Spring Trout Fishing Trip in Tennessee

L

Larry Eckart

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Guys and Dani,


Last week my friend Ron and I returned to the Watauga River in eastern Tennessee near Elizabethton. I didn't take as many pics as I should have, but here are a few.

Driving on highway 321 between Boone, NC and Tennessee you run across small mountain streams. Spring in the mountains is like a double gift: the wild beauty of small streams and the budding trees on the forest edge. Here is one stream:
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I stopped to fish this creek. It is a 25' wide example of pocket water and riffles. Fishing this kind of creek is bit like playing hop, skip and jump from one pool to another. Best if hop, skip and jump isn't followed by "slip and plunge"!
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Wild mountain trout aren't large, but they are spirited and colorful. Here is one small brownie:
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The view from our cabin on the Watauga:
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Driving and fishing in mid-April was like driving and fishing through a painting of red bud and dogwood trees all in bloom. I was so enthralled I forgot to take pictures. Dumb!!


An evening scene on one stretch of the Watauga:
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One plate of fish for the grill:
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Note the Mora Companion knife in the photo. What a wonderful, inexpensive tool! I love the grip and the incredibly sharp edge it holds.


Another group for the grill:
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Nothing like a glass of good whiskey in the evening. This is a reserve from the Buffalo Trace distillery in Lexington, KY. It went down like smoke.
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One feature of the Watauga or the South Holston that you have to live with is that they are both tail waters. The daily discharges of water change the level and safety dramatically. In low water, fly fishing is safe and enjoyable. In higher flows, spinning tackle is a better and safer choice.

I look forward to the gift of another trip.
Larry[font=Calibri, sans-serif][/font]
 
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Larry, great photos, thanks for sharing!
The 25' wide stream really brings back memories from my days growing up in northeast PA. That is exactly the size stream I grew up trout fishing. I loved the challenge of reading and fishing small streams. Even the smallest eddy behind a rock can hold a fish or two. Getting the drift of a fly or worm into those small pockets was a fun challenge.
 
Larry,
That certainly looks inviting. I suspect you guys pretty much had the stream to yourselves this time of the year. I love trout fishing when the temps allow for one to keep the fish in a fresh condition once caught. Looks like a couple fine meals there.
 
My favorite part of the spring in the eastern forest, redbud, serviceberry and dogwood. Such a pretty time. Nice job reading the water and finding the trout. That bourbon looks inviting too.
 
Nice trip Larry, and great pictures. The South Holston sulfur hatch is legendary. Power generation tailwaters are a different bird. In the northeast, most of the tailwaters are water supply reservoirs, so the flows are not typically turned up in the middle of the day, making it easier to decide if you are going to wade across the river and come back later. Keep fishing!
 
Looks like a fun trip Larry! It would be fun to try fly fishing again....see if I have mellowed out enough to have the patience to learn the technique of not catching every tree, bush, shrub or person around me. My dad always made flyfishing look so easy...for me it was not so easy. Though, not nearly the disaster that my mom attempting to teach me to knit was....those attempts made me look like a flyfishing queen
 
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