Transcript: East Tennessee Fishing Report with Ellis Ward
Transcript
Host:
[0:04] Hey folks, it's Marvin Cash, the host of the Articulate Fly, and we're back with another East Tennessee Fishing Report with Ellis Ward. Ellis, how you doing?
Guest:
[0:13] I am doing well, Marv, how are you?
Host:
[0:15] It's all good, and I really enjoyed getting a chance to get on the water with you last week.
Guest:
[0:21] Yeah, it was fun having you out here, and you guys certainly made the most of the fishing.
Host:
[0:28] Yeah, absolutely. And I really enjoyed dialing in the thing of a bobber.
Guest:
[0:31] I didn't realize how important that was Yeah, you gotta go half fuchsia and half chartreuse And that way, you know that high contrast you can see that thing from Once you're in the backing get that 200 foot drift Are you are you I know you're a midwesterner you're going to bring that center pin action to the wataga, Hey, I actually saw a couple.
Um a couple, a husband and wife, on top of the South Holston, just letting those things run out.
First time I've seen that in quite some time.
Host:
[1:08] Yeah, were they Canadian?
Guest:
[1:11] I'm not sure they were in a stealth craft raft, so who knows if that's you and you're listening, let me know if you're Canadian.
Host:
[1:22] There you go. We'll get some Molson for you. So it's interesting, right? I mean, like finally, I mean, it was hot as blazes when we were on the water, even when we were on the water at night, fishing mice, but you've probably got almost a 20 degree break coming your way, right?
Guest:
[1:39] Yeah, it was, I mean, you were here in the middle of it, a couple days before, a couple days after, but even with water on the Watauga, which you experienced, it's just been a grind, you know.
You get some windows here and there, but But they're not lasting for a long time.
[2:07] And being next to the mountains, those clouds can either develop or dissipate.
And they were dissipating, and that sun got big every day for...
Every day it was in the upper 90s. So it was, it dumped, there was some flash flooding up in Bluff City and, you know, the water tables needed, they're not doing, South Halston has water for a couple days, Watauga's not changing anything.
So when it dumps like that and it cools off so the tributaries evaporate less and still they aren't making dramatic changes.
[2:54] That's when you know it's been pretty dry. So between the rain, I think we're going to get a couple more scattered showers, I believe, on Thursday.
Always hoping for some sustained cloud cover and good rain.
But temperature's in the upper 70s and 80s, and then by the time it's dark and you get your floating lines out on the eight weight, it's about time for a long sleeve, when it gets to be, especially if you're out in the sun all day, and gets to be in the upper 60s, low 70s.
[3:39] This feels a little more normal. We always have a couple scorchers and we have a few weeks that are very cold in the winter, but I do get spoiled here being a little more temperate up in the mountains.
Host:
[3:57] Yeah, got it. And so, you know, with that cool off, right, trout are going to be happier. I imagine the bugs are going to be happier. So what should folks expect to see on the water?
Guest:
[4:07] Yeah, so I was on these three to seven releases on the South Holston and that upper section to be expecting a flurry or a blizzard of sulfurs.
You might be disappointed, but But there are moments that last 10, 15, 20 minutes at a time where fish are going everywhere and there's a lot of bugs.
And it could be 4 or 5 p.m., it might be closer toward the end of that release, and a lot of it's in the upper reaches of that top run, so it can make for sort of a focused, let's stay up top and then make sure we get to moving so that that drop doesn't catch up.
[5:16] But it's cool and I know I've said this before, but if folks haven't fished that, the upper South upholstered.
In the summer, it's tough to make a trip out of it or much more than a couple hours of fishing.
But if you are local and you have the ability to do it, the float on that high water for an hour or two, I would say, is worth it.
And then on the Watauga, it's been fishing good outside of the last week with the blazing And really, I'll take the temperature because the...
The TVA, they've been releasing, as they always do on the weekdays and Saturdays, they release for four to five hours and it's plenty cold and there's plenty of oxygen in there.
[6:22] But that sun has just been baking through any amount of haze and I mean, Marva, that real hot bite, the very brief one that we had, everyone was comfortable.
And then it got slow and really turned off.
And it's about that time when we all start sweating and that sun's just fully in the sky. So the cool temperatures make it easier on the anglers.
Bugs and fish Thankfully, we have a little bit of insulation from those elements, but any of that overcast time or high water are good times to be poking around.
Host:
[7:08] Yeah, it's interesting too, because I noticed on the Watauga that you don't have a lot of tree cover out into the river, right?
You get some shade, but it's not like there's 10 or 15 feet of shade going into a bank.
Guest:
[7:26] Yeah, it's the stretches that we fished when there was no sun.
So the middle and lower end of the Watauga have more of the ridges, as I call them.
And yeah, I mean the upper South Holston, you go around that first bend and there is no sunlight at all.
So within each river, there are certain sections that have some good cover and fish appreciate not being able to get eaten by ospreys.
So those are always good spots. And I always encourage people to explore and check out and float the lower Watauga because it is less pressured and has some pretty good scenery and not very many people or houses.
Host:
[8:27] There you go. I've got a question for you too from John and I'm going to kind of put you on the spot and make you pick a favorite and he wanted to get your thoughts about whether you prefer fish in the Watauga or whether you prefer fish in the South Holston.
Guest:
[8:40] The Watauga. Next question.
That answer is 100% true. I do prefer the Watauga, but that's with a number of qualifiers.
All things held equal. Do they both have water? I generally prefer to fish the South Holston with water over the Watauga with no water, but there's limitations to that.
And then when you look at mousing and some of what we were doing, You and Tom were zinging them, and we were chatting beforehand that I was impressed with what I was seeing, or at least hearing.
The South Holston can be a little more mouse friendly, just because it's more open, but you are navigating either low water and getting pretty creative, or you're wade fishing, and And then in big water at night, it's kind of a different animal.
But yeah, the otaga is just...
[10:02] It's wild.
It changes dramatically from upper to upper middle, to middle to lower, and part of that wild and the dramatic changes are sections that are simply unpressured.
[10:23] Some sections that have very little pressure, some sections that are not pressured.
And they can be harder to fish. There can be a lower density of fish there.
And they take time to learn, but it's just like anything else in fishing or in life.
It can certainly be worth it. And you just get solitude and there's no...
You can't run a jet from the lake to anywhere outside of the last ramp of the Watauga, and that's including big water.
And on the Holston, you can, as many people have seen, you can take a jet all the way up to the dam and back and then back up.
So yeah, the Watauga for a number of different reasons, but you know, the...
That said, I do live here, and I live seven minutes from the Watauga, and it's a tailwater.
It's good days are incredible, and it's hard days are a special flavor of humbling.
Host:
[11:35] Self-flagellation, I would say, right?
Guest:
[11:38] Yeah, I think you might have experienced that possibly one or two days.
Host:
[11:43] But it's I would also to imagine just because I would I've always wondered how if you're taking people on float trips You can make the South Holston work And I mean, you know, I guess the great thing from a guides perspective is you can always fish the Watauga, right?
Guest:
[11:56] Generation or no generation you can always get a boat on it And that's just not true if you've got a hide and you want to fish the South Holston Yes, now you can fish the low water on the South Holston and in the lower sections and And really that is a game of patience I think is a strong word or it's a generous one.
You're putting a lot of drifts in front of the same fish and not moving very much.
And then on the Watauga, and I'm going to not speak out of turn too much, but possibly a little, there are some shops here that I really do like and I don't fish and guide the same way as a lot of folks, but some of the guides here have just kind of gotten sick of the number of same type of trip, same type of fishing every single day, and so they've been taking folks smallmouth fishing and carp fishing, shout out Justin and Rhett and Nick over it at Trophy Water, and just sort of thinking outside the box.
Because otherwise, with the South Holston being low for...
[13:15] Really outside of these pulses, it were going on nine or 10 months.
The Watauga, the upper Watauga, has gotten...
I mean, you're talking 20, 30, 40 boats every day. So yes, you can always, you can fish it.
Whether or not you want to, whether or not you want to change up timeframes and explore some different opportunities either in the area or under the moonlight, that's up to the angler and to the guides.
There's certainly a lot to do and doesn't really need to be.
Held to the to the eight to four tailwater.
Host:
[14:00] Yeah, there you go. Well, you know folks We love questions at the articulate fly.
You can email them to us or you can dm us on social media Whatever is easiest for you and if we use your question I will send you some articulate fly swag and If you want some swag and you fish with uh with ellis ask him because I left a couple packs of stickers with him Um, and then we're gonna intervene a drawing for uh, two nights at watauga river lodge and then no actually Did I get that backwards?
One night at the lodge and two days of fishing, right?
Guest:
[14:26] Correct.
Host:
[14:28] Yes. Still working on reentry. And so, you know, if you don't ask a question, you can't win.
And Ellis, before I let you go, and you want to let folks know, best way to catch up with you, to book in, fish with you, and all that kind of good stuff?
Guest:
[14:42] Sure. I follow mostly flies and get in contact with me and see a couple of gripping grins every now and then on Instagram at Ellis Ward Guides.
Website is Ellis Ward Fishing and best way to contact me, ask about trips, book a trip and shoot me questions about really anything tying, fishing, et cetera, is my cell phone at 513-543-0019. 543-0019.
There you go.
Host:
[15:16] You even take life questions too, don't you?
Guest:
[15:19] I do, but not answered well, but I do take them.
Host:
[15:23] There you go. Well, listen, folks, you owe it to yourself to get out there and catch a few. Tight lines, everybody. Tight lines, Ellis. Appreciate it, Marv.