- April 16, 2024 - 

Finally, I got into the water and I was excited. I had been watching the low flow of the river all day long as I did my daily chores and was chomping at the bit to wet my fly! The wind was still kicking up a bit, but starting to lay down. The last few days had been incredibly windy with gusts up to 40 MPH. This looked like my opportunity, so after a quick bite to eat I headed to the river to see if I could fool a few. It was a little after 6 PM, my favorite time to be in the water. Shadows stretched across the river while the mountains soaked in the last few hours of light giving them a chiseled appearance and birds had come alive with chatter. Fish began to rise aggressively all around me, not sipping the surface but breaking the surface with an attitude some leaping entirely out of the water. What was going on? There were no bugs on the surface, not sulfurs, not blue wing olives, not a thing, but flying around me were Black Caddis. It’s April and they were coming on strong! Apparently, Black Caddis hatch fast and don’t get caught on the film surface so trout have to go at them quickly and they make quite a scene doing so. The South Holston River is known for its summer Sulfurs and year-round Midges, but the Black Caddis is often overlooked by anglers. I stayed in the water until I could barely see my indicator and the action picked up as the light grew more dim. It seems that as it got darker, the trout became less discerning, and my artificial sets became more attractive. I landed a couple of 12 inch brown trout and missed a few others, one even took my chubby Chernobyl indicator in the dim light. Nothing big but all 100% fun, and so relaxing, a wonderful evening of wade fishing.