Anyone on here trout fish the clinch?

[kgt]

I used to fly fish the clinch around Millers island about 15-20 years ago and absolutely wear out the trout. I've taken my two oldest sons a couple times this year after I'd talked it up so much and the first time I caught all of one rainbow and the second time (today) we got skunked. Has this river gone to crap or am I just really rusty?

If anyone on here has suggestions for decent trout water I can check out with my boys I'd appreciate it.

 

[scn]

It has gone to crap. TVA has killed a bunch of fish with some of their water management.

The South Holston and Watauga are much better bets right now.

 

[bigquacks]

The South Holston and Watauga are much better bets right now.

If you can get past the drift boats, Holston is good. Last week one ramp had 25 drift boat trailers on a weekday, should have went out on the weekend to see what the count was. They have no problem fishing right on top of you either.

 

[kgt]

Thanks guys. I've heard good things about the Holston but fishing those kinds of crowds sounds awful. I may check out the Wautauga. Only fished it once a long long time ago.

Any info on the Hiwassee?

 

[Hduke86]

Thanks guys. I've heard good things about the Holston but fishing those kinds of crowds sounds awful. I may check out the Wautauga. Only fished it once a long long time ago.

Any info on the Hiwassee?

The Hiwassee is good for numbers of trout but I wouldn't say any "big" trout. Don't get me wrong, you'll hook into one every now and then but not on regular occurrence. The thing with the Hiwassee is how RAPID the water will come up when they start to generate so be aware of that. It'll will most definitely catch you off guard and depending on where you're at on the river and how far from the bank you are it can turn into a scary situation.

 

[bigquacks]

I may check out the Wautauga.

It is just as bad traffic wise. Everyone comes over from NC to fish it
Also they are pulling a ton of water right now to get the lakes down making
wade fishing almost impossible. Generating 6am to Midnight every day.

 

[Hduke86]

Call me crazy but plan a trip to Yellowstone specifically for fishing. It can be done reasonably cheap depending on your accommodations like nice cabin or tent camping but miles and miles and miles of no one in sight fishing is a great lifetime memory for you and your boys. I'd say 95% of people go to Yellowstone and never travel 1,000 yards off the asphalt or get out of their cars but you have the whole park to explore.

 

[BigCityBubba]

I

Call me crazy but plan a trip to Yellowstone specifically for fishing. It can be done reasonably cheap depending on your accommodations like nice cabin or tent camping but miles and miles and miles of no one in sight fishing is a great lifetime memory for you and your boys. I'd say 95% of people go to Yellowstone and never travel 1,000 yards off the asphalt or get out of their cars but you have the whole park to explore.

If you are going that far you might as well stop off at the Gallatin river. If you can catch it during the stonefly hatch, it will be a trip that you will never forget.

 

[Hduke86]

I

If you are going that far you might as well stop off at the Gallatin river. If you can catch it during the stonefly hatch, it will be a trip that you will never forget.

The Gallatin is a beautiful place also

 

[waterman]

Just got back from three days at the caney. Plenty of stockers. Few decent ones showed up as well

 

[kgt]

I'll have to look into the Caney. That's a reasonable drive for me—especially if I stay overnight for another day of fishing. Any particular access areas that are good?

 

[Setterman]

In 2021 something happened catastrophically to the Clinch. The river was virtually void of fish. The only conclusion was TVA totally dropped the ball and due to a water management issue on the lake sent a slug of zero DO water down the river causing a massive fish kill. It made the local news its was so bad. My thoughts are this wiped out the fishery

2022 saw some recovery but still way off from the past

2023 has shown significant improvement and we've caught good numbers every trip this year. The overall size of the fish isn't bad, but there isn't many larger fish that we've found. Overall the river is healthy with plenty of food as well.

TWRA also is culpable as they didn't restock the river properly and overall don't do a very good job actually managing the river. 2021 should've come with mandatory catch and release due to an extreme event. But they did nothing

TVA and their 11 hour low flows are not beneficial to the fishery in the slightest. Why they won't pulse water every 4-6 hours is mind blowing

With that said I have a feeling next year it'll be improved over this year and be back in the path to being good again. The clinch is a very resilient fishery due to the food base and water temps that don't warm at all during late summer

 

[kgt]

That is really informative, thanks Setterman. I hope you're right about it making a recovery. When you say you've caught good numbers are you wade fishing or floating it while they're running generators?

 

[Biggun4214]

Take a look at the Holston below Cherokee Dam. There's better access for wading on the Grainger County side.

 

[waterman]

I'll have to look into the Caney. That's a reasonable drive for me—especially if I stay overnight for another day of fishing. Any particular access areas that are good?

all of the access points get hammered pretty hard. hike away from the crowds to get to the better fish. its wadable from the dam down for a pretty good way. happy hollow is a fun stretch, as well as bettys island. just be aware of the generation schedule. water comes up quick

 

[Setterman]

That is really informative, thanks Setterman. I hope you're right about it making a recovery. When you say you've caught good numbers are you wade fishing or floating it while they're running generators?

Both wading and floating. numbers of fish has certainly drastically improved this year. I'll be curious what it looks like next year

 

[Setterman]

Take a look at the Holston below Cherokee Dam. There's better access for wading on the Grainger County side.

Poor advice, one the Holston water temps right now are borderline and the fish should be left alone until they cool back down. Second, there's one access point for wading at Nances Ferry and Right now the water temps have caused those fish to push upstream

 

[AppalachiaVol]

i prefer Hiwassee IMO - seens some big browns in there

 

[mike243]

I don't remember seeing anything on the news about a fish kill on the clinch, may have just missed it but I do know I have caught fewer the few times I have been out there this year.

 

[Setterman]

I don't remember seeing anything on the news about a fish kill on the clinch, may have just missed it but I do know I have caught fewer the few times I have been out there this year.

Roughly 120 Clinch River trout found dead due to sudden shift in weather

The TWRA said the deaths were unavoidable due to an occurrence known as 'lake turnover.'

www.wbir.com

My year was off and the reported number was way off as well. There were dead fish lining the banks down river