Posted: 12/26/2024 7:46:45 PM EDT
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I don’t typically post threads like this. I am looking for some pointers on some spots to head with my son in Tennessee. I’m not asking for secret spots etc just some cool places to take my son that’s newish to fly fishing. We got him his own rod and reel for Christmas as well as waders and boots. Looking at the map I was thinking of heading east. Maybe trying the Tellico, as I am wanting to take him to a spot for wild trout. If anyone that knows the area has some suggestions I’d be appreciative. If you don’t feel comfortable posting in an open forum and would rather send a PM I understand. Thanks in advance. |
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I think you can fly fish in the national park, assuming you have a Fishing license. Try here |
Wild Man of East TN
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Originally Posted By 19Charlie278: I think you can fly fish in the national park, assuming you have a Fishing license. Try here Thank you, I will look into that area. Yes, we do have licenses including trout for TN and KY. |
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I’m not a fisherman but I remember going camping around Citico Creek many years ago https://ontheflysouth.com/the-overlooked-citico/ |
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Check out the North River and the Bald River. Only problem is that a big part of River Road is closed while they are replacing the bridge at Bald River falls. You could call the ranger station and they would give you information about where you could access those rivers. I’ve never fished up there but ride motorcycles up that way and see people fishing all those rivers. Some info |
“Once, men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them.”
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Originally Posted By Adder13: I don’t typically post threads like this. I am looking for some pointers on some spots to head with my son in Tennessee. I’m not asking for secret spots etc just some cool places to take my son that’s newish to fly fishing. We got him his own rod and reel for Christmas as well as waders and boots. Looking at the map I was thinking of heading east. Maybe trying the Tellico, as I am wanting to take him to a spot for wild trout. If anyone that knows the area has some suggestions I’d be appreciative. If you don’t feel comfortable posting in an open forum and would rather send a PM I understand. Thanks in advance. By Tellico, if you mean the Tellico river proper, those trout are stockers with hardly any true wild trout. Also, this time of the year, the freestone rivers are very slow due to the temps. This includes the National Park and the South Cherokee NF. High water and cold temps can make for difficult at best fishing. Tailwater trout are much more active with the correct release schedules. The Holston, Clinch, etc. are much more active. However these do have access issues unless you do some legwork. The TWRA issues a fishing guide that will be of help, you can find it online. Be aware though, licensing varies quite a bit due to where you fish. Some areas require special permits, licenses, etc and have specific days you can fish. |
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Thank you guys for the info. I do want to check out the Holston at some point. Looking up info online, I was thinking of going with a guide on that river and drifting it. The access and wading options looked limited from what I could tell. As far as the Tellico goes, I was more wanting to fish the headwaters. I was looking at the North and Bald as mentioned in this thread. I was just trying to be general when I said “Tellico”. Now if freestones don’t fish well in the winter on this side of the country. I will table going there until later in the year. Maybe we will play more locally for the time being at the Caney fork. I was just wanting to get into the hills a bit. I’m not a huge fan of tailwaters out here with the random generation schedules. |
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For generation schedules, get the TVA app. TVA is pretty good at keeping to it, but sometimes they do change. The trick is knowing what generator schedules to use while wading or drift boat fishing. Most wading is on 0, but you also have to be able to figure out how long it takes for the water to get to you and leave you. It can be tricky especially at first. TVA does have some USACE lake schedules on their app, most notably the Caney Fork. |
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Fishing the Bald and North rivers has been trying the last couple of years and will be for next 1 year or so since the bridge is being replaced on the main road at Bald river falls. They reallly don’t fish well until it warms up a bit anyway. Winter fishing there is real slow. Pay very special attention to the regs, I can’t say it enough, they are all over the place regarding which rivers you fish. |
| Thanks for all of the info. We’re going to head out tomorrow morning and check out a semi local river. I’ll get some pics if we get anything. Should be an interesting trip, new river, new waders, and new boots. Hopefully the wind doesn’t suck too much tomorrow. |
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Just wanted to post a quick update. Went to two different rivers last week. The Duck river was pretty slow, only two fish to hand. One for each of us though. We went to the Caney fork the following day. It was really busy for how cold it was. It was really slow. Had one small one on for a brief moment but he was able to shake the hook. Talked to some of the fly guys and some of the bait guys that were fishing. Most had caught nothing. One fly guy landed one small brown he said. One of the bait guys said he caught two. On the positive side both of our new waders and boots performed well. I fished my son’s combo rod for a bit and was impressed at the performance for such an inexpensive rod (got it on a cyber week deal). |
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Originally Posted By Adder13: Just wanted to post a quick update. Went to two different rivers last week. The Duck river was pretty slow, only two fish to hand. One for each of us though. We went to the Caney fork the following day. It was really busy for how cold it was. It was really slow. Had one small one on for a brief moment but he was able to shake the hook. Talked to some of the fly guys and some of the bait guys that were fishing. Most had caught nothing. One fly guy landed one small brown he said. One of the bait guys said he caught two. On the positive side both of our new waders and boots performed well. I fished my son’s combo rod for a bit and was impressed at the performance for such an inexpensive rod (got it on a cyber week deal). I’ve never fished the Duck. From what I’ve read and heard it’s a marginal trout fishery. For me, it’s too far to travel and I can be on numerous far better rivers coming from Knoxville. Now the Caney I have fished a couple of times. It is best waded in colder weather as the canoe and kayak crowds are huge in warm weather. The first time I fished it was earlier this year back in about February. I pretty much had the river to myself at a couple of different places. I did okay, nothing of any real size but caught several in around 12” or so. What fishes well on the Caney fly wise are small midges, 20’s or even 22’s. The Caney of years ago (15-20) was a very good fishery with some very large and numerous trout. Some friends of mine fished it regularly long before the canoe and kayaks came along. That has really changed it due to the USACE gearing the discharges for the floating crowds. It has severely impacted the fishery negatively. It’s not what it used to be and likely never will. There’s a really good fly shop in Nashville called Fly South and they have been very vocal in the fight to improve it back to what it was. Problem is, the kayak outfitters have become well entrenched due to the money it generates from floaters. |
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Originally Posted By Mountaineer82: Everyone here like the fly fish the Holsten. The Holston is good a lot of the time, but general access is difficult especially on the upper end where the trout fishing is best. Both wading and boat access is very limited. To be clear, I am talking about the Holston below Cherokee dam and not the South Holston below South Holston dam near Bristol motor speedway. Many outside this area get confused by this. (Not saying you are) |