him in a Mosquito Lagoon escapade. The sun was just rising as we left the ramp. He said the fish would be tailing. We got to the spot, and they were, not hard, not lots of them, but tailing fish are tailing fish and you’re not going to sneer at that any time.
Chris poled first and I got a slot red, a tailer, on a black redfish worm. We switched ends and Chris got a slot sized tailer on a small Merkin crab. Between us we blew at least a dozen shots. By this time the sun was getting up into the firmament. The fish had stopped tailing and we decided to look for laid up trout.
We found quite a few. Were they spooky! Mr. Myers finally hooked one on a bend back, only to have it shake off at boatside. I couldn't get a sniff. Chris thought he knew where some drum were, so we went looking for them.
I was on the bow when suddenly there were at least a hundred fish in front of me. I tossed the redfish worm out there a number of times. It was obvious it wasn't sinking fast enough. Part of what made it so was the fact not a fish touched it. I tied a Merkin on, and got an upper slot red on the first cast. His thrashing scared all the other fish away.
We looked for them for a while without success, although Chris picked up another red on a Merkin.
Rain clouds were moving in from the south, so we bailed early. It was about 1 PM as he put the boat on the trailer, just as the first drops started to fall. Good timing!

Tuesday I drove to Titusville to deliver the kayak I had sold. I took the opportunity to take another kayak out on the Indian River. The water was kind of dirty and it was windy. I blindly cast a Dupre Spoonfly for an hour or so and caught two slot sized trout.

All this week I couldn't get last week's no motor zone trip out of my head. Thursday I went over there for a solo trip. I was out seven hours, looking hard. I probably paddled 12 miles or more. I had seven shots in that time, all at slot reds. I didn't see a big red or black drum, although I did see four big seatrout. The fish were very scarce. I had three bites and released two fish. I will say that I don't think I've ever seen so many hardhead cats up working in shallow water and tailing. I saw a fish in a white sand hole at the limit of my vision. I couldn't tell what it was and threw the redfish worm over to it. It jumped all over it and to my surprise and dismay, it was a catfish. There were quite a few sheepshead, too, but none of them were fooled by my offerings.

Life is short- GO FISHING!!!

Life is great and I love my work!

John Kumiski

www.spottedtail.com

member Florida Outdoor Writers Association www.fowa.org

Southeastern Outdoor Press Association (www.seopa.org), Indian River Guides association (www.irga.org)

Jay Moore catches fish, decries editorial fishing advice

Saturday Jan. 5th I got the opportunity to try the Caney Fork river in Middle Tn. I was fishing by myself this trip and got to the river about 20 minutes before sunrise. It was cold, overcast and rain was in the forecast, in other words, perfect conditions to have the river mostly to myself.

I tied a size 20 zebra midge on with the help of my headlights and headed to my favorite spot. I tied the small midges the night before because my editor refers to the flies (midges) I typically use as freakishly large. I hooked up with two nice trout very quickly and had a few strikes then the activity stopped. I switched to a woolly bugger and landed two more fish, but the action could not be described as hot and heavy. After two hours and four fish I switched back to my trusty size 16 (editor's note: they look more like 12's to me) zebra midge that I tie with a copper wrap. I was drifting the midge beneath a grasshopper dry fly and things changed quickly. With this set up I was able to reach the fish holding in the shallow waters near the banks and to make a long story short; an hour and a half and twenty four more fish, I loaded up my gear including my freakish flies and headed to the recliner.

I’ll take a 30 fish day anytime even if I am fishing with all the wrong flies.

Capt. John Kumiski: Banana River Lagoon Fishing Report

Banana River Lagoon Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 1/4/08

Photos this week worth seeing! Visit this link: http://www.spottedtail.com/ThisWeeksFishingReport.htm

This is my first fishing report of 2008. The weather so far this year has been wintery, can you imagine? We actually had temperatures dip to the freezing mark, and I’ve heard some reports of fish kills from around the state. Being a totally acclimatized Floridian, I don’t like to go fishing when the high temperature for the day is in the 40’s or 50’s, especially with 20 knot plus winds. So, I only ventured out one day this week.

My friend Rick DePaiva has been threatening to come fish with me for black drum for years now. Since he has never actually done it I figured he was just talking. Yesterday, however, he actually showed up. His friend David McCleaf was with him. So around 830 AM we launched an Ocean Kayak Prowler 13 containing David and his stuff and an Old Town Camper containing Ricky and me and our stuff. Since the Camper’s crew was focused on getting Rick a black drum, I handled the push pole and Rick manned the fly rod.

We only saw one fish until about 1030. At that time we found a small pod of slot reds tailing. Ricky made several good casts that I thought should have worked, and one finally did. Good thing, skunk off boat. Not what we were looking for but no one complained. The fly was a black Redfish Worm.

I suppose I should have a digression here about the weather. When we started the wind was blowing about 12 out of the east and it was about 65 degrees. The sun shone when we cast off, but a bank of clouds quickly rolled in and we could see several showers off in the distance. So when Ricky got that first red it was windy and cloudy, which it mostly stayed all day. We also got rained on several times, and saw a few patches of sun, too. Not an ideal day, perhaps, but you make the best of what you get, especially when you’re paddling.

We went at least an hour before we got another bite, although we saw David get a slot red on a DOA Shrimp. He removes the supplied hook and rigs the shrimp “backwards,” using a plastic worm hook like you’d use in a jerk bait. Good idea, young man!

Rick and I finally found a single black drum tailing. When the tail wasn’t up we couldn’t see it at all (no sun) and after a few casts the fish disappeared, never to show itself again. As it turned out this was a recurring theme.

We found a small pod of slot reds working in shallow water and Rick got one the Redfish Worm. We saw David get another one not too far off from us. So fishing was slow but there were a few around and we were getting one once in a while. We’ve all had worse days, and no one was complaining.

David decided to do some solo exploration. We could see him, looking for fish about a half mile off. I kept waiting for my phone to ring so we could go and join him on the huge school of fish he found. The phone finally did ring, but it was Rodney, not David.

Rick and I were taking a break, snacking, when I saw a single tail come up and drop again. A minute or so went by and it came up again, closer this time. Then the sun broke through the clouds. We took advantage of the light and went looking for the fish. He helped us by tailing on a reasonably regular basis. Ricky got several good casts to the beast, and he finally took the fly. Black drum on! I called David, who immediately headed back over to our location.

It took Rick several minutes to subdue what turned out to be a drum of over 25 pounds. Mission accomplished! We spent some time taking pictures, then kissed the fish and released it.

We split up again, David working up in front of us a half mile or so. He went around a point and we couldn’t see him any more. We were seeing slot sized fish with reasonable frequency, and hooking one now and then. We finally got to the point and there was David, casting at fish.

We spotted a tailer and went after it. We could only see it when the tail was up, since it had clouded over again. We worked that fish for 10 or 15 minutes and never got a tap. But David finally ended it when he paddled over to us, telling us he needed a photographer. He had a 26 pound red in the water, tethered by a Boga Grip. The photos were made, the fish released. Both gentlemen now had a big fish under their belts. Life was good.

Our rough total for the day was eight reds between us, all in the slot except for David’s bull, and one black drum. The fish were equally split between the two of them. We capped off our most excellent day by having dinner at El Leoncito.

Life is short- GO FISHING!!!

Life is great and I love my work!

John Kumiski

http://www.spottedtail.com/

member Florida Outdoor Writers Association (http://www.fowa.org/), Southeastern Outdoor Press Association (www.Seopa.org), Indian River Guides association (www.irga.org).

Editor's Note: Capt. Kumiski is the author of several excellent books about fly fishing Florida's salt water including "Redfish On The Fly" to which we gave a thumbs up in the review section of FlyFishMagazine.com.

Randy Ratliff's East Tennessee Fishing Reports

Photo: Troutfishers Guide Service helps put Tim Linehan of Trout Unlimited Television on his first Smallie in 20 years.

Randy Ratliff of the TroutFishers Guide Service posts the following East Tennessee fishing report:

Troutfishers Guide Service, Randy Ratliff
When: September 2007
South Holston, Watauga, Holston Proper


Hello everyone, it looks like we are finishing up the Summer season and the Fall season is upon us. The cooler temperatures are a relief from the scorching hot temperature we have had lately. We are seeing some rains to help with water flow, but it is not enough to recover from the drought.

Mark your calendars to come and see us at Jesse Brown's on Thursday September 27th, 6:30pm at their Sharon Corners store in Charlotte, North Carolina. We will be giving a presentation on Fall and Winter fishing in East Tennessee. Here is a link for further information and directions: http://www.jessebrown.com/

On Saturday September 29th I will be at the Orvis Store in Raleigh talking on Fly Fishing in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I hope you can come out and see our presentations. Here is a little report on how the fishing has been here in East Tennessee:

South Holston

The morning wade and afternoon float trips are doing very well. We use terrestrials and sulphur emergers while wading. All areas of the river are fishing good. Our afternoon float trips during generation have been great. We see the sulphurs really start coming off around 2pm and we have been using a size 16 tan comparadun to bring many nice rainbows and browns to the boat. When the hatch slows down we use terrestrials near the bank and swing soft hackles in the better current lines. Seeing those big browns slurp a beetle or cricket off the surface is something to see.

Watauga

The Watauga has seen some local rain showers each evening and it is helping with the float trips. We are using small beadhead Pheasant Tails and Zebra Midges while nymphing. There is a small tan caddis hatching and craneflies are still coming off as well. We are not seeing the BWOs yet. When we float during generation it is olive and black Woolly Buggers (size 6) that produce the most. Our "Dumb Blonde" and "Plum Crazy" buggers are also doing great. It is about time to see the October Caddis start popping and we are looking forward to this hatch.

The Holston Proper

The smallmouth action has been very good for the last couple of weeks. The action has been mainly topwater poppers with an occasional fish on clousers and hellgrammite imitations. We have been seeing 30 to 50 fish days while floating. The grass is thick in the lower river but the fish are holding in it. They are chasing minnows getting ready for Fall.

Mountain Streams

With the drought conditions these streams are very low. Stoney Creek at one point has gone underground. Many of my prime streams are just down to a trickle so we have been not fishing these waters.

We still have dates available for Fall and early Winter fishing. Give us a call at 423-360-1468 or email me at FishwithRandy@Embarqmail.com to set up a fishing trip for you.


Thanks
Randy Ratliff
Troutfishers Guide Service

Jay Moore's Middle Tennesee Fishing Report

FlyFishMagazine.com Middle Tennessee Editor sent in the following fishing report:

It’s been a while since I posted a fishing report because until recently there has not been much to report. My friend Phil and I have been fishing the same places, catching a fair number of small fish, but nothing to write home about. A few weeks ago we tried a different spot and met a newcomer to the fly fishing world named Ryan. A local fly shop had sold him a lot of flies that were destined to never catch a fish, so Phil decided to help him out. I know I kid Phil a lot but he is a good guy and spent a lot of time with Ryan. He gave him some flies and and showed him how to fish them and in a few minutes Ryan caught his first trout on a fly rod. He ended up landing about ten trout that morning and was completely hooked on the sport.

While I am on the subject of my friend Phil, two weeks ago we had a great trip to the Caney Fork. Phil only landed 5 fish but the fish were some of the largest we have seen this year. He landed a 19”, 16”, and 15” rainbow and did a great job bringing them in. I also caught three large rainbows but nothing that beat Phil’s big fish. He said it was the best he has caught on the Caney and it was certainly one of the largest I have seen in a long time. All these big fish were hooked on either a size 16 black zebra midge or size 16 Blue Bomber tied in the Moore house kitchen.

I thought I would include something for my daughter Mylisa in this report. She gave me a fishing cap for fathers day and I have worn it the last three trips and I think it’s my new lucky hat. I have landed almost 60 trout since I started wearing it and I will keep it on until the luck runs out. Thanks Mylisa, I need all the help I can get.

New South Holston Fishing Report

Rod and Matt from Champion Outfitters & South Holston River Fly Shop sent us a fishing report about their home waters. As is often the case on Tennessee tail water, the sulphurs are hatching!

The South Holston River is fishing extremely good right now. The Sulphurs are pouring off on low water and on high water. There are some really nice fish rising to the Duns. The trout that we are catching right now are gorged on the Sulphurs, and are mean. Then late in the Evening the Spinners are coming back to the water and there are huge Spinners fall with lots of fish rising in the evenings.

For up to date fishing reports check out our new web-site: http://www.southholstonriverflyshop.com/.

Special Prime Time Float $225

The trip is just to fish the Sulphur hatch on High water. It is a half day float in the afternoon that last about 4-5 hours. This a time to fish to big trout rising to dry flies along with thousands of 8-14" Browns and Rainbows that are rising. Starting time depends on generation schedule.
For more information on guided trips on either the South Holston or Watauga Rivers. Give us a call at 423-878-2822. Float and Wade Trips available in both full and half days.

Thanks,
Rod and Matt Champion
Champion Outfitters & South Holston River Fly Shop
608 Emmett Rd.
Bristol, TN 37620

North Arkansas Fishing Report

The Morning News has published a new North Arkansas Fishing report. It has lots of talk of spoons and powerbait but also contains a bit of information for the fly fisher.

White River:

Scott Branyan at Ozark Fly Flinger guide service said trout are slow to bite flies, but can be caught with nymphs and streamers downstream from the Bertrand Access.

McLellan's Fly Shop in Fayetteville said the best low-water flies are midge patterns like the Jujubee, the Poison Tung, and the zebra midge.

Any fly called the Poison Tung is apt to catch our eye. Here's a link to a description and photo.

Smoke on the water...

According to the Chaser Key West Fly Fishing Report Blog, the tarpon, Summer, and smoke from Florida's forest fires, have all arrived in Key West.

"we have some summer weather and Tarpon showing up in the flats and shallows for Fly Rodden.Late but welcome, in spite of forest fire smoke blowing in from Florida to give an unusual eeriness to the early morning hunt."

Jay Moore's White River Fishing Report.

Visit our fishing reports page to read about his trip

Fishing Gods Angered - Laws of Nature Suspended

The following comes from FlyFishMagazine.com Middle Tennessee Editor, Jay Moore. Jay ran into a strange phenomenon while fishing one of his favorite tail waters. The river began flowing in the opposite direction! Here is his report:

On Saturday my friend, let's call him Phil, and I attempted to fish the Caney Fork in a driving rainstorm. Things started out as usual but then got very weird. Things became very much like the Seinfeld episode where everything was backwards.(The Bizarro Jerry).

We had landed a few small fish on midges when we noticed that our flies were no longer drifting. Rather than drifting with the current, they were sitting still. I decided to change sides and made a cast to a good spot but the fly drifted upstream. I tried again with the same result, so I tied on a thin mint and hooked a 15-16" rainbow. Phil netted it and put it on his new stringer (Editor's note: We think this is first spot where Phil got on dicey grounds with the fishing Gods). His old one swam away last trip with a nice rainbow on it. He tied on a trout magnet and the Green Cork of Death (second and third black marks on his permanent record with the fishing deity). It also drifted upstream. Soon there were all sorts of debris moving upstream!

We decided that things were getting strange enough that we needed to get out of the river. By the time we got to the bank the water level was up about three feet. I was as concerned as I have ever been while wading in the river so we were looking for a quick way out if needed.

I would not have believed that the river could reverse course if I had not seen it with my own eyes. I think that either Phil angered the Fishing Gods with his continued use of The Green Cork of Death and by not releasing the only good fish caught that day or it could have been flooding downstream. Either way it was a strange day on the Caney Fork. Oh, the fish count. Jay 8 Phil 0.

As always when we find someone chucking hardware here at FlyFishMagazine.com, identities have been shielded to protect the guilty.

New South Holston / Watauga Fishing Reports

Rod Champion from Champion Outfitters has uploaded a new fishing report for the South Holston and Watauga tail waters in East Tennessee. He gives us some great tips about which flies are working best and also announces the opening of their new shop located just below the weir dam on the South Holston River.

"On the Watauga, the big caddis’ are hatching off daily, from morning til evening. Use a size 10 or 12 dark caddis for this event. And an event it is. It is a major, air filling hatch. Of course, on a caddis’ hatch, where ever you are, a soft hackle is the ticket. For Caddis’ only ride on the water to lay their eggs. Otherwise, they burst up and as emergers and are gone. Thus a swinging soft hackle is the trick. "

Visit FlyFishMagazine.com's fishing report page to read the entire report. Remember you too can let your fellow anglers know how the fishing is on your home water by visiting our "Submit Reports Page." We will be sure to give you credit and think happy thoughts about you.