Clinch River: Sulphur Hatch [May 2011]

[Corbo]

Not trying to debate bugs.... Fish would laugh if they knew all the fuss Fly fishers have made about bugs.

I've pretty much given away all my "bug books" or lent them out and not got them back... my tied flies for waters where I used to live were based on my experiences, essentially what type bug and where in the water column they wanted it at various times of year.... I suppose I will really enjoy the same learning curve here in TN!

BTW I too enjoy "pushing" a trout to take a dry or surface emerger when they're eating below. I tie the prettiest parachutes on the planet but my nymph tying absolutely scares fish away.

[MadisonBoats]

Originally Posted by Corbo

Not trying to debate bugs.... Fish would laugh if they knew all the fuss Fly fishers have made about bugs.

I've pretty much given away all my "bug books" or lent them out and not got them back... my tied flies for waters where I used to live were based on my experiences, essentially what type bug and where in the water column they wanted it at various times of year.... I suppose I will really enjoy the same learning curve here in TN!

BTW I too enjoy "pushing" a trout to take a dry or surface emerger when they're eating below. I tie the prettiest parachutes on the planet but my nymph tying absolutely scares fish away.

No worries bro...I guess I was just being testy. It gets tough trying to help others and fight off naysayers. However; that is the story of my life and I fight off negativity with a passion. Enough said...

I saw very few bugs this weekend. I came prepared with some newly tied emergers and the adult flies were very sparse.

[Corbo]

I hope to go to the Clinch (behind the Church) on Sunday morning as I must work Saturday to get rid of debris on an "open dump day" in K-ville.

Against the high numbers of fly fishers who frequent the area these fish must have seen it all... hopefully I will find the river full of fish and barren of anglers.

Perhaps I'll bump into a few of you guys.

As I have a bad back and a gimp right foot I use a heavy aluminum wading staff (also good for punishing would be muggers & spin fishers) so I'm not to hard to spot.

[rbreedi1]

Good luck Corbo.. There shouldnt be as many people on Sunday. Be sure to let us know how you do.

[Corbo]

Now it looks like I may have to "work" Sunday so I'm hopefully gonna go saturday

[MadisonBoats]

Originally Posted by Corbo

......

As I have a bad back and a gimp right foot I use a heavy aluminum wading staff (also good for punishing would be muggers & spin fishers) so I'm not to hard to spot.

I can relate bro... I have a fused lower back and I have the neck next and another vertebrae in the lower back after that. I usually wear a back support brace. However; it gets hot as heck during this time of year.

Also, the sulphur hatch has slowed down immensely. I suspect it will now become more intermittent.

[bcstream]

Fished millers yesterday after the pulse until noon....the morning was fantastic with lots of takers and quality fish on my favorite color midge. Once the fog came off the water there was a sparse sulphur hatch, but not too many risers. Most were sipping under the film so I switched to a 16 sulphur soft hackle I tied. I was swinging it with a 2 inch strip every 10 seconds which worked great. Wish I didn't have to be at work in Knoxville by 1:30 or I would have made my way down river to get some more time on the water. (highlight of the day was seeing a bobcat)

Fly recipe
thread: cream
body: sulphur dubbing
rib: gold ultra wire
tail: light ginger
hackle: light ginger
thorax: peacock herl

PS: sorry no pics..between being technoligically challenged and not having photobucket Im not sure how to post pics.

[ChemEAngler]

Made it out again this morning from 7:00 till 11:15. My buddy and I found ourselves all alone on the water until about 10:30.

Threw some big meat from 7:00 till 8:00 with some chasers, but no hookups.

8:00 switched over to a double FBPT rig, and had a few hookups and a couple to hand.

Once again, around 9:00 the fish started to get active. So, I tied on my sulfur hackle stacker cripple with a standard pheasant tail dropper. Fish were crushing the cripple and ignoring the dropper. Eventually hooked a piggie who liked it so much he wouldn't give it back to me. Broke him off in a deep run.

Around 10:30 I moved into one of my more productive runs in the area, and proceeded to pluck a good number of fish out of there on the FBPT. About 11:00 I caught back up with my fishing buddy, and watched one of the other fishermen land a couple decent bows before tearing ourselves away to go into work.

Great morning on the water. We each caught decent numbers of fish, lost a few, and had a couple breakoffs. Most fish were on the smaller size, anywhere from 10 - 13". However, we did catch four in the slot. As I was leaving a couple other guys showed up. I am still amazed at how many people completely ignore the water I catch 90% of my fish in, to go on to more fishy looking water even if there are other people fishing there.

Summary:
Water Temp - 54 deg
Color - Clear
Conditions - Clear Skies and getting hot
Flies - FBPT, PT, & Sulfur Hackle Stacker Cripple
Rig - 8.5' 5-wt, 12' 5X leader w/ 3' 6X fluoro tippet

[MadisonBoats]

Travis,
You must have been in some early cold water... I did not get a temperature below 58 degrees in the past few days I have fished the upper tailwater. I was thinking the lower limnology of the lake was right at 58 degrees. That has been my average the past 15 or so readings in the last week or so. 62 is the key temperature for sulphur action and they have been right on cue. However; fishing the upper stretches limits the amount of adult sulphurs due to the propagation period.

Basically, all you have to do is throw a lightly weighted bhpt to catch a fish on every catch. Note; fellas-the stockers are congregated in pools below the song bird trail, Millers Island, and Peach Orchard. So; it may seem that you have found a honey hole; but, you could throw just about any fly in your box to them and get a take.

If you are fishing the upper tailwater with the limited propagation of the sulphurs; I would throw an unweighted hairs ear in a lower drift in the film. However; this fly kills them and is easy to tie.


If you want to work a rise; just throw a nice griffiths' gnat and bounce it for a trigger effect.

Expect small-stocker fish with these methods; but plenty of fish to hand. The fly pictured above will give you a bit more action with the big boys if you have patience letting it dance behind the shoals.

I have some spectacular underwater video from the past week and I hope to get it posted this weekend. Send me a FB add to see most of my stuff.

See you all tomorrow...
SM

[ChemEAngler]

Shawn,

That temp was taken on the lower river at about 7:30 this morning. I can say that the water did feel very cold through my waders this morning compared to last week. But, I could have just been standing still in deep water for longer periods of time.

As far as the thermometer goes, I have not checked its accuracy. It is one of the Orvis digital thermometers, and I wouldn't put it past them to distribute those without a calibration.