N.E. TN Rivers/Creek Fishing

[jonboy005]

Planning a camping/fishing trip March 18-21st. Going to fish the S. Holston, Watauga, Doe and thought about Beaverdam Creek and Laurel Fork. Never fishing the area before, any preferences on rivers or creek that would be good to fish that weekend? It's also Bristol Weekend. We are planning on camping in the area and hitting a few different rivers

[grumpy]

That's a lot of water for 3 days They've had around 80 inches of snow up that way, hopefully it won't start raining or they'll all be blown out.
Having fished them all, i still prefer the freestoners over the tailwaters  because it's something i don't get a chance to fish everyday.

Grumpy

[jonboy005]

Yeah, I'm worried about that too. How is beaverdam or laurelfork, is the access easy to get to or does it require a little walking. We aren't going to fish all those rivers, just looking for suggests for that area.

[TWiles]

All your blue lines will be flowing strong, and your dry fly fishing won't be very effective. Nymphs and streamers will be the way to go.  You may find a hatch of early black stones size 14 ( if you're lucky).

Keep an eye on the TVA website and check out flow patterns for the tailwaters, as this will be the determinant of IF you can fish the tailwaters. Maybe a stray caddis or sulpher?, expect some BWO's 20-22.

Here's a suggestion...Camp (for free) on the Virginia Creeper Trail, Fish for trout on Beaverdam near Damascus, and chase the night time walleyes of S Fork Holston just downstream in Alvarado VA.  It's my favorite fishing that time of year--you'll need a VA license.

Check Eddie's shop Fly Shop of TN in Johnson City--423-928-2007
or Bruce Wankle's Virginia Creeper FlyShop in Abingdon, VA

[jonboy005]

Thanks, TWiles! Good Info. We might have to stick with the smaller streams and your suggestion sounds appealing. I'll run it by my buddy. 

[Kylemc]

All your blue lines will be flowing strong, and your dry fly fishing won't be very effective. Nymphs and streamers will be the way to go.  You may find a hatch of early black stones size 14 ( if you're lucky).

Keep an eye on the TVA website and check out flow patterns for the tailwaters, as this will be the determinant of IF you can fish the tailwaters. Maybe a stray caddis or sulpher?, expect some BWO's 20-22.

Here's a suggestion...Camp (for free) on the Virginia Creeper Trail, Fish for trout on Beaverdam near Damascus, and chase the night time walleyes of S Fork Holston just downstream in Alvarado VA.  It's my favorite fishing that time of year--you'll need a VA license.

Check Eddie's shop Fly Shop of TN in Johnson City--423-928-2007
or Bruce Wankle's Virginia Creeper FlyShop in Abingdon, VA

yep