Winter Shots at big brown trout!
Winter is a great time of year to see crisp clear sunny days on the Tennessee Tailwaters. From Christmas through march, the South Holston and Watauga rivers provide shots at nice trout on nymphs, streamers and dry fly. In addition to great fishing, there is very low boat traffic most days so you often get the river all to yourself.
Tennessee Tailwaters – Float Trips – This time of year you can expect to Nymph eggs and blue wing flies for most of the day, however streamer fishing is becoming more productive and definitely worth the effort. We are also seeing blue wing olive hatches daily and we can usually dry fly fish to particular rising trout almost any afternoon. During BWO hatches, the trout are picky compared to late Spring when we experience the famous South Holston Yellow Sulfur hatch. When Nymphing, December and January are a couple of the special months where it is most likely to catch the giant brown trout found in the S. Holston and Watauga Rivers.
High Country Creeks and Rivers – Most trout in the creeks around Boone are too cold to catch many if any trout, but if you target a warm day you can experience good fishing still. We’ve had plenty of warm days and caught a number of trout on a trip in the North Carolina Delayed Harvest section of the Watauga river last week. Wade fishing these larger rivers like the Watauga and the North Toe Delayed Harvest stocked water are a great winter option as these North Carolina rivers, still fish great through the winter. Especially on days that warm to above 30 degrees.
Virginia Creeks and Rivers – The larger rivers like Whitetop Laurel, Beaverdam Creek and Laurel Creek are getting much needed rain for Christmas, after a dry fall. The streamer and big nymph bite is very good right now on a warm day and the fish do not seem to be taking winter dormancy very seriously. The biggest of brown trout can be caught in these river systems from now through April. Most trout in the creeks around Southwest VA are too cold to catch many if any trout, but if you target a warm day you can experience good fishing still.