Asheville Fishing Report June 7 2019
After three weeks of no rain we are getting some this weekend. Probably a lot. The fishing has been pretty good during the low water. This was the first time the water has been low enough for the fish to see anglers in months so they were a little spooky in spots. June 1 was “Bloody Saturday”. All our delayed harvest rivers switched to hatchery supported regulations and are now catch and kill 7 fish any size no bait restrictions. We have switched to the Davidson river and have been doing pretty well there. Mixing our trips with a little campground action, some time in the catch and release section, and a little hatchery time too. You’ve got to be flexible on the Davidson as you never know how the fish will respond in each area. There are inchworms around, but the fish haven’t been super responsive yet. We are getting fish on yellow sally dries, and various droppers under them. Some of our delayed harvest streams are getting stocked post the mass killing on opening day. We will transition some trips to those as the state gets more fish in them. We are also moving out into the headwaters and chasing some of our native brook trout. Fun time of year in NC but definitely one of transition. This rain will give all our NC streams a good boost of water and we expect next week to be pretty great. Well check in after the rain finishes falling. We will probably see some streams push to flood stage for a day or two.
Watauga/South Holston Fishing Report June 7 2019
Flows have been great on the Watauga and South Holston lately. The Watauga has been running on its usually summer recreation schedule. Water is low until 12PM or 1PM and then high until roughly 6PM. Both high water and low water have been good. There are still some sporadic Sulphur hatches down low below Elizabethton, but the sulphurs are still strong in the afternoons between stony creek and the Hwy 400 bridge. The Doe river has been low until the recent rain so fish have been a little spooky. Id say the next few days we get post rain will be epic. The fish usually feed without reservation during the fall after a big storm. Stained water keeps them from being spooky and bugs hatch well during water level drops. Well check in next week with that intel.
The South Holston has been fishing well. Tricky but producing nice fish. It hasn’t been super beginner friendly on the low flows but long casts and good drifts get rewarded. The TVA cranked the dam up to 1400 today. Id say a day or two of that will have fish crazy fired up. Sulphurs are on the upper half of the river now. They should respond well to the 1400cfs flow. We don’t know how long they will run that flow but I’d say the next handful of days. This weekend will be wet but river conditions are looking good for a rain event. Well check in Monday or Tuesday with a fishing forecast.
