“Bill helped me save some boaters in distress and was rewarded in gold”
July Fishing Outlook
Fishing Report – Story of the Month:
I was fishing with my friend and regular client Bill in June on the Clarion when I received a message from a local guide that a friend of his had turned his raft over and needed help recovering it. When we got to the boat, they had already left to try and get help. The boat was anchored in an underwater snag in a swift current, which caused it to flip. I handed Bill a knife and had him cut the rope free while I held our boat in the current. Once it was free, we got it into a shallow spot, flipped it upright, and tied it to our boat to float it down to an area where they could recover it. This happened towards the last couple of miles of our float; from the part of the river where we dropped the boat off, we only had roughly 1 mile left. It seemed as if our luck had turned in the right direction from helping out these boaters because, in the last mile of our float, Bill managed to catch 3 fish over 20” on a streamer! River Karma is a real thing. Treat other anglers well and respect the resource, and more often than not, you’ll be blessed with success!
A rain-packed June is going to lead to some stellar summer fishing. The last several years of droughts have made summer fishing extremely challenging, but with heavy spring rains, we will have better fishing opportunities in July and August than we have had in a few years!
For tailwater fishing, this means full reservoirs that will run bigger water flows than you would typically see in July and August. This means continual insect hatches, good water temperatures, and happy fish.
For warm water fishing, this adds opportunities as well to get out on more of the small rivers that would typically be too low for a summertime float trip!
“Bill helped me save some boaters in distress and was rewarded in gold”
Tennessee Report
South Holston & Watauga Rivers Report
June fishing on the East TN rivers has been stellar. We have seen a mix of different generation schedules on the SoHo and Watauga that have offered a variety for every angler. I expect this to continue as we transition into summer. The SoHo is usually generating water most afternoons, allowing for a low water float to sight fish for big trout in the morning and a high water float to catch numbers of fish in the afternoon. This is my favorite scenario on the SoHo. The Watauga is on its typical summer schedule, generating water from 1 to 6 PM Monday through Friday, and from 12 to 6 PM on Saturdays. Sundays generally have no generation!
You can find some sulphurs, midges, and occasional blue wings hatching on both rivers.
“Matt with a stud brown he sight fished on the South Holston during low water”
My Best Setups for July/August Fishing are as Follows:
Low Water:
Dry Dropper:
9’ 5wt T&T Avantt II – SA Magnitude Trout Expert Clear Tip Line to an 11ft 4-5x leader.
In the summer, I will generally start by fishing a small foam attractor dry, but I will downsize to a smaller pattern if I’m not catching fish or see fish spooking. It’s amazing how educated these fish become during the summer months. Stealth is the name of the game in low water. I will typically use small drab droppers in the 18-24 range on 6x tippet during this time of year.
High Water:
Inline Nymph Rig:
10’ 4wt T&T Avantt II – I will fish this rig with a 7 1/2 2x leader, terminating it with a tippet ring and attaching a yarn indicator directly above the tippet ring. I then add level tippet below the ring to get the best drag-free presentation possible. Summertime usually involves midge fishing, and I will typically fish a zebra midge under some sort of heavy attractor, such as a big Walt’s worm or a squirmy worm.
Drop Shot:
It’s not pretty, but it can be very effective during high water in the summer. If I find the fish are especially keyed in on midges, this is the most effective tactic to keep them near the bottom. Bust out the big bobber and the BB shot. I will typically fish 2 flies off of dropper tags placed above a shot chain at the bottom of the leader. The split shot will bounce along the bottom and keep the small midges down there.
Fly Patterns:
– GD’s Sunburst Perdigon (16-18)
– Walt’s Worm (16-18)
– Pheasant Tail (16-22)
– Olive Midge (18-24)
– I Can See It Midge (20-24)
– Sulphur CDC Comparadun (16-20)
“Randi with her personal best brown trout caught on the Soho”
Pennsylvania Report:
PA has been blessed with a ton of rain this spring, which has led to awesome summer flows. This will prolong the trout fishing through the early part of summer at the minimum, if not potentially all summer long if we continue to receive rainfall.
Clarion River:
The Clarion is in amazing shape for this time of year. Water temperatures are still in the mid-50s in Johnsonburg, and the fish are very happy. High water has continued through most of June, with 200-400 cfs coming out of East Branch Dam, plus an additional 200-600 cfs from other tributaries. Rarely has the main stem gone under 600 cfs. Streamer fishing has been the ticket! During periods of high water, these fish jump to the banks and look to ambush unsuspecting prey. When the water has occasionally dropped enough to clear, we’ve had very productive nymphing and dry fly fishing.
“Chrissy with a stud brown on the Clarion River during a period of high dirty water”
The Setups:
Streamer Fishing:
Exocett 88 200 – I fish this rod with a full sink line and a 3’ chunk of 16 lb leader material so the fly can sink fast. I will typically fish this rod with unweighted flies and let the line do the sinking for the most desirable action.
Exocett 88 160 – I like to fish this rod with a floating line and a heavy jig-style streamer for fast shallow pocket water or periods of lower water, where a big fly and sink line might be spooking fish. I keep my flies in the smaller 2-3 inch range with this setup. It also works well on bright sunny days.
Nymphing:
10’ 4wt T&T Avantt II – I will fish this rig with a 7 1/2 2x leader, terminating it with a tippet ring and attaching a yarn indicator directly above the tippet ring. I then add level tippet below the ring to get the best drag-free presentation possible. I don’t find fish on the Clarion to be super selective on fly patterns. Just get the right drift with your favorite mayfly, caddis, or midge pattern, and you will be in good shape. Worms and big attractor stones have also worked well when the water is off-color.
Fly Patterns:
– Pheasant Tail (14-18)
– Walt’s Worm (14-18)
– Perdigons (14-18)
– Worms (12-14)
– Pat’s Rubber Legs (12-14)
– D&D (white, brown, yellow, rainbow)
– Daniel’s Spark Plug (white, brown, yellow, chartreuse)
Warmwater Fishing:
The bass fishing has been solid! Most days on the Clarion, the smallmouth have been a fun bycatch while targeting trout. Floating smaller water in the raft has been producing some nice fish as well! As water levels continue to recede, we will start to explore some of the bigger rivers and shift our focus to bass and musky for the rest of summer!
“Billy with a quality smallmouth on Pennsylvania’s Clarion River”
As we make the transition into July we will have a lot of opportunities to target trophy fish on the fly. Whether you want to chase large tailwater brown trout, smallmouth bass or musky we can customize a trip based on your needs, summer truly has something to satisfy every anglers needs!
Upcoming availability:
July: 12-13, 25-31
August: 1-15
Tight lines,
Sam
The T&T Avantt doing what it does best, Obsorbing the shock of a monster fish on light tippet to bring it to the net!