How simple is it to fish our tailwaters?

[waterwolf]

While floating the Clinch Saturday we had a discussion about just how painfully simple it is to consistently catch fish and lots of fish on our tailwaters; Clinch and Holston.

I hadn't really thought about it much, but literally one fly will work everyday of the year, and work as well as or better then anything else for us. I don't mean one fly in different sizes, but one fly in one size. Granted I am referring to low water conditions, but that is when most of us fish the Clinch and especially the Holston.

Over the years I have fished everything under the sun, but it always comes back to one fly. The others work, and many work well, but it amazes me that it really doesn't matter what is going on a single fly works no questions asked. While the other stuff has its time and place, and works some times and other times not at all or very poorly.

What is even more surprising is that depth fished never changes. We have always fished the exact same depth no matter which stretch of river or river we are on.

It seems a little silly that a single fly rigged at a standard depth works on two rivers, 365 days a year. Odd as it may be, I guess trout fishing can actually be that simple.

Anyone else agree with this, or does everyone else jump all over the place using different flies? Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with different flies, and different techniques, but just for discussions sake it is interesting that one fly can do everything.

[white95v6]

i don't know much about flyfishing. but i throw the same lure on the caney and the elk everytime i float them. and always do very well.

[buzzmcmanus]

I really struggled when I first started fishing the Clinch. Then i went back and searched some Clinch topics on this forum and started fishing that 1 little fly as you suggest on some of your posts, and it really is that simple. However, I do drop it off an EHC fly, because to me, catching one fish on that dry fly makes the whole trip. All the flies in my Clinch box could fit inside a thimble.

[br549]

Braggert...It is true...many pheasants have died because of those two tailwaters. However, it was fun several years ago when we got the big sulphur hatches...tying on the compardun or the cdc emerger and catching some large fish.

[Steve Wright]

Originally Posted by waterwolf

While floating the Clinch Saturday we had a discussion about just how painfully simple it is to consistently catch fish and lots of fish on our tailwaters; Clinch and Holston.

I hadn't really thought about it much, but literally one fly will work everyday of the year, and work as well as or better then anything else for us. I don't mean one fly in different sizes, but one fly in one size. Granted I am referring to low water conditions, but that is when most of us fish the Clinch and especially the Holston.

Over the years I have fished everything under the sun, but it always comes back to one fly. The others work, and many work well, but it amazes me that it really doesn't matter what is going on a single fly works no questions asked. While the other stuff has its time and place, and works some times and other times not at all or very poorly.

What is even more surprising is that depth fished never changes. We have always fished the exact same depth no matter which stretch of river or river we are on.

It seems a little silly that a single fly rigged at a standard depth works on two rivers, 365 days a year. Odd as it may be, I guess trout fishing can actually be that simple.

Anyone else agree with this, or does everyone else jump all over the place using different flies? Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with different flies, and different techniques, but just for discussions sake it is interesting that one fly can do everything.

What fly & depth are you talking about........

[gmreeves]

Ah, the true question. Finding out the fly and depth is all part of the journey.

[txbrown]

I find the same thing on the Caney. I have 1 basic size midge #16 but fish #12 or #18 from time to time. Color varies with water condition. I sometimes fish other flies just because I enjoy fishing that way (swinging softhackles for example). I will also experiment with other flies when the fishing is good to see what else might work.

I have also found that 5-6 basic flies will also work for the mountains too.

[crappiecrazy]

Very encouraging thread for a beginner like myself! Thanks!

CC

[Rodonthefly]

Over the years, i have come to relize the same. Thanks to the help and advice of Jim. Grant it, i have a couple different midge patterns I still like to fish, but for the most part give me that one fly tied on a size 16 scud hook if i can only take one pattern with me.

[DBKSTONE2]

I fish the Caney quite a bit and I am not an expert by any stretch of the imagination. I have been humbled on occasion there but normally catch fish. Some days are better than others. Sunday was a very good example of this. I have been tying my own flies for a while and have experimented with scads of variations of the simple zebra midge. In this trial and error process I have boiled the results down to a couple of color/material choices. My success rate went up dramatically. Until days like Sunday. I started this experimentation to get away from what so many people were throwing on the Caney. I think the fish had got to the point they could actually spell "Zebra Midge" and identify individual manufacturers. So I relegated the traditional pattern to the unused portion of the box. Sunday I tried about every creation/variation of the midge pattern I had ever tied and If I had a vise with me I would of tied a few new creations. I spent 4.5 hours with only 3 fish to my name. Not a good day to say the least on numbers. On the walk out I stopped and put on the old pattern just as a "why not I've tried everything else" thought and then it was FISH ON. I caught 18 fish in 45 minutes. They would settle for nothing less than a true zebra midge. SILVER BEAD, BLACK THREAD, SILVER WIRE, SIZE 20. No exchanges! No substitutions. PERIOD!!!

I would bet 100 bucks they will go back to ignoring the pattern next week. But I guess it proves one thing : FISH CAN BE FISH!