Eastern Tennessee is home to some of the finest fly fishing in the country, with trout filled rivers and picturesque scenery this top destination should be high on your bucket list.
Our region is prominently known for the South Holston and Watauga tailwaters. These rivers draw anglers from all over the world throughout the year and boast some of the very best fly fishing for trout in the country.
We have dense trout populations and prolific mayfly hatches. This provides anglers with the opportunity to catch trout using a multitude of tactics.
Sam was born and raised just outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. From a young age Sam has had a passion for the outdoors. He started working in the fly fishing industry shortly after graduating High School and was a manager for a fly shop at their Pittsburgh location. While doing this job he taught many fly fishing and fly tying classes and quickly realized his passion would take him to be a full time fly fishing guide. Since making this transition he has guided in multiple locations including the famous Bristol Bay region of Alaska. He currently resides on the banks of the famed South Holston River where he guides full time. Sam also guides seasonally in the Lake Erie Tributaries which he considers his “home away from home” he grew up fishing these waters and has an intimate knowledge of them.
If you are fishing with Sam you can guarantee that you will be with not only someone who consistently put you on fish, but also someone who prides themselves on making sure people leave as a better angler. Many of Sam’s clients will tell you first hand you won’t find a more passionate or hard working guide. When not on the water Sam is also a passionate weight lifter, bbq enthusiast and avid bourbon collector. He also loves to travel and spend time with his lovely wife Geneva and their 3 children..
The South Holston River tailwater below South Holston dam is one of the top 10 trout fisheries in the country, boasting 7-10,000 trout per square mile. This river is absolutely infested with fish and has the food supply to grow some of the largest brown trout anywhere in the country. Out of this count roughly 80% of these fish are wildy reproducing brown trout with the other 20% being made up of rainbow trout. The SOHO is a year round fishery, with the water releases being drawn from the bottom of south Holston lake we are always provided with stable water temperatures. What this means is no matter the air temperature outside our river never fluctuates more than about 10 degrees leading to consistent fishing 12 months out of the year.
