Lower Clinch?

[CinciVol]

Folks, I may have a few hours on Friday morning to wet a line and it looks like the lower Clinch will be the best nearly option as far as water levels are concerned. This will be my first trip there in well over a month and I did not have much luck then. Can anyone give me a recent report?

As alway I will report the results of my exploits regardless of the outcome...

[No Hackle]

Sorry Cinci but I have only fish the upper river in the last few weeks. Fishing has been OK. I did catch one fish that went 22'' or so. Brook trout very colorful. Haven't fished low since you have, but have heard some are picking up some nice fish down by the church. Let us know how you did. Maybe a good rain will get'em going.
Lynn

[old east tn boy]

Fished it this morning from 9:30 till noon. Had a couple on briefly but landed nothing. Wore out my fly box but they weren't interested in anything I had. Fished nymph & midge droppers off a Stimulator (don't care much for strike indicators) and of all things, several strikes came on the Stimulator! Go figure.

Spoke to two others coming off the river, one fly fisherman and one spin fisherman. Neither caught a fish.

The lower Clinch since mid September has been atrocious. I have had only one decent day since then and it wasn't great. But Ms. Annie had fun swimming around after leaves in the water, which were everywhere. Reminded me of fishing in the park. I did land a LOT of leaves!

On the plus side, you'll have plenty of room anywhere you fish. There were only four of us fishing this morning.

[MadisonBoats]

Originally Posted by old east tn boy

Fished it this morning from 9:30 till noon. Had a couple on briefly but landed nothing. Wore out my fly box but they weren't interested in anything I had. Fished nymph & midge droppers off a Stimulator (don't care much for strike indicators) and of all things, several strikes came on the Stimulator! Go figure.

Spoke to two others coming off the river, one fly fisherman and one spin fisherman. Neither caught a fish.

The lower Clinch since mid September has been atrocious. I have had only one decent day since then and it wasn't great. But Ms. Annie had fun swimming around after leaves in the water, which were everywhere. Reminded me of fishing in the park. I did land a LOT of leaves!

On the plus side, you'll have plenty of room anywhere you fish. There were only four of us fishing this morning.

I liked to throw stimulators in the late-fall and winter on the Clinch. Be sure and give them a little action and you are off...

I have only drifted the Clinch about 30 times this year and the lower end has been sparse in trout density. In contrast; the avg. fish size is significantly larger that the upper tail-water. I have consistently found striper fish in small schools around the bottom 1/3 of the river.

Most of the fish I have caught in this area have come on streamers.

David, give me a shout if you are interesting in taking my boat out Friday Morning...We will have to keep an eye out for any heavy rain as it could stain the river down from Coal Creek.

[pineman19]

[I have only drifted the Clinch about 30 times this year and the lower end has been sparse in trout density]

Only thirty? I really feel your pain Shawn


Neal

[MadisonBoats]

Originally Posted by pineman19

[I have only drifted the Clinch about 30 times this year and the lower end has been sparse in trout density]

Only thirty? I really feel your pain Shawn


Neal

I was not trying to be sarcastic...I usually try and drift 50-75+ a year. But this year has been busy... Also; it takes a lot out of you to drift the river for the fly fishing set-up I like...

[CinciVol]

Shawn,

Weather permitting I would like to do a float. However, I will have to head out a little after noon. Give me a shout if you think we can work something out.

Dave

[pineman19]

Originally Posted by MadisonBoats

I was not trying to be sarcastic...I usually try and drift 50-75+ a year. But this year has been busy... Also; it takes a lot out of you to drift the river for the fly fishing set-up I like...

Shawn,

I was just kidding around, I understood what you meant as your posts used to revolve more around your boat trips. I don't take all this too seriously, especially the forum stuff anymore, I prefer to stay on the fringes and catch an occasional trout.

Neal

[old east tn boy]

MadisonBoats, you are right. Three years ago I was catching two or three times more fish but they were running 12-13 inches with an occasional 16'er but this year they are running 15-16 inches with an occasional 18'er. I have had more to break my line this year too. Although I haven't seen the stripers I have seen some very large carp, even hung one that screamed line off the reel before it broke (probably saved the rod!). If I see them in time and stand very still, I have had a couple of them swim right up to me before spooking.

I like catching the bigger fish but I do miss the fun of catching more fish.

[MadisonBoats]

Originally Posted by pineman19

Shawn,

I was just kidding around, I understood what you meant as your posts used to revolve more around your boat trips. I don't take all this too seriously, especially the forum stuff anymore, I prefer to stay on the fringes and catch an occasional trout.

Neal

Neal,
I did not think you were condescending me. I just wanted to clarify to others that may not know my personality that well. Thank you for your kind response and I did not think you owed one...

I like your strategy; it is stealthy and selective. Nice for trout fishing as well...

Blessings bud...

Originally Posted by [URL="http://littleriveroutfitters.com/forum/member.php?u=5717"

old east tn boy[/URL]]
MadisonBoats, you are right. Three years ago I was catching two or three times more fish but they were running 12-13 inches with an occasional 16'er but this year they are running 15-16 inches with an occasional 18'er. I have had more to break my line this year too. Although I haven't seen the stripers I have seen some very large carp, even hung one that screamed line off the reel before it broke (probably saved the rod!). If I see them in time and stand very still, I have had a couple of them swim right up to me before spooking.

I like catching the bigger fish but I do miss the fun of catching more fish.

I have seen striper almost every trip that I have drifted. Also; see tons of carp and some large ones at that....However; I have never hooked one. I am sure that would be a huge fight and a task to land.

One thing to note after reviewing hours of underwater videos. It seems to me (based on sample observation of videos):

• More striped bass are moving upstream and populating the lower 1/3 tailwater and holding over during non generation.
• More warm-water fish (spotted bass/gar/bluegill) are being noted in the upper tailwater. (I have several of them on my current YouTube Videos) Also; I caught my first small spotted bass at Miller's Island a month ago...
  
• Less intermingling of trout type in the lower 1/3 of the tailwater. Compared to the upper tailwater.
• Brook Trout are noted in 80% of the upper tailwater video and about 20% in the lower tailwater video.
• Medium to Larger (14-16") Rainbow Trout seem avg in the lower 1/3 of the tailwater.
• Brown trout are becoming less prevalent on all parts of the river. I wish TWRA would institute a non-harvest on them for a year or two.
• Fish from Peach Orchard down seem to be more edgy and generally do not reset as quickly in a feeding lie as they do in the upper 1/3 of the tailwater. (My brother caught a 19" spotted bass at P.O. this summer)
  
• Many fish in the upper 1/3 of the tailwater have broken line/tippet trailing in their mouth. (we need to work on our tippet knots and fish landing techniques)

I have been organizing my videos and I plan on adding several new ones in the next week or so to my YouTube Channel [link in my signature].

I hope this information is interesting to some and that others may add their own observations so that I can digest them as well.