The Tennessee Valley Authority is currently performing a scheduled maintenance project on Appalachia powerhouse. While this work is underway the powerhouse is operating on a pulse schedule until the beginning of our summer recreational schedule (memorial day-labor day). The water release schedule on the upper section of the river is perfect for wade fishing and we have had some great trips up there over the past couple of weeks. Our trout are fat and we are taking quite a few fish in 13-15 range with some larger ones mixed in as well.
Currently all of our float trips for the Hiwassee are being operated on the lower sections of the river. We have had some really great fishing on the lower sections so far this year. Mark and myself fished a couple of trips down there this past saturday with some great folks and we had a blast. Everyone caught fish, told some bad jokes, had fun, all while sticking some fish.
The Dry fly fishing is coming along fine this year and the Hendrickson’s have made their appearance along with everything else. I think we may continue to see some hendricksons for another week or so, but not much more than that. We are starting to see some early sulphurs on the river, nothing heavy yet, but it give it a couple of weeks and the hatch will be in full swing. While we had the one generator flows earlier this spring we found fish rising in places that I haven’t seen in several years and it brought back memories of some great trips from years past. Hopefully that's going to be a good indacator of what we have to come once we get our high water schedule back.
As the hatches continue through the rest of spring we should start seeing a fairly good mixture of Hendricksons, Caddis, Blue Wing Olives, & Sulphurs. This type of activity should continue well into may when the sulphurs get heavy. With the river conditions that we have now and considering the way that the river is fishing this should be one of the best years that we have had on the Hiwassee in a long time. When you make it up on the river make sure to stop in at Reliance Fly & Tackle ( www.relianceflyshop.com) for the latest info for whats working on the river.
