S7, Ep 39: East Tennessee Fishing Report: Weather, Caddis and Streamer Strategies with Ellis Ward

Marvin Cash00:00:00

Hey folks, it's Marvin Cash, the host of the Articulate Fly. We're back with another East Tennessee fishing report with Ellis Ward. Ellis, how are you?

Ellis Ward00:00:11

I am doing good, Marv, how are you?

Marvin Cash00:00:13

And as always, I'm just trying to stay out of trouble and took a peek at your weather before we started recording. And you got to be a happy camper. I think you've got maybe seven to ten days of perfect Ellis fishing weather.

Ellis Ward00:00:27

Yeah, we got stored a cooler bunch of clouds. I'm staring at some clouds right now. It, it's been for the last two or three months.I think three might be a stretch, but the, the banks are overgrown. Like there's, there's two banks. There's the low water bank and there's the high water bank.It's just been low water and I mean there's, it's very clear that there's been no release to the point where the grass and saplings and all that stuff are coming out from that low water bank. And you know, it's been, I, I've, I've had a good number of, of trips with some regulars and guys both capitalizing on what they've already learned.Fish and streamers and here to learn for it. And we've moved some big fish, we've caught some big fish, big fish have made it to the net. Those are three different things.And we just, we've seen the general increase in activity, which I'm not sure if that's the fish becoming more acclimated to always low water or me just out there more, which I've done a bunch of anyways, but it's, it, it's been good, but it's still, it's, it's hard work.And like I, I, I, I have to laugh at that because most of the time the idea of what I do when I just, you know, look at it from me seven or eight years ago, not guiding and fishing, it's like basing my profession on catching wild brown trout with streamers.It's an uphill battle and you can really, that's why like all the different casting techniques and strips and like all that stuff, you want every advantage pushing your way, you know, muskie included. And it's, it's just a lot of work for both people, you know, for the angler and for me.And so getting the high water and the cloudy skies is, it just pushes so many different things in our favor. And not that you don't have to work hard, but it is, it can be a little More forgiving.And so yeah, looking at both the release schedule and the weather, so this, that's sort of a rare combo that I'm looking at both of those and I feel pretty happy.

Marvin Cash00:03:08

Well, there you go. And so two questions for you. One, you know, we've still probably moving a little bit of post hurricane Helene silt through the system.I want to kind of get your thoughts on where we are on that. But also too, I would imagine you're probably pretty well through the Cattus, but kind of let folks know kind of what the bug deal is right now.

Ellis Ward00:03:26

Yeah. So with the Helene sediment, it's still, you know, both rivers when they're releasing, I would say both rivers in, in low.Yeah, I, I am going to say that both rivers and low water went on the South Olson couple nights in the last week and like you can, it's, it's clear and that low water is though, you know, 10 CFs for those not familiar. And so a lot of the pool sections are lakey sections and carp are moving up in the bottom.And when it's that low for so long, South Holston does a, a little bit of a push for three hours a day, one hour at a time, but for three hours a day total. So you get some cooldown effect. But it's, it's been warm and with all that low water, Watauga hasn't released at all.Things just bake the banks, bake the rocks, bake all there's there. So it's the rich get richer, the poor get poorer.The low water, warmer water gets warmer and warmer, faster because there's less stuff above those rocks. And you also just have less of that, you know, new cold water coming in from the lake. So slight digression there.It's, you know, both rivers still have they, they are not the gin clear like I'm, I think more and more that it's just a, a pre and post probably for, for a while talking with a guy down in Irwin, you know, he's fishing smallmouth and he was just saying that some of these, these little ridges and islands that he would fish up on Watago Lake for smallmouth. He basically asked me is fishing harder, has it been harder this year? Because it has been for me and his spots are just not there.And it's because you know, Wataga Lake is fed by a bunch of different, you know, Watauga river up North Carolina, a bunch of other little rivers and it just pushed stuff around. So you know, we, I, I've, I've had Days where this spring where it is just.And we're not in like the big, you know, PMD sulfur, we're kind of just coming out of the caddis.And I've already seen like my, my concern was around plant life and then bug life and what the sediment would have done to both of those things or either of those things. And I've just, I've already seen that, you know, we still have these momentary blizzards of, of both the Caddis and the PMDs.And so any concerns I had there, which were very much not driven by any amount of science or, you know, biology, anything like that, those have been quelled. And yeah, for the catus, you know, that big push of big bugs is.It lasts for a week or two and, and even within that you get a couple hours a day where they're, they're really going. And that's come and gone. But I mean, you see these poppy eats, like, you know, there, there aren't risers happening.It's not, you're not looking around seeing risers.You're not, you're not looking down on the left hand scene by that log and there's, you know, two or three trout sipping there and one over in this break over here. When you're seeing these really splashy poppy eats. Like, like you might see a bass eating a damselfly.Like that's, that's cat is pupa eats and it's, you can hear the difference. You can see the difference most of the time. And you see it on both rivers through the summer.And you know, in the South Holston there you'll see cats as small as 22s. You know, they're, they're a little bigger on the tog, but black and tan really from, from 16s to, to, to the mid-20s.So yes, that big cattus hatches is here and gone. That, you know, size 1012 black caddis.But skating bugs, you know, skating little surface flies, some CDC emerge or something like that, imitating a moving cattle pup is that it really plays all summer and most of the year and we have PMDs and, and sulfurs and plenty of bluings right around the corner.

Marvin Cash00:08:36

Well, there you go. And got a question for you from Isaac and he wanted to get your thoughts on the South Holston during low flows.Are you able to float the entire river if you're in a raft?

Ellis Ward00:08:49

Short answer is no. And you can do certain sections. I'm not sure if that question is, is specific to. Certainly don't try it at night.And you know, the, the one, let's say you're going out at noon, right. They do these hour pushes and what that does is it basically keeps things from fully, fully dropping out.Now when things fully drop out, which takes a couple hours, the way the South Holston is a, a river is a pond fills up below the dam and then it spills over a weir and then it becomes a river.So unlike the Watauga, that water comes out from Wilbur Dam and it is the Watauga river, the South Holston fills up a reservoir first and then it spills. And so you can, you can go up and like watch it fill. If it says that it's releasing at 8am you can't put a boat in below the grates until 8.45ish.And that's because it takes 45 minutes for that pond to fill up and, and really get going to the point where it's, you know, it's now pushing that whatever 2,200 CFs when they're only doing it for an hour, that, that dynamic exists for 10 or 15 minutes. And then when it shuts off, it's not this, you know, full drop, it's that same period of time delayed.And so, so when you're getting these hour releases just like, yes, that can help the super, super skinny parts, which most of that river, especially the upper river, if it's been low all day, like, yeah, you can't be. Look, I'm saying this out of safety, really.Like if you have a raft and you have two guys that feel like putting some work in, I'm not going to say it's impossible, but a lot of the places where I would say you can't float through, but you might be able to carry a raft over, you have, you have some good drops on, on either side of boulders and some of these plunge pools that, you know, when the water's 55 degrees, you really shouldn't be screwing around doing that. You know, it's. Yeah. So not impossible, but definitely far from advised.And I want to be clear, that's coming from someone who has way more than one dent in their boat and who has never taken. You can't do that. At face value. I have figured all of these things out. So yeah, it is possible.It's a complete nightmare in a lot of different places.

Marvin Cash00:12:15

Yeah. And I would also say it's coming from a guy because I've been with you where we've delivered life jackets to people who made some poor life choices.

Ellis Ward00:12:24

Yeah. I mean, some people. Well, I can Quote, a regular client of mine, some people shouldn't be allowed out in public.And within that segment, I would say that, yeah, some people shouldn't be rowing boats.

Marvin Cash00:12:41

Yeah. Well, there you go. Well, you know folks, we love questions on the articulate fly.You can email me or DM me on social media, whatever is easiest for you. If we use your question, I will send you some articulate fly swag and it very well may include a new butcher shop podcast sticker.And when you're drawing for some cool stuff from Ellis at the end of the season and Ellis, before I let you go, you want to let folks know kind of what you got open, how to talk fishing, get on the guidebooks. And since I left you left you off the hook last time on bucktails, I'm going to ask you about bucktails this time.

Ellis Ward00:13:12

Yes sir. Best way to contact me is my cell phone at 513-543-0019. And that's, you know, tying question.I've had people just send me pictures of drunkenness, orderlies or swim bugs asking questions about this that the other like I love I've said this a bunch before, but I'll continue saying it. Tying is how I ended up really falling in love with fishing and and ultimately what brought me into guiding.And I love all three of those things for for different reasons. But tying is a big one. So certainly don't hesitate to reach out on that stuff. And of course book your trips, text or call about that.Decent amount of availability coming up.You know, t typical weekends go first and but yeah, get on the books for gosh, if anyone's listening to this in the area for the next week or two, it is, it's going to be time to go. And then definitely after Memorial Day, Monday through Saturday. Website is zealous sport flies.com you can find your bucktail there.I have a few colors up and gosh, just this olive that has me about to fall over every time I even think about it, let alone see it.I'll have, I'll have a couple more of the the grade a handful more grade ones but twos and threes which are just, you know, tails you can't find in the shop. Some of those are up now. I'll have more up in the next week or two and Instagram @Ellis BoardGuides.

Marvin Cash00:15:05

Well, there you go. Well folks, as always say yo, it's yourself to get out there and catch a few tight lines everybody. Tight lines, Ellis.

Ellis Ward00:15:13

Appreciate it, Marv.