South Holston River fishing report
Weekly reports from local fly shops, with what's hatching and which flies to fish this month.
Shop reports, last 10 days
No shop has posted a report for the South Holston River in the last 10 days.
What to fish on the South Holston River in November
- Sculpzilla #4-6: Perfect Fly Store names brown and white-belly sculpin articulated streamers in #4-6 for pre-spawn browns; best in off-color water, low light and rain.
- Olive Matuka #4-6: The black and olive Matuka sculpins the same shop names.
- Barr's Emerger (BWO) #18-20: Olives and midges take over from late November (Fly Fisherman); the fly for a gray afternoon.
The biggest browns feed hard before they spawn and the sulphurs thin out. Streamers are the main event in low light and slightly stained water. From November 1 two stretches are closed to all fishing through January 31; browns in big tailwaters spawn from mid-November into December, so stay off the gravel.
Sources: Perfect Fly Store, Blue Ridge Outdoors (Cooling Waters), TWRA trout regulations, Fly Fisherman (South Holston hatch calendar)
What's hatching
- Blue-winged olives (Baetis) and midges, best on dismal gray days, from late November through February and sometimes March. Fly Fisherman names Smith's Olive Emerger (#18-20), Last Chance Cripple (#20-22) and Sprout Baetis (#18-22). · Fly Fisherman (South Holston hatch calendar)
- Large browns are taken on sculpin streamers before they spawn, best in slightly off-color water, low light and rain. Browns in the big tailwaters spawn from mid-November into December. · Perfect Fly Store
- Scuds, sowbugs, cranefly larvae and midges are in the river all year; the slower flats hold more scuds and sowbugs than sulphur nymphs. · Fly Fisherman (South Holston sulphurs)
From the Fly Picker, which ranks flies from hatch charts and published reports. It does not use the shop reports above.