The Hiwassee is holding it's own right now. The water temps are still down in the lower 60's and the fish are doing well. This is a very nice change of pace for us here as this has been the main problem with the river for quite a few years. As a result of this we are having some great days on the water and we are catching some very healthy fish as well. If the current conditions hold and the water stays healthy for our fish then we should have an excellent fall and winter fishery to work with this year as well. The Delayed Harvest which started last year is nice to have, in that it restricts the taking of fish and gives them a chance to grow. We have been catching holdover fish all season so we know that some are making it through from year to year.

I finally had a chance to just get out on the water and play for a bit the other day with a friend of mine. We put a boat on and fished from the the powerhouse down to reliance over a five to six hour period. David fished dry flies and for the most part I mostly rowed the boat, but I did manage to slip in a cast here and there just see what I could do. I cannot say how many fish were caught, because honestly we didn't worry about it. I can say that 98% of the fish that came into the boat were on dry flies and no I will not say which ones. I will say that we had an excellent day on the water. We caught a bunch of fish, told a few lies, and had a good day what more can you ask for. Stripers on the Hiwassee: We do have stripers in the Hiwassee right now and we will have these fish here through September. This is an off year for the run so we are not seeing the large schools of stripers this year. Mainly we are seeing groups of fish in two's and three's scattered around in the river. There are fish to be caught but don't expect to go out and hit a bunch in a day. It's just the way it is, if you have a chance at a fish or two then it's a good day. Here are a couple of fish pics i have taken over the past week or two. Good Luck, Bill