S6, Ep 90: East Tennessee Fishing Report: Barometers, Bugs and Burnt Orange
In this episode of The Articulate Fly, host Marvin Cash reconnects with East Tennessee fishing guide Ellis Ward for another insightful fishing report. They discuss Ellis's recent hectic fishing schedule, including his experiences with mousing and fishing through various weather conditions. Ellis shares the impact of a recent hurricane on fishing in Johnson City and the improvement in conditions with cloudy, cooler weather.
Ellis provides valuable insights on current river conditions, including the behavior of trout under different weather patterns. They delve into the specifics of fishing techniques, such as the importance of presentation over color when streamer fishing. Ellis also answers a listener's question about changing streamer colors for fall, emphasizing his preference for maintaining consistent colors and focusing on other factors like profile and water column action.
Additionally, Ellis talks about his upcoming tying night at The Hatch Outfitters in Chattanooga, where he'll be demonstrating the swim bug. Marvin highlights the benefits available through their Patreon community, including discounts on Ellis's bucktails and guide credits.
Don't miss this episode filled with practical fishing tips, updates on current conditions and exciting opportunities to connect with Ellis.
To learn more about Ellis, check out our interview!
All Things Social Media
Follow Ellis and Flyzotics on Instagram.
Follow Ellis on YouTube.
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
Support the Show
Subscribe to the Podcast
Subscribe to the podcast in the podcatcher of your choice.
Advertise on the Podcast
Is our community a good fit for your brand? Advertise with us.
In the Industry and Need Help Getting Unstuck?
Check out our consulting options!
Speaker:
Marvin: Hey folks it's Marvin Cash the host of the Articulate Fly and we're back with
Speaker:
Marvin: another East Tennessee fishing report with Ellis Ward. Ellis how are you?
Speaker:
Ellis: I've been doing well Mars how are you?
Speaker:
Marvin: As always just trying to stay out of trouble and you know it's kind of funny
Speaker:
Marvin: we had a couple days together last week and then you tell me your you know crazy
Speaker:
Marvin: fishing schedule bouncing between like mousing from four to four to fishing
Speaker:
Marvin: like noon to nine the next day and then And sleeping all day Sunday sounds like
Speaker:
Marvin: you've been burning the candle at both ends.
Speaker:
Ellis: Yeah, I was sleeping all day Sunday.
Speaker:
Ellis: I had a guy and his 18-year-old son, and this was after you and your son.
Speaker:
Ellis: And sleeping all day starts to mean something different after you have kids.
Speaker:
Ellis: So, you know, sleeping until 10 feels like what 2 or 3 p.m. used to.
Speaker:
Marvin: And then, you know.
Speaker:
Ellis: In between that, you know, hanging out with the daughter after school.
Speaker:
Ellis: And we went up to a little creek and got a little rainbow trout.
Speaker:
Ellis: And, of course, played some pertain pirates. lots of fishy stuff.
Speaker:
Marvin: Yeah. So, you know, the cool thing is, you know, you know, while I was with
Speaker:
Marvin: you, that hurricane came and amazingly didn't really drop very much rain in
Speaker:
Marvin: Johnson city, but it did kind of mess the fishing up and, you know,
Speaker:
Marvin: looking at the weather, you're kind of back kind of like what you like, right?
Speaker:
Marvin: Cloudy, not super hot for angler comfort only. Uh, what are you seeing on the water?
Speaker:
Ellis: Um, yeah, that was a weird,
Speaker:
Ellis: really couple days. Um, um it was nice you were here for two days so you got
Speaker:
Ellis: to see the the bad side and the good side um you know the,
Speaker:
Ellis: the river just looks different when that the bite the barometer cloud cover
Speaker:
Ellis: whatever when when that stuff's going you start seeing you know that that fish
Speaker:
Ellis: under the overhang in the perfectly cast-proof,
Speaker:
Ellis: osprey-proof spot that wasn't going the day before and.
Speaker:
Ellis: And you start seeing fish scream out of banks that, man, it can be frustrating
Speaker:
Ellis: when I know fish are here and the casts are there and everything's lined up.
Speaker:
Ellis: And most of the time when that is occurring and we have even slightly favorable
Speaker:
Ellis: conditions, we're getting feedback.
Speaker:
Ellis: Back um but yeah
Speaker:
Ellis: there there was i'm not
Speaker:
Ellis: sure if it was because it was the edge of that depression versus something passing
Speaker:
Ellis: through which is somewhat more of a predictable dropping in the barometer cloud
Speaker:
Ellis: cover etc rising some wind and restabilization but yes we are we are back to
Speaker:
Ellis: at what I would call normal,
Speaker:
Ellis: which relative to our fishing in the tailwaters, normal is super high ceilings, super low floor.
Speaker:
Ellis: So, Marv, I got to tell you, we hooked that trout under the tree.
Speaker:
Marvin: Did you really?
Speaker:
Ellis: Yeah, yeah. And went... straight into the lab jam and, uh, the angler just sat there.
Speaker:
Ellis: I started laughing immediately. I mean, he just sat there with his rod up in
Speaker:
Ellis: a tight line, kind of jaw dropped that the fish ate and he had it on and,
Speaker:
Ellis: and the line was back in the boat.
Speaker:
Ellis: Um, so there's not a whole lot to be done with the fish like that, where it was.
Speaker:
Ellis: Fishing, uh, size 24 on six eggs.
Speaker:
Marvin: So, so just so we're clear, this was that last dry, last dry fly spot we fished
Speaker:
Marvin: before we went back and fished streamers to the bitter end on the last day?
Speaker:
Ellis: Yeah, that one spot with the, you know, the nice brown on the other side of
Speaker:
Ellis: the stick under some overhang stuff where we tried a couple different angles
Speaker:
Ellis: and it just wasn't happening.
Speaker:
Marvin: Yeah, yeah. It's basically we dropped down below your buddy,
Speaker:
Marvin: right, at the end. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:
Marvin: Yeah. Well, at least we know it was a good fish. I didn't know that.
Speaker:
Ellis: Yeah, it was a nice fish, and there were a couple more there.
Speaker:
Ellis: So, yeah, it's been good. And it's starting to get to a blue-wingy season.
Speaker:
Ellis: You've still got some yellow bugs around there.
Speaker:
Ellis: But, man, the 20 to 24s are really where it's at.
Speaker:
Ellis: And, I mean, really, if I'm going double dries, I'm going 18, 22.
Speaker:
Ellis: If I'm just doing one, it's a 20 or a 22.
Speaker:
Ellis: And, yes, there are bigger bugs in the water. And, sure, they'll eat those.
Speaker:
Ellis: But if you're casting the rising trout, smaller 18s or the 20-22 draws are smacking fish.
Speaker:
Marvin: Yeah, they were a little snotty, though, for us. I mean, they were not whacking them, right?
Speaker:
Marvin: And sometimes they were actually, you know, turning around and taking them going
Speaker:
Marvin: downstream. I mean, it was kind of weird.
Speaker:
Ellis: Yes. Yeah, that's that. Whatever we want to call it. I just call it tailwater
Speaker:
Ellis: trout fishing, but there are certainly conditions that play into it.
Speaker:
Marvin: Yeah. So I got a question for you from Brenner, and as we start to think about
Speaker:
Marvin: pumpkin spice lattes, he wanted to get your thoughts on what you change up from
Speaker:
Marvin: a streamer color perspective as we start to move into fall.
Speaker:
Ellis: Yeah. So it's interesting that you say pumpkin spice latte.
Speaker:
Ellis: To say I like to just sell, sell, transition from my whites and olives to everything
Speaker:
Ellis: in a burnt orange palette and I'm not going to take that joke any farther.
Speaker:
Ellis: I'm a bad person to ask about this, I'm going to be honest, because and this
Speaker:
Ellis: is an answer to the question in fairness, but I don't really change color as much as other people and.
Speaker:
Ellis: At this point, I'm looking at, you know, a thousand or so days on the water,
Speaker:
Ellis: just me fishing along with as many with clients.
Speaker:
Ellis: And most of that is strictly streamer fishing.
Speaker:
Ellis: It's an insane amount of data to be working with.
Speaker:
Ellis: And I just don't see an impact switching colors.
Speaker:
Ellis: There's profile water column action so whether or not you're giving it longer
Speaker:
Ellis: pauses i mean if you're fishing let's say a yellow dungeon and one cast is a foot off the bank,
Speaker:
Ellis: and you let it rest for a quarter
Speaker:
Ellis: of a second and then start working it back with four to six inch strips and
Speaker:
Ellis: your line's a little downstream so it's sort of getting swept that is a different
Speaker:
Ellis: universe than if you cast with your rod tip ending slightly upstream,
Speaker:
Ellis: tight line the bug hits the
Speaker:
Ellis: water your cast begins as your rod is coming down even with the fly it's had
Speaker:
Ellis: a chance to sit or at least get stable there and you start retrieving it from
Speaker:
Ellis: that slack point against the bank, this time two inches from the bank,
Speaker:
Ellis: and you give it half-second, three-quarter-second kills.
Speaker:
Ellis: And 12 to 18-inch drifts, that's the same fly.
Speaker:
Ellis: And those two presentations, dude, I don't care if you throw in a musky fly
Speaker:
Ellis: and the other option is a single hook woolly bugger.
Speaker:
Ellis: Those two presentations from the same yellow dungeon may as well be different lies. So...
Speaker:
Ellis: I would just caution people to, I love playing with color.
Speaker:
Ellis: Dude, I mean, I'm staring at a box of dozens of colors of dyes.
Speaker:
Ellis: I like the art side to it. I like stuff that looks cool.
Speaker:
Ellis: That's one of my biggest recommendations to people is, and one of the reasons
Speaker:
Ellis: that I have people fishing white so much is because they see it and say, ooh,
Speaker:
Ellis: and then all of a sudden when you get that ooh, rule
Speaker:
Ellis: they're casting you get that extra six eight
Speaker:
Ellis: ten inches to the bank and that's
Speaker:
Ellis: when things start to happen but if that's yellow or
Speaker:
Ellis: if that's uh you know brown to chartreuse
Speaker:
Ellis: comp like whatever it is for you that has you feeling good that's that's what
Speaker:
Ellis: you're going to um there's there's just not as serious in the river or stepping
Speaker:
Ellis: in the river that looks like so many of the things that I fish,
Speaker:
Ellis: but relative to where the trout are eating, what the profile is doing,
Speaker:
Ellis: the different bite triggers in your cast and conditions, all of this stuff outweighs
Speaker:
Ellis: is color, in my opinion, more than tenfold.
Speaker:
Ellis: It's, I would rank that as unimportant, honestly.
Speaker:
Ellis: So how do I change my colors moving into fall? I don't.
Speaker:
Marvin: There you go. But you do go to coffee Zen packs, right?
Speaker:
Ellis: No. As discussed on our trip, it,
Speaker:
Ellis: You know, if it's early in the morning, you just had your breakfast burrito
Speaker:
Ellis: from the gas station, coffee's in packs, that's like a lab experiment that I'm
Speaker:
Ellis: not going to recommend to anyone who wants to have a good day.
Speaker:
Ellis: So I stick with cool men and others who like to live on the edge, they can go coffee.
Speaker:
Marvin: There you go. But just let's be cool. You're a real man. You're doing six.
Speaker:
Marvin: Six is not threes, right?
Speaker:
Ellis: I think there's some 12 or 15
Speaker:
Ellis: milligram pouches out there that I feel like would put a small horse down.
Speaker:
Ellis: But yes, 15 years of dipping grizzly long cut, the six milligrams are a little
Speaker:
Ellis: bit of a methadone for me.
Speaker:
Marvin: Yeah, so there you go, folks. That's a great stocking stuffer for Ellis.
Speaker:
Marvin: And you know, folks, we love questions on the Articulate Fly.
Speaker:
Marvin: You can email them to us or DM us on social media, whatever's easiest for you.
Speaker:
Marvin: And if we use your question, I will send you some articulate fly swag.
Speaker:
Marvin: And we're going to have a drawing for some awesome stuff from Ellis at the end of the season.
Speaker:
Marvin: And, you know, Ellis, before I let you go and tell people how to reach out to
Speaker:
Marvin: you and all that kind of good stuff and remind people about the great opportunities
Speaker:
Marvin: in our community, why don't you let folks know that you are going to be traveling
Speaker:
Marvin: and tying in Chattanooga at the end of the week?
Speaker:
Ellis: Yeah i'm doing tying night at the
Speaker:
Ellis: hatch outfitters in chattanooga i'm tying the swim bug
Speaker:
Ellis: which i have a couple videos on this is
Speaker:
Ellis: the first time i've done um live tying in
Speaker:
Ellis: a few years so i'm pretty excited you can find information on the time i believe
Speaker:
Ellis: it's 8 p.m it could be six uh but check out hatch outfitters Instagram and it's 15 bucks.
Speaker:
Ellis: You get all the materials and supplying the deer hair and mallard and preselected
Speaker:
Ellis: feathers and all that stuff.
Speaker:
Ellis: Um, and I'll have more information on my Instagram and those are more guides.
Speaker:
Marvin: Yeah. And I will drop that in the show notes and, uh, you know,
Speaker:
Marvin: folks Remember that we've got two great benefits in our community that we host on Patreon.
Speaker:
Marvin: At one level, you can get a discount on Ellis' Bucktails, and he's moved to
Speaker:
Marvin: a new place with a massive workshop.
Speaker:
Marvin: So it's going to be Bucktail Central here in about, I don't know,
Speaker:
Marvin: three months, four months.
Speaker:
Marvin: And then at another level, you get $100 annual guide credit with Ellis.
Speaker:
Marvin: So two great ways to support the show and to support Ellis.
Speaker:
Marvin: And Ellis, before I let you go, you want to let folks know kind of what your
Speaker:
Marvin: guide calendar looks like. how to reach out and all that kind of good stuff.
Speaker:
Ellis: Yeah, I mean, after I unburdened my shoulders from the weight,
Speaker:
Ellis: you know, to an army, I don't know.
Speaker:
Ellis: I'm already a little anxious about bucktail season coming up,
Speaker:
Ellis: but, you know, it happens every year. I'm excited for it.
Speaker:
Ellis: So, bucktail, flies, guide stuff, that's all at elliswardflies.com.
Speaker:
Ellis: And calendar, I'm going to be starting to look at musking pretty soon.
Speaker:
Ellis: And there are some different reasons why we can talk about that in a couple weeks here um,
Speaker:
Ellis: but i i will be starting to do that uh the
Speaker:
Ellis: headwaters that i fish and then some of the reservoirs that
Speaker:
Ellis: that i fish here in tennessee and western north carolina are
Speaker:
Ellis: you know they stay much cooler than
Speaker:
Ellis: a lot of the musky water in the
Speaker:
Ellis: the south and the southeast so i'm gonna
Speaker:
Ellis: start to push that otherwise i big push
Speaker:
Ellis: on malican i want to do as much of
Speaker:
Ellis: that as possible until it gets
Speaker:
Ellis: too chilly and a decent
Speaker:
Ellis: amount of availability august is a little spotty but um you know weekends are
Speaker:
Ellis: starting to go in september so scoop them up and again sites ariswordflies.com
Speaker:
Ellis: that's what uh Ask for availability,
Speaker:
Ellis: ask questions, whatever it is.
Speaker:
Ellis: Text or call my cell at 513-543-0019.
Speaker:
Marvin: Well, there you go. And folks, as I always say, you owe it to yourself to get
Speaker:
Marvin: out there and catch a few. Tight lines, everybody. Tight lines, Ellis.
Speaker:
Ellis: Appreciate it, Marv.
Ellis Ward
Guide | Fly Tier
I am a full time, year round fishing guide in East Tennessee, based out of Johnson City. I also design and tie flies from midges to musky, process a thousand or so bucktails every season, teach at East Tennessee State University, and raise my daughter.
Follow:
