Western North Carolina & East Tennessee Fly Fishing Report | March

duesouthoutfitters
Mar 11
3 min read

Warmer Temperatures and Spring fishing are here!

We had one of the most beautiful first weeks of March here in the High Country that I can remember in a long time. Highs in the mid 60s to lows 70s and sunny told the story for much of the week. That weather paired with a fresh stocking of fish in our delayed harvest rivers lead to a great week of fishing. As a reminder HATCHERY SUPPORTED water (green and white diamonds) is closed for the month of March. Delayed Harvest, Wild, Catch and release, non designated water is all fair game. Hatchery Supported water will open the first Saturday in April (April 4). As we continue to progress into Spring the fishing is going to get better and better.

Delayed Harvest Fishing (Western North Carolina)

This Spring the state is stocking a reduced amount of fish in our delayed harvest rivers. Even with a reduced amount of fish I mainly heard great reports of fishing last week. It was pretty crowded due to the beautiful weather but it seemed there were plenty of fish to go around. I did not hear a great report from Elk Creek. Our guides checked it out for guiding purposes and weren’t able to find many fish down there. The Watauga (Valle Crucis), Helton, and Big Horse have all been productive.

Delayed Harvest Recommendations

Leader: 7.5 ft 4X or 5X
Indicator/Dry: Yarn indicator or size 12–14 Chernobyl
Tippet: 5-6X
Flies:
- Tungsten bead egg patterns
- Midges (18–20) black, olive, purple
- Squirmy worms
- Duracell (18)
- Frenchies (18)
- Wooly Buggers

Pro Tip: As we get further into March and the fish in these Delayed Harvest streams become more educated, don’t hesitate to switch from throwing “junk flies” (eggs, worms, etc) to more natural patterns (midges, frenchies, etc).

Wild Water Fishing (Western North Carolina)

The wild water in our area has been fishing well as of late especially on the warmer days. Stories of sporadic hatches have rumored their way through the fly shop as well. Fishing small jig streamers has been high productive for folks looking for larger fish as well. This wild water will only continue to get better as temperatures continue to climb and water levels increase with spring rains.

Wild Stream Recommendations

Leader: 7.5 ft 5X or 6X
Dry-Dropper Setup:
- Size 12–14 Chernobyl
- Elk Hair Caddis
- Stimulator (adjust size to stream width)
Tippet: 6X
Droppers:
- Duracell (16-18)
- Frenchies (16-18)
- Jig Streamers
- Midges (18-20) black, olive, purple

South Holston Tailwater Fishing (East Tennessee)

The South Holston has been running around 1200 CFS which is one of our favorite water levels to float. Fishing on the 1200 has been great. Dry dropper fishing and light indicator fishing has been the ticket. 1200 CFS is not a recommended wading flow for this river. However, it looks like in the coming days they are going to drop the Holston from 1200 CFS to 400 CFS. The 400 CFS flow is perfect for both wading and floating. When they ran 400 CFS a couple weeks ago the fishing was lights out and we anticipate it to be the same story when they drop it down again.

South holston Recommendations

Leader: 9 ft 5X or 6X
Indicator/Dry: Yarn indicator or size 12 Chernobyl (keep yarn small)
Tippet: 6X

Dry Flies

Blue Winged Olive dries (18–20)
Chubby Chernobyl (12)

Droppers

Tungsten Soft Hackle Pheasant Tail (16-18)
Midges (18-22)
Micro Perdigons (18-20)
Sow Bugs (16-18)
Scuds (18-20)

Watauga Tailwater Fishing (East Tennessee)

Fishing reports on the Watauga Tailwater are hit and miss. We’ve had good days and tougher days. As we get further into Spring and we get closer to the caddis hatch (mid April) we expect the Watauga to fire off like it normally does. They have been doing an almost daily pulse of high water from 7am to 8am and then another pulse from 6pm-7pm. If you’re going to be wading be mindful of the pulse. We recommend either dry dropper fishing or doing a light indicator rig with yarn.

watauga Recommendations

Leader: 9 ft 5X or 6X
Indicator/Dry: Yarn indicator or size 12 Chernobyl (keep yarn small)
Tippet: 6X