Clinch River, TN (Aug 22-23, 2009)

I had the great fortune of fishing the Clinch River tailwater this past weekend and it was a weekend of firsts!! The trip, with two friends, was a float trip that lasted almost 7 hours. We got on the water about 7:00 a.m. and fished most of the day. With it being my first trip to the Clinch, I had done a little research on various internet forums and found that like a lot of southern waters, the fish liked stuff in the 18-22 size range. Unfortunately, the second day was a 1/2 day wading trip that didn't really produce the fish for me like the previous day had. The local guides had made comments about the water being off color and the weather changes affecting the fish. Not knowing the area, or the water, I took them at their word.

I wound up fishing a size 20 black/silver zebra midge and brought to net a total of 14 fish on Saturday. I lost a monster brown about 5 feet from the boat as I was getting ready to net him. Needless to say I was heartbroken! I was given one more shot at a trophy fish and this time I brought it to net......A beautiful 17" rainbow that is my largest trout ever caught to date!

On this trip I also caught my first ever brown trout and my first ever brook trout! If there is such a thing, I actually accomplished what I would call a "Clinch Slam" in that I caught at least one brown, one brook, one stocker rainbow, and one wild rainbow. I actually caught several of each but to catch all four species/types on my first ever trip will never be forgotten!

Equipment used was my 9' 5 wt TFO Pro Series flyrod, Okuma SLV reel, Rio Grand WF-5-F line, Rio 6x Floro tippet, size 20 zebra midge, Korker boots, and Dan Bailey waders.

On to the photos

The Clinch River



The Clinch winding through the Tennessee countryside



Me with a wild rainbow on the 2nd day



My 17" Rainbow



A nice 11 inch Brookie



A solid 12" Brown



Another pretty little Brown



My first ever Brown trout

Posting this a few days after the fact but I fished my home tailwater this past Saturday and it was a madhouse. I got a late start and didn't arrive until about 10:30 a.m. Once I got down to the river and headed upstream to one of the areas I fish I discovered 6 folks fishing in about a 30 yd area. Two folks were on a guided trip and I overheard them say that they had caught/released 59 trout that morning.

I finally got some open space to fish and wound up sharing the hole with a very nice guy and his wife from Homewood, AL. I tried everything....nymphs, midges, EH caddis, black ant, etc. Nothing worked. After talking with my fellow fly fisherman, the trout seemed to be hitting a flashy green wooly bugger. I tried fishing what I had in my fly box, that had the most green flash (size 12), and fished it like a normal streamer. After about 15-20 minutes, and having only one hit, I decided to fish it nymph style under an indicator. I was slow drifting it with the current and I finally caught 6 trout in a 30 minute time span.

I wound up fishing close to 4 1/2 hours and caught 9. Most were in the 9" range but a couple were in the 11" range. A great way to end up what started out as a disheartening day.

I'm sorry for having no photos but I just didn't really have anything to take photos of on this trip. Perhaps this coming weekend will be a little better all the way around.